Channels with Peter Kafka

Latest Episodes:

Deep fakes come to the movies and Hollywood resets for the streaming era Jul 22, 2021

Show notes

Anthony Bourdain is dead. So how does a new documentary have audio of him reading his emails? It’s not him: It’s a deep fake. The New Yorker’s Helen Rosner explains. Then journalist Richard Rushfield takes us behind Hollywood’s closed doors to talk about the return of movies, the dominance of Netflix — and why he can more candid than ever because he’s writing about all of it on The Ankler, his subscription-only newsletter.

Featuring: Helen Rosner (@hels) staff writer for The New Yorker

Richard Rushfield (@richardrushfield) Editor-In-Chief of The Ankler

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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WeWork's rise and fall (and rise again?) with Eliot Brown Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

Wall Street Journal’s Eliot Brown first became interested in WeWork back in 2014 after an encounter with founder co-founder Adam Neumann, who quickly told the reporter that he should not “think about his company as a real estate business, but as a community-building startup”. Fast forward seven years, Brown, along with his colleague Maureen Farrell, plan to release their new book The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion, which chronicles the infamous journey of one of the most talked-about companies in recent years, and how a billion-dollar business fooled Silicon Valley.

Featuring: Eliot Brown (@eliotwb), Reporter for Wall Street Journal 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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Kevin Delaney turns the future of work into a media business; plus a Sun Valley update from David Gura. Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

When are we going back to the office? How often are we going back to the office? And what’s work going to be like when we get there? Kevin Delaney is trying to answer all of those questions — and really, every question we have about the future of work — with Charter, the new media company he launched by starting a newsletter. Plus we check in with NPR’s David Gura, who is hollering — from a distance — at the tech and media moguls gathered at the annual Sun Valley conference.

Featuring: David Gura (@davidgura), podcaster and journalist at NPR

Kevin Delaney (@delaney), Co-Founder of Charter

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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Men In Blazers’ Roger Bennett loves soccer and America Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Roger Bennett is half of Men In Blazers, the entertaining podcast/broadcast duo dedicated to Americans who love soccer. So he’s an excellent person to talk to Recode’s Peter Kafka about the state of the world’s most popular sport, and why an attempt to create a “Super League” failed dramatically. Bennett, born and raised in Liverpool, is also a huge fan of America and Americans, which he describes in his new memoir: "(Re)Born In The USA: An Englishman’s Love Letter to His Chosen Home”.

Featuring: Roger Bennett (@rogbennett), podcaster and TV broadcaster

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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One of the most popular streamers on Twitch… is a lefty political commentator? Hasan Piker explains Jun 24, 2021

Show notes

Twitch, the Amazon-owned streaming platform best known as a haven for gamers, wouldn’t be the first place you’d look for a left-leaning political commentator. But Hasan Piker, also known as “HasanAbi” is thriving there: He has more than 1.5 million followers, where he comments on the news of the day during marathon sessions. Piker talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about becoming a new kind of Internet famous.

Featuring: Hasan "Abi" Piker (@hasanthehun) Twitch Streamer and Political Commentator

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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One of Silicon Valley’s most powerful investors is now a media company, too Jun 15, 2021

Show notes

The newest publication covering tech is Future — a site owned and operated by Andreessen Horowitz, the powerful Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Partner Margit Wennmachers, who used to court press coverage for her company and its portfolio companies, now wants to go directly to readers, without relying on journalists to carry her message. She explains her strategy to Recode’s Peter Kafka.

Featuring: Margit Wennmachers (@wennmachers) Partner at Andreessen Horowitz

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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Jake and Amir on being Web famous, fed up with Hollywood, and podcast bosses Jun 10, 2021

Show notes

Jake Hurwitz & Amir Blumenfeld got their start on the internet when making content for sites like YouTube and Facebook was considered the Wild West. Then, after an iconic run on College Humor, starring in thousands of videos over the course of 10 years, they took another leap of faith: starting the podcast network HeadGum. The duo sits down with Recode’s Peter Kafka to discuss their unorthodox career as entertainers and entrepreneurs, as well as their newly launched dating app, Orion.

Featuring: Jake Hurwitz (@jakehurwitz), Comedian and Co-Founder of HeadGum

Amir Blumenfeld (@blumenfeld), Comedian and Co-Founder of HeadGum

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 make it in the creator economy with Rob Walker Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

Journalist Rob Walker sits down with Recode’s Peter Kafka to discuss why he decided to go the independent route instead of writing for another publication after his buyout from Medium, his thoughts on the creator economy, and details behind his newsletter The Art of Noticing, based on his 2019 book of the same name.

Featuring: Rob Walker (@notrobwalker), 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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Why is Amazon buying MGM? May 27, 2021

Show notes

The Information’s Jessica Toonkel joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to discuss Amazon’s (planned) $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM. It’s the first time a big tech company has ever bought a big media asset. But why Amazon, why MGM, and what does this mean for the rest of the media world? Then podcaster pioneer Dan Taberski, comes on to discuss The Line — an Apple-commissioned series, as well as his journey into audio after a career in TV.

Featuring: Jessica Toonkel (@jtoonkel), reporter for The Information

Dan Taberski (@dtaberski), Journalist and Podcaster

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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Jim Miller on HBO’s new home; Alan Yang on a very different season of “Master of None” May 20, 2021

Show notes

Jim Miller was finishing up a book about HBO and then… the story changed. He talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about what may change now that AT&T is handing the service - along with the rest of WarnerMedia — to Discovery. Then writer, producer, and director Alan Yang join to discuss his career, the upcoming season of the Netflix hit Master of None which he co-created with comedian Aziz Ansari, and what he thinks of the current state of the movie and TV industry.

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

Alan Yang (@alanyang), Writer, Director, and Producer

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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