New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the coronavirus pandemic is magnifying inequality in the US, and our historical failure to treat essential workers — from meat-packing plants to checkout counters to delivery drivers — with the respect and protection they deserve. Hannah-Jones, who created the Times' ongoing series about the legacy of slavery, The 1619 Project, also talks about the technology gap and current inequalities in pre-colleg...
Apr 27, 2020•56 min•Ep 511•Transcript available on Metacast Bestselling author and Gaslit Nation co-host Sarah Kendzior talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America; what pundits get wrong about propaganda and election interference; and the “insane way” journalists treat Donald Trump’s Twitter bully pulpit. In the new book and her previous one, The View From Flyover Country, Kendzior argues that Trump's rise to the presidency was no accident — rather, it was the resul...
Apr 24, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep 510•Transcript available on Metacast Bestselling author, investor, and podcaster Tim Ferriss talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his advice for people coping with the coronavirus quarantine, which includes giving yourself slack for being unproductive, afraid, and fatigued; the crucial difference between fast decisions and rushed ones; and why the pandemic crisis is a "natural culling of the herd" for businesses in a "bloated capitalist system" that have no resilience. Ferriss also discusses what he's starting to invest in after ...
Apr 22, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep 509•Transcript available on Metacast Investor, Dallas Mavericks owner, and Shark Tank co-host Mark Cuban talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about what capitalism and entrepreneurship looks like in a post-coronavirus world; whether he's planning to run for political office, and what his platform would be if he did; and what it will take for professional sports to come back. Cuban, who was recently announced as a member of President Trump's panel to re-open the economy, says the government hasn't done enough yet for small businesses an...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep 508•Transcript available on Metacast San Francisco Mayor London Breed talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why she was one of the first local leaders in the US to act on the spread of covid-19, how she thinks about the slow and dishonest response from President Trump, and what long-term recovery will look like for SF and beyond. Breed also discusses why sheltering the city's homeless population in vacant hotels is harder and more complicated than it seems, what the tech sector can do to be part of the solution, and when she expec...
Apr 17, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep 507•Transcript available on Metacast Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the first week of the short-form video app — which was intended for on-the-go consumers, but still racked up 1.7 million downloads, even though most of the world is currently staying at home. Katzenberg makes the case for short video episodes as a logical next step for entertainment, and explains how the economics of producing shows such as Dishmantled and Chrissy's Court compares to Netflix, traditional TV and YouTube. He a...
Apr 15, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep 506•Transcript available on Metacast Bloomberg technology reporter Sarah Frier talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram. Frier discusses how co-founders Mike Systrom and Danny Krieger met, why they sold Instagram to Facebook and not Twitter, and why Systrom and Krieger left in 2018. She also talks about how they and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg clashed over growth and power, how Instagram changes us psychologically, and the looming "reckoning" it faces as TikTok becomes more popu...
Apr 13, 2020•56 min•Ep 505•Transcript available on Metacast Organizational psychologist Adam Grant, the author of "Originals" and host of the podcast "WorkLife," talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the benefits of working from home, and how work will change during the COVID-19 quarantine — and after. Grant also discusses burnout, loneliness, collaboration, procrastination, and why employees don’t need to be micromanaged. Plus: Has online communication made us worse at trusting each other? Featuring: Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant), host of WorkLife and profe...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr•Ep 504•Transcript available on Metacast Historian Niall Ferguson, the author of bestselling books such as The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new PBS series, Networld, which explores the history and science of networks. He discusses why it's important to understand networks, and how they can become the sources of revolutions; the economic implications of misinformation about coronavirus, which has been exacerbated by lax tech regulation; and why it's dangerous to invite Silicon ...
Apr 08, 2020•59 min•Ep 503•Transcript available on Metacast Instagram co-founder and former CEO Kevin Systrom talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the data analysis he has conducted and publicized about the global spread of coronavirus, and what it tells us the future looks like. He says he applied the same data-minded approach to the virus that he did while at Instagram because "data is data," and says the rapid word of mouth spread of "viral" technology can help us understand what happens when communities and governments don't act to prevent an outbr...
Apr 06, 2020•55 min•Ep 502•Transcript available on Metacast Former Obama advisor David Plouffe — who since leaving the White House has worked with Uber, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and Acronym — talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, A Citizen's Guide to Beating Donald Trump. He talks about how the coronavirus pandemic affects the 2020 election and popular perception of Trump and Joe Biden; the disastrous Iowa caucus how Democrats can get better at technology; and what regular people can do now if they want Trump to lose in November, in...
Apr 03, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep 501•Transcript available on Metacast Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how coronavirus changed everything for Slack and its customers, the sudden transition to "work from home" across the country, and how the company is handling a surge in usage at the same time that other plans and resources are being constrained. Butterfield also discusses Slack's recent redesign, how communication inside organizations has evolved over the years, and the state of innovation in Silicon Valley and the US as a whol...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep 500•Transcript available on Metacast VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the impact of covid-19 on entrepreneurship, why he stopped investing in tech companies two years ago, and how the pandemic could have a silver lining — separating the winners from the losers. Vaynerchuk also talks about why tech and Fortune 500 businesses will have an easier time weathering the crisis than restaurants and other small businesses; his own rise to fame as a "web 2.0" entrepreneur and how he's changing his own M....
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep 499•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Deepak Chopra talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how to cope with the global threat posed by coronavirus, the parallel "pandemic of panic," and how to not be overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. Comparing it to past pandemics and wars, he says the covid-19 outbreak is an invitation to stop denying our shared humanity and finally recognize our power to use our creativity to save ourselves. Chopra also discusses his AI project Digital Deepak, what a selfie can tell you about your stress level,...
Mar 27, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep 498•Transcript available on Metacast Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how long it will take to recover from the coronavirus crisis, its impact on startups, and how the US government should and will react — including by tracking individuals via their technology and repatriating cash from tech companies like Apple. Palihapitiya says businesses should make sure they have at least 36 months worth of cash on hand to weather this recession and its slow recovery period and predicts the US will...
Mar 25, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep 497•Transcript available on Metacast Ben Hubbard, the Beirut bureau chief for the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman. Hubbard explains how he started writing about Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, MBS's unexpected rise to power, and the recent international incidents that have made him more notorious in the west: The murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's phone. He also discusses the Saudi govern...
Mar 23, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep 496•Transcript available on Metacast Former 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the growing popularity of government programs to send money directly to people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. His own organization t hat advocates for universal basic income, Humanity Forward, plans to start cutting checks to regular Americans soon, starting with the working poor in New York City's Bronx borough and workers who depend on tips to make ends meet. Yang also says he plans to run for office a...
Mar 20, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep 495•Transcript available on Metacast Recode's Kara Swisher talks with three of the brains behind the new HBO documentary After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News: Director Andrew Rossi, who previously directed Page One: Inside the New York Times; executive producer Brian Stelter, who hosts Reliable Sources on CNN; and co-producer Adam McGill. They discuss how disinformation about everything from coronavirus to #BlackLivesMatter spreads online, the victims of the Pizzagate and Seth Rich conspiracy theories, and why Russ...
Mar 18, 2020•57 min•Ep 494•Transcript available on Metacast Maggie Haberman, the White House correspondent for the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the rest of the country has bypassed Trump's failure to lead on the coronavirus outbreak; his exposure to COVID-19 at Mar-a-Lago and refusal to self-quarantine; and the toxic cocktail of practices in his administration: Infighting, tiptoeing, and sucking up. She also discusses CDC director Anthony Fauci's "unimpeachable" credibility vs. President Trump's trust problem, how Vice Presi...
Mar 16, 2020•1 hr•Ep 493•Transcript available on Metacast Epidemic co-host Ron Klain, who led the White House's ebola response under President Obama, talks to Recode's Kara Swisher about how the COVID-19 outbreak will strain America's healthcare system; how President Trump downplayed the crisis, rattling public confidence and delaying the country's response; and the way people who work in the gig economy — including Uber drivers and food delivery workers — will be especially hurt by the situation. He also discusses the logic behind travel bans and limi...
Mar 13, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep 492•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Lloyd Minor, the dean of Stanford University's School of Medicine, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the novel coronavirus outbreak and his new book, "Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being." Minor explains how Stanford has prepared for an event like COVID-19, how the virus spreads, and why we should be concerned, but not panicked. He also discusses the need to take the individualized level of care most sick people in the US receive and...
Mar 11, 2020•50 min•Ep 491•Transcript available on Metacast Stanford Law School professor Mark Lemley talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about Silicon Valley's obsession with startups getting an "exit" — usually an acquisition by one of the tech giants — and why that trend is suffocating innovation. Lemley explains the decline of IPOs and antitrust scrutiny in America, why today’s tech monopolies are especially hard to break, and how he thinks we should fix this broken system. He also discusses emerging legal issues in tech, including space, robotics and a...
Mar 09, 2020•48 min•Ep 490•Transcript available on Metacast Zoox CEO Aicha Evans and CTO Jesse Levinson talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their development of a fully autonomous robo-taxi, which will be designed for multiple passengers to share and is planned to hit public roads before the end of 2021. They discuss how Evans was persuaded to come to the self-driving company from Intel after the departure of Levinson's co-founder and the company's original CEO, Tim Kentley-Klay; how Zoox’s car compares to Tesla's "autopilot" feature; and why they inte...
Mar 06, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep 489•Transcript available on Metacast Pod Save America co-host and former Obama advisor Dan Pfeiffer talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again, why Bernie Sanders owes a lot to Michael Bloomberg, and why Trump is the new normal for the right wing. In the new book, Pfeiffer explains how Democrats can defeat President Trump at the ballot box in November, but says doing that isn't enough because of what the broader Republican Party has become. Plus: Why the Obama ...
Mar 04, 2020•51 min•Ep 488•Transcript available on Metacast Inside CEO and This Week in Startups host Jason Calacanis talks with Kara Swisher about the future of Uber after its troubled IPO, why one of the tech giants should buy Tesla, and Jeff Bezos' Achilles heel: His lack of generosity. Calacanis, who was an early investor in Uber, also talks about his objections to the current state of tech journalism and punditry, the end of SoftBank’s “free money party," and why Tim Cook doesn’t have the chutzpah to take Apple into the future. Plus: Why the US shou...
Mar 02, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep 487•Transcript available on Metacast New York Times reporter Conor Dougherty talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, Golden Gates: Fighting For Housing in America. He talks about why San Francisco’s housing crisis is the “worst version of something every city has,” the resentment created by tech companies’ buses for their workers, and how the city was painted “gentrification grey.” Dougherty also explains why knowledge workers and service workers have to be next to each other in cities; why making brand-new neighborhoo...
Feb 28, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep 486•Transcript available on Metacast Univision anchor Jorge Ramos talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how much of the Latino vote President Trump might get in 2020, why Bernie Sanders’ comments about Fidel Castro might cost him dearly in a general election, and why it’s important that journalists practice contrapoder — being on the other side of power. Ramos has publicly clashed with Trump, who published his phone number on Instagram after Ramos sent him a letter during the campaign; he calls for others in the media to stand up ...
Feb 26, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep 485•Transcript available on Metacast Technology journalist and Wired editor-at-large Steven Levy talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest book, Facebook: The Inside Story, for which he obtained years of direct access to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. Levy discusses how he got that access, how Zuckerberg has changed (or hasn't) over time, and whether he, Sandberg, and the company at large understand the damage that Facebook has caused. Plus: Why Zuckerberg destroyed his old diaries, how he was influenced by Bi...
Feb 24, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep 484•Transcript available on Metacast Authors Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their latest book together, The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Disrupting Business, Industries, and Our Lives. They explain why the future is getting harder to predict and how "exponential technologies" — including robotics, AI, biotechnology, AR/VR, and quantum computing — will change everything from education to old age. Diamandis and Kotler also talk about the importance of having...
Feb 21, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep 483•Transcript available on Metacast Caleb Scharf, the director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the under=discussed dangers humans would face in space and the rise of private space exploration, as championed by billionaires such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson. Scharf wrote a piece for Scientific American earlier this year, "Death on Mars." about the hazards of the Martian environment for humans, and explains what we know — and don't know — about how human explorers might be able to s...
Feb 19, 2020•57 min•Ep 482•Transcript available on Metacast