Recode's Kara Swisher, her executive producer Erica Anderson, and her producer Eric Johnson discuss their favorite Recode Decode interviews from 2019 and look back at some of the year's big trends. Use the links below to go to the full versions of the interviews excerpted in this episode in Apple Podcasts; or, if you prefer a different podcast app, use the names/dates to find them in the Recode Decode feed: Shoshana Zuboff (February 20) Carole Cadwalladr (July 8) Tristan Harris (May 6) Ken Burns...
Dec 30, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep 461•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Liz Plank talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her recent book, For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity. Featuring: Liz Plank (@feministabulous), author, For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity Host: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large More to explore: Subscribe for free to Reset, Recode's new podcast that explores why — and how — tech is changing everything. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand ho...
Dec 20, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep 460•Transcript available on Metacast SuperAwesome CEO Dylan Collins talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he got interested in children's digital privacy at a time when Silicon Valley didn't care, how his company works with tech firms to help them comply with privacy laws, and SuperAwesome's in-development video platform for kids, Rukkaz. Collins also talks about his previous gaming companies, which were acquired by Activision and Gamestop; how COPPA and GDPR-K work; and why TikTok and YouTube were fined by the FTC. Read a ful...
Dec 18, 2019•52 min•Ep 459•Transcript available on Metacast 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer talks with Recode's Teddy Schleiefer about income inequality and the need for a wealth tax in America, what separates him from fellow ultra-wealthy candidate Michael Bloomberg, and why we should expect the government to solve problems — not plutocrats who have pledged to give their money away. Steyer also discusses the importance of grassroots organizing on the left, how antitrust laws should be applied to tech giants like Amazon and Facebook, and why he's ...
Dec 16, 2019•46 min•Ep 458•Transcript available on Metacast Writer Ben Mezrich talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his latest book Bitcoin Billionaires and his previous books, including The Accidental Billionaires, which was adapted into the movie The Social Network. Mezrich, who specializes in "true stories about young people doing crazy things," discusses the controversies around how he depicted Mark Zuckerberg in The Accidental Billionaires, how Zuck has changed over time, and how the story went from a “nobody will care” book proposal to a classic ...
Dec 13, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep 457•Transcript available on Metacast Historian Margaret O'Mara talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her latest book, The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America. She explains how the government catalyzed the digital revolution starting in the 1960s, the reasons tech power coalesced in suburban California, and why tech history must be considered a part of political history — even though the industry has tried in recent decades to distance itself from government. O'Mara also talks about the origins of sexism in the tech in...
Dec 11, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep 456•Transcript available on Metacast Neal Katyal, a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book Impeach: The Case against Donald Trump. Katyal explains why he believes the “evidence will be too strong” against President Trump, ending his first term prematurely, and argues that if he were Trump's lawyer his advice would be to resign. He also talks about the inability of the DC establishment to comprehend Trump’s propensity for lying, and why social media will become less important durin...
Dec 09, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep 455•Transcript available on Metacast MakerBot CEO Nadav Goshen talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's Method X industrial printer, which Goshen says will foster innovation by making it easier to manufacture real products. He also talks about the setbacks to the initial hype that 3-D printers would be as accessible and commonplace as toothbrushes; how teachers use MakerBot's smaller 3-D printer Replicator in the classroom; and the importance of professionals adopting an emerging technology before it goes mainstream. Pl...
Dec 06, 2019•52 min•Ep 454•Transcript available on Metacast Andrea Matwyshyn, the associate dean of innovation at Penn State Law, talks with Kara Swisher's executive producer, Erica Anderson, about the integration of technology with biology, a trend Matwyshyn terms the "internet of bodies." She explains what that means in real world terms, why someone might want to implant a computer chip in their bodies, and the potential risks and security concerns, including hackers who could manipulate thoughts. Matwyshyn also talks about the ethical and policy impli...
Dec 04, 2019•58 min•Ep 453•Transcript available on Metacast Deborah Rutter, the president of Washington, DC's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the Center's new free immersive learning spaces, REACH, which offer visitors the chance to participate in and look behind the scenes of many kinds of performances. Rutter also discusses how technology has impacted the public's relationship with art and education, why issues like cell phone addiction aren't a big threat to the Kennedy Center's shows, and how tec...
Dec 02, 2019•52 min•Ep 452•Transcript available on Metacast Axon CEO Rick Smith talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his company's best known product (the Taser), how it's thinking about the ethical implications of new products aimed at police, and the controversies around facial recognition in body cameras. Plus: Is the weapon of the future a pistol that doesn't kill you? Featuring: Rick Smith (@AxonRick), CEO of Axon (@Axon_us) and author of The End of Killing: How Our Newest Technologies Can Solve Humanity's Oldest Problem Hosts: Kara Swisher (@kara...
Nov 27, 2019•55 min•Ep 451•Transcript available on Metacast Barry Friedman, the director of The Policing Project at New York University's School of Law, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about making police more accountable, the ethics of emerging technologies like AI and facial recognition, and the missing regulations that affect local communities in the US. Friedman also talks about his work with the company that created the Taser, Axon International — whose CEO Rick Smith will appear on Wednesday's episode of Recode Decode — and why there's not as much...
Nov 25, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep 450•Transcript available on Metacast Recode's Kara Swisher and her executive producer Erica Anderson talk with a panel of entrepreneurs in Valparaiso, Indiana: Sarah Hallberg, the Medical Director of Virta Health; Eric Christopher, the co-founder and CEO of Zylo; and Robin Fleming, the CEO of Anvl. They discuss the positives and negatives of being tech entrepreneurs in an area not typically associated with the digital revolution, including hiring and retention, the impact of local success stories that went global such as ExactTarge...
Nov 22, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep 449•Transcript available on Metacast Venture capitalist Jana Messerschmidt, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how she became a partner at Lightspeed and the co-founder of an all-female group of angel investors called #ANGELS. Messerschmidt previously worked at DivX, Netflix, and Twitter, and also discusses the early days of video streaming online and how Netflix timed the market perfectly. Plus: Why #ANGELS doesn't invest only in women, what made that collective different from traditional venture capital, and the urgent need t...
Nov 20, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep 448•Transcript available on Metacast Susan Rice, the former US ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor under President Obama, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the "ass backwards" way President Trump has approached foreign policy and her new book, Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For. Rice explains the problem with isolationism and selfishness as policies, and says the current administration rolled back many of her achievements "out of spite," without a plan to replace them. She also dis...
Nov 18, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Ep 447•Transcript available on Metacast Robert Jackson, one of the five commissioners on the Securities and Exchange Commission, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the SEC works and the problem with perpetual dual-class stock at companies like WeWork, Facebook, and Google. Jackson also explains why he opposes two proposed rule changes that would make it harder for activists to challenge a CEO's power, why the NYSE and Nasdaq are not willing to be part of the solution, and how new legislation could fix the dual class dilemma. P...
Nov 15, 2019•57 min•Ep 446•Transcript available on Metacast Reddit co-founder and Initialized Capital managing partner Alexis Ohanian talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he became a "dadvocate" for paid paternity leave. Ohanian explains how the medical complications faced by his wife, tennis star Serena Williams, woke him up to the problem, and how time off for fathers can help mothers, as well as female coworkers. He also discusses the problem with how working men glorify their self-destructive schedules online, which he calls "hustle porn"; why ...
Nov 13, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep 445•Transcript available on Metacast Writer and health advocate Ted Baxter talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, Relentless: How a Massive Stroke Changed My Life for the Better. Baxter, a former managing director at the hedge fund Citadel, had the stroke when he was only 41, and recounts how doctors initially misdiagnosed his symptoms; he also discusses the recovery process, which accelerated after he accepted that he couldn't return to his investing job, and shares advice for people who have recently experienced a strok...
Nov 11, 2019•48 min•Ep 444•Transcript available on Metacast Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the recent mass shooting at an Airbnb in Orinda, Calif., how the company is changing its policies to keep guests safer, and what Chesky wishes he had done differently when Airbnb was smaller. They also discuss Airbnb's first brush with notoriety in 2011 and how Chesky "bungled" his response at the time, the importance of meeting with people who hate you, and why Silicon Valley execs should confront the human cost of th...
Nov 08, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Ep 443•Transcript available on Metacast MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new podcast Modern Ruhles, the Trump voters who get overlooked by the media, and why Wall Streeters afraid of Elizabeth Warren should "look in the goddamn mirror." Ruhle also discusses her unusual path to working in the media, by way of Credit Suisse; the importance of the question "Are you better off in 2020 than you were in 2016?"; and the soul-searching at NBC News in the aftermath of Ronan Farrow's book Catch and Kill. P...
Nov 06, 2019•56 min•Ep 442•Transcript available on Metacast In this special episode of Recode Decode, Kara Swisher checks in with some of the organizers of the Google walkout, who came on her show in November 2018 after leading a 20,000-worker protest. Later in the show, Kara's executive producer Erica Anderson (herself one of the organizers who has since left Google) talks with some of the people who were inspired by the 2018 walkouts to continue fighting for the workers of Google and other tech companies. Featuring: Stephanie Parker (@sparker2), policy...
Nov 04, 2019•1 hr•Ep 441•Transcript available on Metacast NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why he leaked highly classified information in 2013, why that doesn't make him a "traitor," and his new book, Permanent Record. Snowden also talks about how his youthful love of the US government and the early internet turned into skepticism; how his life has changed since going to Moscow; and why he believes Facebook is as untrustworthy as the NSA. Plus: Why people who say they have "nothing to hide" are missing the point a...
Nov 01, 2019•2 hr 47 min•Ep 440•Transcript available on Metacast Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of venture capital, diversity in tech, and his new book, What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture. Horowitz also discusses the impact of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund on Silicon Valley, why he wouldn't invest in a social or mobile startup today, and what former CEO Travis Kalanick got right — and very wrong — with Uber’s culture. Plus: Why "break" was the exact right word for...
Oct 30, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep 439•Transcript available on Metacast Conservative analyst Bill Kristol talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the impeachment effort against President Trump, how politics has entered a "crisis of truth" in the era of Fox News and social media, and the steps that should be taken pre-emptively to ensure that the 2020 elections are free and fair. Kristol also predicts that Trump could be "impeached by Thanksgiving," and explains why he doesn't think "Trumpism" goes away even if its namesake does, outlining one scenario for future elec...
Oct 28, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Ep 438•Transcript available on Metacast Gary Cohn, the former Director of the National Economic Council and former chief economic adviser to President Trump, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about what he's done since leaving the Trump administration, including a "significant" investment and advisory position he's taken up in a mobile security company called Hoyos Integrity. Cohn explains how Hoyos is developing a more secure phone for people who deal in confidential information, such as government workers; how it's trying to advance ...
Oct 25, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep 437•Transcript available on Metacast Recode's Kara Swisher talks to the creators of two new plays that intersect with tech issues: Heidi Schreck, the former star and playwright of What the Constitution Means to Me, and the writer and director of Right to Be Forgotten — Sharyn Rothstein and Seema Sueko. Schreck took the name of her play from a series of debate competitions she competed in as a teenager, but has developed a more complicated appreciation for the Constitution as an adult, and discusses how its flaws connect to her own ...
Oct 23, 2019•1 hr•Ep 436•Transcript available on Metacast Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, which details the extreme lengths men like Harvey Weinstein have gone to escape accountability for sexual abuse. He discusses why other journalists before him couldn’t nail the Weinstein story, and how the powerful Hollywood producer tapped into a network of shady allies in his attempt to suppress it — including some of Farrow's f...
Oct 21, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep 435•Transcript available on Metacast Filmmaker Ken Burns talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest documentary series "Country Music," in which he explores the history of the genre, its place in the larger American musical landscape, and the powerful universality of "three chords and the truth." Burns says that unlike rock and jazz, country music is largely a story about powerful women, and also unpacks the ways in which it reflects the intermingling ethnic diversity of the US. He also discusses his online video destination...
Oct 18, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Ep 434•Transcript available on Metacast Cambridge Analytica’s former business development director Brittany Kaiser talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about her new book TARGETED: The Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower's Inside Story of How Big Data, Trump, and Facebook Broke Democracy and How It Can Happen Again. Kaiser talks about how she first observed the dangers of social media while working on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, why she mistakenly believed Cambridge Analytica was using technology as a force for good, and what happened whe...
Oct 16, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep 433•Transcript available on Metacast Matt Hulett, the president of education company Rosetta Stone, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about the company’s pivot away from language-learning CDs and into a more advanced and “approachable” mobile app. He also talks about his “promiscuous” background in the tech industry; Rosetta Stone’s literacy catch-up program for children, Lexia Learning; and the bigger picture of how language education is changing around the world. Plus: What’s the best way to make learning stick, and will Elon Musk...
Oct 14, 2019•45 min•Ep 432•Transcript available on Metacast