Twenty years after a scrappy newsroom team hacked together a framework to ship stories fast, Django remains the Python web framework that ships real apps, responsibly. In this anniversary roundtable with its creators and long-time stewards: Simon Willison, Adrian Holovaty, Will Vincent, Jeff Triplet, and Thibaud Colas, we trace the path from the Lawrence Journal-World to 1.0, DjangoCon, and the DSF; unpack how a BSD license and a culture of docs, tests, and mentorship grew a global community; and revisit lessons from deployments like Instagram. We talk modern Django too: ASGI and async, HTMX-friendly patterns, building APIs with DRF and Django Ninja, and how Django pairs with React and serverless without losing its batteries-included soul. You’ll hear about Django Girls, Djangonauts, and the Django Fellowship that keep momentum going, plus where Django fits in today’s AI stacks. Finally, we look ahead at the next decade of speed, security, and sustainability. 
 
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<h2 class="links-heading">Links from the show</h2>
<div>Guests 
Simon Willison: <a href="https://simonwillison.net?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >simonwillison.net</a> 
Adrian Holovaty: <a href="https://holovaty.com?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >holovaty.com</a> 
Will Vincent: <a href="https://wsvincent.com?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >wsvincent.com</a> 
Jeff Triplet: <a href="https://jefftriplett.com?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >jefftriplett.com</a> 
Thibaud Colas: <a href="https://thib.me?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >thib.me</a> 
 
Show Links 
Django's 20th Birthday Reflections (Simon Willison): <a href="https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/13/django-birthday/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >simonwillison.net</a> 
Happy 20th Birthday, Django! (Django Weblog): <a href="https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2025/jul/13/happy-20th-birthday-django/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >djangoproject.com</a> 
Django 2024 Annual Impact Report: <a href="https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2025/jun/30/django-2024-annual-impact-report/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >djangoproject.com</a> 
Welcome Our New Fellow: Jacob Tyler Walls: <a href="https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2025/aug/11/welcome-our-new-fellow-jacob-tyler-walls/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >djangoproject.com</a> 
Soundslice Music Learning Platform: <a href="https://www.soundslice.com/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >soundslice.com</a> 
Djangonaut Space Mentorship for Django Contributors: <a href="https://djangonaut.space/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >djangonaut.space</a> 
Wagtail CMS for Django: <a href="https://wagtail.org/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >wagtail.org</a> 
Django REST Framework: <a href="https://www.django-rest-framework.org/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >django-rest-framework.org</a> 
Django Ninja API Framework for Django: <a href="https://django-ninja.dev/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >django-ninja.dev</a> 
Lawrence Journal-World: <a href="https://www2.ljworld.com/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >ljworld.com</a> 
Watch this episode on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlYCUI5T_Bk" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Episode #518 deep-dive: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/show/518/celebrating-djangos-20th-birthday-with-its-creators#takeaways-anchor" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/518</a> 
Episode transcripts: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/transcript/518/celebrating-djangos-20th-birthday-with-its-creators" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm</a> 
Developer Rap Theme Song: Served in a Flask: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/flasksong" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/flasksong</a> 
 
--- Stay in touch with us --- 
Subscribe to Talk Python on YouTube: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/youtube" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Talk Python on Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/talkpython.fm" target="_blank" >@talkpython.fm at bsky.app</a> 
Talk Python on Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@talkpython" target="_blank" >talkpython</a> 
Michael on Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mkennedy.codes?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >@mkennedy.codes at bsky.app</a> 
Michael on Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@mkennedy" target="_blank" >mkennedy</a> </div>

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