Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

Recode Decode: 'AI Superpowers' author Kai-Fu Lee Sep 17, 2018

Show notes

Kai-Fu Lee, the CEO of Sinovation Ventures and former president of Google China, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, "AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order." In this episode:00:55 - Lee's background & Google China03:32 - Why he left Google05:41 - Why American companies struggled to compete in China09:46 - It's not all because of the government12:23 - Investing in artificial intelligence18:42 - What "AI Superpowers" means21:15 - Data and privacy in China vs. the West25:17 - Where AI is going next30:17 - How Lee thinks about American tech companies33:09 - The impact of AI on jobs40:10 - The political implications of those job changes43:30 - The responsibilities of tech creators and investors

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Recode Decode: Nicole Wong, former deputy CTO of the United States Sep 12, 2018

Show notes

Former deputy CTO of the United States Nicole Wong talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about the future of tech policy and why content moderation is more complicated than many people think. In this episode:01:29 - How Wong became a First Amendment lawyer04:12 - Why she took a job at Google07:05 - "You can’t be the lawyer that says no all the time.”08:30 - Why she left Google09:34 - The White House phone call12:19 - Making the government more technologically literate14:42 - Post-government life17:48 - Congress, Sheryl Sandberg and Jack Dorsey21:26 - “You don’t create solutions in a hearing”26:33 - Is it time for a "slow food movement for the Internet?”31:01 - Algorithmic “bias” and the danger of blunt instruments34:46 - The social media “cleaners” in the Philippines41:22 - Techlash44:11 - China’s quicker road to tech dominance46:17- With no American CTO, who’s in charge?48:30 - Google and China 52:59 - Diversity in tech

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Recode Decode: 'Big Game' author Mark Leibovich Sep 10, 2018

Show notes

Mark Leibovich, the chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, "Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times." In this episode:02:07 - Leibovich’s short stint as a tech reporter04:06 - “This Town” and burning bridges in Washington06:00 - How he got into writing about the NFL 07:58 - The goal of reporting and writing “Big Game”10:12 - The fault lines emerging in America’s football addiction11:58 - Football will survive in spite of the owners18:47 - Why these are “dangerous times” for the NFL19:52 - Donald Trump’s football dreams21:55 - “The kneeling thing”24:17 - The impact of Colin Kaepernick’s protests on the NFL27:22 - The other dangers to the league29:01 - Smarter helmets and cord-cutting37:18 - Robots playing football and other tech40:35 - Where does football go next?43:18 - Returning to politics and the “Trump swamp”45:51 - Working at the “failing New York Times” next to Maggie Haberman48:11 - Should we change the way we cover politics and sports?52:05 - Who does Leibovich love and hate in the NFL?

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Recode Decode: Slack chief product officer April Underwood Sep 05, 2018

Show notes

April Underwood, the chief product officer at workplace collaboration platform Slack, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her career, diversity in Silicon Valley and the future of work. In this episode:02:06 - How Underwood got from Texas to tech05:36 - Moving to Oregon to work for Intel, and back to Texas07:09 - What does a product manager actually do?09:32 - Organizing content at Google11:01 - Why she left Google for Twitter15:50 - Why Slack is better than email20:02 - AOL at Work and the danger of outages24:15 - Slack’s growing valuation and staying independent27:55 - How Slack works and how it integrates with other services32:34 - Security and innovation35:43 - The biggest obstacles Slack faces40:45 - The features users are asking for the most45:45 - #Angels and “the gap table"49:55 - How does Slack fare on diversity?51:22 - Is Silicon Valley getting better at diversity and inclusion?53:13 - “Where we are now is the dark timeline"56:52 - What would Underwood do if she were running Twitter?58:43 - The future of work

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Recode Decode: Sleeping Giants founder Matt Rivitz Sep 03, 2018

Show notes

Matt Rivitz, the formerly anonymous founder of the popular Twitter account Sleeping Giants, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he accidentally started an international campaign against advertising-supported bigotry online. In this episode:01:54 - “My white-hot hated for Steve Bannon”05:01 - The advertising angle and making @slpng_giants11:39 - Teaming up with Nandini Jammi14:58 - The "moment I think when we knew that we were on to something much bigger”18:43 - “It was never about politics”21:05 - Moving on to Bill O’Reilly and Fox24:52 - Why Sleeping Giants doesn’t boycott and doesn’t make demands27:49 - Laura Ingraham and Robert Mercer31:13 - Facebook, Google and the “free speech argument”39:47 - Where does Sleeping Giants go next?42:34 - "We’re all determined not to take any money for this.”45:47 - How Rivitz got unmasked49:50 - Going beyond Twitter and being the “conscience of social media"

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Recode Decode: U.S. Justice Department antitrust lawyer Makan Delrahim Sep 01, 2018

Show notes

Makan Delrahim, the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the government's attempt to stop the merger of AT&T and Time Warner and how he evaluates tech giants like Google and Facebook. In this episode:01:52 - Delrahim’s background in biotech and law06:28 - The importance of tech transfer09:17 - How he got into tech and antitrust law11:48 - The power of early tech titans14:35 - United States v. Microsoft Corp.19:08 - How Delrahim evaluates Silicon Valley’s power today23:43 - Robert Jackson and the history of antitrust25:57 - The AT&T-Time Warner case36:00 - What happens next with the government’s appeal37:39 - The optics of President Trump’s CNN hatred42:29 - Big telcos and net neutrality46:54 - Could Google have bought YouTube today?49:37 - Future tech M&A53:06 - International regulators and “antitrust laws as a weapon”57:30 - What could tech do that would get them in trouble?

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Recode Decode: 'Temp' author Louis Hyman Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

Louis Hyman, an economic historian and professor at Cornell University, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Rani Molla about his new book, "Temp: How American Work, American Business, and the American Dream Became Temporary." In this episode:02:00 - Why Hyman wrote “Temp” and the history of work05:11 - The first temporary jobs07:44 - Silicon Valley has treated workers “miserably” for decades16:48 - What is the "gig economy” now?21:52 - Why Uber is both a “godsend" and a trickster26:47 - Job automation and human creativity31:20 - What are the jobs of the future?34:48 - Digital migrants37:07 - Robot caretakers39:05 - Universal Basic Income44:09 - How to make jobs of the future sustainable47:13 - How can tech help?

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Recode Decode: Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty and Make Magazine editor Mike Senese Aug 27, 2018

Show notes

Two of the godfathers of the maker movement — Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty and Make Magazine editor in chief Mike Senese — talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the movement has gone mainstream over the past decade. In this episode:01:39 - How the maker movement started11:06 - Why make things when you don’t have to?12:42 - Why Make Magazine is a magazine17:57 - What’s trending among makers20:17 - 3-D printers and digital fabrication23:09 - AI and education 28:35 - Drones, more 3-D printers and robotics35:10 - America, China and cultures of innovation40:58 - Resisting Amazon42:47 - The reality show “Making It” and celebrity makers47:06 - Diversity in the maker movement49:19 - Favorite projects of the year

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Recode Decode: Haystack founder Semil Shah Aug 25, 2018

Show notes

Haystack founder and Lightspeed Ventures venture partner Semil Shah talks with Recode's Teddy Schleifer about breaking into the VC world and how the industry is changing. In this episode:03:45 - How Shah got involved with tech07:57 - How hard should it be to get a VC job?16:10 - Misconceptions about venture capital21:33 - What exactly is a “venture partner?”26:08 - How important is luck to being a good VC?31:32 - Being a lone wolf and breaking in36:07 - Doing deals outside Silicon Valley46:31 - SoftBank49:41 - Venture capital in 2038

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Recode Decode: Senator Ron Wyden Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

Ron Wyden, the senior U.S. Senator from Oregon, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about regulating the internet and protecting America's elections from both hackers and disinformation peddlers. In this episode:01:12 - The early days of the internet05:42 - Cambridge Analytica and election security10:34 - Social media during elections14:45 - Alex Jones and policing the internet19:34 - Regulating tech companies23:16 - Cybersecurity and tech leaders testifying27:50 - What happens if the Democrats win the House?

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