June 7, 2026
Circuits, chaos, and cult-fave energy
The Secret Life of Circuits with lcamtuf / Michał Zalewski (Audio Interview)
Electronics legend drops a new book, and fans are acting like they found buried treasure
TLDR: Michał Zalewski, known as lcamtuf, is promoting his new book about how electronic parts work, and listeners are treating it like a must-see event from a longtime internet favorite. The comments are full of praise, nostalgia, and playful scavenger-hunt energy, with only a faint whiff of debate over whether learning should be simple or elite.
Michał Zalewski — better known online as lcamtuf — stopped by for an audio interview to talk about his new book, The Secret Life of Circuits, and the community response is basically: beloved internet wizard enters the chat. The conversation jumps from old calculators and glowing number tubes to teaching people how electronics actually work, but in the comments, fans were less interested in nitpicking and more in full-on appreciation mode. One person flatly declared that lcamtuf’s blog is something “every engineer should follow,” which is about as close to a standing ovation as tech forums get.
There’s a tiny bit of delicious nerd drama in the background: Michał mentions that some people get annoyed when circuit ideas are explained with simple geometry instead of advanced math, which taps into a classic tech-world identity crisis — should learning be elegant and approachable, or painfully “serious” and difficult? That simmering tension gives the whole interview an undercurrent of let people learn without gatekeeping.
But the comments themselves lean more wholesome-chaotic than hostile. One listener called the episode simply “enjoyable,” then immediately sent everyone hunting for “fun Easter eggs” on Zalewski’s LinkedIn, which is exactly the kind of side quest the internet lives for. Another admitted they clicked because the title reminded them of the nostalgic TV show The Secret Life of Machines, turning the thread into a mini memory lane moment. So yes, there’s a new electronics book, a discount code, and a lot of talk about how computers evolved — but the real vibe is fans showing up like they’ve just spotted a cult hero in the wild.
Key Points
- •The article features an audio interview with Michał Zalewski, also known as lcamtuf.
- •Zalewski recently published *The Secret Life of Circuits* with No Starch Press, and the article includes a June promotional discount code for the book.
- •A major topic is Zalewski’s approach to teaching electronics, including how mathematical derivations and transistor concepts are introduced.
- •The discussion also covers information security topics such as Rowhammer DRAM, fuzzing, and the early multidisciplinary backgrounds of security practitioners.
- •The interview ranges into calculator history, display technologies, and the evolution from discrete electronics to logic gates and processors.