Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

A former Foxconn executive tries to explain what went wrong in Wisconsin Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

Alan Yeung is a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the former head of the Foxconn project in Wisconsin. If you don’t quite remember, the Foxconn project in Wisconsin was announced in 2017 as a massive deal to build the first “Generation 10.5” LCD factory in North America. It was also one of the first big moments in the Trump presidency, complete with President Trump holding a golden shovel at a lavish groundbreaking ceremony where he said the factory would be “the eighth wonder of the world.”

But it turned out that while Foxconn was putting on a great show, no LCD factory was actually getting built, even though Foxconn kept saying it was happening.

Links

We're nominated for a Webby! Vote for Decoder!

The award winning story from Josh Dzieza - The 8th wonder of the world

Wisconsin's $4.1 billion Foxconn factory boondoggle

Foxconn’s $100M deal with the University of Wisconsin has students worried

What a new governor means for Wisconsin’s controversial Foxconn factory

Foxconn and the village: the $10B factory deal that turned one small Wisconsin town upside down

No one seems to know what Foxconn is doing in Wisconsin

After a ‘personal conversation’ with Trump, Foxconn says it will build a factory in Wisconsin after all

Foxconn is confusing the hell out of Wisconsin

Foxconn promised a ‘correction’ about empty buildings in Wisconsin two weeks ago, and it hasn’t said a word since

With Foxconn chief’s Trump meeting, the Wisconsin project gets even more political

One month ago, Foxconn said its innovation centers weren’t empty — they still are

Foxconn’s delays might finally give Wisconsin the upper hand

One year after Trump’s Foxconn groundbreaking, there is almost nothing to show for it

Even fixing Wisconsin’s Foxconn deal won’t fix it, says state-requested report

Foxconn’s first announced product for its Wisconsin factory is an airport coffee robot

Foxconn releases and immediately cancels plans for a giant dome in Wisconsin

Foxconn's giant glass dome in Wisconsin is back, baby

Exclusive: documents show Foxconn refuses to renegotiate Wisconsin deal

Foxconn’s buildings in Wisconsin are still empty, one year later

Exclusive: Wisconsin denies Foxconn tax subsidies after contract negotiations fail

The 8th wonder of the world

Exclusive: Wisconsin report confirms Foxconn's “LCD factory” isn't real

Foxconn tells Wisconsin it never promised to build an LCD factory

Intel selects Ohio for ‘largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet’

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22794506

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

Chris Dixon thinks web3 is the future of the internet. Is it? Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

Chris Dixon leads crypto investing at the storied Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z. He’s responsible for leading funding rounds for Coinbase, which went public about a year ago, the NFT marketplace OpenSea, and Yuga Labs, which is behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club among others. He is also a prolific user of Twitter, where he posts lengthy threads about crypto and web3. He is at once one of the biggest investors in the space, and its biggest booster.

Links

Decoder is nominated for a Webby. Vote!

1000 True Fans

My first impressions of web3

A comprehensive breakdown of the Epic v. Apple ruling

SEC v Howey Co.

Transcript

https://www.theverge.com/e/22784768

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

Is streaming just becoming cable again? Julia Alexander thinks so Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

Julia Alexander was the perfect guest to come on our show and talk about the state of the streaming industry – we’re a couple years into the huge shift to streaming entertainment in Hollywood, and it’s clear the streamers are here to stay. Apple just won the Oscar for Best Picture for a film it bought out of Sundance called Coda. Amazon now owns MGM. Netflix is investing in games and hinting at advertising for the first time. One idea that comes up on Decoder again and again is that how we distribute media has a huge influence on the media itself – and we talked about what kinds of movies and shows are getting made now that the streamers are here to stay.

Links:

Downstream Podcast

‘Extremely awkward’: Bob Chapek and Bob Iger had a falling out, they rarely talk — and the rift looms over Disney’s future

Pixar staff speaks out against Disney moving its films to streaming only: ‘It’s hard to grasp’

HBO Max and Discovery Plus will merge into one app

Apple and Major League Baseball to offer “Friday Night Baseball”

Yankees will have 21 games only available on Amazon Prime

Prime Video unveils logo for 'Thursday Night Football'

CNN Plus launches with Reddit-like interactive Q&As

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22774600

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

Steve Aoki on why he’s a ‘crypto believer’ Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

For this episode, I’m talking to Steve Aoki. He is a superstar DJ, producer, record label owner, and prolific entrepreneur. Steve has been part of the music industry since 1996, so he’s been through a lot of these big tech transitions, and now he’s heavily invested in another, with Web3, the Aokiverse. It involves selling tokens and NFTs and, over time, is meant to be part of the metaverse. Because, of course.

Links

Aokiverse

Dim Mak

Travel Advice from Steve Aoki, Who Throws Cake at 2,500 People a Year

Transcript

https://www.theverge.com/e/22763374

Credits

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott. Additional research was done by Liz Lian and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

How Robinhood is building the future of investing, with chief product officer Aparna Chennapragada Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Aparna Chennapragada is the chief product officer at Robinhood, the popular stock and crypto trading app. And we have some news to discuss: Robinhood is launching a new cash card today that allows people to spend money directly out of their Robinhood account and set up various plans to automatically invest by rounding up purchase amounts to the nearest dollar and putting the difference in various investments.

Links:

How r/wallstreetbets gamed the stock of GameStop

The chicken and the pig

Google is reportedly removing Google Now Launcher from the Play Store

Robinhood Snacks

Robinhood buys Say Technologies for $140M to improve shareholder-company relations

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22753372

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

How the EU is fighting tech giants with Margrethe Vestager Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

Margrethe Vestager is one of the driving forces behind tech regulation worldwide. Appointed as the European Commission’s Commissioner of Competition in 2014 and an executive vice president in 2019, she’s pursued antitrust cases against Apple, Google, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Amazon among others. Now, with the EU on the verge of implementing a new antitrust law called the Digital Markets Act, Vestager is planning her next moves.

Links:

EU's Vestager says analysing metaverse ahead of possible regulatory action

The Digital Markets Act: ensuring fair and open digital markets

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22745302

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

How WordPress and Tumblr are keeping the internet weird, with Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

Matt Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic, the company that owns WordPress.com, which he co-founded, and Tumblr, the irrepressible social network it acquired from the wreckage of AOL, Yahoo, and Verizon. Matt’s point of view is that the world is better off when the web is open and fun, and Automattic builds and acquires products that help that goal along.

Links:

Exclusive: Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg on what’s next for Tumblr

Verizon is selling Tumblr to WordPress’ owner

Automattic, owner of Tumblr and WordPress.com, buys podcast app Pocket Casts

Gutenberg

Tumblr Shop

Why Apple’s new privacy feature is such a big deal

Taylor Swift's Tumblr

Tumblr will ban all adult content on December 17th

How Tumblr Became Popular for Being Obsolete

Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson and Rep. David Cicilline on Apple's monopolistic app store fees

Inside Sonos' decision to sue Google - and how it won

After the porn ban, Tumblr users have ditched the platform as promised

The Trauma Floor: The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America

Vox Media adds The Coral Project

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22741898

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott. Research was done by Liz Lian. It was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

The future of computers is only $4 away, with Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton Mar 08, 2022

Show notes

Today I’m talking to Eben Upton, the CEO of Raspberry Pi, a fascinating company that makes beloved tiny hackable computers that are extremely inexpensive. They’re also some of the only readily available computers that are designed to be tinkered with. They’re not heavily locked down, and using one requires learning how a computer actually works. And that’s the entire point: Eben told me the idea of the Raspberry Pi was to create a product that enticed kids into studying computer science at the University of Cambridge. They’ve more than achieved that goal. Seven million Raspberry Pi units were sold last year, and there’s talk of the company going public.

Links:

Raspberry Pi

The business of finding a better job, with Career Karma CEO Ruben Harris

How Artificial Intelligence is Helping Japanese Cucumber Farmers

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22730196

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

Inside Sonos' decision to sue Google with CEO Patrick Spence and CLO Eddie Lazarus Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

This week I sat down with Patrick Spence, the CEO of Sonos, and Eddie Lazarus, his Chief Legal Officer. I wanted both Patrick and Eddie on the show to talk about when a company like Sonos makes the decision to head to the courts and increasingly, Congress. Sonos has long accused other tech giants of stealing its tech, but in 2019 it actually sued Google for patent infringement. Sonos recently won that lawsuit at the US International Trade Commission, which ruled that Google infringed all five patents Sonos brought to court. I wanted to understand how Patrick and Eddie decided to take the risk of a lawsuit here – Sonos claims Google actually infringes over 150 patents, so how did they pick.. Five.. to sue over?

Links:

Sonos sues Google for allegedly stealing smart speaker tech

Sonos CEO will testify to lawmakers after suing Google

Google countersues Sonos for patent infringement

Sonos sues Google for infringing five more wireless audio patents

A judge has ruled that Google infringed on Sonos’ patents

Sonos says Google is blocking it from offering more than one voice assistant at once

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22719377

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

Can the law keep up with crypto? With professor Tonya Evans Feb 22, 2022

Show notes

I’m going to let you in on a Decoder secret: at the end of last year, I tasked our producers with finding better ways for us to cover crypto and Web 3.0 on Decoder. I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m fairly skeptical of crypto, but I want to come by that skepticism honestly—and on the flip side, I want to make sure to see its opportunities and benefits clearly. We’ve already done episodes on Bitcoin and DAOs, decentralized autonomous organizations, and we’re going to do more episodes as the year goes on.

Today I’m talking to Tonya Evans, a law professor at Penn State Dickinson Law. She teaches IP law, copyright, and blockchain. She also hosts the Tech Intersect podcast, where she covers how law and technology intersect. She has spent a lot of time thinking about crypto assets and how they interact with the law. Tonya’s point of view is that we shouldn’t just abandon many of the legal frameworks we have today—she just wants them to adapt to this new internet.

Links:

The counterfeit NFT problem is only getting worse

Instagram says sites need photographers’ permission to embed posts

BlockFi settlement with the SEC

A cringe rapper slash Forbes contributor allegedly found with billions in stolen Bitcoin

Constitution DAO Decoder episode

Alfonso Ribeiro Sues Fortnite Over Use of His Signature Fresh Prince Dance, The Carlton

The ‘Carlton dance’ couldn’t be copyrighted for a Fortnite lawsuit

Adi Robertson's reporting about Spice DAO

Tonya Evans' website, ProfTonyaEvans.com

Tonya Evans on Twitter

Transcript: