In this bonus episode, we hear from Kubernetes superstar Kelsey Hightower. Diving into crucial elements like empathy in maintainership, succession planning, and the identification of future leaders, hosts Martin Woodward and Neha Batra explore Kelsey’s philosophy on fostering thriving open source communities—and his hopes for the future state of Kubernetes. Dedicated to GitHub’s Maintainer Month, the conversation focuses on the people behind the projects, highlighting their extraordinary effort and celebrating their impact on the community. To close out this special episode, members of The ReadME Podcast community thank maintainers who have had a positive impact on them.