Decoder with Nilay Patel - podcast cover

Decoder with Nilay Patel

The Vergetheverge.com
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.

Episodes

Recode Media: Robin Williams biographer Dave Itzkoff

If you like Recode Decode, we think you'd also like Recode Media with Peter Kafka. Here's the latest episode of the show: New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about his new book, "Robin: The Definitive Biography of Robin Williams." Itzkoff traces the history of the manic comedian and actor, whose stardom spanned more than four decades in roles in TV shows, such as "Mork and Mindy," and movies, like "Good Will Hunting." After Williams' death by suicide in 2014, Itz...

May 19, 201850 minEp. 223

Recode Decode: Michael Pollan

Journalist and author Michael Pollan talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.” Pollan, perhaps best known for his books about food, like “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” says the new book traces his learning process as he tried to understand why almost every human society has experimented with mind-altering substances. Silicon Valley is certainly no...

May 16, 20181 hr 3 minEp. 222

Recode Decode: John Doerr

John Doerr, the chairman of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Teddy Schleifer about his new book, "Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs." Doerr credits two mentors, Andy Grove and Bill Campbell, with turning him on to that leadership strategy, which is short for Objectives and Key Results — or, in other words, communicating what you want to accomplish and how. Setting clear objectiv...

May 14, 20181 hrEp. 221

Recode Decode: How 'Microtrends' affect everything, from marriage to Trump

Former political strategist and pollster Mark Penn talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, "Microtrends Squared: The New Small Forces Driving the Big Disruptions Today." He describes it as a less optimistic sequel to his 2007 book "Microtrends," but it extends the idea that small changes in politics and the economy are having huge ripple effects around the world. Penn also talks about his past work, advising Microsoft during its antitrust law case and Hillary Clinton during her 2008...

May 12, 20181 hr 6 minEp. 220

Recode Decode: Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario

Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about why her company is suing President Donald Trump, and why she is publicly insulting Silicon Valley executives, calling them “weenies” and “pathetic.” Marcario suggests that it’s unpatriotic for execs like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to remain silent on Russian meddling on its platform for so long after the 2016 U.S. election. She also calls out Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for inaction on bots, and Google co-founder Larry Page for not...

May 09, 201849 minEp. 219

Recode Decode: Nell Scovell, author, 'Just the Funny Parts'

Writer and comedian Nell Scovell talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Just the Funny Parts," in front of a live audience in San Francisco. Scovell, who has written on TV shows like "The Simpsons," "Murphy Brown" and "Coach," also co-wrote the hit book "Lean In" with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and tried to adapt it into a movie. She says producers tried to rework the story to fit what they considered to be successful films about women, like "Pretty Woman" and "Bridesmaids." Sco...

May 07, 20181 hr 7 minEp. 218

Recode Decode: José Andrés on feeding Puerto Rico and the 'power of food' (Live)

Celebrity chef José Andrés talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. Andrés explains how his food NGO, World Central Kitchen, deployed its chefs to disaster-struck areas like Houston and Puerto Rico after last year's hurricanes, opening dozens of kitchens and serving millions of meals. He criticizes President Trump and the members of Congress who neglected Puerto Rico, but praises one of World Central Kitchen's unlikely allies in distrib...

May 05, 20181 hrEp. 217

Recode Decode: Ronan Farrow

Investigative journalist Ronan Farrow talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, “War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence.” The book explores how the Trump administration is “laying waste to the State Department,” but argues that it’s not the first administration to do so — cutting diplomats is politically safer than cutting military spending, and Trump is just doing it at an “unprecedented new extreme.” Farrow also talks about his reporting on Harvey W...

May 02, 20181 hr 14 minEp. 216

Recode Decode: Sally Kohn

CNN political commentator Sally Kohn talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity." Kohn's publicity tour for the book has been tangled up in allegations that she misquoted and misrepresented two of her sources, Ijeoma Oluo and Aminatou Sow, and she discusses how she's working to make things right. She also talks about how she became a TV commentator, why she chooses to engage with Fox News hosts like Sean Hannity and how her...

Apr 30, 20181 hr 20 minEp. 215

Recode Decode: New York Times tech columnist Farhad Manjoo explains the 'Frightful Five'

Farhad Manjoo, a technology columnist for the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at the University of California, Berkeley's journalism school. Manjoo explains why he refers to five of the world's largest tech companies as the "Frightful Five": Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Alphabet (which owns Google and YouTube). He diagnoses long-running issues at several of those companies, but argues that solving the problems they've created or at least ena...

Apr 28, 20181 hr 7 minEp. 214

Recode Decode: John Hennessy and Dave Patterson, winners, 2017 Turing Award

Alphabet chairman John Hennessy and Google distinguished engineer Dave Patterson talk with Recode’s Kara Swisher about winning the 2017 Turing Award, a prestigious achievement in computer science. In the 1980s, Hennessy and Patterson developed a revolutionary new type of computer processor called RISC, which allowed computers to run faster and more efficiently — a breakthrough that became especially important in the era of mobile devices and the internet of things. They talk about the intense pu...

Apr 25, 201854 minEp. 213

Recode Decode: Joanna Coles, author, 'Love Rules'

Joanna Coles, the chief content officer at Hearst, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Love Rules: How to Find a Real Relationship in a Digital World." Coles says dating apps can be a great tool for meeting new people, but they can encourage the wrong attitudes among their users: Seeing potential mates as interchangeable, wasting weeks to texting in the buildup to one conversation and fantasizing about whether a stranger is "the one." She also talks about the negative impact of...

Apr 23, 20181 hr 7 minEp. 212

Recode Decode: Mark Suster, managing partner, Upfront Ventures

Upfront Ventures Managing Partner Mark Suster talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about leading the oldest and largest venture capital firm in Los Angeles. He explains why he rejects the term “Silicon Beach,” preferring “LA Tech,” and what people miss when they think of Southern California as a less-techie place than Silicon Valley. Suster says the increasingly common overfunding of tech companies and overpaying of tech workers in the San Francisco area are discouraging innovation. He also discusse...

Apr 18, 20181 hr 10 minEp. 211

Recode Decode: BlackBerry CEO John Chen

BlackBerry CEO John Chen talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how the once-pioneering mobile phone company has happily pivoted into a new business model, focusing on enterprise security and embedded technology for connected cars. Chen says “somebody should make” a new version of the BlackBerry Bold 9900, explaining that there’s still a sizable audience of professionals and government workers who want their phones to be ultra secure. He also discusses why he took the CEO job in 2013, why he jus...

Apr 16, 201853 minEp. 210

Recode Decode: Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman: Silicon Valley has 'lost its purpose'

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the phenomenon of techlash and why people are just now "waking up" to Silicon Valley's dark side. Stoppelman's company has feuded for years with its much larger rival Google, which Yelp says has unfairly weighted local search results to its own product. He says the Google of 2004 would laugh at how the company does business today, and praises the new regulations being brought against tech giants by the EU. However, Stoppelman sugg...

Apr 11, 201855 minEp. 209

Recode Decode: Hillary Clinton advisor and "Dear Madam President" author Jennifer Palmieri

Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential campaign, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World." Palmieri reflects on the obstacles — fair and unfair — that Clinton faced while running against now-President Trump and says part of the problem was that she held herself back, discounting the value of telling her own story to the American people. She also shares some advic...

Apr 09, 20181 hr 11 minEp. 208

Recode Decode: Apple CEO Tim Cook

Recode's Kara Swisher and MSNBC's Chris Hayes talk with Apple CEO Tim Cook on the second episode of "Revolution." The interview was held in front of a live audience the day after Apple's education-focused event in Chicago, but Cook also talks about privacy, Facebook, Amazon, DACA and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 07, 20181 hr 17 minEp. 207

Recode Decode: Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki (Live)

Recode's Kara Swisher and MSNBC's Ari Melber interview Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki in this episode of 'Revolution,' which first aired on MSNBC in January. Make sure to tune in this Friday for a new episode of 'Revolution,' in which Swisher and Chris Hayes interview Apple CEO Tim Cook about education, privacy, DACA and more; that episode airs on MSNBC on Friday, April 6 at 5:00 p.m. PT, 8:00 p.m. ET. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 04, 201851 minEp. 206

Recode Decode: Former White House advisor Valerie Jarrett

Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to President Obama, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher at South by Southwest 2018. Jarrett is now on the boards of two tech companies, but when she first got to the White House, she didn't know what Twitter was — an important reminder of how quickly tech is changing everything. Jarrett says Obama made the best decisions he could while in office based on what he knew about Russia's election meddling, and explains what the Democrats need to do to regain their...

Apr 02, 20181 hr 9 minEp. 205

Recode Decode: Maria Shriver and Christina Schwarzenegger discuss 'Take Your Pills'

Maria Shriver, the former first lady of California, and her daughter Christina Schwarzenegger talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about "Take Your Pills," a new Netflix documentary they executive produced. Schwarzenegger says her experience at Georgetown University made her realize that no one had yet made a documentary about the prevalence of adderall among college students, as well as Wall Street traders and Silicon Valley engineers. The trio is also joined by NBC Television Medical Editor Corey H...

Mar 31, 201850 minEp. 204

Recode Decode: Flying cars are the future of military transportation

Christopher Kirchhoff, a former partner at DIUx, the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley office, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how the Defense Department is trying to be smarter about technology. Kirchhoff says the U.S. military can benefit greatly from innovations in drones, robotics, satellites and more, and DIUx was developed to let the Pentagon proactively find that technology and quickly buy it at scale quickly before it becomes obsolete. He talks in detail about how electric flying cars are...

Mar 28, 201854 minEp. 203

Recode Decode: What men and women need to know about working together

Journalist and writer Joanne Lipman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "That's What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together." Lipman, previously the editor in chief of USA Today and deputy managing editor at the Wall Street Journal, spent three years researching discrimination, sexism and the failures of HR-led "diversity training" in the workplace. She argues that the push for greater equality must be owned by a company's top execut...

Mar 26, 20181 hr 6 minEp. 202

Recode Decode: Therapist Esther Perel

Sex and relationship therapist Esther Perel, the host of the podcast "Where Should We Begin?", talks with Recode's Kara Swisher at South by Southwest 2018 in Austin, Texas. Perel's new book "The State of Affairs" sets out to change the popular conversation about sexual infidelity, but she says many partners are cheating on each other with their phones. She says dating apps, such as Tinder, wind up discouraging their users from pursuing committed relationships, and also explains the psychology of...

Mar 21, 201856 minEp. 201

Recode Decode: Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his infamous 11-day stint in the Trump administration, his recently announced book deal and why he thinks the president will win re-election in 2020. 'The Mooch' unloads on Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon and the culture of backstabbing in Washington and predicts that President Trump won't be hurt by Robert Mueller's investigation. Plus: Scaramucci says Trump has many supporters in Silicon Valley, b...

Mar 19, 20182 hr 30 minEp. 200

Recode Decode: CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on sex, #MeToo and North Korea (Live from SXSW)

CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new series, "Sex and Love Around the World." Speaking in front of a live audience at South By Southwest 2018, Amanpour says the show convinced her that women won't be "totally satisfied," in all aspects of their lives, until men have shed obsolete attitudes about gender roles, power and sexuality. She also talks about the global implications of the #MeToo movement, the dangers of "false news" and...

Mar 17, 201859 minEp. 199

Recode Decode: Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes

Chris Hughes, the co-founder of Facebook and former owner of The New Republic, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, “Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn.” In it, Hughes argues that working people should receive a guaranteed income, paid for by the top one percent of earners in the U.S. He cites an “immense amount of evidence” that cash improves health, education and more, and talks about how his Economic Security Project is working to advance a modernization of the E...

Mar 14, 20181 hr 3 minEp. 198

Recode Decode: Sen. Chuck Schumer

Chuck Schumer, the senior U.S. Senator from New York, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen about a range of tech-related issues, including immigration, net neutrality and Russian election meddling. He hopes to enlist tech companies like Netflix in the fight to bring net neutrality back after it was overturned by the FCC last year. Schumer also talks about his “sympathetic” attitude to the tech giants, saying the world would be a worse place overall if Amazon we...

Mar 12, 201845 minEp. 197

Recode Decode: Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg on techlash and #MeToo (Live)

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher at the 2018 Lesbians Who Tech Summit in San Francisco, Calif. Sandberg talks about how Facebook is responding to reports of Russian election-meddling on its platform, why people are lashing out at tech companies this year, and how much responsibility Facebook has to help those people. She also discusses the good and the bad of the #MeToo movement, including the “unintended consequences,” such as men who are afraid to take meetings wit...

Mar 07, 201834 minEp. 196

Recode Decode: Is 'Uber meets Harvard' the future of learning?

GLG President and CEO Alexander Saint-Amand talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about running a learning platform for investors and business professionals. Saint-Amand describes the company as "Uber meets Harvard" because it facilitates on-demand and one-on-one conversations between customers and experts from a wide range of subjects, including faculty of universities like Stanford, Harvard and Duke. He explains why other attempts to revolutionize learning online have fizzled out and how GLG is abl...

Mar 05, 201849 minEp. 195

Recode Decode: Why Katie Couric left Yahoo

Journalist Katie Couric and Recode’s Kara Swisher talk about their careers in journalism, as well as social media, job automation, tech addiction and the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. Couric, who previously hosted the “Today Show” and “CBS Evening News,” opens up about why her tenure at Yahoo was short-lived, and her concerns about the ability of tech companies to advance high-quality journalism She also reflects on political polarization in America, the #MeToo movement that ousted her former ...

Feb 28, 20181 hr 18 minEp. 194