Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

Recode Decode: Daniel Lurie, CEO, Tipping Point Community Mar 27, 2017

Show notes

Tipping Point Community CEO Daniel Lurie talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his organization's efforts to fight homelessness in San Francisco. He says it's all too easy to "not see" the incredible poverty and inequality in the Bay Area if you commute into Silicon Valley every day, which means people in tech must be educated about the problem if they're going to be part of the solution. Lurie calls on techies of means, the beneficiaries of "this incredible moment in time," to get involved in philanthropy. He argues that civic involvement won't last if it's mandated from the outside, and that companies must see it as a cultural priority, with the energy to help coming from the top of the org chart.

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Recode Decode: How HBO's 'Veep' is reacting to Trump (Live at SXSW) Mar 20, 2017

Show notes

"Veep" actors Tim Simons and Matt Walsh and showrunner David Mandel talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about the upcoming sixth season of the HBO political satire. Speaking in front of a live audience at South by Southwest, they recount how they found out on set that Donald Trump had won the presidency, and why it's not their job to respond to the new administration directly. Instead, they say, "Veep" will continue mocking the hypocrisy at all levels of politics and on both sides of the aisle, showing what happens to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character, Selina Meyer, after she loses the presidency and is a private citizen once again. The trio also talks about the addictiveness of Twitter, whether "Veep" would work in virtual reality, and why everyone in D.C. is oblivious when they get parodied.

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Recode Decode: Crooked Media founders: We're podcasting the Trump resistance (Live at SXSW) Mar 15, 2017

Show notes

Crooked Media Founders Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their hit podcast, "Pod Save America," in a live interview at South by Southwest 2017. Having previously worked as speechwriters and spokespersons for the Obama administration, the trio discusses what Democrats missed during the 2016 election and how the new "opposition party" to Donald Trump can best focus its resistance. They explain how they run their "progressive media company," which cares more about impact than income, and why they're not excited by the prospect of a presidential run from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

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Recode Decode: Quincy Smith, partner, Code Advisors Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

Code Advisors Partner Quincy Smith talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the current state of mergers and acquisitions in tech and media. Smith, who previously worked at Netscape and CBS Interactive, says media companies consolidate in tough times, and a massive game of "sharks and minnows" has begun with AT&T's pending $85 billion deal to buy Time Warner. However, in a similar business climate, tech companies focus on their own products, and Smith argues that the rise of artificial intelligence is delaying or obviating the prospect of big new deals among internet and social media companies.

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Recode Decode: Ron Johnson, CEO, Enjoy Mar 06, 2017

Show notes

Enjoy CEO Ron Johnson talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his long career in commerce, including 15 years at Target, and his 12 years at Apple, where he created the Apple Store. Johnson's current company Enjoy hand-delivers premium tech products and helps users with set-up to improve customer satisfaction. He argues that big retailers like Walmart need to innovate on the in-store experience and copy Amazon's approach to customer happiness and loyalty. Johnson also talks about working with longtime Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who initially hated the idea of the Genius Bar.

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Recode Decode: Brewster Kahle, chairman, The Internet Archive Mar 01, 2017

Show notes

Entrepreneur and archivist Brewster Kahle talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the 20th anniversary of the Internet Archive and why it's more important than ever to preserve our digital past. Kahle talks about the companies he founded and sold to AOL and Amazon — WAIS and Alexa, respectively — and how the nonprofit Archive has dealt with everything from copyright issues to social networking websites that are walling themselves off from the rest of the web. He also predicts where artificial intelligence goes from here, saying today's corporations and militaries are a sort of "proto-AI."

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Recode Decode: Sue Decker, Raftr founder, and Michael Dearing, investor Feb 27, 2017

Show notes

Former Yahoo president Sue Decker and investor Michael Dearing talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about Raftr, Decker's recently launched social platform for sane, civil discussions about topics ranging from sports to "Game of Thrones" to President Trump. Decker says the success of sites like Slack and Nextdoor has demonstrated that Facebook and Twitter are not the end-all be-all of social media and says Raftr will give people the opportunity to find new like-minded friends. Later in the show, the two talk about the journalistic responsibilities of tech companies in a world of "fake news." Dearing, the founder of venture capital firm Harrison Metal, says big platforms like Facebook can do the most good by shining a "flashlight" on hoaxers, rather than trying to write rules that disallow it.

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Recode Decode: Jeremy Liew, partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners Feb 22, 2017

Show notes

Lightspeed Venture Partners' Jeremy Liew talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about being a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley at a time when the Valley no longer represents most tech consumers. Liew argues that startup founders are popping up all over because they're now making products for Middle America and the third world, not just Palo Alto and Brooklyn. He also discusses working at AOL after the notorious Time Warner merger, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel's crucial insights that enabled Snapchat's success, and why he's not too concerned about "four years of bad presidency."

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Recode Decode: Brad Stone, author, 'The Upstarts’ Feb 20, 2017

Show notes

Bloomberg Tech journalist Brad Stone talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest book, "The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World." Stone argues that the stories of Uber and Airbnb are intertwined tales of competition, disruption and regulatory drama, and that both companies have driven CEOs who have found tremendous success despite several early missteps. Stone calls self-driving cars an "existential crisis" for Uber, and also talks about the future of Amazon, which he wrote about in his previous book, "The Everything Store." Stone says Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos might have a business problem under President Trump, as Bezos is also the owner of The Washington Post.

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Recode Decode: Rolf Schrömgens, co-founder, Trivago Feb 15, 2017

Show notes

Trivago co-founder and Managing Director Rolf Schrömgens talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about starting a search engine for hotels and why he thinks much larger rivals like Google are at a disadvantage. Schrömgens says he expects the distinctions among hotels, Airbnb listings and other forms of temporary housing to collapse over time, and wants Trivago to be able to recommend the one ideal place for a user to stay, regardless of category. He also discusses why Germany has not developed a Silicon Valley-like tech scene and why anti-immigrant fervor in the U.S., U.K. and parts of Europe is only hurting those countries and leaving them open to startup-style disruption.

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