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The Verge
Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future.
Recode Decode: Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich (Live at Code 2019)
Harley-Davidson president and CEO Matthew Levatich talks with Recode's Kara Swisher live onstage at the 2019 Code Conference.
In this episode: The impact of tariffs on Harley-Davidson’s global business; Trump's tweets attacking the company; managing a well-known brand during a trade war; is it possible to manufacture everything in the US?; the expertise required to make things domestically; Harley Davidson’s new electric bikes; the merits of a silent bike; the scooter market; omni-channel sales; competitors; and how thinking about climate change affected Harley-Davidson’s planning.
Recode Decode has been nominated for best technology podcast in this year’s People’s Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for Recode Decode at https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup before July 31st. One vote per category.
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40:4112/07/2019
Recode Decode: Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her popular profiles of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and her new novel, "Fleishman Is in Trouble."
In this episode: Why Brodesser-Akner started writing profiles; how she got to the New York Times; working with editors and fact-checkers; Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop; Paltrow’s “radical” personality; her story about the transformation of Weight Watchers and contemporary fatness; how Brodesser-Akner chooses the topics of her stories; why they thrive online; “Fleishman Is In Trouble” and the rise of dating apps; how she figured out the story she wanted to tell in “Fleishman”; "What's the most horrifying thing I could do right now?"; what does Brodesser-Akner like writing better: Fiction or nonfiction?; and her advice for other writers.
Recode Decode has been nominated for best technology podcast in this year’s People’s Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for Recode Decode at https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup before July 31st. One vote per category.
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01:05:4210/07/2019
Recode Decode: Journalist Carole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr, a reporter for the Guardian and Observer, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her investigations into the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the links between tech and political disinformation campaigns.
In this episode: Cadwalladr's background; tech's impact on democracy; the "cancer" of the far-right internet; Google's lack of accountability; Cambridge Analytica and its co-founder Robert Mercer; talking to whistleblower Christopher Wylie; the links among Brexit, Donald Trump, and Russia; the danger of challenging an ideological billionaire like Mercer; how Facebook shot itself in the foot; at Facebook, "who knew what, when?"; Cadwalladr's viral TED Talk about social media and disinformation; "techno-fascism" and you; why the US press must push Facebook harder; what Cadwalladr would do if she were in charge; and is she still optimistic about tech?
Recode Decode has been nominated for best technology podcast in this year’s People’s Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for Recode Decode at https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup before July 31st. One vote per category.
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01:17:4408/07/2019
Recode Decode: Long-Term Stock Exchange founder Eric Ries (Live at Code 2019)
Eric Ries, the founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange and author of The Lean Startup, talks with Vox.com's Ezra Klein at the 2019 Code Conference.
In this episode: The LTSE’s recent SEC approval; what’s the point of a stock exchange and why do we need a new one?; the problem with short-term public markets; how would going public on the LTSE be different for CEOs?; how things would change for employees?; the culture of short-term vs. long-term leadership ownership; the values of “Lean Startups”; what public companies and markets could learn from those values; how to attach companies to more stakeholders; The Enlightened Capitalists and the history of business reform; would the LTSE penalize short-term investors?; and Wall Street’s impatience with R&D.
Recode Decode has been nominated for best technology podcast in this year’s People’s Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for Recode Decode at https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup before July 31st. One vote per category.
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39:2505/07/2019
Recode Decode: "Russian Doll" star Natasha Lyonne and Netflix content VP Cindy Holland (Live at Code 2019)
Actor and producer Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange Is the New Black) and Netflix's vice president of original content Cindy Holland talk with Recode's Kara Swisher at the 2019 Code Conference.
In this episode: How Lyonne got connected with Netflix; Holland’s background at Kozmo.com; Orange is the New Black; the Netflix way of doing things; developing Russian Doll; Netflix’s cancelation of One Day at a Time; how it evaluates creators like Lyonne; the production process of Russian Doll; how Netflix has changed over time; is Russian doll a "hit?”; the dissolving barriers between types of content and different screens; releasing Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma in theaters and on Netflix simultaneously; Netflix’s competition; and season two of Russian Doll.
Recode Decode has been nominated for best technology podcast in this year’s People’s Choice Podcast Awards! Cast your vote for Recode Decode at https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup before July 31st. One vote per category.
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46:0203/07/2019
Recode Decode: Rockfeller Foundation president Raj Shah and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon (Live at Code 2019)
In these interviews from the 2019 Code Conference, Rockfeller Foundation president Raj Shah and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon talk with Recode's Teddy Schleifer.
In the Shah interview: Rising inequality and the limits of private philanthropy; the growing scrutiny of wealthy endowments like Rockefeller; are "opportunity zones” just a tax giveaway?; what do Silicon Valley’s ultra-rich owe to people in need?; and the low percentage of billionaires who have committed to the Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's Giving Pledge.
And then, in the Solomon interview: What tech can learn from finance’s own era of backlash; how Goldman Sachs changed post-financial crisis; the state of tech IPOs after Uber and Lyft; Goldman’s and Solomon's investments in Uber; the state of M&A; partnering with Apple on its upcoming credit card; the appeal of the Goldman Sachs brand to millennials; Eric Ries and the Long-Term Stock Exchange; China’s rising economic power and Trump’s tariffs; and diversity at Goldman Sachs.
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01:05:4901/07/2019
Recode Decode: Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian (Live at Code 2019)
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Jason Del Rey at the 2019 Code Conference.
In this episode: How the Boeing 737 Max crashes affect the aviation industry; innovations in airplanes in that Delta would like to see; using facial recognition to replace paper tickets; RFID bag tracking and changing the layout of airports and gates; Delta’s investments in alternative fuels and its impact on climate change; Georgia's new abortion law and corporate activism; Delta's controversial anti-union flyers; changing the math for frequent flyers and competing with JetBlue Mint; how the 1980s deregulation of the airline industry compares to tech; and how to create a better culture for employees.
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45:1828/06/2019
Recode Decode: MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito
Joichi "Joi" Ito, the director of the MIT Media Lab, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about engineers who over-simplify the world's problems, the Media Lab's role in "surveillance capitalism," and why the values of the tech world will shift from within.
In this episode: Ito's background and what the Media Lab does; techno-utopianism and the early days of the internet; how Ito got to MIT; computers implanted in the human body; Shoshana Zuboff and "surveillance capitalism"; the gap between technology and the law; why we're not living in a simulation; what’s missing from the AI discourse; the problem with how tech solves problems; the dangers of bad policy; and the subordination of liberal arts at schools like MIT.
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55:5926/06/2019
Recode Decode: Instagram's Adam Mosseri, Facebook's Andrew Bosworth, and former tech insiders on the outside (Live at Code 2019)
In these live interviews from the 2019 Code Conference, Casey Newton first talks to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri and Facebook's head of AR and VR, Andrew "Boz" Bosworth; then; later in the show, he interviews three former tech insiders: former Googler Jessica Powell, ex-Facebooker Antonio García-Martínez, and Twitter/Google veteran Nicole Wong.
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01:03:0624/06/2019
Recode Decode: Fair Fight Action founder Stacey Abrams and CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo (Live at Code 2019)
Georgia politician Stacey Abrams and her former campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo, now the co-founders of Fair Fight Action, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher and Vox.com's Ezra Klein at the 2019 Code Conference.
In this episode: Abrams’ campaign for governor and what Fair Fight does; how Abrams defines the importance of voting rights; is America a democracy? “Yes, but…”; why Abrams doesn’t use the term “stolen election”; the Republican Party’s voter suppression habits; the problem with companies boycotting Georgia over anti-abortion laws; why “Georgia is the future” of America; the future of elections and how politicians should approach them; will Abrams run for anything in 2020?; identity politics and diversity in the Democratic Party; how has tech impacted politics?; why regulation is not a punishment; and the fallacy of Democrats abandoning the “center”.
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59:0321/06/2019
Recode Decode: RAICES immigration activists Jonathan Ryan and Erika Andiola (Live at Code 2019)
Jonathan Ryan and Erika Andiola, the CEO and chief advocacy officer at RAICES, talk with Vox.com's Ezra Klein at the 2019 Code Conference.
In this episode: The current situation at the US-Mexico border; the increasing power of the executive branch of the US government as you approach the border; how tech companies like Palantir, Amazon, Microsoft, and Dell are working with ICE; the history of corporations enabling unconstitutional behavior; alternatives for the government; what would be a non-tyrannical way of handling immigration?; the “political football” of immigration reform; and the role of sanctuary cities.
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39:0119/06/2019
Recode Decode: Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy (Live at Code 2019)
Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon's cloud computing service AWS, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher at the 2019 Code Conference.
In this episode: How Jassy came to work at Amazon 22 years ago; how Jeff Bezos has changed in that time; how AWS differentiates itself from the competition; could it be disrupted by a small business?; facial recognition, sensor creep, and trust; alleged misuse of Amazon’s facial recognition tech by law enforcement; its work with the government, and employee objections to that; should tech companies work with ICE and border patrol?; potential antitrust regulation and whether AWS should be spun off; Donald Trump’s Amazon-bashing obsession; the HQ2 contest; the challenges of running AWS, including diversity; does Jassy want to be CEO of Amazon?; and how does AWS's culture compare to Amazon’s?
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51:5817/06/2019
Recode Decode: Twitter's Vijaya Gadde and Kayvon Beykpour (Live at Code 2019)
Vijaya Gadde, who leads the legal and trust and safety teams at Twitter, and Periscope co-founder Kayvon Beykpour, who's now the company's head of product, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka at the 2019 Code Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
In this episode: Twitter’s meeting with President Trump; CEO Jack Dorsey's level of contact with the policy team; cleaning the Twitter “cesspool”; could it operate without letting everyone speak?; its new policies around elections and anti-vaxxers; how its responses to abuse compare to Facebook’s and Google’s; does de-platforming people like Alex Jones reduce their influence?; does Twitter radicalize people?; how Twitter is trying to get rid of white supremacists; and false equivalency in content moderation.
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51:3614/06/2019
Recode Decode: The Intercept's Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan, a columnist at the Intercept and host of its weekly podcast Deconstructed, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher.
In this episode: How Hasan got into journalism; the timidity of the American press; cold comforts in the “horrible, horrible moment” of the Trump presidency; the Intercept and Hasan’s podcast, Deconstructed; his viral interview with Blackwater founder Erik Prince; Swisher’s interview with Sam Harris; liberals who only see racism on the right; the controversial speeches in Hasan's history; the impact of Twitter on politics — and Donald Trump on Twitter; the 2020 presidential race and impeachment; and Trump's legacy.
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01:03:4812/06/2019
Recode Decode: CNN's Jim Sciutto
CNN's chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, The Shadow War: Inside Russia’s and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America.
In this episode: Sciutto’s background and the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests; being a foreign correspondent; working for the Chinese ambassador and returning to journalism; being a journalist at CNN in the Trump era; Americans’ post-Cold War delusions about Russia; why failures to recognize Russia and China as threats have been bipartisan; how both countries have made themselves adversaries of the US; what Russia has done beyond election hacking, including "kamikaze satellites"; China’s theft of state secrets; should we be making phones in China?; why AI is now a battlefield; what do Russia and China actually want, and what does defeat look like?; America's deeply partisan politics; the policy steps to end the shadow war; and the impact of Trump's trade war with China.
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01:02:0910/06/2019
Recode Decode: Michele Madansky
Media market research consultant Michele Madansky talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about The Elephant in the Valley, her study into the prevalence of harassment in tech that was first conducted in 2016 and recently updated with new statistics.
In this episode: Madansky's background; the first edition of Elephant in the Valley and its aftermath; how does harassment in tech compare to other industries?; is harassment still the elephant in the room?; what's worse since 2016, what's the same, and what's better?; why Madansky is optimistic; Gen Z and growing acceptance of women as breadwinners; how to change the numbers; is Madansky worried about #MeToo fatigue?; and her advice for the tech companies she advises.
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49:1205/06/2019
Recode Decode: Girls Who Code CEO Reshma Saujani
Girls Who Code CEO Reshma Saujani talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the challenges facing women in the tech industry and what everyone can do to make progress happen faster.
In this episode: The 60 Minutes problem; what Girls Who Code does; how it compares to other diversity-in-coding groups; how much progress have we made so far?; the link between perfectionism and "fitting in"; the lousy excuses for homogeneous hiring; how Google and Microsoft could become the new Goldman Sachs; sexual harassment and the impact of #MeToo; bringing new investors into the ecosystem; what parents should tell their daughters; and where are the role models?
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46:1903/06/2019
Recode Decode: Susan Hockfield
Former MIT president Susan Hockfield talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution.
In this episode: How Hockfield got to MIT; how the school creates innovation; how Route 128 lost the digital revolution to the west coast; Boston's new "regional advantage," sustainable energy; the convergence of biology and engineering; why Hockfield wrote "The Age of Living Machines"; "living machines" that can help us prevent diseases and detect cancer; the challenge of clean water; how some viruses can become rechargeable batteries; how to direct investment and political attention toward these technologies; urging technology forward during times of relative peace; what China and other countries learned from the United States’ post-WWII tech boom; and why the decline of trust in scientific expertise "terrifies" her.
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58:3331/05/2019
Recode Decode: Investors Mark Cuban and Steve Case and talent agent Scooter Braun (Live)
In these live interviews recorded at the 2019 SALT Conference in Las Vegas, Recode's Kara Swisher talks to investors Mark Cuban and Steve Case about the future of entrepreneurship and talent agent Scooter Braun about how tech is changing the entertainment business.
In the Cuban/Case interview: The "third wave" of the internet and Case's "rise of the rest" theory; the state of entrepreneurship outside Silicon Valley; are startups really in decline?; how to properly train the next generation of startup founders; why Cuban believes everyone working at a startup should receive equity; how to make tech more diverse; and how does techlash change investing?
And then, in the Braun interview: The impact of social media on Braun's work and the life of a touring musician; getting arrested on behalf of Justin Bieber; why sometimes, your gut should trump the data; playing power politics with Apple and Spotify; how Braun almost bought 10 percent of Facebook; and his investments in Uber, Lyft, and other tech companies.
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01:08:4829/05/2019
Recode Decode: DuckDuckGo CEO Gabe Weinberg
DuckDuckGo CEO Gabe Weinberg talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher in this live conversation recorded at Made By We in New York City.
In this episode: What DuckDuckGo does; why Weinberg started the company; contextual advertising; Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act; are people actually mad about privacy violations?; Weinberg’s proposal for national privacy legislation; competing against Google and the “filter bubble”; data interoperability and what good policies would look like; what can consumers do to protect themselves?; security and facial recognition; the small number of people making decisions for the whole world; should Americans have the right to be forgotten?; and can there be a DuckDuckGo for YouTube?
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58:3227/05/2019
Recode Decode: Facebook’s former security boss Alex Stamos and Twitter co-founder Ev Williams (Live)
Alex Stamos, the former Chief Security Officer at Facebook, and Ev Williams, the co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Medium, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher in these live interviews from the 2019 Collision conference in Toronto, Canada.
In the Stamos interview: Is Facebook misunderstood?; Stamos’ proposed solutions; legitimate candidates vs. the Russians; how to protect ourselves from all election attackers; the weaponization of Facebook’s products; America’s reluctance to regulate; breaking up Facebook and Google; why big companies need to stop rewarding employees with stock; Stamos’ recommendations for Mark Zuckerberg; and is Facebook actually committed to change?
And in the Williams interview: Why he left the board of Twitter; where social media is right now; why his venture firm Obvious Ventures doesn’t invest in social; its investment in Beyond Meat; Williams’ theories of venture investing; the lack of diversity in what companies get venture funding; how techlash has changed Silicon Valley; the many iterations of Medium; would Williams buy established media companies?; and is he worried about the media?
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49:5124/05/2019
Recode Decode: Anand Giridharadas
Winners Take All author Anand Giridharadas talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher in this live conversation recorded at Made By We in New York City.
In this episode: Why Giridharadas wrote the book; the Sackler family; why “giving back is a wingman of taking ruthlessly”; Mark Zuckerberg’s false image and outsized influence; Andrew Carnegie and the history of billionaire philanthropy; what should the ultra-rich do instead?; what should the government do?; the backlash to Jeff Bezos; Marc Benioff and San Francisco; the 2020 Democrats and "the primary about everything”; Bill McGlashan and the college admissions scandal; the “rise of the rest”; what about Constitutional amendments?; and why Giridharadas is grateful for Donald Trump.
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57:1522/05/2019
Recode Decode: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about bringing legitimate financial institutions into the formerly-sketchy world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
In this episode: Garlinghouse's background at Excite@Home, Dialpad, and Yahoo; the "peanut butter manifesto" memo he wrote at Yahoo; moving on to Silver Lake Partners, AOL, and then becoming CEO of Hightail; being recruited to Ripple; the appeal of blockchain and cryptocurrency; working with the banks, not against them; the coming revolution in cross-border transactions; why bitcoin speculators were actually "forward progress"; will there be one cryptocurrency to rule them all?; the "unbanked" people of the world; potential problems facing cryptocurrency; convincing regulators and established banks; why should a big bank like Citi work with Ripple?; who will disrupt the incumbents?; the actual uses of crypto for consumers; and Facebook and tech's responsibility.
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01:00:3620/05/2019
Recode Decode: “Good to Great” author Jim Collins
Jim Collins, the author of business books such as Built to Last and Good to Great, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest work, Turning the Flywheel.
In this episode: Collins’ background in business education; his mentor and Stanford colleague Jerry Porras; his past books, including Built to Last and How the Mighty Fall; why he left Stanford and moved to Boulder, Colorado; teaching Jeff Bezos and Amazon how to save the company; how to be a “level-five” leader; what Bill Hewlett and David Packard understood about corporate responsibility; who today is a level-five leader?; the difference between your practices and the core of your beliefs; does tech even have a core?; why the innovators don’t always win; how important is luck?; how is the 2019 bubble different from 1999?; and how Jack Bogle and Steve Jobs stayed young until they died.
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01:05:1617/05/2019
Recode Decode: Preet Bharara
Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and host of the podcast Stay Tuned With Preet, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher.
In this episode: Bharara’s background; digital crime and the “ticking time bomb” of hacking threats; why Bharara was fired by President Trump; what he did post-firing; his Twitter fatigue; the public’s newfound interest in the law; his new book, "Doing Justice"; the "first principles" of law that the entire country could benefit from; the Mueller report; how the Southern District of New York thinks about its work; Nancy Pelosi's declaration of a “constitutional crisis”; did social media undermine the Mueller report?; the problem with tech and whether companies will be held criminally liable; how tech will change the practice of law; and should we be optimistic about the future?
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01:07:5615/05/2019
Recode Decode: Former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter
In this live conversation recorded at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Recode's Kara Swisher talks with Ash Carter, the former Secretary of Defense under President Obama who now runs the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
In this episode: Government regulation vs. self-regulation in tech; CDA Section 230; privacy laws and the potential for new regulations around the world; antitrust action that doesn't require a breakup; does regulation ruin innovation?; Mark Zuckerberg's plea for regulation; the problems with automated algorithms; AI ethics in lethal warfare and beyond; can we keep AI in check with norms?; tech workers who don't want their companies partnering with the Defense Department; China's AI and surveillance habits; what Carter worries about in tech; Edward Snowden; encryption and the US intelligence agencies; is Congress savvy enough to regulate?; are the tech giants ready for attempt meddling in the 2020 elections?; what tech has done to journalism; and what will actually get Big Tech to change?
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01:19:2413/05/2019
Recode Decode: Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his recent New York Times op-ed, "It's Time to Break Up Facebook."
In this episode: Why Hughes wrote the column; how he met Mark Zuckerberg; how the 2016 election changed his view of Facebook; Hughes' role in the early days of Facebook; the company's "missionary zeal"; Zuckerberg’s “unchecked power” and reactions to the column; "He cannot fix this"; how the FTC screwed up; Facebook Live; Zuckerberg’s interest in Roman emperors; why has Facebook continually failed to fix itself?; the backlash to Hughes' column; how a government-ordered breakup would work; Instagram and WhatsApp; Should Zuckerberg step down?; the FTC’s $3-5 billion fine; the case for a new digital regulatory agency; Tristan Harris' "human downgrading" theory; and will Zuckerberg listen?
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57:4310/05/2019
Recode Decode: Esther Wojcicki
Author and journalism educator Esther Wojcicki, Silicon Valley’s “mother of dragons,” talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results.
In this episode: Why Wojcicki became a journalism educator and why she threw out her curriculum in the mid-1980s; how she became “the Woj” to her students; embracing the internet and news literacy; the state of journalism in 2019; the power of giving kids independence; how Esther raised her own daughters: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki and epidemiologist Janet Wojcicki; persisting in the face of gender discrimination; why she wasn’t surprised by the college admissions cheating scandal; why relationships, not wealth, lead to happiness; being surrounded by the extreme wealth of Silicon Valley; is the internet corrosive to kids?; how to fix the internet; and how to train and prepare children for the digital age.
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53:4510/05/2019
Recode Decode: Sam Harris
Writer and podcaster Sam Harris talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his views on Islam, social media, and President Trump.
In this episode: Harris’ background; why he wrote his first book; the controversy around his books about religion and why Harris didn’t initially call himself an “atheist"; Islamophobia and Harris’ enemies; Christopher Hitchens and the performance of public debate; identity politics; feminism and hijabs; white supremacists online; the terror attacks in Sri Lanka and New Zealand; the Trump effect; Should Jack Dorsey delete Twitter?; Harris and Swisher’s Twitter history; free speech online; what should tech companies do and what should be done to them?; the “moral panic” side of #MeToo; and keeping focused on the right problems.
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01:42:2708/05/2019
Recode Decode: Tristan Harris
Tristan Harris, the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the latest problem he and his peers are trying to solve: "Human downgrading."
In this episode: Harris’ background as a design ethicist Google; how his previous movement, Time Well Spent, was co-opted by the tech industry; how are Apple and Google's "digital well-being" features doing?; the utopian promise of tech; why Harris shifted to focus on “downgrading”; what the Center for Humane Technology does; has Harris gotten through to tech's leaders?; why Facebook and YouTube are worse than Shell and Exxon; digital platforms as cities; what we need to do now; techlash; the (sort of) good news; are CEOs just hoping this goes away on its own?; and why removing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is "critical."
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01:06:5906/05/2019
Recode Decode: Trash in space, diversity in STEM and artificial meat at TED 2019
Kara Swisher's executive producer, Erica Anderson, talks with four TED Fellows at the 2019 TED Conference in Vancouver. In this collection of mini-interviews, you'll hear from biologist Danielle Lee, space environmentalist Moriba Jah, astrophysicist Erika Hamden and Good Food Institute founder Bruce Friedrich.
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01:06:4629/04/2019
Recode Decode: Journalist Julia Angwin
Julia Angwin, the former editor-in-chief of The Markup, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live podcast recorded in Washington, DC.
In this episode: How Angwin got into journalism; why weren’t people always angry about tech privacy?; ProPublica’s investigations into tech companies; the "ungovernable" tech giants; leaving ProPublica to co-found The Markup; Angwin’s co-founders, Jeff Larson and Sue Gardner; what the hell happened?; what part of it was Angwin’s fault?; the difference between being skeptical and negative; Larson’s Medium post and Craig Newmark’s reaction; is it easier to raise money for advocacy news?; media literacy for young people; "scientific journalism"; and what Angwin will do next.
This special episode of Recode Decode with Kara Swisher was taped in front of a live audience at The LINE DC to celebrate Vox’s fifth anniversary. If you enjoyed it, we think you’ll also enjoy this live taping of The Weeds, and this special episode of The Ezra Klein Show featuring Vox’s co-founders Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Vox Media’s Publisher Melissa Bell.
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47:3826/04/2019
Recode Decode: Why thinking about your death five times a day is good for you
WeCroak co-founder Hansa Bergwall talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his mobile app, which reminds users of death five times a day.
In this episode: Why thinking about death is good for you; how WeCroak got started; the “Emily Dickinson test”; why it’s called WeCroak; why Bergwall and his co-founder avoided ads and social media hooks; you’re going to die, but "do whatever you want” with that information; Steve Jobs’ speech about death; how the misguided ways we think about death affect our whole lives; Silicon Valley’s deluded attempts to cheat death; why almost every form of meditation can be “abused”; Kara’s favorite death quotes; and why WeCroak doesn’t talk about the afterlife.
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46:1924/04/2019
Recode Decode: Why tech is "flunking" the diversity test
Venture capitalist and prominent activist Freada Kapor Klein, the founder of Kapor Capital, talks with Recode's Teddy Schleifer about diversity in tech and impact investing.
In this episode: In this episode: Kapor Klein’s background; her first forays into activism; why the term “sexual coercion” is more meaningful in the workplace than “sexual harassment”; holding managers accountable when they don’t live a company’s values; why did Kapor Klein and her husband Mitch Kapor become impact investors?; how to have values as a VC; being an Uber investor during the company’s discrimination scandal; how is Dara Khosrowshahi doing?; why the venture capital industry is “flunking” the diversity test; startups that widen inequality; the problem with how All Raise measures diversity; Kapor Klein’s publicly quiet supporters; what does impact investing really mean?; Bill McGlashan and the college admissions scandal; making college admissions more equitable; why Kapor Klein is optimistic about the world; and the 2020 presidential campaign.
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01:02:3122/04/2019
Recode Decode: Ford CTO Ken Washington
Ford CTO Ken Washington talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about AI and autonomous vehicles in this live interview recorded at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC.
In this episode: The current state of autonomous vehicles; where Ford is testing its self-driving cars and why it picked those cities; 3-D printing and other AI-enabled engineering tools; mapping the whole world, again; Ford’s history in self-driving and the DARPA challenge; the difference between a human car collision and an AI one; when will we see the first fully self-driving cars?; is Ford still a "car company?"; the medium- and long-term vision of AI-enabled vehicles; how AI could fix wrinkly seats (and make driving safer); the creepy side of AI; data privacy and ethics; how Ford works with the big tech companies getting into the car business; the weirdest, scariest, and coolest things Washington has seen from AI; the cool side of deepfakes; hovercrafts, VTOL vehicles and scooters; the impact of self-driving cars on jobs; and equity of access to self-driving cars.
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01:10:0717/04/2019
Recode Decode: PBS CEO Paula Kerger
Paula Kerger, the president and CEO of PBS, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of public media as President Trump is trying to cut its federal funding.
In this episode: How Kerger got to PBS 13 years ago; why running it is more like running a co-op than a normal company; the decline of local media; how public media is funded; bringing PBS into the digital age; why it’s backed off of Netflix in favor of competitors like Amazon; YouTube isn’t just a stepping-stone to TV; the commercial cable channels that gave up on PBS-style content; how important is broadcast for PBS’ future?; how it builds for mobile streaming; investigative journalism in VR; has content changed in the digital era?; kids’ shows like Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood; Trump’s proposal to close the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; why that would hurt rural communities the most; why PBS is not “liberal”; and where will PBS be in 20 years?
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55:2015/04/2019
Recode Decode: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about breaking up Big Tech, immigration, hate speech, and more.
In this episode: Foreign influence on the 2016 election; protecting future elections; Silicon Valley's days of self-regulation are "probably" numbered; state and federal privacy legislation; net neutrality; hate speech online and how "haters" make themselves victims; should Washington break up Big Tech?; Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act "could be a question mark and in jeopardy"; Democrats' relationship with tech; illegal immigration and startup founders; education and job automation; how Donald Trump and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez use Twitter; Trump's tweets "have cheapened the presidency"; the media's complicity; should there be no political ads on the internet?; and how Pelosi's coat became a meme.
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51:3812/04/2019
Recode Decode: "The Uninhabitable Earth" author David Wallace-Wells
Journalist David Wallace-Wells talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming.
In this episode: How Wallace-Wells got to writing about climate change; common misconceptions about it; “we’ve made no progress at all” on clean energy use; his first story about global warming; the ripple effects and “all-encompassing threat” of warming around the world; today’s storms are literally unprecedented; why Silicon Valley has invested little into solutions; apocalypse bunkers and escaping to space; theoretical solutions on Earth that we could undertake right now; Bill Gates and Elon Musk; “we need a million solutions,” not one; the immediate political implications; how the US and China are contributing to the problem; “we’re not in this situation because of the Republican Party”; the problem with the Paris accords; and why technology won’t magically save us.
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56:5110/04/2019
Recode Decode: Meredith Whittaker and Kate Crawford
AI Now Institute founders Meredith Whittaker and Kate Crawford talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about artificial intelligence in this live interview recorded at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC.
In this episode: What is the AI Now Institute?; how "dirty data" can lead to faulty AI conclusions; how machine learning works; the “whack-a-mole” problem of biased search results; the politics of AI; diversity in computer science; what systems should not be run by humans?; Amazon's résumé-scanning AI failure; how the industry is trying to regulate itself and “ethics theater”; which federal agency should monitor AI in the US?; China’s creepy “social credit score”; the ways facial recognition and other invasions of privacy are creeping into the US, too; the Google walkout and protecting whistleblowers inside tech companies; and why Elon Musk is wrong about AI’s dangers.
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01:04:5608/04/2019
Recode Decode: Valerie Jarrett
Valerie Jarrett, who was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward.
In this episode: What Jarrett did in the Obama White House; her early childhood in Iran; why she became a lawyer, but gave up practicing law to get into politics; why Jarrett never ran for office herself, and what she looks for in the candidates she helps; the aftermath of the 2016 election; why today's Republicans are "delighted" when people don't vote; could the Obama administration have done anything differently?; Roseanne Barr's tweets and the big question: Can we "disagree without being disagreeable?"; why Jarrett joined the board of Lyft; why everyone has to vote, and the big topics for Democrats in 2020; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; and what Jarrett has learned about finding her voice that she wants to pass on to others.
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01:04:3503/04/2019
Recode Decode: Ashton Applewhite
Writer and activist Ashton Applewhite talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism."
In this episode: What society gets wrong about aging; a realistic picture of mental and physical decline; why Applewhite wrote her "manifesto"; why we need to start with ourselves to fight ageism; how Silicon Valley fetishizes youth; How do you change attitudes in tech?; tech’s investments in delaying aging and extending healthspan; and the medical benefits of having a realistic attitude towards aging.
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45:5901/04/2019
Recode Decode: Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram
Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of daily news podcasts and the future of the medium.
In this episode: How Rameswaram got into public radio and then podcasting; why Serial took off and how it changed the podcast landscape; the daily news explainer podcasts The Daily, Up First, and Today Explained; how Today, Explained got started and how Rameswaram thinks about his job as host; how the show chooses what to cover; the future of podcasting; Gimlet's $300 million sale to Spotify; and is there a podcast bubble?
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54:4427/03/2019
Recode Decode: Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton and Deeds Not Words founder Wendy Davis (live at SXSW)
Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton and Deeds Not Words founder Wendy Davis talk with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview from South by Southwest 2019.
In this episode: Youthful political energy in the US and Texas; the history of women and people of color not being seen in politics and tech; Hamilton's Twitter tiff with Paul Graham; how Davis' group Deeds Not Words gets women in the room; her 13-hour filibuster and the way it echoed into 2018; are things getting better and what's next?; the national political mood and Davis's next act; making apologies and accommodations for the people who discriminate; how people pressured Hamilton to prove herself immediately; who has the responsibility to increase diversity?; why do people keep talking to Kara Swisher?; Fox News and brainwashing; and the next generation of Americans.
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01:09:4125/03/2019
Recode Decode: dtx CEO Tim Armstrong and Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra (live at An Evening With Code Commerce)
In this episode, you'll hear two interviews from the latest edition of An Evening With Code Commerce in Las Vegas: First, the dtx company CEO Tim Armstrong talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Jason Del Rey about his investment company's plans to bring online retailers into the physical world with Coachella-like festival events; then, Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra talks with Del Rey about how the clothing reseller became the second-most-popular iPhone shopping app in the United States.
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01:30:4723/03/2019
Recode Decode: Richard Walker
Historian and urbanist Richard Walker, a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his latest book, Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In this episode: How California has historically been affected by economic growth; the Bay Area’s first tech boom, the 1849 gold rush; why has California had so many booms?; the social impacts of this change; waking up to the downside of tech prosperity; “money is literally burning holes in their pockets”; the "bottleneck effect” that created the housing crisis and shoved out the working class; why “just build more” isn’t a realistic solution; what does “gone city” mean?; taxes, job growth and the coming recession; how the ubiquity of tech will spur innovation — but not necessarily in San Francisco; and why taxing the rich and big corporations creates equality.
Today's show is brought to you by Microsoft Azure. Check out: Azure.com/trial to sign up for a trial today!
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57:0620/03/2019
Recode Decode: Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition (Live at SXSW 2019)
European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at South by Southwest 2019.
In this episode: America's newfound appetite for tech regulation; why Vestager doesn't agree with Elizabeth Warren's "break them up" pitch; how Vestager assesses her tenure; why Big Tech is like pesticides; does GDPR favor larger companies?; the big problem with smart home devices; Mark Zuckerberg's pledge to pivot Facebook toward privacy; what Vestager will do after her current term ends; ethics in AI; why has there not been a tech giant out of Europe; what the next commissioner for competition should focus on; countering the forces of populism and nationalism; and the shifting priorities of antitrust.
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01:04:3118/03/2019
Recode Decode: Senator Amy Klobuchar
Amy Klobuchar, the senior U.S. Senator from Minnesota who is running for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2020 presidential race, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at South by Southwest.
In this episode: The infamous comb incident; why Klobuchar thinks she can win; big pharma and big tech; why Klobuchar is aiming for the center while her fellow Democrats are pulling left; what she learned from studying Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss; the crowded Democratic field; the need for urgent action on climate change; Elizabeth Warren's proposal to break up the tech companies and Klobuchar's own agenda for tech; should Facebook and Google be broken up?; the prospects of a federal data privacy bill; does Klobuchar trust tech companies?; do they like her?; Paul Manafort's initial prison sentence; the Mueller Report; President's Trump's coziness with Vladimir Putin and his attacks on the press; impeachment; Rep. Ilhan Omar's comments on Israel; and what politicians Klobuchar looks up to.
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01:08:4516/03/2019
Recode Decode: Kathy Griffin
Comedian Kathy Griffin talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the notorious photo shoot that got her investigated by the Secret Service — and her new self-financed stand-up special, A Hell of a Story.
In this episode: The notorious severed-head photo shoot; what happened after the initial wave of backlash; Griffin's run-ins with Donald Trump before he ran for president; why she believes the current battle with Trump is "historic"; Elon Musk; "I've been in Hollywood trouble, but never two federal agencies"; why she had to distribute her new stand-up special herself; does she regret taking the photo?; Anderson Cooper's reaction; Griffin's issues with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and why "he should resign"; how to regulate the social media companies; Griffin's thoughts on the 2020 candidates; speech should be regulated by social media first, not governments; "It took like a good week to talk my own mother out of the fact that I'm not in ISIS"; living next door to the Kardashians, and her other, crazier neighbor; what happens to Griffin's career now?; and advice for women entering the workforce.
Today's show is brought to you by Microsoft Azure. Check out Azure.com/trial to sign up for a trial today!
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01:04:5313/03/2019
Recode Decode: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at Lesbians Who Tech in San Francisco.
In this episode: Why YouTube turned off comments for tens of millions of videos recently; its latest attempts to keep kids safe; the criteria it weighs when making a policy change; toxicity in YouTube's comments; what would it do if it lost section 230 immunity?; "the only way to solve this, at the end of the day, is going to be with a combination of human and machines"; diversity in YouTube's leadership; the Google walkout; should Google put a non-executive employee on its board?; contractors in tech; and do the leaders in Silicon Valley "get it?"
Thanks to Microsoft Azure for sponsoring this episode. Get started with a free account and 12 months of popular free services at Azure.com/trial today.
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34:5711/03/2019
Recode Decode: Hudson's Bay Company CEO Helena Foulkes
Hudson's Bay Company CEO Helena Foulkes talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at An Evening With Code Commerce in Las Vegas.
In this episode: Yep, Foulkes was considered for the Uber CEO job; her background at CVS; how she came to Hudson's Bay; why she sold its European department stores, Gilt Groupe, and Home Outfitters; the importance of making retail shopping an experience; how Foulkes is rethinking Saks Off Fifth; "you can never out-Amazon Amazon"; how do physical retail stores use data?; and what will the store of the future look like?
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42:0909/03/2019