Business, Spoken

Latest Episodes:

Netflix Sees Itself as the Anti-Apple Apr 16, 2018

Show notes

Streaming service Netflix is famous for its unique culture. The most well-known example is the company’s no-vacation policy, which allows employees to take off as many days as they choose, whenever they choose. That policy is just a symbol of a broader attitude in the company, according to CEO Reed Hastings. “There’s a whole lot of that freedom,” Hastings said on stage Saturday, at the TED conference in Vancouver.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Zuckerberg and the Tale of Two Hearings Apr 16, 2018

Show notes

It was about three hours into Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, when all of the attention quickly shifted from Zuckerberg’s glistening brow to the exhibit looming over Missouri Republican Billy Long's head. "Who are they?" Long asked, referring to the two women whose larger-than-life faces filled the giant poster board. Zuckerberg paused, before offering, almost in question, "I believe.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What Hearings? Advertisers Still Love Facebook Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

After 10 hours of verbal flogging by an incensed Congress, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seemed like a leader whose pedestal had cracked. Over and over during his testimony this week, he apologized for lapses in his company’s handling of user data. He emerged from the hearings with months’ worth of homework for him and his team. But life’s not so bad for Zuckerberg.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Using Open Source Designs to Create More Specialized Chips Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

The open source movement changed how companies build software. Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo employees pitched in during the early days of the data-crunching software Hadoop. Even after the relationship between Apple and Google soured, the companies' coders kept working together on an obscure but important piece of software called LLVM. Microsoft now uses and contributes to the Linux operating system, even though it competes with Windows. The embrace of open source isn't about altruism.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SpaceX’s President Is Thinking Even Bigger Than Elon Musk Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

Gwynne Shotwell has a difficult job. Her boss, Elon Musk, is known for wild, impossible ambitions on wild, impossible timelines. There’s even a term for his rosy view of what’s achievable and when: “Elon time.” As president and COO of Musk’s space exploration company, SpaceX, Shotwell must convey Musk’s crazy expectations to a workforce of thousands, without discouraging them with impossible-to-achieve goals.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Four Questions Congress Should Actually Ask Mark Zuckerberg Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

Follow Mark Zuckerberg's Wednesday testimony here. The hearing is scheduled to start at 10 am EDT. Mark Zuckerberg testified for almost five hours Tuesday in a televised Senate hearing about Facebook’s privacy practices and data abuse. More than 40 Senators had five minutes each to ask questions. Zuckerberg’s most frequent response? “My team will follow up with you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If Congress Doesn't Understand Facebook, What Hope Do Its Users Have? Apr 11, 2018

Show notes

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg received a less than warm welcome in Washington, DC, where he testified before a joint hearing of two Senate committees Tuesday. Among the crowds of spectators lining up to watch Zuckerberg get grilled were members of the activist group CodePink, wearing oversized sunglasses with the words, "Stop Spying," written across them. Another group wore t-shirts with the hashtag #DeleteFacebook scrawled on them in red Sharpie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One Woman Got Facebook to Police Opioid Sales On Instagram Apr 11, 2018

Show notes

Eileen Carey says she has regularly reported Instagram accounts selling opioids to the company for three years, with few results. Last week, Carey confronted two executives of Facebook, which owns Instagram, about the issue on Twitter. Since then, Instagram removed some accounts, banned one opioid-related hashtag and restricted the results for others. Searches for the hashtag #oxycontin on Instagram now show no results.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Zuckerberg Answers to Congress For Facebook's Troubles Apr 10, 2018

Show notes

Last fall, when Congress called on Facebook to answer for its failures during the 2016 election—including selling ads to Russian propagandists and allowing fake news to flourish on the platform—the social networking giant sent its general counsel, Colin Stretch, leaving lawmakers wanting for face time with the company's founder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Groups Allege YouTube Is Violating Law That Protects Kids Apr 10, 2018

Show notes

A coalition of more than 20 child-health, privacy, and consumer groups is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether YouTube is violating a federal law designed to protect children on the internet. The groups are expected to file a complaint with the FTC on Monday. The relevant federal law, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, requires website operators to obtain parents' permission when collecting personal data about children younger than 13.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices