Funny how math and code make journalism so much better.

Anybody who says that can't be taken seriously. You need math anywhere there is meaningful manipulation of symbols/data/entity. That statement itself will end up including nearly ever profession on earth.

The problem with programming interviews is they test math tricks, arcane knowledge, trivia and puzzles.

Far more important than mathematical knowledge, is mathematical capability.

Math is a tool used in programming, programming isn't defined by math though (there are plenty of non-math activities that dominate the process). What is so hard about that?

Actually there's a deep equivalence theorem between mathematical statements and programs. Here are people doing ZFC as a program - http://en.metamath.org/

Most of programming involves figuring out what to do, not doing it.

The same is said of mathematics.

Yes, but that creative process isn't really doing math either (as defined by performing mathematical reasoning). The best we can say is that creative processes are involved in all disciplines.

Programming can involve math, math can involve programming, but neither is defined by the other.

You do realize that algorithms were invented in Euclid's day, right? Was he not doing math, or are algorithms no longer programming?

Even string processing is math (c.f. Godel).

Maths... with a feckin' S on the end!

Blasphemy!