Jonathan Neman, the co-founder of fast food salad chain Sweetgreen, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's techie side and the future of restaurants. In this episode: (01:26) How Sweetgreen got started; (04:14) Starting up in Washington, D.C.; (07:28) Why Sweetgreen sees itself as a "food platform"; (10:58) The challenges of food; (18:01) Sweetgreen's competitors and how it sources ingredients; (23:05) Online ordering; (27:21) Delivery and why other restaurants are giving up too mu...
Dec 17, 2018•55 min•Ep 312•Transcript available on Metacast Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson talks about his new film, a World War I documentary with sound and color called "They Shall Not Grow Old." In this episode: (00:37) Why he made the documentary; (06:21) The technology of WWI filmmaking; (08:33) Jackson's studios in New Zealand; (11:30) Does Jackson consider himself to be a technical person?; (14:39) The colorization of the old footage and addition of audio; (19:22) How the colors of the film were picked; (26:30) Machines, blood and feet; (32...
Dec 15, 2018•49 min•Ep 311•Transcript available on Metacast Vox.com founder and editor-at-large Ezra Klein talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the press, social media and President Trump in this live interview recorded in San Francisco. In this episode: (03:22) Why Ezra moved to DC; (07:22) Klein’s background and the “incestuous” Twitter culture of political journalists; (11:38) Media culture in the Trump era; (13:15) How DC has changed and “docile” journalists; (21:55) Ezra’s thesis about tech, media and Trump; (27:06) Media manipulation and the spee...
Dec 12, 2018•2 hr 35 min•Ep 309•Transcript available on Metacast Framebridge CEO Susan Tynan talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about starting and running the online framing startup. In this episode: (00:56) Tynan's background at the White House and LivingSocial; (03:53) What happened to LivingSocial; (06:53) Why Tynan started Framebridge; (10:19) The fundraising process; (15:27) Running Framebridge; (21:49) The challenges of being a leader; (25:58) Being a startup now in the era of Big Tech; (27:28) Amazon; (31:18) The move towards analog; (34:10) The weirdest...
Dec 10, 2018•51 min•Ep 308•Transcript available on Metacast Sam Altman, the president of YCombinator and co-chairman of OpenAI, joins Recode's Kara Swisher for this live interview at Manny's in San Francisco, moderated by Manny Yekutiel. In this episode: (01:45) What did techies think was going to happen?; (06:35) Would the techlash have been the same if Hillary Clinton had won?; (10:31) Did tech develop too quickly?; (18:06) What would change if tech's leaders were more diverse?; (19:47) Why Swisher and Altman considered running for office; (25:38) What...
Dec 08, 2018•1 hr 29 min•Ep 307•Transcript available on Metacast In this live interview recorded in Washington, D.C., Recode's Kara Swisher talks with three NBC and MSNBC journalists — Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell and Hallie Jackson — about social media, politics in the Trump era and how the media is changing. In this episode: (04:57) The impact of social media; (09:19) What mistakes did TV media make in 2016?; (15:19) How covering politics has changed in the Trump era; (27:48) What NBC News and MSNBC are doing differently now; (34:13) Covering the 2020 presid...
Dec 05, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Ep 306•Transcript available on Metacast The Atlantic national correspondent Franklin Foer talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, "World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech," which recently came out in paperback. In this episode: (01:37) Foer's background at Slate and the New Republic; (06:12) Chris Hughes and Guy Vidra; (13:59) Resigning from the New Republic; (19:26) How Foer started thinking about tech monopolies; (23:06) Why is the book called "World Without Mind?"; (28:23) Why did it take so long for people ...
Dec 03, 2018•57 min•Ep 305•Transcript available on Metacast Recode's Kara Swisher talks with her older son, Louie Swisher, and the Silicon Valley editor of the Verge, Casey Newton. Thank you to all of our listeners for 300 episodes. Here's to 300 more! In this episode: (01:27) The mess at Facebook and blaming Sheryl Sandberg; (06:01) Why Louie is cutting back on Snapchat and why Instagram is a “museum”; (08:38) The return of the group chat and the future of Instagram; (16:42) New social networks and Vine 2.0; (21:52) TikTok, teens and Facebook’s Lasso; (...
Dec 01, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep 304•Transcript available on Metacast University of Maryland professor and cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our Minds." In this episode: (01:14) How Gelfand became a cultural psychologist; (03:12) Why some countries have more rules than others; (08:35) Are techies rule breakers?; (13:28) What changes as successful companies get bigger?; (18:38) Why didn't anyone think about the psychological impact of the internet...
Nov 28, 2018•47 min•Ep 303•Transcript available on Metacast Rappler co-founder Maria Ressa talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about doing investigative journalism in the Philippines, where social media has emboldened an autocratic president. In this episode: (01:20) Ressa's background and the People Power Movement; (05:49) How she became a TV journalist on CNN and ABS-CBN; (10:35) Leaving ABS-CBN for the internet; (15:18) Starting Rappler; (25:54) "The Philippines is the cautionary tale for the United States"; (30:55) Bots and Facebook's non-response; (42:...
Nov 26, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep 302•Transcript available on Metacast Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen," and how the shift the cultural conversation about immigration. In this episode: (01:34) Vargas' background and why he became a journalist; (06:54) How he became an undocumented immigrant; (16:38) Class differences and telling the truth; (22:19) Did Vargas have any other options?; (27:09) Legality, politics and power; (32:42) Coming out as undocu...
Nov 24, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep 301•Transcript available on Metacast Six of the organizers of the Nov. 1 Google walkouts — Erica Anderson, Claire Stapleton, Meredith Whittaker, Stephanie Parker, Cecelia O'Neil-Hart and Amr Gaber — talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the worldwide protests came together and why Google's response has been inadequate. In this episode: (02:20) How the protests started; (07:13) The divide between tech rhetoric and tech reality; (10:24) How the organizers formulated their demands; (14:05) The rights of contractors at Google; (22:...
Nov 21, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep 300•Transcript available on Metacast Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff talks with Recode's Kara Swisher on the latest episode of her MSNBC TV show, "Revolution." Fan of the show? It helps to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nov 19, 2018•32 min•Ep 299•Transcript available on Metacast Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about free speech and censorship on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Fan of the show? It helps to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Notes from our sponsors:LEGO: In today's show, you heard advertising content from The LEGO Store. With LEGO, every gift has a story. Start your story today at LEGO.build/Recode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcas...
Nov 19, 2018•52 min•Ep 298•Transcript available on Metacast If you like Recode Decode, we think you'll also like Start to Sale. Here's the show's first episode: Christina Tosi is a superstar pastry chef, and she's also built one of the most iconic American pastry brands of this generation, Milk Bar. She talked to Erin and Natasha about her Series A round, learning how to be a great manager and staying true to her vision while achieving growth. Listen and subscribe to Start to Sale by Eater on Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts or ...
Nov 17, 2018•54 min•Ep 297•Transcript available on Metacast Stanford lecturer Kathleen Kelly Janus talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her book, "Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up and Make a Difference." In this episode: (01:17) Janus's background and what social entrepreneurship is; (05:26) What works and what doesn't; (08:36) For-profits and nonprofits; (13:11) What nonprofits have to do to get ahead; (18:40) New forms of fundraising and leadership; (22:35) The power of storytelling; (29:13) Where philanthropy is going...
Nov 14, 2018•44 min•Ep 296•Transcript available on Metacast Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at the AllRaise Summit in San Francisco. (Note: This interview was recorded before the midterms, on Nov. 1). In this episode: (03:15) What Yates has been doing since she was fired; (05:04) Why she came to the Justice Department in the first place; (09:04) Serving as Deputy Attorney General; (10:33) "The Mike Flynn stuff"; (15:52) The travel ban and being fired; (20:00) Why she stood up to the ...
Nov 12, 2018•57 min•Ep 295•Transcript available on Metacast Former Democratic fundraiser Steve Spinner talks with Recode's Teddy Schleifer about his online fundraising startup, RevUp. In this episode: (01:17) Spinner's background; (04:04) How he got into campaign finance; (08:29) How fundraising worked in the past and how it works now; (18:30) Why Spinner launched RevUp; (21:16) What is RevUp?; (30:20) Its new $7.5 million in funding; (36:38) Spinner's remaining ties to the Democratic party; (39:55) How fundraising has changed over time; (46:32) In the T...
Nov 10, 2018•54 min•Ep 294•Transcript available on Metacast Washington Post economics columnist Steven Pearlstein talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, "Can American Capitalism Survive?: Why Greed Is Not Good, Opportunity Is Not Equal, and Fairness Won’t Make Us Poor." In this episode: (01:57) Why Pearlstein wrote the book; (7:02) "We're not doing as well as we think we are."; (8:46) Is tech different from the rest of the economy?; (12:26) CEO salaries; (17:11) The "natural monopolies" of tech and how to break up Amazon; (23:07) Income ine...
Nov 07, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep 293•Transcript available on Metacast A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher of the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at a Columbia University event in New York City. In this episode: (03:05) 10 months in, how is Sulzberger doing?; (06:10) Meeting with Donald Trump and anti-media rhetoric; (12:08) Letting reporters' "voice" into the news; (19:24) Facebook and Google, the new "information monopolies"; (25:06) Can the NYT ever grow to their level?; (30:24) "The New York Times is not for sale." (35:16...
Nov 05, 2018•43 min•Ep 292•Transcript available on Metacast Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about Tesla's turbulent 2018, when SpaceX will send its first rocket to Mars, why he fights with journalists on Twitter and much more. In this episode: (01:49) Using Twitter without a filter; (04:50) Picking fights with the press; (07:59) The “excruciating” year of 2018; (10:54) Why does Musk push himself so hard?; (13:49) The toll on him and Tesla’s employees; (16:52) Self-inflicted wounds and sleep deprivation; (21:44) Tesla’s fir...
Nov 02, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep 291•Transcript available on Metacast New York Magazine writer Rebecca Traister talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger." In this episode: (01:37) Traister's background; (07:34) Her goal when she became a feminist journalist; (11:54) The state of women's anger post-2016; (17:26) Why is anger having a moment now?; (20:20) "I had no idea how common this was!"; (26:36) Rosa Parks, Abigail Adams and other angry women; (31:18) Anger, power and violence in the 2010s; (36...
Oct 31, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep 290•Transcript available on Metacast Tusk Ventures CEO Bradley Tusk returns to Recode Decode to talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, "The Fixer: My Adventures Saving Startups from Death by Politics." In this episode: (01:40) How Tusk Ventures works; (06:01) Writing "The Fixer"; (08:12) Have tech people gotten smarter about politics?; (13:40) The most important takeaway from the book; (19:49) Local politics and Bird; (25:05) Lemonde and FanDuel; (29:42) Eaze and recreational marijuana legalization; (32:57) Integrating...
Oct 29, 2018•58 min•Ep 289•Transcript available on Metacast Former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. In this episode: (3:56) The pipe bombs mailed to prominent Democrats; (10:42) The 2018 midterms and not fearing the future; (13:26) What will happen if the Democrats lose again?; (17:28) Russian meddling and “what happened” in 2016; (23:56) The culpability of social media companies; (28:13) What Facebook and the Obama a...
Oct 27, 2018•1 hr 19 min•Ep 288•Transcript available on Metacast Former Crowdpac CEO Steve Hilton talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest book, "Positive Populism," and his Fox News show, "The Next Revolution." In this episode: (01:57) Hilton's background and why he left Crowdpac; (09:45) Starting "The Next Revolution"; (15:04) Defining positive populism; (21:34) The history of populism; (25:50) Why Trump's populism is barely in the book; (28:38) Policies for workers; (35:46) Policies for families; (41:20) Policies for communities; (46:00) Tech regu...
Oct 24, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep 287•Transcript available on Metacast Actor and producer Sean Hayes talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at the Boomtown Brewery in Los Angeles. In this episode: (02:38) Hayes' background in music and dinner theater; (10:22) Moving to Los Angeles and doing commercials; (13:04) Acting on "Will & Grace"; (17:24) Ending the show and becoming a producer; (25:15) How the internet has changed producing; (33:05) The return of "Will & Grace"; (40:47) What will happen to the characters on "Will & Grace?"; (42:43) ...
Oct 22, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep 286•Transcript available on Metacast 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at the Rock Health Summit in San Francisco. In this episode: (01:30) Elizabeth Warren's heritage and disputed science; (08:10) 23andMe's business and the FDA under Trump; (12:09) The impact of Theranos' implosion; (14:24) The challenges of the consumer market and health analysis; (18:40) Privacy, consent and safety; (24:57) Techlash and being "lumped in"; (29:59) Anti-aging technology; (32:23) Partnering w...
Oct 20, 2018•47 min•Ep 285•Transcript available on Metacast Eric Garcetti, the twice-elected mayor of Los Angeles, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about politics in the city and California — and why he's thinking about running for President in 2020. In this episode: (01:35) Garcetti's background; (05:09) Why he ran for mayor; (07:10) The challenges faced by cities like Los Angeles; (09:21) Homelessness, housing and transportation; (13:47) Jobs, education and cities as the “laboratories of democracy”; (16:05) What Garcetti has done wrong; (19:02) Califor...
Oct 17, 2018•52 min•Ep 284•Transcript available on Metacast AnchorFree CEO David Gorodyansky talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the company's VPN app Hotspot Shield has led it to enter several other internet security concerns. In this episode: (01:52) What AnchorFree does and how it got started; (06:19) How the security industry has changed over time; (08:24) AnchorFree’s $300 million funding round and how it makes money; (16:09) What people shouldn’t be worried about online and what they should; (26:55) The problem with the internet of things; (...
Oct 15, 2018•48 min•Ep 283•Transcript available on Metacast 2U CEO Chip Paucek talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the future of online college education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Oct 13, 2018•49 min•Ep 282•Transcript available on Metacast 
