Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

How to build everything, with Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi May 25, 2021

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Nilay Patel talks with Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex.

Flex is the third largest electronics manufacturing company in the world, making everything from hair dryers to the Mac Pro to autonomous driving systems for electric cars. It can also do everything from simply assembling products, to actually designing and engineering them from scratch.

Revathi and Nilay focus on the global chip shortage, the rise of automation, the future of the manufacturing workforce worldwide, and whether Flex can avoid global politics.

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Ford CEO Jim Farley on building the electric F-150 — and reinventing Ford May 20, 2021

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This week we have Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company, to discuss their second big push into consumer EVs with the F-150 Lightning. We wanted to see how Jim sees our relationship to cars changing as they turn into what are fundamentally rolling computers.

His answers surprised us — he hinted at one day being able to upgrade the computing systems of a car the same way you might upgrade or replace the engine, or the shocks.

As we go through this conversation, we notice how much Jim talks like a tech executive. As more and more things turn into computers, the more problems across the business landscape look like the problems of the computer industry. It's a fascinating shift.

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Facebook’s Oversight Board has upheld the Trump ban. What’s next? May 11, 2021

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Nilay Patel talks with Kate Klonick, a law professor at St. John’s University Law School and one of the foremost chroniclers of Facebook’s moderation efforts.

Kate has been researching and studying Facebook’s Oversight Board from its inception: she embedded with the board as it was forming to write a definitive piece for The New Yorker called “Inside the Making of Facebook’s Supreme Court.”

Nilay and Kate discuss the Oversight Board’s recent decision to uphold Facebook’s ban on Donald Trump and what the decision means for the future of policy and moderation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

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How Shopify’s network of small businesses can take on Amazon May 04, 2021

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Nilay Patel talks with Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. Shopify makes software that allows businesses of all sizes to set up online stores, and from there it can handle everything from shipping orders to financing loans for expansion. The company went public in 2015, and as online commerce has exploded during the pandemic, it’s been on a tear ever since.

Harley talks about competing with the tech giants, Shopify's content moderation policies, and the future of online retail.

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Senator Amy Klobuchar takes on Apple with antitrust law Apr 27, 2021

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Senator Amy Klobuchar sits down with host Nilay Patel to discuss her new book Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age and the flurry of antitrust hearings over the past year. Senator Klobuchar serves as chair of the Senate subcommittee on competition policy, antitrust, and consumer rights — and in that role, Senator Klobuchar held a hearing last week focused on the power and control Apple and Google — but especially Apple — wield with their app stores.

Where does she think antitrust reform is actually headed and what are the limits?

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How Anjali Sud stopped worrying about YouTube and reinvented Vimeo Apr 20, 2021

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Since becoming CEO a few years ago, Anjali Sud has changed the nature of Vimeo’s business from indie entertainment streaming platform to a SaaS company offering tools for content creators. And it's paying off. Nilay Patel and Anjali discuss Vimeo’s rapid growth, going public, and what’s next for the company.

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Is VR the next frontier in fitness? Apr 13, 2021

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Nilay Patel talks with Chris Milk, founder and CEO of Within, which makes the VR fitness app Supernatural. Chris has been making VR experiences for a long time, but Supernatural feels like his biggest hit yet — an app that makes people go out and buy a VR headset just to use.

Chris and Nilay discuss how the company Within takes on music licensing, competition with Peloton, and the platform of virtual reality.

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Is there a future for Bitcoin? An investor and a skeptic make their case Apr 06, 2021

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Nilay Patel interviews two experts on different sides of the bitcoin argument: a bitcoin investor and bitcoin skeptic.

The investor is Nic Carter. He’s a general partner at Castle Island Ventures, which funds startups that are building on top of the bitcoin infrastructure to make payments more accessible — basically, making sure bitcoin can function like a currency.

The skeptic is Steve Hanke. He is a professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, senior fellow and director of the Troubled Currencies Project at the Cato Institute, a former member of President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, and was the president of Toronto Trust Argentina in Buenos Aires when it was the world’s best performing mutual fund in 1995. He has also advised other countries on how to deal with hyperinflation and how to stabilize currencies.

Nilay asks them both questions about bitcoin’s place in the market and pushes them on the shakier parts of their arguments.

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Facebook's VP of Global Affairs doesn’t think the platform is polarizing Mar 31, 2021

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In a bonus episode of Decoder, Platformereditor and Verge contributing editor Casey Newton talks with Facebook's VP of Global Affairs Nick Clegg about his lengthy Medium post addressing some of the criticisms that Facebook has endured, as well as unveiling some changes the company is making to give users more control over their experience.

Host of Decoder Nilay Patel taks with Casey before the interview to discuss why this shift in Facebook's approach to the user experience is important, and what key issues listeners should pay attention to.

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Poshmark’s Tracy Sun on stitching e-commerce with social media Mar 30, 2021

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Nilay Patel talks with Tracy Sun, the co-founder and SVP of new markets at Poshmark, a fashion resale company that just went public earlier this year while riding the huge wave of e-commerce growth during the pandemic.

Tracy has to manage regular e-commerce issues, like shipping logistics and customer service, as well as influencer economy problems, like burnout and the incessant need to grow follower counts — not to mention the universe of problems that comes with selling fashion, like dealing with fashion labels and brands. But if Poshmark can get it all right, Tracy thinks community is the future of retail.

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