Real welding talk from the trade floor.
Arc Junkies brings welders, inspectors, educators, industry professionals, and trade advocates into practical conversation. The show moves from underwater technique and machine design to workforce shortages, alcohol in the industry, AI inspection, AWS committees, and the everyday realities of building a life in the trades.
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Arc Junkies is a welding podcast built around people who actually live in the trade. Jason Becker keeps the format conversational, direct, and industry fluent. The show is not shy about jargon. It expects listeners to keep up when the talk turns to AWS codes, inspection practice, aluminum fabrication, machine design, underwater welding, AI scanning tools, committee work, and the difference between speed and skill. That insider pace is part of the appeal. Episodes often start with sponsor business, then settle into long-form shop talk with welders, inspectors, educators, trade advocates, and industry leaders. The range is broad but coherent. One conversation can follow Sheldon Ray from night school welding to innovation strategy at Lincoln Electric, with close attention to machines that welders still trust because they simply last. Another can put Amanda Young and Lee Pyle in front of a live audience to weigh what automation can do for inspection, and what still belongs to a trained person on-site. Weld Wednesday episodes with AWS bring in codes, standards, membership, education, certifications, and the volunteer machinery behind the rules welders use every day. The show also looks past the booth and the code book. Brian Huff's workforce conversation frames the skilled trades shortage as a long-term math problem shaped by retirement, infrastructure, energy demand, and AI-driven growth. Alex McNamara's episode brings tool fluency, confidence, shop-class decline, and women's experience in construction into the same working conversation. The Justin Merrill episode is more personal and heavier, using alcohol in the welding industry as a way to talk about reputation, honesty, recovery, and what toughness means when the job culture rewards endurance. Arc Junkies works best for listeners who want both the technical and the human side of welding. It can be funny, blunt, detailed, and serious without changing its basic posture. The show treats welding as craft, career, business, culture, and responsibility. Its strongest moments come when practical trade knowledge opens into something larger: education, pride, safety, credibility, and the future of skilled work.
Made for: Arc Junkies is for welders, inspectors, fabrication workers, welding students, instructors, trade advocates, and industry people who already know the vocabulary or want to learn it in context. It also suits listeners tracking skilled trades careers, AWS activity, inspection technology, and workforce issues.
What sets it apart: The show combines technical welding detail with candid career and culture conversations, without sanding off the trade language. Its strongest distinction is how easily it moves from machine settings and code committees to recovery, education, AI, and the labor shortage.
Arc Junkies is a Welding Podcast that is on a mission to help, educate and inspire the next generation of welders. Each week I talk to a new guest about their journey as a welder. Throughout the episodes, we cover different techniques, processes, variables, technical information and life lessons.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Arc Junkies makes the business of welding legible through detailed conversations about careers, product decisions, inspection, and changing technology.
Arc Junkies follows welding work from shop-floor technique to the decisions that shape careers, products, and inspection businesses. Jason Becker uses guest interviews to connect practical detail with the economics of skilled work.
An underwater arc becomes a feel test, and Jason Becker gets you past the bubbles.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A focused episode that makes the welding shortage feel practical, urgent, and worth attention.
Weld Wednesdays with AWS treats National Welding Month as more than a commemorative nod. The episode makes a straightforward case for the trade, linking welding to infrastructure, manufacturing, and the need for more skilled workers.
A shop-floor career story that turns into a grounded look at industrial innovation.
Sheldon Ray's path gives the episode its shape, moving from night school welding to an MBA at Kellogg and then into product management at Lincoln Electric. The result is a plainspoken look at how an industrial company balances innovation with continuity.
A clear look at how a hard drinking reputation takes shape around welding industry social life.
Arc Junkies follows Justin Merrill as he talks through how a hard drinking reputation gets built around trade shows, local bars, and a TFS crew people learn not to drink with.
AI can help read the data, but inspectors still have to own the findings.
Jason Becker keeps the discussion anchored in the shop floor reality of certified welding inspection, with Amanda Young and Lee Pyle walking through where automation actually helps.
A shop-floor story about moving from welding into inspection without losing the hands-on feel that drew him in.
Eric Cunningham's path starts at Meyer Tool Manufacturing in Oak Lawn on Chicago's south side, where he is 15 and sweeping floors, picking up scrap, and later testing weldments before the shop lets him try welding.
A focused trade special that treats welding as education, infrastructure, and skilled labor.
Jason Becker uses National Welding Month as a practical frame for a trade-focused hour, linking welding to education, inspection, engineering, and the work that keeps major systems in place.
Pool work, judged below the surface.
Masha Gessen narrates her own cousin's murder-for-hire arrest and custody battle.
Rich Roll interviews recovery and endurance guests, plus 'Roll On' segments with Adam Skolnick.
Peter Attia evaluates longevity science, from CETP inhibitors to protein debates, through evidence.
Rhonda Patrick translates NAD, vitamin D, and coffee research into daily health protocols.
Shawn Stevenson interviews researchers and coaches on nutrition, sleep, hormones, and fitness.
April is National Welding Month, and Jason Becker uses the AWS special to bring the focus back to the people who weld, teach, inspect, engineer, and lead.
April gets the shop-floor salute.
The host starts with an apology.
Arc Junkies episode 397 centers on Justin Merrill saying “nobody has ever really seen me sober,” a claim he ties to almost 10 years of beer drinking while building TFS and working in the trades.
AI is moving onto the inspection floor, but this live AWS Inspection Expo and Conference conversation does not treat it like a miracle machine.
This episode features Bill Komlos discussing his volunteer involvement with AWS committees that develop welding codes and standards, highlighting how industry professionals contribute to this process.
Brian Huff discusses the critical shortage of skilled trades workers due to a retirement cliff and increasing demands from infrastructure, energy, and AI-driven expansion.
This episode features Alex McNamara discussing the skilled labor shortage caused by the loss of shop classes, the importance of tool fluency, and building confidence in trades, especially for women in construction.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
Interview with Dr.
Dusty James discusses the real side of welding, including burnout, mindset shifts, and the passion that keeps welders going.
A welding podcast discussing the skilled trades gap and inspiring the next generation of welders.
Interview with metal artist David Marrero discussing the metal art world, competitions, laser welding, safety, and social media's impact on trades.
Chad Umble discusses rope access welding, covering training, safety, and the growth of the industry.
Eric Cunningham started young.
This episode features an interview with Jason Becker about perseverance in welding careers, preceded by sponsor announcements for the American Welding Society conference and Fronius battery welder.
Interview with Kevin Johnson about lessons learned in starting and running a welding business.
A welding podcast episode featuring a welding engineer discussing code changes, WPS compliance, and mentorship to improve the skilled trades pipeline.
Jason Becker interviews Wes and CJ from Fronius USA at Fabtech 2025 about their new Fortis welding platform.
A welding podcast interviewing a welder-rapper about his journey, techniques, and life lessons in the trade.
An interview with the incoming president of the American Welding Society about his journey from high school welder to industry leader.
This episode features an interview with fabricator Alex Jordan, discussing his work building puppets for theme parks, innovative welding projects, and how content creation has enhanced his skills and career.
This episode features an interview with Matt Rubin, Managing Director of Sales and Expositions at the American Welding Society, discussing his role in organizing FabTech expos and AWS conferences.
Interview with Eric and Stacia Mueller about their welding cup business, laminar flow technology, and supporting the welding community.
An interview with Rex Alexander from the Handheld Laser Institute discussing laser welding techniques, training, and industry insights.
Host interviews pipeline welders about training new welders, welding techniques, and machine rebuilds.
Host Jason Becker interviews Steve Snyder about the Fabtech Orlando show and welding industry insights.
An interview with welder Gavin Young about Bear Welding's projects, shop life, and training new hires.
Interview with AWS president Dick Holdren discussing the Midwest Codes Conference and welding qualification standards.
Host Jason Becker interviews Kyle Taylor about precision welding, certification, and industry trends.
Host interviews a stair designer and shares welding industry news and sponsor messages.
Host Jason Becker interviews Dr.
An interview with Ryan Boyd about grinder safety, abrasive selection, and welding gear, aimed at educating welders.