On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Kevin Powell. He's a designer, a software engineer, and an expert in CSS. He's runs a CSS-focused YouTube channel with nearly a million subscribers. There's nothing sensational there – he literally just teaches people CSS.
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CORRECTION: I (Quincy) say during the interview that the Uber found a way to access microphones on iOS without users' knowledge. There have been documented cases of malware doing this (like Pegasus) but Uber didn't do this. They did do a lot of other shady things, like continue collecting data even after you deleted their app – but mic spying was not one of them. Yes, early Uber was an ethical tire fire. But it's important to get facts right here.
We talk about:
- Why you should still learn CSS in 2025
- How teaching concepts improves your own understanding of them
- How learning to skateboard helped Kevin escape Tutorial Hell
- Massive improvements coming to CSS
Links we talk about during our conversation:
- Kevin's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/kevinpowell
- Original Space Jam website Kevin mentions: https://www.spacejam.com/1996/
- The article that coined the term Responsive Design: https://alistapart.com/article/responsive-web-design/
- Kevin's freeCodeCamp article on how learning skateboarding helped him out of tutorial hell: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-learning-to-skateboard-helped-me-…
- Kevin's freeCodeCamp course on building and deploying a portfolio page: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-build-a-portfolio-website-and-…
- Playable Minesweeper in CSS that Quincy mentions: https://codepen.io/bali_balo/pen/BLJONZ
- Acknowledged mistakes that are permanently coded into CSS: https://wiki.csswg.org/ideas/mistakes
- Talk on why is CSS so weird: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHUtMbJw8iA
Chapters
0:00:00 Teaser
0:01:03 Musical Intro – Bubble Bobble
0:02:04 Interview Starts
0:04:57 Accessibility in Web Design
0:08:14 Understanding Technical Debt
0:11:01 The Designer-Developer Dynamic
0:14:01 Evolution of CSS: From Tables to Flexbox and Grid
0:20:03 Responsive Design: Adapting to Multiple Devices
0:24:10 The Impact of Mobile Apps on Web Development
0:27:53 Kevin Powell's Journey in CSS
0:32:26 From Hobby to Career: The Journey Begins
0:34:50 Teaching and Transitioning to YouTube
0:41:59 The Growth of a YouTube Channel
0:54:34 Taking the Leap: Leaving Teaching for Content Creation
1:00:11 Learning Through Skateboarding: Overcoming Tutorial Hell
1:03:42 Building Balance in Learning
1:08:47 The Journey of Learning New Skills
1:14:40 Navigating Cognitive Overload
1:20:29 The Complexity of CSS
1:29:59 Teaching Insights from Classroom Experience
1:33:26 The Importance of Design Systems in UI Development
1:36:09 Why Learn CSS and Front-End Design Concepts?
1:40:55 The Evolution and Governance of CSS
1:47:53 Translating Graphic Design Skills to Web Development
1:52:19 The Relevance of CSS in Mobile App Development
1:55:41 The Value of Learning in Public
1:59:06 Navigating Influence and Responsibility in Teaching