Channels with Peter Kafka

Latest Episodes:

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti has gone public Dec 06, 2021

Show notes

BuzzFeed used to be an internet experiment. Now it’s a publicly-traded company that expects more than $500 million in revenue this year. CEO Jonah Peretti talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about the route his company took to the NASDAQ; why he’s not worried about investors who bailed on the company; and the state of labor negotiations with the BuzzFeed News union.

Featuring: Jonah Peretti (@peretti), CEO of BuzzFeed

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape.

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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@Jack is leaving Twitter. What now? + Lina Khan’s battle with Big Tech Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is no longer the CEO of Twitter. Why did he leave? And what does the choice of his successor, Parag Agrawal, tell us about Twitter’s future? Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner sits down with Recode’s Peter Kafka to discuss Dorsey's tenure as CEO and the reasons behind his decision to step down. Then the New Yorker’s Sheelah Kolhatkar joins the show to talk about the Biden administration’s campaign to rein in Big Tech. Kolhatkar recently profiled Lina Khan, an antitrust academic who now heads up the FTC. Khan and other Biden appointees want to reframe antitrust law and shrink tech giants like Facebook, which was not part of Biden’s election campaign. What changed?

Featuring: Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8), Reporter for Bloomberg Business

Sheelah Kolhatkar (@sheelahk) Staff Writer at The New Yorker

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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Director Rhys Thomas on his unlikely journey from SNL to Disney’s Hawkeye Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

Rhys Thomas used to make short films for Saturday Night Live. Now he’s making Hawkeye, the newest installment of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, which debuts on Disney+ this week. Thomas sits down with Recode’s Peter Kafka to give a behind-the-scenes look at producing the series and how his previous work at SNL and IFC’s Documentary Now prepared him for his entry into the superhero world.

Featuring: Rhys Thomas (@rhysthom2), Executive Producer of Marvel's Hawkeye

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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The inside story of HBO, with Jim Miller Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

HBO has brought us nearly 50 years of riveting movies and TV shows; the behind-the-scenes stories are equally compelling. Journalist James Andrew Miller, who has written definitive oral histories of media institutions like Saturday Night Live and ESPN, tells Recode’s Peter Kafka about his newest work: Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers. Included in their chat: How HBO ascended to power; why attempts to combine the company with Apple and other suitors never happened; what really happened when AT&T decided to buy and then sell HBO’s parent company; and what happens to HBO in a world where it competes with deep-pocketed rivals like Netflix and Disney.

Featuring: Jim Miller (@jimmiller), Journalist and Author

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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What is Twitter Blue and is it worth $3? Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

Twitter is free. But Twitter Blue — a new service for Twitter super-users — costs $3 a month. So what is Twitter Blue and why should you pay for it? Twitter product executive Tony Haile, who joined the company last spring after it acquired his Scroll startup, joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to make the pitch.

Featuring: Tony Haile (@arctictony), Senior Director of Product at Twitter

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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Facebook’s Metaverse explained - by metaverse explainer Matthew Ball. Plus Justin Smith builds a media biz for Bloomb Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

Before Mark Zuckerberg told the world he was turning Facebook into a Metaverse company, he called Matthew Ball, one of the Metaverse’s chief evangelists. Now Ball tells Recode’s Peter Kafka what Facebook’s move means.

Then Bloomberg Media Group CEO Justin Smith talks about building a $100 million subscriptions business that’s separate - but related to - Bloomberg’s much larger terminal business. And why he loves video - but not podcasts.

Featuring: Matthew Ball (@ballmatthew), writer and Venture Capitalist

Justin Smith (@Justin_B_Smith), CEO of Bloomberg Media

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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How to cover the Facebook leaks + SNL’s Heidi Gardner Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is handing over thousands of documents to reporters like The Verge’s Alex Heath. The next step: Sorting through all of those files, and figuring out how and when to write about them. Heath talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about the weeks of stories we’ll be reading in the future, and his first one - about Facebook’s rapidly aging user base.

And then for something completely different: Saturday Night Live cast member Heidi Gardner joins to talk about her unlikely path into comedy, making live TV during Covid, and thinking about a life after SNL.

Featuring: Alex Heath (@alexeheath), Senior Reporter for The Verge

Heidi Garder (@heidilgardner), actress and comedian for Saturday Night Live

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel on his $2.7 billion Meredith deal Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

Neil Vogel had no publishing experience before he took over About.com, the how-to website he turned into Dotdash for owner Barry Diller. Now Vogel is about to become one of the most powerful people in media if he completes a deal to acquire magazine heavyweight Meredith - the people behind People, InStyle, and Better Homes & Gardens. He talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about merging an online-only operation with a print publisher.

Featuring: Neil Vogel (@neilvogel), CEO of Dotdash

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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Land of the Giants: "He's No Steve Jobs" Oct 14, 2021

Show notes

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple and infused it with his love of product design and attention to detail. His successor, Tim Cook, is widely perceived as lacking Jobs’ vision and innovation. But he managed to do something Jobs never could: make Apple the most valuable company on the planet. So who are these two men, and how have their leadership styles shaped the company that shapes our lives?

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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Ozy Media, RIP with NYT’s Ben Smith + Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch on remaking a magazine giant Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

Five days after the New York Times’ Ben Smith wrote an astonishing piece about the fakery supporting Ozy Media, the digital publisher announced it was shutting down. What, if anything, does the fiasco tell us about media startups and investors? Smith teases it out with Recode’s Peter Kafka. Then Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch drops by for a progress report on his attempt to turn the magazine giant into a modern entertainment company - and an update on Apple’s News+ service.

Featuring: Ben Smith (@benyt), Media Columnist for The New York Times

Roger Lynch (@rogerlynch), CEO of Condé Nast

Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode

About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.

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