[$] Free-threaded Python: past, present, and future

Probably the biggest change for Python over the last five years or so is
the advent of the "free-threaded" version of the language, which removes the
global interpreter lock (GIL) and allows multiple threads to run in
parallel in the interpreter. At PyCon
US 2026, held in Long Beach, California in mid-May, longtime CPython
core developer (and current steering council member) Thomas Wouters gave a
talk about the feature. He looked at the motivation behind the GIL-removal
efforts, some history,
the current status of the free-threaded interpreter, and provided a
prediction on where it all leads.