Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

What an NFL coaching scandal can teach tech about diversity Feb 15, 2022

Show notes

Bärí Williams is a legal and operations advisor to tech companies who focuses on AI and diversity. Her credentials are rock solid: Bärí was lead counsel at Facebook working on various projects, including internet connectivity efforts and diversifying the company’s supply chain. After that, Bärí went to work at StubHub, an AI startup studio called All Turtles, and a data and identity analytics company called Bandwagon Fan Club.

But now, she’s independent — a business of one, consulting on operations with a focus on diversity and AI. I was curious why she decided to leave being a tech executive behind and make that shift to diversity work. We talked about that, but our conversation actually started with sports news — NFL news.

Links:

Diversity wins: how inclusion matters

Black in tech

The 4 most explosive allegations from Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL

California just made it a lot harder for companies to cover up harassment and abuse

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22697189

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

News with a Capital B: CEO Lauren Williams on why we need news for and by Black people Feb 08, 2022

Show notes

Lauren Williams is the co-founder and CEO of Capital B, a new nonprofit media company dedicated to news for Black audiences. Capital B launched on January 31st, with both a national news site and a local newsroom dedicated to Atlanta – and they plan to expand to more cities over time.

Links:

Capital B

Recode Media Podcast

Tired Of The Social Media Rat Race, Journalists Move To Writing Substack Newsletters

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22686070

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 with 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

The business of finding a better job, with Career Karma CEO Ruben Harris Feb 01, 2022

Show notes

It’s an interesting time to talk to someone in the business of helping people get new jobs — we’re still fully in the middle of the pandemic-driven Great Resignation, and a record 4.5 million people quit their jobs in November 2021, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. But that’s exactly what Career Karma and CEO Ruben Harris are doing.

Links:

Career Karma

A record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in November

Breaking Into Startups

AT&T’s $1 billion gambit: Retraining nearly half its workforce for jobs of the future

Making uncommon knowledge common

The Great Resignation is accelerating

How an Excel TickToker manifested her way to making six figures a day

Launch House

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22674665

Credits:

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

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone, Jackie McDermott, and Liam James. 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

7 CEOs and one secretary of Transportation on the future of cars Jan 25, 2022

Show notes

Regular listeners of Decoder know car CEOs love coming on the show. There is a lot of change in the car industry, a lot of big ideas about how to manage that change, and a lot of big problems to solve: the transition to electric vehicles, the fact that cars are basically turning into rolling smartphones, how to make self-driving work safely, and more. And, of course, we always end up talking about Tesla — because how can you not?

Links:

Listen to the full interviews here

Luminar CEO Austin Russell

Ford CEO Jim Farley

Argo AI CEO Brian Saleski

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath

Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana

Jeep CEO Christian Meunier

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess

Transcript of this episode

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 with 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 CEO Herbert Diess reinvent Volkswagen with EVs and software? Jan 18, 2022

Show notes

Links

Dieselgate coverage on The Verge

VW vows to build massive electric car charging network across US

Electrify America announces doubling of charging network with 1,800 stations and 10,000 chargers

Transcript

https://www.theverge.com/e/22652357

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 with 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

Almost every smartphone has a Qualcomm chip inside. Where does CEO Cristiano Amon go from here? Jan 11, 2022

Show notes

Cristiano Amon is the president and CEO of Qualcomm, and he’s always been a relentless cheerleader for what mobile computing can do for people — especially if that mobile computing is powered by Qualcomm’s chips.

Links:

Apple supplier TSMC confirms it’s building an Arizona chip plant

Intel will make Qualcomm chips in new foundry deal

The Verge 5G landing page

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is here to power the Android flagships of 2022

Qualcomm’s next-gen CPU for PCs will take on Apple’s M-series chips in 2023

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22640552

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 with 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

Pete Buttigieg is racing to keep up with self-driving cars Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

In this special, Thursday episode of Decoder, Andrew Hawkins spoke with secretary of transportation Pete Butigieg ahead of his speech at CES 2022.

2021 was an eventful year for Buttigieg, the youngest and arguably the most notable person to take on the role of transportation secretary in many years. Congress passed President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, which will provide billions of new funding for the creation of a national network of electric vehicle charging stations. The secretary and Andrew talked about that, about self driving vehicles, and of course, Tesla.

Links:

Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the future of transportation

The Verge CES hub

Biden signs $1 trillion infrastructure package into law

The investigation into Tesla Autopilot’s emergency vehicle problem is getting bigger

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22633231

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 Andru Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

How Logitech bet big on work from home Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

Logitech is one of those ubiquitous companies — it’s been around since 1981, selling all kinds of important things that connect to computers of all shapes and sizes: mice, keyboards, cases, cameras, you name it. Nilay Patel spoke with Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell about how the company met increased demand during the pandemic, whether that changed his plans to shift to a services company, and how the supply chain issues around the world affect his business. They also talked about how he manages Logitech’s relationships with other tech giants like Apple and Amazon.

And we had to talk about the decision to kill the Harmony remote line.

Links:

Nilay's interview with Bracken Darrell from 2019

Everything you need to know about the global chip shortage

Why charging phones is such a complex business with Anker CEO Steven Yang

Logitech officially discontinues its Harmony remotes

How an excel TikToker manifested her way to making six figures a day

Logitech is buying Streamlabs for $89 million

Logitech announces cheaper Magic Keyboard alternative for new iPad Pro

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22610722

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 we regulate social media without breaking the First Amendment? Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

So today I’m talking to Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, about one of the hardest problems at the intersection of tech and policy right now: the question of how to regulate social media platforms. Everyone seems to think we should do it – Democrats, Republicans – even Facebook is running ads saying it welcomes regulation. It’s weird. But while everyone might agree on the idea, no one agrees on the execution, and the biggest hurdle is the First Amendment..

Links:

Florida governor signs law to block ‘deplatforming’ of Florida politicians

Judge blocks Florida’s social media law

Texas passes law that bans kicking people off social media based on ‘viewpoint’

Federal court blocks Texas law banning ‘viewpoint discrimination’ on social media

Social media companies want to co-opt the First Amendment. Courts shouldn’t let them.

Miami Herald Publishing Company vs. Tornillo

Pacific Gas & Electric Company v. Public Utilities Commission of California

Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian Bisexual Group

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22602514

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 Andru Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.

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

The metaverse is already here — and it’s full of Pokemon, says Niantic CEO John Hanke Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

John Hanke is the CEO of Niantic, a company that makes the wildly popular Pokemon Go mobile game in partnership with Nintendo and the Pokémon company. Pokemon Go, and its predecessor Ingress, are now the largest and most successful augmented reality games in the industry, which means John has long been at the forefront of what we’ve all started calling the metaverse—digital worlds that interact with the real world. Lots of companies are chasing metaverse hype but John’s been at it for a while, and I wanted to talk about the reality instead of the hype. We also coin the phrase “marketplace of realities.” It’s a ride.

Links:

What’s left of Magic Leap?

Microsoft is supplying 120,000 HoloLens-based headsets to the US Army

Snap’s first AR Spectacles are an ambitious, impractical start

Facebook just revealed its new name: Meta

There will never be another Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go is still incredibly relevant

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is shutting down next year

Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone is out now

The best thing to do in VR is work out

NFT's, explained

Pokémon Go creator Niantic is working on AR glasses with Qualcomm