
Decoder with Nilay Patel
940 episodes — Page 17 of 19

Ep 139Recode Decode: Erica Baker, director of engineering, Kickstarter; Sarah Kunst, CEO, ProDay
Diversity advocate and Kickstarter director Erica Baker and ProDay CEO Sarah Kunst talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about the conditions that led so many venture capitalists to abuse their power over female tech founders. Kunst, who was sexually harassed by 500 Startups founder Dave McClure, says the time has come to "turn the lights on full blast" and expose bad actors rather than tiptoeing around the problem. Baker, who gained a reputation as a "troublemaker" from her efforts to make Google salaries more transparent, theorizes that harassment and exclusion have run rampant because of the cult of specialness around coding ability, and calls out tech companies that are not holding themselves accountable. Kunst also explains what's wrong with Reid Hoffman's decency pledge and why former Uber engineer Susan Fowler was the "perfect victim." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 138Recode Decode: Frances Frei, SVP of leadership and strategy, Uber
Live onstage: Uber SVP Frances Frei talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about the future of the beleaguered ride-hailing company. Frei came to Uber from Harvard Business School, where she studied leadership and diversity, and says the company's problems are neither unusual nor unfixable. Uber's employees want to do the right thing, she explains, but have been historically let down by management and not given an outlet to call out bad behavior. Frei also talks about why she rejects Uber board member Arianna Huffington's concept of "zero tolerance," why ex-CEO Travis Kalanick can be redeemed and how to fix the broader epidemic of sexual harassment in Silicon Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 137Recode Decode: Cory Booker, U.S. Senator
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker talks with Recode’s Tony Romm about the current state of politics under President Trump and how he thinks the U.S. government should respond to the tech sector. Booker says he’s eager to see Trump gone, but that Democrats can’t solely define themselves as the “resistance” and shouldn’t sink to his level of online vitriol. He argues that Congress should take a skeptical look at the consolidation of companies like Amazon and Whole Foods, and not accept at face value that tech’s role should be “to create a handful of billionaires”; instead, Booker says, protecting consumers and broadening America’s access to science and technology should be the top priorities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 136Recode Decode: Tolga Kurtoglu, CEO, PARC
PARC CEO Tolga Kurtoglu talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about leading the iconic Silicon Valley research and development firm, formerly known as Xerox PARC, which works with companies and government agencies to imagine the future of work. Kurtoglu says PARC is thinking a lot about how humans and artificial intelligence agents will work together and how to build a “trustable” AI that can explain how it reaches its conclusions. He also talks about why Silicon Valley has held on to its leadership in tech innovation and what responsibilities the tech sector has as its creations disrupt established industries and eliminate jobs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 135Recode Decode: Lisa Dickey, author, 'Bears in the Streets'
"Bears in the Streets" author Lisa Dickey talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, which chronicles three trips to Russia at three very different times in its history — 1995, 2005 and 2015. Dickey's first journey across the continent was a pioneering work of digital photography and early web publishing, while her later trips illuminated how tech, politics and everything else was changing. She says Americans get a lot wrong about the Russian people and Russians get a lot wrong about Americans, but the two countries have more in common than they realize. Dickey shares some of the strangest stories from her visits to the country, including an unexpectedly contentious trip to see the Matt Damon movie "The Martian" and arguments over whether 9/11 was an inside job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 134Recode Decode: Reid Hoffman, partner, Greylock
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, now a venture capitalist at Greylock Partners, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about why Silicon Valley has remained the epicenter of tech for decades and what’s next for entrepreneurs, investors and consumers. Hoffman explains why LinkedIn sold itself to Microsoft, why Airbnb hasn’t gone public yet and why he believes everyone in politics and business should adopt the “Spider-Man” motto: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Later in the show, he discusses his increasing involvement in liberal politics and his enduring friendship with conservative Trump supporter Peter Thiel, whom Hoffman met as a college undergraduate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 133Recode Decode: Adam Lashinsky, author, 'Wild Ride'
Fortune Executive Editor Adam Lashinsky talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book "Wild Ride: Inside Uber's Quest for World Domination." In this live interview, recorded after Travis Kalanick had announced a leave of absence from Uber but before he resigned as CEO, Lashinsky talks about trying to find Kalanick's "Rosebud" and why he didn't discover the now-infamous dark side of Uber's culture that was exposed by Susan Fowler and other former employees. He says despite the brand being "severely tarnished," Uber can reshape its corporate culture and bounce back because "[not] every person is rotten." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 132Recode Decode: Cecile Richards, president, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (Code Conference 2017)
In this special bonus episode from the 2017 Code Conference, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the nonprofit has dealt with controversy and political opposition under President Trump. Republicans in Washington are attempting to limit the organization, which Richards says would undermine access to local health services and cause the rates of STIs and abortions to go up. Planned Parenthood will continue to exist even if the GOP's health care bill passes, she says, but it's still fighting to remain a public benefit, with funds for most of its services being reimbursed by the government. Richards also talks about how her team uses social media and texting and why she wants to use drones to air-drop birth control. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 131Recode Decode: Mark Hurd, co-CEO, Oracle
In this live interview, Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how Oracle transitioned its business to the cloud, which is the fastest-growing segment of all enterprise spending. Hurd says a large, process-laden company like Oracle can't risk getting complacent and out-innovated by smaller startups, and had to weather some unhappy investors on Wall Street for many quarters because building out cloud services takes time and money. He also talks about immigration policy, job automation and why Steve Jobs once told him he would hate to have Hurd's job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 130Recode Decode: Jill Soloway, creator, 'Transparent' (Code Conference 2017)
In this special bonus episode from the 2017 Code Conference, Jill Soloway, the creator of the Amazon TV series "Transparent," talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about their new show, "I Love Dick," which stars Kevin Bacon and Kathryn Hahn. They say Amazon is more hands-off than traditional TV networks and has helped diversify the female characters we see on TV. Soloway's company, Topple Productions, is aimed at disrupting the "white male gaze" and giving power to creators who otherwise might not have it, and they recall how, after losing twice at the Golden Globes, Jeff Bezos encouraged them to keep effecting social change through storytelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 129Recode Decode: Scott Galloway, founder, L2
L2 founder and New York University professor Scott Galloway talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the biggest companies in tech are disrupting retail, jobs, advertising and more. Galloway says the U.S. is incredibly "over-stored" and predicts that Amazon is well positioned to quadruple what its Prime customers spend. He also explains why most brands should worry about their future stability, and what a handful — including Apple and Disney — have done right to defend themselves. Later in the show, Galloway grades how Google, Facebook, Netflix and more are doing and makes the case for executive changes at Uber and Snapchat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 128Recode Decode: Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State (Code Conference 2017)
In this special bonus episode from the 2017 Code Conference, former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and The Verge's Walt Mossberg about the mistakes she made during the campaign and what she thinks in hindsight about criticism of her private email server and paid speeches to Goldman Sachs. Clinton says "anti-American forces" are continually trying to undermine America's security and unity and that she believes saboteurs from Russia were directly aided by Americans, likely including Donald Trump. She criticizes Facebook's spreading of "fake news" and the eagerness of the media to amplify Trump's message, but also the failures of the Democratic National Committee's "poor" data campaign in 2016 as contributing factors to her defeat. Looking forward, Clinton says she's "hopeful" that Democrats will regain control of the House of Representatives in 2018 and "hold [our] own" in the Senate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 127Recode Decode: Kevin Systrom, CEO, Instagram
Instagram CEO and co-founder Kevin Systrom talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why he's still working at Facebook five years after it bought his company for $1 billion. Systrom shares what he has learned from the executives there and why he insisted from day one that his new colleagues not call Instagram a "photo-sharing app" — which surprised Mark Zuckerberg. He also addresses allegations that Instagram has "copied" features from Snapchat, saying no tech product is completely original and that it's better for consumers if companies in the same space are constantly trying to one-up each other. Later in the show, Systrom explains why he feels personally responsible to make the internet a safer place, and what he's doing toward that goal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 126Recode Decode: Boris Sofman, CEO, Anki
Anki CEO Boris Sofman talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about the future of robotics and why his company is starting with robots that entertain people: The artificially intelligent toy cars Anki Drive, released in 2013, and the emotive pet-like Cozmo, which came out in 2016. Sofman says designing for cuteness makes it easier for humans to accept when the robot makes an error, and is a low-risk way to make all robots better at skills like computer vision. He also talks about the current state of self-driving cars and why the biggest danger robots currently pose to humanity is being misused by human operators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 125Recode Decode: David Marcus, VP of Messaging, Facebook
Facebook's messaging products boss, David Marcus, talks with Recode's Kurt Wagner about how the company is trying turn its Messenger app into a hub for interactions between companies and consumers. Marcus explains what Facebook learned from last year's rollout of "bots" on the platform and why the latest tools are poised to be more useful. He also explains why Facebook is not planning to take a cut of purchases made within Messenger and how it's balancing plans to inject ads into the app with users' privacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 124Recode Decode: Patrick Collison, CEO, Stripe
Stripe CEO Patrick Collison talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the company he and his brother started in 2010 evolved from a service for other small startups into a global payments platform for companies of all sizes. He discusses why Stripe recently hired a new security head, DARPA alum Peiter Zatko, and why our data is safer in the hands of companies like Google and Facebook than it is with hospitals or telecom giants. Collison also argues that U.S. immigration policy, and restrictive housing policies in the San Francisco Bay Area, are imperiling Silicon Valley's ability to continually innovate in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 123Recode Decode: Behind the scenes of 'The Handmaid's Tale'
"The Handmaid's Tale" creator and showrunner Bruce Miller talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new adaptation of the dystopian Margaret Atwood novel, which recently debuted on Hulu. Miller discusses the aptness of the show's political themes, and why he's excited to tell stories beyond the ones explicitly laid out in Atwood's text. He also chats about the impact that tech companies like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have had on Hollywood, and weighs the benefits of TV's golden age against the risk that viewers might start to get impatient as they binge through high-quality content faster than it can be made. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 122Recode Decode: Sheryl Sandberg
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Option B," which she wrote after the sudden death of her husband, entrepreneur Dave Goldberg. This latest book is more raw than her first, "Lean In," combining Sandberg's personal journal entries with research about all kinds of adversity, as explained by her co-author, psychologist Adam Grant. Sandberg explains what most people get wrong about grief and how to talk to those who are in mourning. She also calls for a reexamination of corporate and public policies around parental leave, health care and bereavement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 121Recode Decode: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai talks with Recode's Tony Romm about his first three months on the job and what critics of his plan to roll back Obama-era net neutrality rules get wrong. Pai says the FCC should be an apolitical agency that focuses on how to create the most "digital opportunity" for everyone and that preemptively regulating how ISPs compete with one another isn't appropriate. He also discusses his relationships with both Congress and Donald Trump, who he says has not meddled at all in the agency's decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 120Recode Decode: How 'Dear Evan Hansen' brought social media to Broadway
Stacey Mindich and Steven Levenson, the producer and book writer of "Dear Evan Hansen," talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the hit Broadway musical depicts the current state of social media and isolation. The show centers on a socially anxious teenager who tells a big lie about a dead classmate, and Levenson says it asks a question that's just as potent in the real world: Through the internet, can something fake turn into something real? Mindich talks about how the story of "Dear Evan Hansen" evolved to speak to multiple generations and how its creators have reached an ardent base of fans online, some of whose faces are now a literal part of the show. They also discuss the post-"Hamilton" era on Broadway, where technologically-minded events like "The Encounter" are rubbing shoulders with old-school live theater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 119Recode Decode: Mike Judge, Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanijani and more
The creators and most of the cast of HBO's 'Silicon Valley' talk with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview, recorded in San Francisco after the premiere of the first two episodes of Season Four. Executive Producer Mike Judge talks about the challenge of staying relevant and topical when the show is written and filmed so far ahead of when it airs; star Thomas Middleditch, who plays Pied Piper founder Richard Hendricks, says the past year has made him apprehensive about privacy, data collection and social media algorithms; and costar Amanda Crew, who plays venture capitalist Monica Hall, talks about investing in real tech companies with female founders. Also: Kumail Nanjiani, who plays Dinesh Chugtai, begs for free Apple products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 118Recode Decode: Matt Ross, actor/director
Actor Matt Ross talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about playing Hooli CEO Gavin Belson on HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” which just started its fourth season. Ross, who previously played Alby Grant on “Big Love,” says he tries to make the antagonists he plays sympathetic and sincere, even in a goofy comedy like “Silicon Valley.” He also talks about his first film, “Captain Fantastic,” which was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, and the balance between tech companies and Hollywood, as Amazon and Netflix bid for top film and TV talent. That competition has been great for outsiders getting their stories told, but Ross wonders: What happens if the new money goes away? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 117Recode Decode: Steve Hilton, CEO, Crowdpac
Crowdpac CEO Steve Hilton talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how his website is making it easier for anyone to explore running for office and to collect donations for political causes and campaigns. Hilton, a former advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, says the need to raise money “underpins a huge proportion of what’s wrong with politics,” and wants more diverse voices in the fray. A supporter of both Brexit and candidate Trump, he says the U.S. president needs to stop listening to Republicans in Congress and focus on “positive populism” — meaning solutions to the anxiety over jobs and the economic growth that helped Trump beat Hillary Clinton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 116Recode Decode: Rep. Ro Khanna
Congressman Ro Khanna talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Tony Romm about why the people who have benefitted most from technology have a civic duty to give back to their country. Rep. Khanna's district, CA-17, covers several major Silicon Valley companies, including Apple, Intel, Yahoo and eBay, and he calls on the people creating "wealth and success" to help others succeed, including their own workers. Khanna argues that net neutrality is a major issue in need of more attention, and calls FCC chairman Ajit Pai "one of the worst picks possible in government" and a mouthpiece for the telecom industry. He also discusses immigration reform, the transition to "21st century jobs" and why President Trump's tweets are so effective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 115Recode Decode: Laura Weidman Powers, CEO, Code2040
Code2040 CEO and co-founder Laura Weidman Powers talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the mistakes employees and managers make when they talk about diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Companies need to make fundamental changes to how they hire and operate to be welcoming destinations for underrepresented minorities, Weidman says. She discusses the inherent flaws in most "unconscious bias" training and what Code2040 has done differently when it partners with tech companies, finding jobs for hundreds of black and latino students over the past five years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 114Recode Decode: Bijan Sabet, general partner, Spark Capital
Spark Capital General Partner Bijan Sabet talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about being a venture capitalist based on the East Coast, and how he became an early investor in companies like Twitter, Tumblr and Cruise. Sabet also discusses why he has become more politically vocal under President Trump, and urges tech CEOs to follow the lead of their employees in speaking out; the answer on all sides, he says, is to let more voices be heard. Sabet also talks about the failure of the personal-drone company he backed, Lily; and the blunt truth about venture capital — even good VCs are wrong most of the time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 113Recode Decode: Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia talks about adversity and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick
Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia talks with Recode's Kurt Wagner about how he and his team built a social network for neighborhoods, with a focus on trust and privacy that forced the company to grow slower than most tech startups. Tolia was previously the CEO of Epinions, which after a merger became Shopping.com and sold to eBay. After a sports startup called Fanbase fizzled, Tolia was challenged by Benchmark's Bill Gurley to try again, and today Nextdoor is worth more than $1 billion. Having faced adversity and a public image problem of his own, he also shares some leadership advice for Uber CEO Travis Kalanick: Deal with your issues quickly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 112Recode Decode: Kim Malone Scott, author, ‘Radical Candor’
"Radical Candor" author and CEO coach Kim Malone Scott talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how to be a better manager and leader. Based on her personal experiences at Apple, Google and several tech startups, Scott argues that most management failings come from bosses who are too nice rather than too mean, especially when they're talking to someone who looks different than them. She also discusses the current management crisis at Uber, which she attributes to a culture of "unchecked unilateral authority" that would be more at home in a "baboon troupe or totalitarian regime." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 111Recode Decode: Daniel Lurie, CEO, Tipping Point Community
Tipping Point Community CEO Daniel Lurie talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his organization's efforts to fight homelessness in San Francisco. He says it's all too easy to "not see" the incredible poverty and inequality in the Bay Area if you commute into Silicon Valley every day, which means people in tech must be educated about the problem if they're going to be part of the solution. Lurie calls on techies of means, the beneficiaries of "this incredible moment in time," to get involved in philanthropy. He argues that civic involvement won't last if it's mandated from the outside, and that companies must see it as a cultural priority, with the energy to help coming from the top of the org chart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 110Recode Decode: How HBO's 'Veep' is reacting to Trump (Live at SXSW)
"Veep" actors Tim Simons and Matt Walsh and showrunner David Mandel talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about the upcoming sixth season of the HBO political satire. Speaking in front of a live audience at South by Southwest, they recount how they found out on set that Donald Trump had won the presidency, and why it's not their job to respond to the new administration directly. Instead, they say, "Veep" will continue mocking the hypocrisy at all levels of politics and on both sides of the aisle, showing what happens to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character, Selina Meyer, after she loses the presidency and is a private citizen once again. The trio also talks about the addictiveness of Twitter, whether "Veep" would work in virtual reality, and why everyone in D.C. is oblivious when they get parodied. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 109Recode Decode: Crooked Media founders: We're podcasting the Trump resistance (Live at SXSW)
Crooked Media Founders Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their hit podcast, "Pod Save America," in a live interview at South by Southwest 2017. Having previously worked as speechwriters and spokespersons for the Obama administration, the trio discusses what Democrats missed during the 2016 election and how the new "opposition party" to Donald Trump can best focus its resistance. They explain how they run their "progressive media company," which cares more about impact than income, and why they're not excited by the prospect of a presidential run from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 108Recode Decode: Quincy Smith, partner, Code Advisors
Code Advisors Partner Quincy Smith talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the current state of mergers and acquisitions in tech and media. Smith, who previously worked at Netscape and CBS Interactive, says media companies consolidate in tough times, and a massive game of "sharks and minnows" has begun with AT&T's pending $85 billion deal to buy Time Warner. However, in a similar business climate, tech companies focus on their own products, and Smith argues that the rise of artificial intelligence is delaying or obviating the prospect of big new deals among internet and social media companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 107Recode Decode: Ron Johnson, CEO, Enjoy
Enjoy CEO Ron Johnson talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his long career in commerce, including 15 years at Target, and his 12 years at Apple, where he created the Apple Store. Johnson's current company Enjoy hand-delivers premium tech products and helps users with set-up to improve customer satisfaction. He argues that big retailers like Walmart need to innovate on the in-store experience and copy Amazon's approach to customer happiness and loyalty. Johnson also talks about working with longtime Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who initially hated the idea of the Genius Bar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 106Recode Decode: Brewster Kahle, chairman, The Internet Archive
Entrepreneur and archivist Brewster Kahle talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the 20th anniversary of the Internet Archive and why it's more important than ever to preserve our digital past. Kahle talks about the companies he founded and sold to AOL and Amazon — WAIS and Alexa, respectively — and how the nonprofit Archive has dealt with everything from copyright issues to social networking websites that are walling themselves off from the rest of the web. He also predicts where artificial intelligence goes from here, saying today's corporations and militaries are a sort of "proto-AI." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 105Recode Decode: Sue Decker, Raftr founder, and Michael Dearing, investor
Former Yahoo president Sue Decker and investor Michael Dearing talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about Raftr, Decker's recently launched social platform for sane, civil discussions about topics ranging from sports to "Game of Thrones" to President Trump. Decker says the success of sites like Slack and Nextdoor has demonstrated that Facebook and Twitter are not the end-all be-all of social media and says Raftr will give people the opportunity to find new like-minded friends. Later in the show, the two talk about the journalistic responsibilities of tech companies in a world of "fake news." Dearing, the founder of venture capital firm Harrison Metal, says big platforms like Facebook can do the most good by shining a "flashlight" on hoaxers, rather than trying to write rules that disallow it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 104Recode Decode: Jeremy Liew, partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners' Jeremy Liew talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about being a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley at a time when the Valley no longer represents most tech consumers. Liew argues that startup founders are popping up all over because they're now making products for Middle America and the third world, not just Palo Alto and Brooklyn. He also discusses working at AOL after the notorious Time Warner merger, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel's crucial insights that enabled Snapchat's success, and why he's not too concerned about "four years of bad presidency." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 103Recode Decode: Brad Stone, author, 'The Upstarts’
Bloomberg Tech journalist Brad Stone talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest book, "The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World." Stone argues that the stories of Uber and Airbnb are intertwined tales of competition, disruption and regulatory drama, and that both companies have driven CEOs who have found tremendous success despite several early missteps. Stone calls self-driving cars an "existential crisis" for Uber, and also talks about the future of Amazon, which he wrote about in his previous book, "The Everything Store." Stone says Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos might have a business problem under President Trump, as Bezos is also the owner of The Washington Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 102Recode Decode: Rolf Schrömgens, co-founder, Trivago
Trivago co-founder and Managing Director Rolf Schrömgens talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about starting a search engine for hotels and why he thinks much larger rivals like Google are at a disadvantage. Schrömgens says he expects the distinctions among hotels, Airbnb listings and other forms of temporary housing to collapse over time, and wants Trivago to be able to recommend the one ideal place for a user to stay, regardless of category. He also discusses why Germany has not developed a Silicon Valley-like tech scene and why anti-immigrant fervor in the U.S., U.K. and parts of Europe is only hurting those countries and leaving them open to startup-style disruption. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 101Recode Decode: Mike McCue, CEO, Flipboard
Flipboard CEO Mike McCue talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the recent relaunch of his company's news app, which will mixes human curation with algorithms to serve up magazine-like collections of stories. McCue reflects on why one of his first employers, Netscape, failed to look past competition with Microsoft, and why he counsels startup CEOs to focus on more than just their "exit." He also makes the case for online news consumers to value human editors and real identities, as fake news and anonymous harassment have come to define Facebook and Twitter, respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 100Recode Decode: 'Fun Home' author Alison Bechdel
"Fun Home" author and "Dykes to Watch Out For" creator Alison Bechdel talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience in San Francisco shortly after a performance of the Tony Award-winning musical based on "Fun Home." Bechdel says the rise of social media after her hit book led to widespread acclaim, but also overexposure. The namesake of the "Bechdel Test," which evaluates movies based on the number and interactions of their female characters, Bechdel explains how Donald Trump motivated her to resurrect "Dykes to Watch Out For" and why she was comforted by the Women's March on Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 100Recode Decode: John Markoff, ex-reporter, The New York Times
Technology journalist and former New York Times reporter John Markoff talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his nearly three-decade long career covering tech for the Times before retiring at the end of 2016. He reflects on why Steve Jobs was both a great and terrible person to interview and how science fiction books such as "Neuromancer," "Snow Crash" and "True Names" gave him a leg up on other reporters. Markoff says the most important issues facing the tech world today include the dangers of anonymity online; how scientific advances will make it easy to edit genes; and why roboticists need to focus on creating elder care robots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 99Recode Decode: Tristan Harris, founder, Time Well Spent
Time Well Spent founder Tristan Harris talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the persuasive techniques and tricks used by companies like Twitter, Google and Facebook to make people engage with them every day. Harris's movement wants tech companies to think more often about the ethics of their design decisions, and to value their users' attention. These design choices, Harris says, are often driven by the fundamental "background problem" of advertising, and he makes the case for an "organic food movement" for tech, where users could pay to be manipulated less. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 98Recode Decode: Tim Ferriss, author, "Tools of Titans"
"The 4-Hour Workweek" and "Tools of Titans" author Tim Ferriss talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his newest book, which compiles the life advice of the "titans" from tech, business and entertainment Ferriss has interviewed on his podcast, "The Tim Ferriss Show." He explains how forays into education, neuroscience, tech entrepreneurship and dietary supplements led him to become a self-help author, and what everyday people can learn from winners like investor Chris Sacca, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and actor BJ Novak. Ferriss also talks about why "voluntary suffering" is underrated and how ditching social media may make you happier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 97Recode Decode: Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx talks to Recode's Johana Bhuiyan about his last week in office and what he would do if given more time. In addition to self-driving car and drone regulations, Foxx said he would like to see more rail projects across the country, and discusses the feasibility of Elon Musk's Hyperloop concept, a privately funded high-speed rail alternative. Foxx also discusses President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to replace him, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, and why Congress needs to look closely at Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 96Recode Decode: Jennifer Hyman, CEO, Rent the Runway
Rent the Runway CEO and co-founder Jennifer Hyman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Jason Del Rey about her 50-year vision for changing consumer fashion habits. Now more than seven years old, Rent the Runway has six million female customers who rent designer clothes a la carte or three at a time via a $139 monthly subscription. Hyman also discusses the challenges she has faced as a female tech CEO, the most formidable of which emerged while building the company's culture. She says men and women alike are not taught to think of women's voices as inspirational, which makes everything from funding to laying people off more difficult. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 95Recode Decode: Othman Laraki, CEO, Color
Color Genomics co-founder and CEO Othman Laraki talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why we're on the verge of a healthcare revolution. Laraki, whose company tests buyers' genes for certain hereditary cancers, says the future of medicine will be defined by our ability to read data from our bodies. While most of that data used to be recorded on paper and stored at hospitals, now it's largely being generated and stored on our smartphones; he predicts that to achieve truly personalized medicine, we will need artificially intelligenct software that can comb this data, changing the role of doctors in the process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 94Recode Decode: Orkut Büyükkökten, Founder, Hello
Social networking pioneer Orkut Büyükkökten talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the eponymous social site, Orkut, which he built inside Google, and his new company, Hello. Büyükkökten says current social networks don't make it easy to meet new friends, and believes that Hello will introduce like-minded people to each other while encouraging them to be friendly and authentic. He also discusses why Orkut (the website) failed to catch on in the U.S. and why Hello is focusing initially on international markets such as Brazil and India. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 93Recode Decode: Tom Friedman
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, "Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations." As technology and globalization get ever faster, Friedman says, humans should double down on the values, skills and behaviors that computers can't perform. Reacting to the rise of president-elect Trump, Friedman says "we’ve gone too far" in shaping policies to benefit people who have made poor life decisions, and calls for everyone to become more entrepreneurial. Friedman also discusses why he doesn't use Facebook or Twitter, and why the reactions of companies like Google and Facebook to fake news are "bullshit." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 92Recode Decode: Reddit CEO Steve Huffman
Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why he covertly edited the posts of some Donald Trump supporters, and why he regrets it now. Huffman acknowledges his editing, which he conceived as a prank but many users saw as censorship, sowed distrust among the Reddit community that the company will have to win back. He also talks about the how Reddit is trying to combat harassment more generally, the role social media played in the election and why he believes Donald Trump would have still beaten Hillary Clinton without any "bigotry [or] nastiness." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 91Recode Decode: Vic Gundotra, CEO, AliveCor
AliveCor CEO Vic Gundotra talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his long career in tech, including his start as a college dropout at Microsoft and his seven years leading Google's mobile and social efforts. His current company helps consumers monitor their heart health via a portable EKG device that talks to their smartphones, and Gundotra says the potential of wearables and deep learning for healthcare is just starting to be unlocked. However, he calls the collapse of Theranos "an unmitigated disaster" for health tech, as it affects the opinions of both investors and consumers. Gundotra also discusses the Silicon Valley bubble and why he believes techies need to extend an olive branch to President-elect Trump and his supporters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices