Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

Recode Decode: Twitter's Vijaya Gadde and Kayvon Beykpour (Live at Code 2019) Jun 14, 2019

Show notes

Vijaya Gadde, who leads the legal and trust and safety teams at Twitter, and Periscope co-founder Kayvon Beykpour, who's now the company's head of product, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka at the 2019 Code Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.

In this episode: Twitter’s meeting with President Trump; CEO Jack Dorsey's level of contact with the policy team; cleaning the Twitter “cesspool”; could it operate without letting everyone speak?; its new policies around elections and anti-vaxxers; how its responses to abuse compare to Facebook’s and Google’s; does de-platforming people like Alex Jones reduce their influence?; does Twitter radicalize people?; how Twitter is trying to get rid of white supremacists; and false equivalency in content moderation.

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Recode Decode: The Intercept's Mehdi Hasan Jun 12, 2019

Show notes

Mehdi Hasan, a columnist at the Intercept and host of its weekly podcast Deconstructed, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher.

In this episode: How Hasan got into journalism; the timidity of the American press; cold comforts in the “horrible, horrible moment” of the Trump presidency; the Intercept and Hasan’s podcast, Deconstructed; his viral interview with Blackwater founder Erik Prince; Swisher’s interview with Sam Harris; liberals who only see racism on the right; the controversial speeches in Hasan's history; the impact of Twitter on politics — and Donald Trump on Twitter; the 2020 presidential race and impeachment; and Trump's legacy.

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Recode Decode: CNN's Jim Sciutto Jun 10, 2019

Show notes

CNN's chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, The Shadow War: Inside Russia’s and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America.

In this episode: Sciutto’s background and the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests; being a foreign correspondent; working for the Chinese ambassador and returning to journalism; being a journalist at CNN in the Trump era; Americans’ post-Cold War delusions about Russia; why failures to recognize Russia and China as threats have been bipartisan; how both countries have made themselves adversaries of the US; what Russia has done beyond election hacking, including "kamikaze satellites"; China’s theft of state secrets; should we be making phones in China?; why AI is now a battlefield; what do Russia and China actually want, and what does defeat look like?; America's deeply partisan politics; the policy steps to end the shadow war; and the impact of Trump's trade war with China.

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Recode Decode: Michele Madansky Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

Media market research consultant Michele Madansky talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about The Elephant in the Valley, her study into the prevalence of harassment in tech that was first conducted in 2016 and recently updated with new statistics.

In this episode: Madansky's background; the first edition of Elephant in the Valley and its aftermath; how does harassment in tech compare to other industries?; is harassment still the elephant in the room?; what's worse since 2016, what's the same, and what's better?; why Madansky is optimistic; Gen Z and growing acceptance of women as breadwinners; how to change the numbers; is Madansky worried about #MeToo fatigue?; and her advice for the tech companies she advises.

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Recode Decode: Girls Who Code CEO Reshma Saujani Jun 03, 2019

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Girls Who Code CEO Reshma Saujani talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the challenges facing women in the tech industry and what everyone can do to make progress happen faster.

In this episode: The 60 Minutes problem; what Girls Who Code does; how it compares to other diversity-in-coding groups; how much progress have we made so far?; the link between perfectionism and "fitting in"; the lousy excuses for homogeneous hiring; how Google and Microsoft could become the new Goldman Sachs; sexual harassment and the impact of #MeToo; bringing new investors into the ecosystem; what parents should tell their daughters; and where are the role models?

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Recode Decode: Susan Hockfield May 31, 2019

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Former MIT president Susan Hockfield talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution.

In this episode: How Hockfield got to MIT; how the school creates innovation; how Route 128 lost the digital revolution to the west coast; Boston's new "regional advantage," sustainable energy; the convergence of biology and engineering; why Hockfield wrote "The Age of Living Machines"; "living machines" that can help us prevent diseases and detect cancer; the challenge of clean water; how some viruses can become rechargeable batteries; how to direct investment and political attention toward these technologies; urging technology forward during times of relative peace; what China and other countries learned from the United States’ post-WWII tech boom; and why the decline of trust in scientific expertise "terrifies" her.

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Recode Decode: Investors Mark Cuban and Steve Case and talent agent Scooter Braun (Live) May 29, 2019

Show notes

In these live interviews recorded at the 2019 SALT Conference in Las Vegas, Recode's Kara Swisher talks to investors Mark Cuban and Steve Case about the future of entrepreneurship and talent agent Scooter Braun about how tech is changing the entertainment business.

In the Cuban/Case interview: The "third wave" of the internet and Case's "rise of the rest" theory; the state of entrepreneurship outside Silicon Valley; are startups really in decline?; how to properly train the next generation of startup founders; why Cuban believes everyone working at a startup should receive equity; how to make tech more diverse; and how does techlash change investing?

And then, in the Braun interview: The impact of social media on Braun's work and the life of a touring musician; getting arrested on behalf of Justin Bieber; why sometimes, your gut should trump the data; playing power politics with Apple and Spotify; how Braun almost bought 10 percent of Facebook; and his investments in Uber, Lyft, and other tech companies.

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Recode Decode: DuckDuckGo CEO Gabe Weinberg May 27, 2019

Show notes

DuckDuckGo CEO Gabe Weinberg talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher in this live conversation recorded at Made By We in New York City.

In this episode: What DuckDuckGo does; why Weinberg started the company; contextual advertising; Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act; are people actually mad about privacy violations?; Weinberg’s proposal for national privacy legislation; competing against Google and the “filter bubble”; data interoperability and what good policies would look like; what can consumers do to protect themselves?; security and facial recognition; the small number of people making decisions for the whole world; should Americans have the right to be forgotten?; and can there be a DuckDuckGo for YouTube?

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Recode Decode: Facebook’s former security boss Alex Stamos and Twitter co-founder Ev Williams (Live) May 24, 2019

Show notes

Alex Stamos, the former Chief Security Officer at Facebook, and Ev Williams, the co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Medium, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher in these live interviews from the 2019 Collision conference in Toronto, Canada.

In the Stamos interview: Is Facebook misunderstood?; Stamos’ proposed solutions; legitimate candidates vs. the Russians; how to protect ourselves from all election attackers; the weaponization of Facebook’s products; America’s reluctance to regulate; breaking up Facebook and Google; why big companies need to stop rewarding employees with stock; Stamos’ recommendations for Mark Zuckerberg; and is Facebook actually committed to change?

And in the Williams interview: Why he left the board of Twitter; where social media is right now; why his venture firm Obvious Ventures doesn’t invest in social; its investment in Beyond Meat; Williams’ theories of venture investing; the lack of diversity in what companies get venture funding; how techlash has changed Silicon Valley; the many iterations of Medium; would Williams buy established media companies?; and is he worried about the media?

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Recode Decode: Anand Giridharadas May 22, 2019

Show notes

Winners Take All author Anand Giridharadas talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher in this live conversation recorded at Made By We in New York City.

In this episode: Why Giridharadas wrote the book; the Sackler family; why “giving back is a wingman of taking ruthlessly”; Mark Zuckerberg’s false image and outsized influence; Andrew Carnegie and the history of billionaire philanthropy; what should the ultra-rich do instead?; what should the government do?; the backlash to Jeff Bezos; Marc Benioff and San Francisco; the 2020 Democrats and "the primary about everything”; Bill McGlashan and the college admissions scandal; the “rise of the rest”; what about Constitutional amendments?; and why Giridharadas is grateful for Donald Trump.

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