TMZ founder Harvey Levin talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka about the business of fast-paced reporting on the entertainment world. He argues that the line between television and the internet will disappear within the next decade and disputes the notion that Peter Thiel's campaign against Gawker Media is a big deal. Levin also defends the practice of paying for photos and videos, although he says he can't remember the last time TMZ paid for a news tip. Learn more about your ad choic...
Jun 02, 2016•35 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast Didi Chuxing CEO Jean Liu and Grab Group CEO Anthony Tan talk with The Verge's Walt Mossberg and Recode's Kara Swisher about operating ride-hailing services in China and Singapore, respectively. Since December, the two companies have partnered with Lyft and one another in what some have called an anti-Uber alliance. They discuss why they still subsidize ride-sharing prices even though they have raised ample cash, including, in Didi's case, $1 billion from Apple. Tan also announces that Lyft's gl...
Jun 02, 2016•36 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Photographer Helena Price talks about the isolation of being a techie who doesn't look like the white, male, Ivy League-educated stereotype. After seven years in San Francisco, she launched a project to photograph the often unseen faces of the U.S. tech industry. Price hopes her photo project, Techies, will inspire people who do fit the stereotype to reconsider if tech is really the meritocracy they believe it to be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 02, 2016•11 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he's trying to evolve Cisco beyond its hardware roots to a business driven by software and online services. No one company can do everything, Robbins says, which is why he has partnered with and invested in many other tech companies and startups. Perhaps the best-known of those partners: Apple. Robbins also discusses the internet of things and what he thinks of hot enterprise startups that compete with Cisco, such as Slack. Learn...
Jun 02, 2016•29 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Crowdpac CEO Steve Hilton presents a data-based critique of modern American politics. Government is where meaningful change happens, he says, but people are less and less interested in either voting or running for office. He proposes that technology can overcome this apathy and break up the entrenched power of political insiders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 02, 2016•11 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson talk with Recode's Peter Kafka about how Twitter can both help and hurt political causes such as #BlackLivesMatter. Dorsey acknowledges that Twitter has often failed to prevent abuse and says he's trying to help it reach its full potential without compromising users' safety. The two talk about their sometimes conflicting opinions of how Twitter should grow, and Mckesson pitches his ideas for applying social media to protests, which...
Jun 02, 2016•37 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Born This Way Foundation President Cynthia Germanotta, the mother of pop music star Lady Gaga, announces the official launch of the anti-harassment campaign Hack Harassment. She tells the story of how a college-age Gaga, née Stefani Germanotta, was taunted and harassed to the point of depression. Hack Harassment is a collaboration among Born This Way, Intel, Vox Media and Recode, but Germanotta argues that a much larger effort is needed to solve the problem. She challenges Code attendees to take...
Jun 01, 2016•11 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and CTO Mike Shroepfer talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about the two controversies recently faced by the social media giant: Board member Peter Thiel's vendetta against Gawker Media and allegations that Facebook's trending topics were chosen with a liberal bias. Sandberg says Thiel was acting independently and will remain on the board, while Schroepfer reiterates that Facebook found no "systematic bias" but is still trying to communicate openly. Plus: Where does Face...
Jun 01, 2016•37 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Bill and Melinda Gates talk with The Verge's Walt Mossberg about the sixth anniversary of the Gates Foundation's Giving Pledge, which commits billionaires to give most of their wealth to charitable causes. They argue that many wealthy entrepreneurs underestimate their own ability to apply business innovation to philanthropy. Melinda Gates is currently focused on improving women's access to contraception, while Bill Gates says vaccination efforts in the Middle East will completely wipe out polio ...
Jun 01, 2016•36 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast enture capitalist Yuri Milner projects what it will take for humans to expand their understanding of space. A tiny device called a StarChip, weighing less than one gram, can be paired with a LightSail to make an unmanned "nanocraft," which can go much deeper into space than humans on a chemically fueled ship. Milner says nanocrafts face several challenges today, but should be feasible within 25-30 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 01, 2016•12 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Google CEO Sundar Pichai talks with The Verge's Walt Mossberg about why Google thinks it can beat Apple, Amazon and Microsoft to make artificial intelligence easier and more helpful for every consumer. He says Google wants to offer smarter privacy controls, so that users might save certain types of conversations forever and wipe others off the record. Plus: Pichai adds that the company is investing more into its flagship Nexus devices for the Android operating system, but will not make its own s...
Jun 01, 2016•34 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast IBM CEO Ginni Rometty talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how her company is rethinking its place in the tech world, 105 years after its founding. She explains what IBM has learned from a decade of work in artificial intelligence, which Rometty prefers to call "cognitive solutions," and why AI will affect every business decision within the next five years. She also argues that no modern company is B2B or B2C; instead, all of them are B2I, or Business-to-Individual. Learn more about your ad ch...
Jun 01, 2016•31 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mary Meeker delivers her annual internet trends report. She says "easy growth is behind us" as the newest internet users are coming from less developed and less affluent countries. Meeker also delves into artificial intelligence, Snapchat brand integrations, changes to live sports viewing habits, car industry innovation and the rise of millennial consumers, among many other topics. Visit Recode.net to see all 213 of Meeker's slides and follow along. Learn...
Jun 01, 2016•27 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Ford CEO Mark Fields talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka about whether we're seeing the beginning of the end for private car ownership. Fields argues that cars are still important in many parts of the world but that rising city populations, autonomous cars and government regulation will reduce urban car density. He said Ford is ready to do battle with tech giants like Uber and Google, but he also wants to keep competitors like Tesla on a "level playing field" by subjecting them to t...
Jun 01, 2016•35 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos talks with The Verge's Walt Mossberg about the "gigantic" potential of artificial intelligence to change everything from shopping to self-driving cars. Bezos also discusses his purchase of the Washington Post in 2013, which he says is transforming from a local to a global institution. He explains why he opposes both Peter Thiel's campaign against Gawker Media and Donald Trump's attempts to "freeze or chill" press scrutiny. Plus: Why Bezos's other company, Blue Origin, is tr...
Jun 01, 2016•1 hr 21 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann talks with The Verge's Walt Mossberg and Recode's Kara Swisher about her efforts to stop Ebola, Dengue fever and the Zika virus in the poorest parts of the world. She explains why Zika rose so rapidly without warning and what affected countries like Brazil and Colombia can do to slow it down. Next on the to-do list: Wiping out African sleeping sickness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 01, 2016•29 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast The RealReal Founder and CEO Julie Wainwright talks with Recode's Jason Del Rey about whether we're in a repeat of the dot-com bubble, when she was the CEO of Pets.com. She discusses how fashion consumers' demands have evolved since the 2008 financial collapse, with value now driving purchase decisions more than before. Wainwright also explains how The RealReal won over luxury brands that were once wary of the company's consignment sales model. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...
May 18, 2016•29 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the online shoe retailer's shift to "holacracy," where employees have no traditional bosses. He also discusses why Zappos operates near-independently from its parent company Amazon, which follows a completely different corporate culture. Hseih says Zappos may adapt its bottom-up company structure into software that it can sell to other corporations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 18, 2016•49 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Target Chief Digital Officer Jason Goldberger talks with Recode's Jason Del Rey about building up the retailer's digital offerings to compete with Amazon and Walmart. Goldberger says that Target has learned a lot since Cyber Monday 2015, when its website couldn't handle record web traffic. Plus: Why does Target not yet accept Apple Pay or Android Pay, and why is it partnering with startups like Instacart and Curbside? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 18, 2016•29 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 29, 2016•33 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Sony Entertainment CEO and Sony Pictures Chairman Michael Lynton talks with Peter Kafka about how Sony has changed since its high-profile hack in 2014. He also discusses the surprising gold rush in television and how TV show creators compare the panoply of video outlets, from cable TV networks such as AMC to streaming services like Netflix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 29, 2016•37 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast To close out the first night of Code/Media 2016, Peter Kafka and Kara Swisher sit down with Shane Smith, the founder and CEO of Vice Media, and Spike Jonze, the co-president of Viceland. They discuss why Vice is launching a cable channel and how it's trying to make its mark with diverse, "edgy" content such as a new show hosted by Ellen Page called "Gaycation," and news tailor-made for Generation Y. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 28, 2016•50 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Fox Networks executive Joe Marchese talks with Peter Kafka about why online advertising is broken and why even he thinks ad blockers are a rational choice for consumers. He argues that online video ads are a "rigged" game full of uneven standards for measuring ad engagement. Plus: How Fox is trying to combat these trends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 28, 2016•17 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast The Shade Room founder Angelica Nwandu and "Whine About It!" star Matt Bellassai talk with Peter Kafka about being 25-year-old social media and video stars. Nwandu chronicles how her "unapologetically black" Instagram personality brand has become prominent enough to make celebrities show up in the comments section; Bellassai recently left BuzzFeed to strike out on his own as a comedian on Facebook Video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 27, 2016•17 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins talks with Peter Kafka about how the site can distinguish itself from online video rivals Netflix and Amazon, including via its own original series such as "Casual" and "11.22.63." He also discusses Hulu's relationship with the networks that provide most of the content and its recent split into two subscription models: One with ads and a more expensive version for "ad avoiders." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 27, 2016•35 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast How do you distribute and make money from journalism in 2016? Peter Kafka convenes a panel of three executives chasing three different models to find out: At Jessica Lessin's The Information, readers are charged for access to premium content; at Daniel Roth's LinkedIn, the content is free but tied in to the company's large career network; and, recently, John Ridding's Financial Times has shifted to a mixture of paid subscriptions and advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...
Feb 26, 2016•37 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Wasserman CEO Casey Wasserman talks with CNBC's Julia Boorstin about how sports marketing and TV rights will be affected by changing trends in television distribution, consumption and advertising. Plus: Can social media storytelling platforms like Snapchat stories and Twitter Moments compete with traditional experiences? And why don't we know anything about the people who attend live sports? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 25, 2016•31 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast To start the second day of Code/Media 2016, Major League Baseball's Bob Bowman talks with Walt Mossberg about how his Advanced Media unit will be spun out from the baseball business to reflect its work with the NHL, NFL and even HBO, among others. He discusses the current limits of livestreaming video content over the Internet and what will be possible in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 25, 2016•29 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast BuzzFeed publisher Dao Nguyen and Alex MacCallum, who leads video and audience development for the New York Times, talk with Jason Del Rey about how both media giants are trying to stay innovative. For example: Is partnering with Facebook Instant Articles or Snapchat Discover a viable path forward? And in what ways can both sites try to expand their brands and audiences? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 24, 2016•34 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Vevo CEO Erik Huggers talks with Peter Kafka about how the company racks up 17 billion music video views per month, what makes it different from YouTube and whether Vevo is just a "pass-through" for the music industry. Huggers also discusses Vevo's plans to roll out a paid subscription option, perhaps as soon as this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 23, 2016•32 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast 
