Source Code

Latest Episodes:

Antitrust fights, digital nomads, and Magic Leap Apr 25, 2021

Show notes

Ben Brody joins the show to talk about Lina Khan’s FTC confirmation hearing, and the antitrust hearing that made Apple look so bad. Then Anna Kramer discusses what’s happening to tech employees who moved all over the world during the pandemic, and now fear being called back to San Francisco. Finally, Janko Roettgers talks about his interview with Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson, the state of augmented reality, and terrible Apple TV remotes.

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For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.

Lime’s quest to become ‘the Amazon for transportation Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

A year ago, it felt like the scooter business might be over. By one estimate, spending on scooter rentals fell almost 100% in the spring of 2020. With billions of people stuck at home for an indefinite amount of time, could any of the fast-growing micromobility startups hang on? Wayne Ting, who had only just been promoted to CEO at Lime, the largest player in the space, wasn’t sure.

It didn’t take very long for things to turn around, though. As people looked for ways to get outside and get around that didn’t involve being trapped with strangers in subway cars or Ubers, they started picking up scooters and e-bikes. Before long, companies like Bird and Lime began to sense an opportunity to bring about the kind of local transportation revolution they’d been fighting for all along, even faster than they’d prepared for.

What does that future like? That’s what Ting joined the Source Code podcast to discuss: Why Lime started with scooters, what other modes of transportation it might get into, and most of all, why Lime (and seemingly every other transportation company on Earth) wants to be “the Amazon of transportation.” Trillion-dollar market caps, certainly. But what does that comparison mean, and what does it look like to bring the Bezos playbook to city streets everywhere?

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Coinbase goes public, Microsoft buys Nuance, and fixing NDAs Apr 18, 2021

Show notes

Ben Pimentel joins the show to discuss Coinbase’s huge debut on the public market, and where the company goes next. Then, Joe Williams explains why Microsoft bought Nuance, and why it might be about much more than health care. Finally, Issie Lapowsky discusses her story on the lives of Big Tech’s whistleblowers, and their plan to rethink how NDAs work in the industry.

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For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.

A better plan for free speech online Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

Jillian C. York has been thinking about free speech online for more than a decade. In her latest book, “Silicon Values: Silicon Values: The Future of Free Speech Under Surveillance Capitalism,” she examines the history of free speech, moderation, censorship and policy across platforms from Facebook to YouTube and in countries around the world. She joins the show to discuss the themes from her book, plus what platforms got right about the pandemic, why global companies need a more global perspective on expression, and what other platforms can learn from Reddit.

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For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.

Google beats Oracle, Coinbase goes public, Amazon’s union defeat Apr 11, 2021

Show notes

Tom Krazit joins the show to discuss the end of the Google v. Oracle saga, and what it means for the tech industry. Then Tomio Geron explains why Coinbase is on fire right now, and what to watch for in its direct listing this week. Finally, Anna Kramer updates us on the latest in the Amazon union battle in Bessemer, Alabama.

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For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.

Zoox thinks self-driving cars will change everything — just not all at once Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

Jesse Levinson spent six years building a vehicle — don’t call it a car, just call it Zoox — before he decided to show it to anybody. The co-founder and CTO of Zoox has been working on autonomous transport for more than 15 years, and since 2014 has been designing and building a new kind of robotaxi designed for a driverless world. In December of 2020, Zoox finally revealed its first product, and Levinson said the company’s getting closer to letting regular people get inside.

Levinson joined the Source Code podcast to talk about the state of Zoox, and the autonomous vehicle industry as a whole. A few years ago, companies were making grand proclamations about the immediate future, but Levinson and Zoox are a bit more conservative in the short run. In the long run, though, they’re pretty sure autonomy will change everything.

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Biden builds, China’s crackdown, and the “model minority” myth Apr 04, 2021

Show notes

First, we go over what’s in the Biden administration’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan, and what it might mean for tech. Then Shen Lu Shen joins the show to talk about the Chinese government’s recent crackdowns on Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and other local tech giants. Finally, Megan Rose Dickey discusses the Asian American experience in the tech industry right now, and why the “model minority” myth continues to be a problem.

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For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.

Fixing the internet one browser at a time Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

Mitchell Baker has a tricky job right now. As CEO of Mozilla and chair of the Mozilla Foundation, she has to figure out both how to use Mozilla’s advocacy might to make the internet better, and build products that make Mozilla more money. Those are challenging things to do by themselves, and even harder to do simultaneously. Baker joins the Source Code podcast to talk about that tension, how she thinks blockchain can help make the internet better – and why it won’t solve everything — and why web browsers matter now more than ever.

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For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.

Tech hearings, Intel chips and AWS CEOs Mar 28, 2021

Show notes

Emily Birnbaum joins the show to talk about the most recent Big Tech hearing, including what we learned and why we even keep having these hearings at all. Then, Tom Krazit discusses Intel’s $20 billion plan to get back on top of the chip market, and what’s next for AWS now that Adam Selipsky is CEO.

For more on the topics in this episode:

For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.

Slack's plan to power the future of work Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

Slack Chief Product Officer Tamar Yehoshua joins the show to talk about Slack's new features, its plan to be much bigger than a way to talk to your co-workers, and the future of the workplace in general.

For more on the topics in this episode:

For all the links and stories, head to Source Code’s homepage.