Recode Decode Podcast

Instagram co-founder and former CEO Kevin Systrom talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the data analysis he has conducted and publicized about the global spread of coronavirus, and what it tells us the future looks like. He says he applied the same data-minded approach to the virus that he did while at Instagram because "data is data," and says the rapid word of mouth spread of "viral" technology can help us understand what happens when communities and governments don't act to prevent an outbreak. Systrom...

Instagram co-founder and former CEO Kevin Systrom talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the data analysis he has conducted and publicized about the global spread of coronavirus, and what it tells us the future looks like. He says he applied the same data-minded approach to the virus that he did while at Instagram because "data is data," and says the rapid word of mouth spread of "viral" technology can help us understand what happens when communities and governments don't act to prevent an outbreak. Systrom...

Former Obama advisor David Plouffe — who since leaving the White House has worked with Uber, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and Acronym — talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, A Citizen's Guide to Beating Donald Trump. He talks about how the coronavirus pandemic affects the 2020 election and popular perception of Trump and Joe Biden; the disastrous Iowa caucus how Democrats can get better at technology; and what regular people can do now if they want Trump to lose in November, including enga...

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how coronavirus changed everything for Slack and its customers, the sudden transition to "work from home" across the country, and how the company is handling a surge in usage at the same time that other plans and resources are being constrained. Butterfield also discusses Slack's recent redesign, how communication inside organizations has evolved over the years, and the state of innovation in Silicon Valley and the US as a whole. Plus: Wha...

VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the impact of covid-19 on entrepreneurship, why he stopped investing in tech companies two years ago, and how the pandemic could have a silver lining — separating the winners from the losers. Vaynerchuk also talks about why tech and Fortune 500 businesses will have an easier time weathering the crisis than restaurants and other small businesses; his own rise to fame as a "web 2.0" entrepreneur and how he's changing his own M.O. in respon...

Dr. Deepak Chopra talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how to cope with the global threat posed by coronavirus, the parallel "pandemic of panic," and how to not be overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. Comparing it to past pandemics and wars, he says the covid-19 outbreak is an invitation to stop denying our shared humanity and finally recognize our power to use our creativity to save ourselves. Chopra also discusses his AI project Digital Deepak, what a selfie can tell you about your stress level, and how he'...

Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how long it will take to recover from the coronavirus crisis, its impact on startups, and how the US government should and will react — including by tracking individuals via their technology and repatriating cash from tech companies like Apple. Palihapitiya says businesses should make sure they have at least 36 months worth of cash on hand to weather this recession and its slow recovery period and predicts the US will need to dev...

Ben Hubbard, the Beirut bureau chief for the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman. Hubbard explains how he started writing about Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, MBS's unexpected rise to power, and the recent international incidents that have made him more notorious in the west: The murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's phone. He also discusses the Saudi government's relat...

Former 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the growing popularity of government programs to send money directly to people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. His own organization t hat advocates for universal basic income, Humanity Forward, plans to start cutting checks to regular Americans soon, starting with the working poor in New York City's Bronx borough and workers who depend on tips to make ends meet. Yang also says he plans to run for office again in the ...

Recode's Kara Swisher talks with three of the brains behind the new HBO documentary After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News: Director Andrew Rossi, who previously directed Page One: Inside the New York Times; executive producer Brian Stelter, who hosts Reliable Sources on CNN; and co-producer Adam McGill. They discuss how disinformation about everything from coronavirus to #BlackLivesMatter spreads online, the victims of the Pizzagate and Seth Rich conspiracy theories, and why Russian election...

Maggie Haberman, the White House correspondent for the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the rest of the country has bypassed Trump's failure to lead on the coronavirus outbreak; his exposure to COVID-19 at Mar-a-Lago and refusal to self-quarantine; and the toxic cocktail of practices in his administration: Infighting, tiptoeing, and sucking up. She also discusses CDC director Anthony Fauci's "unimpeachable" credibility vs. President Trump's trust problem, how Vice President Pence i...

Epidemic co-host Ron Klain, who led the White House's ebola response under President Obama, talks to Recode's Kara Swisher about how the COVID-19 outbreak will strain America's healthcare system; how President Trump downplayed the crisis, rattling public confidence and delaying the country's response; and the way people who work in the gig economy — including Uber drivers and food delivery workers — will be especially hurt by the situation. He also discusses the logic behind travel bans and limits of their ...

Dr. Lloyd Minor, the dean of Stanford University's School of Medicine, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the novel coronavirus outbreak and his new book, "Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being." Minor explains how Stanford has prepared for an event like COVID-19, how the virus spreads, and why we should be concerned, but not panicked. He also discusses the need to take the individualized level of care most sick people in the US receive and apply it to...

Dr. Lloyd Minor, the dean of Stanford University's School of Medicine, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the novel coronavirus outbreak and his new book, "Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being." Minor explains how Stanford has prepared for an event like COVID-19, how the virus spreads, and why we should be concerned, but not panicked. He also discusses the need to take the individualized level of care most sick people in the US receive and apply it to...

Stanford Law School professor Mark Lemley talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about Silicon Valley's obsession with startups getting an "exit" — usually an acquisition by one of the tech giants — and why that trend is suffocating innovation. Lemley explains the decline of IPOs and antitrust scrutiny in America, why today’s tech monopolies are especially hard to break, and how he thinks we should fix this broken system. He also discusses emerging legal issues in tech, including space, robotics and autonomous ca...

Zoox CEO Aicha Evans and CTO Jesse Levinson talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their development of a fully autonomous robo-taxi, which will be designed for multiple passengers to share and is planned to hit public roads before the end of 2021. They discuss how Evans was persuaded to come to the self-driving company from Intel after the departure of Levinson's co-founder and the company's original CEO, Tim Kentley-Klay; how Zoox’s car compares to Tesla's "autopilot" feature; and why they intentionally de...

Pod Save America co-host and former Obama advisor Dan Pfeiffer talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again, why Bernie Sanders owes a lot to Michael Bloomberg, and why Trump is the new normal for the right wing. In the new book, Pfeiffer explains how Democrats can defeat President Trump at the ballot box in November, but says doing that isn't enough because of what the broader Republican Party has become. Plus: Why the Obama administrati...

Inside CEO and This Week in Startups host Jason Calacanis talks with Kara Swisher about the future of Uber after its troubled IPO, why one of the tech giants should buy Tesla, and Jeff Bezos' Achilles heel: His lack of generosity. Calacanis, who was an early investor in Uber, also talks about his objections to the current state of tech journalism and punditry, the end of SoftBank’s “free money party," and why Tim Cook doesn’t have the chutzpah to take Apple into the future. Plus: Why the US should ban TikTo...

New York Times reporter Conor Dougherty talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, Golden Gates: Fighting For Housing in America. He talks about why San Francisco’s housing crisis is the “worst version of something every city has,” the resentment created by tech companies’ buses for their workers, and how the city was painted “gentrification grey.” Dougherty also explains why knowledge workers and service workers have to be next to each other in cities; why making brand-new neighborhoods in old in...

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how much of the Latino vote President Trump might get in 2020, why Bernie Sanders’ comments about Fidel Castro might cost him dearly in a general election, and why it’s important that journalists practice contrapoder — being on the other side of power. Ramos has publicly clashed with Trump, who published his phone number on Instagram after Ramos sent him a letter during the campaign; he calls for others in the media to stand up to Trump, an...

Technology journalist and Wired editor-at-large Steven Levy talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest book, Facebook: The Inside Story, for which he obtained years of direct access to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. Levy discusses how he got that access, how Zuckerberg has changed (or hasn't) over time, and whether he, Sandberg, and the company at large understand the damage that Facebook has caused. Plus: Why Zuckerberg destroyed his old diaries, how he was influenced by Bill Gates, an...

Authors Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their latest book together, The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Disrupting Business, Industries, and Our Lives. They explain why the future is getting harder to predict and how "exponential technologies" — including robotics, AI, biotechnology, AR/VR, and quantum computing — will change everything from education to old age. Diamandis and Kotler also talk about the importance of having a hopeful v...

Caleb Scharf, the director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the under=discussed dangers humans would face in space and the rise of private space exploration, as championed by billionaires such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson. Scharf wrote a piece for Scientific American earlier this year, "Death on Mars." about the hazards of the Martian environment for humans, and explains what we know — and don't know — about how human explorers might be able to survive. Plus...

Corey Johnson, the Speaker of the New York City Council and an candidate in the 2021 mayoral race, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his planned expansion of bike, bus, and pedestrian lanes across the city, which will come at the expense of street parking; how NYC has evolved over time, sometimes in spite of popular opinion; and the regulatory mistakes the city has made in dealing with Uber and Lyft. He also talks about how he came out of the closet with the help of a pioneering LGBT website, the poten...

Corey Johnson, the Speaker of the New York City Council and an candidate in the 2021 mayoral race, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his planned expansion of bike, bus, and pedestrian lanes across the city, which will come at the expense of street parking; how NYC has evolved over time, sometimes in spite of popular opinion; and the regulatory mistakes the city has made in dealing with Uber and Lyft. He also talks about how he came out of the closet with the help of a pioneering LGBT website, the poten...

David Kaye, the special rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression at the United Nations, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' phone by the Saudi Arabian government; why it’s easier than ever for governments to suppress information spread by journalists and dissidents; and the inherent danger of internet companies and governments collecting massive amounts of data about us. He also talks about how the UN responded to the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal...

Journalist Larry Ingrassia talks with Recode’s Jason Del Rey about his new book, Billion Dollar Brand Club: How Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, and Other Disruptors Are Remaking What We Buy. Ingrassia, a longtime editor for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Los Angeles Times, returned to his journalistic roots to report and write the book, which was triggered by the news that the upstart direct-to-consumer razor company Dollar Shave Club had been bought by Unilever for $1 billion. He explains how...

Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Phil Rucker talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their new book, A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America. In it, they draw from more than 200 interviews with Trump administration insiders to paint a picture of Washington in 2020, Trump's frequent lies, and how he retaliates against the people who dare to cross him. They discuss how they convinced sources to talk to them, why Trump is actually a genius from a certain point of view, and how his t...

Mozilla Foundation executive director Mark Surman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why the internet needs a "public option," how Mozilla's browser Firefox is positioning itself for the future, and the future of tech regulation. Surman also discusses how punk rock and small-town censorship shaped his worldview, and why being the number one browser isn't actually Firefox's main goal. Featuring: Mark Surman (@msurman), executive director, Mozilla Foundation Host: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-fo...

Anna Wiener, a contributing writer for the New Yorker and the author of the new book Uncanny Valley: A Memoir, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why she left an old industry — book publishing — to work in tech, the "intoxicating" start to her new career, and how her views on tech culture changed over time. Wiener also discusses the problems that people in the industry won’t talk about; why she doesn't agree with reviews that paint her book as a polemic; and how Silicon Valley incorrectly came to see it...

Writer and McSweeney's founder Dave Eggers talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest novel, The Captain and the Glory, why he chose to write a satirical novel about the Trump era, and what he's learned from interviewing Trump supporters that most people on the left wouldn't expect. Eggers also discusses his writing nonprofit, 826 Valencia; why he has a flip phone rather than a smartphone; and what he thinks of his novel about a technology company, The Circle, in hindsight. Plus: Why Trump, not Obama...

The Black List founder Franklin Leonard talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he accidentally created one of the most important lists in Hollywood and how he turned it into a real business for connecting screenwriters with producers. Leonard also talks about the statistics that show the benefits of reading scripts from diverse writers and the mostly-white 2020 Oscar nominations, about which he wrote a satirical op-ed for the Washington Post. Plus: Why he doesn't expect AI to replace human readers. Clic...

Vox.com co-founder Ezra Klein talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, Why We're Polarized, the rise of systemic "zero sum" party politics, and how Klein himself has been polarizing in the Trump era. Klein and Swisher also discuss the racial, religious, and urban/rural splits between Democrats and Republicans, the (good and bad) impact of social media on the public discourse, and the one thing regular people can do to combat polarization in their own lives. Plus: Why "Congress should stop being ...

Sci-fi novelist and science journalist Annalee Newitz talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about their new book, The Future of Another Timeline. Newitz, who was previously a founding editor of io9 and the editor in chief of Gizmodo, talks about their winding route to becoming a writer, by way of monster movies; how their first book Autonomous addresses AI, software patents, and the pharma industry; and how they worked out the mechanics and limitations of time travel and "editing" history for their latest book. ...

Numa Perrier and Tiffany Tenille, the director and star of the new Netflix film Jezebel, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about Perrier's real-life experience as an online sex worker in the 1990s and turning that into a movie. They also discuss how the rise of digital filmmaking has opened doors for directors of color like Perrier, how Tenille educated herself about life on the early internet, and how state and local regulators wrestled with the rise of digital peep shows. Plus: How the internet changed the ...

The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken and actors Jennifer Beals, Kate Moennig, and Leisha Hailey talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their decision to reunite for a new series called The L Word: Generation Q, 10 years after the original show ended. They discuss how the first "L Word" got started, why the first new season is only 8 episodes long, and their hopes for a series of live events for fans of the show, called L Con. Plus: How do they all feel about the rise of tech money in Hollywood over the past deca...

Forerunner Ventures founder and managing partner Kirsten Green talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the thinking behind her investments in companies like Dollar Shave Club and Glossier; the messy culture struggle at luggage startup Away; and where innovation comes from in today's tech industry. Plus: What are the advantages of being a female venture capitalist, and does the VC industry have to change? Featuring: Kirsten Green (@kirstenagreen), founding partner, Forerunner Ventures Host: Kara Swisher (@kar...

Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about deliberately engineering happiness into the site, expanding into commerce, and competing with larger social and commerce tech companies. This interview was recorded in front of a live audience at the National Retail Federation's annual conference, the Big Show, in New York City. Featuring: Ben Silbermann (@8en), CEO, Pinterest Host: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large More to explore: Subscribe for free to Res...

Writer Jeanette Winterson talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about her latest book, Frankissstein: A Love Story. Winterson discusses the intertwined histories of LGBT+ people, science fiction literature and technology; how she decided to write a modern twist on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with a technological bent; and how Shelley foresaw the intersection of bodies and machines. Plus: Is tech becoming the real monster in modern life? And who is the Victor Frankenstein of this era? Featuring: Jeanette Winterso...

New York Times reporter Jason DeParle talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration in the 21st Century. The book draws from several decades of reporting, which began when DeParle embedded himself in a shantytown with a poor family in the Philippines for eight months in the 1990s. DeParle also talks about how poverty in the US has evolved throughout his journalism career, the impact of immigration on economic inequality and vice vers...

Megan Rapinoe, the co-captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team, returns to Recode Decode to talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about pay equity, how things have changed since the team's boozy post-World Cup tour, and why she's not running for political office. Plus: How much longer will she be playing soccer? This live episode was recorded at the Massachusetts Conference For Women on December 12. Featuring: Megan Rapinoe, (@mPinoe), co-captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team and co-founder, The Ra...

Journalist and bestselling author David Epstein talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. In it, he argues that the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists are more likely to be dabblers, rather than people who set out to do what they do best from a young age — and, in fact, the people who have highly specialized training from an early age tend to have lower lifetime earnings overall...

Kara Swisher convenes her brother, her sons, her mother and her fiancée to talk about their tech habits and how they get their news in a contentious election year. Topics include why her teenage sons Alex and Louie refuse to use TikTok; how technologies like AI are affecting her brother Jeff's work as an anesthesiologist; how having a baby finally forced fiancée Amanda Katz to use Amazon; and why her mother Lucretia Carney isn't giving up on Fox News. Plus: A brief cameo by the newest addition to the family...

Security researcher Bruce Schneier talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his recent book, Click Here to Kill Everybody. He also explains why the internet of things is a “dumpster fire," what regulations need to be implemented to keep people safe, and why the European Union and a few US states may determine the future of tech regulation. Featuring: Bruce Schneier (@schneierblog), author, Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World Host: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode ...

If you like Recode Decode, we think you'll also like Function with Anil Dash. Here's a recent episode about stopping fake news ahead of the 2020 US elections. Are social networks downplaying their complicity in the problem that is “fake news?” Anil talks to Fadi Quran of the people powered social advocacy group, Avaaz, about how tech is used to target groups of people and spread disinformation that affects our elections, relationships, and social justice movements. Together they discuss insidious nature of ...

Recode's Kara Swisher, her executive producer Erica Anderson, and her producer Eric Johnson discuss their favorite Recode Decode interviews from 2019 and look back at some of the year's big trends. Use the links below to go to the full versions of the interviews excerpted in this episode in Apple Podcasts; or, if you prefer a different podcast app, use the names/dates to find them in the Recode Decode feed: Shoshana Zuboff (February 20) Carole Cadwalladr (July 8) Tristan Harris (May 6) Ken Burns (Oc...

Journalist Liz Plank talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her recent book, For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity. Featuring: Liz Plank (@feministabulous), author, For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity Host: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large More to explore: Subscribe for free to Reset, Recode's new podcast that explores why — and how — tech is changing everything. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is ch...

SuperAwesome CEO Dylan Collins talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he got interested in children's digital privacy at a time when Silicon Valley didn't care, how his company works with tech firms to help them comply with privacy laws, and SuperAwesome's in-development video platform for kids, Rukkaz. Collins also talks about his previous gaming companies, which were acquired by Activision and Gamestop; how COPPA and GDPR-K work; and why TikTok and YouTube were fined by the FTC. Read a full transcript...

2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer talks with Recode's Teddy Schleiefer about income inequality and the need for a wealth tax in America, what separates him from fellow ultra-wealthy candidate Michael Bloomberg, and why we should expect the government to solve problems — not plutocrats who have pledged to give their money away. Steyer also discusses the importance of grassroots organizing on the left, how antitrust laws should be applied to tech giants like Amazon and Facebook, and why he's emphasizing ...

Writer Ben Mezrich talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his latest book Bitcoin Billionaires and his previous books, including The Accidental Billionaires, which was adapted into the movie The Social Network. Mezrich, who specializes in "true stories about young people doing crazy things," discusses the controversies around how he depicted Mark Zuckerberg in The Accidental Billionaires, how Zuck has changed over time, and how the story went from a “nobody will care” book proposal to a classic movie. He al...

Historian Margaret O'Mara talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her latest book, The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America. She explains how the government catalyzed the digital revolution starting in the 1960s, the reasons tech power coalesced in suburban California, and why tech history must be considered a part of political history — even though the industry has tried in recent decades to distance itself from government. O'Mara also talks about the origins of sexism in the tech industry and h...

Neal Katyal, a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book Impeach: The Case against Donald Trump. Katyal explains why he believes the “evidence will be too strong” against President Trump, ending his first term prematurely, and argues that if he were Trump's lawyer his advice would be to resign. He also talks about the inability of the DC establishment to comprehend Trump’s propensity for lying, and why social media will become less important during a presiden...

MakerBot CEO Nadav Goshen talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's Method X industrial printer, which Goshen says will foster innovation by making it easier to manufacture real products. He also talks about the setbacks to the initial hype that 3-D printers would be as accessible and commonplace as toothbrushes; how teachers use MakerBot's smaller 3-D printer Replicator in the classroom; and the importance of professionals adopting an emerging technology before it goes mainstream. Plus: What is ...

Andrea Matwyshyn, the associate dean of innovation at Penn State Law, talks with Kara Swisher's executive producer, Erica Anderson, about the integration of technology with biology, a trend Matwyshyn terms the "internet of bodies." She explains what that means in real world terms, why someone might want to implant a computer chip in their bodies, and the potential risks and security concerns, including hackers who could manipulate thoughts. Matwyshyn also talks about the ethical and policy implications of t...

Deborah Rutter, the president of Washington, DC's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the Center's new free immersive learning spaces, REACH, which offer visitors the chance to participate in and look behind the scenes of many kinds of performances. Rutter also discusses how technology has impacted the public's relationship with art and education, why issues like cell phone addiction aren't a big threat to the Kennedy Center's shows, and how tech itself cou...

Deborah Rutter, the president of Washington, DC's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the Center's new free immersive learning spaces, REACH, which offer visitors the chance to participate in and look behind the scenes of many kinds of performances. Rutter also discusses how technology has impacted the public's relationship with art and education, why issues like cell phone addiction aren't a big threat to the Kennedy Center's shows, and how tech itself cou...

Axon CEO Rick Smith talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his company's best known product (the Taser), how it's thinking about the ethical implications of new products aimed at police, and the controversies around facial recognition in body cameras. Plus: Is the weapon of the future a pistol that doesn't kill you? Featuring: Rick Smith (@AxonRick), CEO of Axon (@Axon_us) and author of The End of Killing: How Our Newest Technologies Can Solve Humanity's Oldest Problem Hosts: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Re...

Barry Friedman, the director of The Policing Project at New York University's School of Law, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about making police more accountable, the ethics of emerging technologies like AI and facial recognition, and the missing regulations that affect local communities in the US. Friedman also talks about his work with the company that created the Taser, Axon International — whose CEO Rick Smith will appear on Wednesday's episode of Recode Decode — and why there's not as much data about ...

Barry Friedman, the director of The Policing Project at New York University's School of Law, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about making police more accountable, the ethics of emerging technologies like AI and facial recognition, and the missing regulations that affect local communities in the US. Friedman also talks about his work with the company that created the Taser, Axon International — whose CEO Rick Smith will appear on Wednesday's episode of Recode Decode — and why there's not as much data about ...

Recode's Kara Swisher and her executive producer Erica Anderson talk with a panel of entrepreneurs in Valparaiso, Indiana: Sarah Hallberg, the Medical Director of Virta Health; Eric Christopher, the co-founder and CEO of Zylo; and Robin Fleming, the CEO of Anvl. They discuss the positives and negatives of being tech entrepreneurs in an area not typically associated with the digital revolution, including hiring and retention, the impact of local success stories that went global such as ExactTarget, and the c...

Recode's Kara Swisher and her executive producer Erica Anderson talk with a panel of entrepreneurs in Valparaiso, Indiana: Sarah Hallberg, the Medical Director of Virta Health; Eric Christopher, the co-founder and CEO of Zylo; and Robin Fleming, the CEO of Anvl. They discuss the positives and negatives of being tech entrepreneurs in an area not typically associated with the digital revolution, including hiring and retention, the impact of local success stories that went global such as ExactTarget, and the c...

Venture capitalist Jana Messerschmidt, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how she became a partner at Lightspeed and the co-founder of an all-female group of angel investors called #ANGELS. Messerschmidt previously worked at DivX, Netflix, and Twitter, and also discusses the early days of video streaming online and how Netflix timed the market perfectly. Plus: Why #ANGELS doesn't invest only in women, what made that collective different from traditional venture capital, and the urgent need to ensure tha...

Susan Rice, the former US ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor under President Obama, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the "ass backwards" way President Trump has approached foreign policy and her new book, Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For. Rice explains the problem with isolationism and selfishness as policies, and says the current administration rolled back many of her achievements "out of spite," without a plan to replace them. She also discusses how R...

Susan Rice, the former US ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor under President Obama, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the "ass backwards" way President Trump has approached foreign policy and her new book, Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For. Rice explains the problem with isolationism and selfishness as policies, and says the current administration rolled back many of her achievements "out of spite," without a plan to replace them. She also discusses how R...

Robert Jackson, one of the five commissioners on the Securities and Exchange Commission, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the SEC works and the problem with perpetual dual-class stock at companies like WeWork, Facebook, and Google. Jackson also explains why he opposes two proposed rule changes that would make it harder for activists to challenge a CEO's power, why the NYSE and Nasdaq are not willing to be part of the solution, and how new legislation could fix the dual class dilemma. Plus: Why Jac...

Reddit co-founder and Initialized Capital managing partner Alexis Ohanian talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he became a "dadvocate" for paid paternity leave. Ohanian explains how the medical complications faced by his wife, tennis star Serena Williams, woke him up to the problem, and how time off for fathers can help mothers, as well as female coworkers. He also discusses the problem with how working men glorify their self-destructive schedules online, which he calls "hustle porn"; why he's investi...

Reddit co-founder and Initialized Capital managing partner Alexis Ohanian talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he became a "dadvocate" for paid paternity leave. Ohanian explains how the medical complications faced by his wife, tennis star Serena Williams, woke him up to the problem, and how time off for fathers can help mothers, as well as female coworkers. He also discusses the problem with how working men glorify their self-destructive schedules online, which he calls "hustle porn"; why he's investi...

Writer and health advocate Ted Baxter talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, Relentless: How a Massive Stroke Changed My Life for the Better. Baxter, a former managing director at the hedge fund Citadel, had the stroke when he was only 41, and recounts how doctors initially misdiagnosed his symptoms; he also discusses the recovery process, which accelerated after he accepted that he couldn't return to his investing job, and shares advice for people who have recently experienced a stroke or other l...

Writer and health advocate Ted Baxter talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, Relentless: How a Massive Stroke Changed My Life for the Better. Baxter, a former managing director at the hedge fund Citadel, had the stroke when he was only 41, and recounts how doctors initially misdiagnosed his symptoms; he also discusses the recovery process, which accelerated after he accepted that he couldn't return to his investing job, and shares advice for people who have recently experienced a stroke or other l...

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the recent mass shooting at an Airbnb in Orinda, Calif., how the company is changing its policies to keep guests safer, and what Chesky wishes he had done differently when Airbnb was smaller. They also discuss Airbnb's first brush with notoriety in 2011 and how Chesky "bungled" his response at the time, the importance of meeting with people who hate you, and why Silicon Valley execs should confront the human cost of their products...

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new podcast Modern Ruhles, the Trump voters who get overlooked by the media, and why Wall Streeters afraid of Elizabeth Warren should "look in the goddamn mirror." Ruhle also discusses her unusual path to working in the media, by way of Credit Suisse; the importance of the question "Are you better off in 2020 than you were in 2016?"; and the soul-searching at NBC News in the aftermath of Ronan Farrow's book Catch and Kill. Plus: What pe...

In this special episode of Recode Decode, Kara Swisher checks in with some of the organizers of the Google walkout, who came on her show in November 2018 after leading a 20,000-worker protest. Later in the show, Kara's executive producer Erica Anderson (herself one of the organizers who has since left Google) talks with some of the people who were inspired by the 2018 walkouts to continue fighting for the workers of Google and other tech companies. Featuring: Stephanie Parker (@sparker2), policy specialist ...

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why he leaked highly classified information in 2013, why that doesn't make him a "traitor," and his new book, Permanent Record. Snowden also talks about how his youthful love of the US government and the early internet turned into skepticism; how his life has changed since going to Moscow; and why he believes Facebook is as untrustworthy as the NSA. Plus: Why people who say they have "nothing to hide" are missing the point about invasio...

Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of venture capital, diversity in tech, and his new book, What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture. Horowitz also discusses the impact of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund on Silicon Valley, why he wouldn't invest in a social or mobile startup today, and what former CEO Travis Kalanick got right — and very wrong — with Uber’s culture. Plus: Why "break" was the exact right word for Facebook to...

Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of venture capital, diversity in tech, and his new book, What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture. Horowitz also discusses the impact of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund on Silicon Valley, why he wouldn't invest in a social or mobile startup today, and what former CEO Travis Kalanick got right — and very wrong — with Uber’s culture. Plus: Why "break" was the exact right word for Facebook to...

Conservative analyst Bill Kristol talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the impeachment effort against President Trump, how politics has entered a "crisis of truth" in the era of Fox News and social media, and the steps that should be taken pre-emptively to ensure that the 2020 elections are free and fair. Kristol also predicts that Trump could be "impeached by Thanksgiving," and explains why he doesn't think "Trumpism" goes away even if its namesake does, outlining one scenario for future elections that w...

Conservative analyst Bill Kristol talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the impeachment effort against President Trump, how politics has entered a "crisis of truth" in the era of Fox News and social media, and the steps that should be taken pre-emptively to ensure that the 2020 elections are free and fair. Kristol also predicts that Trump could be "impeached by Thanksgiving," and explains why he doesn't think "Trumpism" goes away even if its namesake does, outlining one scenario for future elections that w...

Gary Cohn, the former Director of the National Economic Council and former chief economic adviser to President Trump, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about what he's done since leaving the Trump administration, including a "significant" investment and advisory position he's taken up in a mobile security company called Hoyos Integrity. Cohn explains how Hoyos is developing a more secure phone for people who deal in confidential information, such as government workers; how it's trying to advance digital wall...

Gary Cohn, the former Director of the National Economic Council and former chief economic adviser to President Trump, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about what he's done since leaving the Trump administration, including a "significant" investment and advisory position he's taken up in a mobile security company called Hoyos Integrity. Cohn explains how Hoyos is developing a more secure phone for people who deal in confidential information, such as government workers; how it's trying to advance digital wall...

Recode's Kara Swisher talks to the creators of two new plays that intersect with tech issues: Heidi Schreck, the former star and playwright of What the Constitution Means to Me, and the writer and director of Right to Be Forgotten — Sharyn Rothstein and Seema Sueko. Schreck took the name of her play from a series of debate competitions she competed in as a teenager, but has developed a more complicated appreciation for the Constitution as an adult, and discusses how its flaws connect to her own life story. ...

Recode's Kara Swisher talks to the creators of two new plays that intersect with tech issues: Heidi Schreck, the former star and playwright of What the Constitution Means to Me, and the writer and director of Right to Be Forgotten — Sharyn Rothstein and Seema Sueko. Schreck took the name of her play from a series of debate competitions she competed in as a teenager, but has developed a more complicated appreciation for the Constitution as an adult, and discusses how its flaws connect to her own life story. ...

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, which details the extreme lengths men like Harvey Weinstein have gone to escape accountability for sexual abuse. He discusses why other journalists before him couldn’t nail the Weinstein story, and how the powerful Hollywood producer tapped into a network of shady allies in his attempt to suppress it — including some of Farrow's former bosses...

If you like Recode Decode, we think you'll also like our newest podcast, Reset. Here's today's episode. Students across the country are graded by artificial intelligence. But does an algorithm really know how to write? About Reset Arielle Duhaime-Ross explores why–and how–tech is changing everything. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Reset for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, or your favorite podcast app to get new episodes every week. Learn more about your ad choic...

If you like Recode Decode, we think you'll also like our newest podcast, Reset. Here's today's episode. Students across the country are graded by artificial intelligence. But does an algorithm really know how to write? About Reset Arielle Duhaime-Ross explores why–and how–tech is changing everything. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Reset for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, or your favorite podcast app to get new episodes every week....

Filmmaker Ken Burns talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest documentary series "Country Music," in which he explores the history of the genre, its place in the larger American musical landscape, and the powerful universality of "three chords and the truth." Burns says that unlike rock and jazz, country music is largely a story about powerful women, and also unpacks the ways in which it reflects the intermingling ethnic diversity of the US. He also discusses his online video destination Unum, which...

Filmmaker Ken Burns talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest documentary series "Country Music," in which he explores the history of the genre, its place in the larger American musical landscape, and the powerful universality of "three chords and the truth." Burns says that unlike rock and jazz, country music is largely a story about powerful women, and also unpacks the ways in which it reflects the intermingling ethnic diversity of the US. He also discusses his online video destination Unum, which...

Cambridge Analytica’s former business development director Brittany Kaiser talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about her new book TARGETED: The Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower's Inside Story of How Big Data, Trump, and Facebook Broke Democracy and How It Can Happen Again. Kaiser talks about how she first observed the dangers of social media while working on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, why she mistakenly believed Cambridge Analytica was using technology as a force for good, and what happened when she decide...

Matt Hulett, the president of education company Rosetta Stone, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about the company’s pivot away from language-learning CDs and into a more advanced and “approachable” mobile app. He also talks about his “promiscuous” background in the tech industry; Rosetta Stone’s literacy catch-up program for children, Lexia Learning; and the bigger picture of how language education is changing around the world. Plus: What’s the best way to make learning stick, and will Elon Musk’s Neuralink...

Matt Hulett, the president of education company Rosetta Stone, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about the company’s pivot away from language-learning CDs and into a more advanced and “approachable” mobile app. He also talks about his “promiscuous” background in the tech industry; Rosetta Stone’s literacy catch-up program for children, Lexia Learning; and the bigger picture of how language education is changing around the world. Plus: What’s the best way to make learning stick, and will Elon Musk’s Neuralink...

Recode's Kara Swisher interviews two CEOs in this double-feature episode of Recode Decode: First, she speaks with OpenDoor CEO Eric Wu about how technology is encroaching on the real estate industry, why housing is ripe for disruption, and how OpenDoor is bracing for the next recession. Later in the show, Swisher talks to Evite CEO Victor Cho about how the 21-year-old company is exploring new revenue models, avoiding the "MySpace slide," and what Cho learned from Eastman Kodak's failed turnaround. Featuring...

Andrew Marantz, a staff writer at the New Yorker, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno‑Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation. He discusses the danger of designing social media platforms around emotional engagement, how people like Mike Cernovich and Milo Yiannopoulos exploited people's belief in a broad political "consensus," and technology's role in advancing hate and extremism online. Marantz also explains what he calls the culture o...

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about campaigning against Donald Trump, her friendship with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and the over-concentration of power among a handful of CEOs in the tech industry. Fiorina also talks about her experience as one of the few female tech CEOs of the 1990s, the “lasting damage” President Trump has done to the Republican Party, and why she's impressed by Speaker of the House Nan...

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about campaigning against Donald Trump, her friendship with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and the over-concentration of power among a handful of CEOs in the tech industry. Fiorina also talks about her experience as one of the few female tech CEOs of the 1990s, the “lasting damage” President Trump has done to the Republican Party, and why she's impressed by Speaker of the House Nan...

Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the FEC works, how it tries to defend elections from foreign influence, and why the Commission is currently immobilized by a lack of "quorum" — in other words, it doesn't have enough members to launch or conclude any investigations. Weintraub talks about pending legislation to make advertising and campaign contributions more transparent, and explains how the FEC's current paralysis may undermine the cybersecurity of...

Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the FEC works, how it tries to defend elections from foreign influence, and why the Commission is currently immobilized by a lack of "quorum" — in other words, it doesn't have enough members to launch or conclude any investigations. Weintraub talks about pending legislation to make advertising and campaign contributions more transparent, and explains how the FEC's current paralysis may undermine the cybersecurity of...

Barack Obama's former cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel, now the CEO of the nonprofit Cyber Threat Alliance, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about the state of US cybersecurity heading into the 2020 elections. Daniel says the proposed solutions to election hacking may just cause new problems: "If you can track your vote," he says, "I can track your vote." Featuring: Michael Daniel (@CyAlliancePrez), president and CEO, Cyber Threat Alliance Hosts: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and ed...

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, one of the FTC's two Democratic commissioners, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of antitrust problems in the tech industry, the history of pushback against the FTC for alleged over-enforcement, and whether it is under-enforcing the law today. Slaughter also talks about her objections to the $5 billion fine against Facebook that the FTC negotiated this year, the limitations on its speed and fining power, and its investigation of YouTube for COPPA violations, which led...

Mark Warner, the senior US Senator from Virginia, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about several interconnected policy issues affecting the 2020 elections, including the security of voter registries, the expectation of social media manipulation by Russia and other hostile foreign powers, and the newly announced impeachment inquiry into President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Sen. Warner also talks about the potential of regulators breaking up tech giants and how the US gove...

John Napier Tye, the founder and CEO of Whistleblower Aid, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how his non-profit law firm helps people seeking to legally expose corruption in the government and at private companies. It recently worked with a whistleblower at MIT, connecting them with New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow to discuss the university's cover-up of funding that had come from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; Tye also discusses the US official who reported President Trump's phone call with t...

Recode's Kara Swisher talks with Hermitage Capital CEO Bill Browder, a hedge fund manager turned human rights activist and his son, Josh Browder, whose company DoNotPay helps consumers fight everything from parking tickets to the Equifax leaks. They talk about the different ways they have pursued justice for relatively powerless people, their entrepreneurial journeys, and how both the Putin regime and mega-corporations have taken advantage of the internet. Featuring: Bill Browder (@BillBrowder), Hermitage C...

New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their new book, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement. They talk about how Kantor and Twohey reported stories about sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein; how Weinstein's network of lawyers and advisers kept his misconduct under wraps; and how the story help launch an ongoing reckoning around power imbalances between men and women worldwide. They also explain wh...

Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of the private equity firm The Blackstone Group, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence. Schwarzman — a longtime advisor to President Trump — also discusses his scholarship program that teaches future leaders how to do business in China, how he would like to see policymakers address populist anger, and the big economic trends he and Blackstone are currently pursuing. Plus: Can we fix the H-1B visa program without sim...

Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why he's still running for the Democratic nomination in 2020, the threat of job automation and his proposed "robot tax," and how de Blasio thinks about the future of transit in New York and beyond. He also talks about how the plan for New York to become one of Amazon's "HQ2" locations fell apart, and why he supports both a national privacy bill and tougher antitrust action against Facebook and Google. Featuring: Bill de Blasi...

Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why he's still running for the Democratic nomination in 2020, the threat of job automation and his proposed "robot tax," and how de Blasio thinks about the future of transit in New York and beyond. He also talks about how the plan for New York to become one of Amazon's "HQ2" locations fell apart, and why he supports both a national privacy bill and tougher antitrust action against Facebook and Google.Featuring:Bill de Blasio ...

Author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her campaign to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020. Williamson explains why she's still in the race even though she didn't qualify for the third debate and talks about what she has learned from running as an non-establishment candidate, negativity and anger on social media, and how she thinks about the tech industry — and vice versa. She and Swisher also discuss her entrepreneurial journey, her divisive comm...

Audrey Gelman, the co-founder and CEO of women's coworking space The Wing, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's new hiring network for its members, and how it can combat bias in hiring. They also discuss why Gelman and her co-founder Lauren Kassan started The Wing, the services it provides for its members, and the challenges of raising money for a business aimed at women. Featuring: Audrey Gelman (@audreygelman), CEO of The Wing (@the_wing) Hosts: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-foun...

Audrey Gelman, the co-founder and CEO of women's coworking space The Wing, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's new hiring network for its members, and how it can combat bias in hiring. They also discuss why Gelman and her co-founder Lauren Kassan started The Wing, the services it provides for its members, and the challenges of raising money for a business aimed at women.Featuring:Audrey Gelman (@audreygelman), CEO of The Wing (@the_wing)Hosts:Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder a...

Microsoft President Brad Smith talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, co-authored with Carol Ann Browne, Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age. They discuss what Microsoft learned from United States v. Microsoft Corp. in 2001 and how that antitrust investigation compares to today’s techlash; the culture of disruption and “move fast and break things” in Silicon Valley; and why every tech company, even those not responsible for problems, should be part of the solutions....

Former New York Times labor reporter Steve Greenhouse talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. Greenhouse explains why worker power and compensation are at their lowest levels since World War II and how a series of cultural changes — including globalization, the internet, and the gig economy — have affected and endangered the working class. He and Swisher also discuss DoorDash's long-running practice of stealing tip...

Former New York Times labor reporter Steve Greenhouse talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. Greenhouse explains why worker power and compensation are at their lowest levels since World War II and how a series of cultural changes — including globalization, the internet, and the gig economy — have affected and endangered the working class. He and Swisher also discuss DoorDash's long-running practice of stealing tip...

James O'Toole, a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good. O'Toole discusses the first such "enlightened capitalist," British industrialist Robert Owen; why, like Owen, do-gooder CEOs can't or won't make change today; and the history of the belief that corporations only exist to serve the shareholder. He also talks about how Whole Foods co...

James O'Toole, a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good. O'Toole discusses the first such "enlightened capitalist," British industrialist Robert Owen; why, like Owen, do-gooder CEOs can't or won't make change today; and the history of the belief that corporations only exist to serve the shareholder. He also talks about how Whole Foods co...

Jennifer Eberhardt, professor of psychology at Stanford University, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her most recent book, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. She talks about where bias comes from, why the erosion of old social norms has brought our prejudices to the surface, and how technology can encourage bias. Eberhardt shares examples of academic studies and real-world statistics that have revealed racial bias among police officers, and explains how one...

Lime President Joe Kraus talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he came to Lime after a long career in both startups and venture capital, the company's pivot from bikes to scooters and the "unbundling of the car." Kraus also talks about the impact of scooters on cities and public transit, how Lime is trying to stand out in the crowded global scooter market, and the large valuations for scooter companies. Plus: Why Uber and Lyft's rocky IPOs haven't scared Lime away from going public someday. Featuring: ...

Gro Intelligence founder and CEO Sara Menker talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the growing field of agriculture technology and how farmers around the world are using data. She also talks about the impact of geopolitical events like the US-China trade war and the challenges of raising capital for an ag-tech startup. Featuring: Sara Menker, founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence (@SaraMenker) Hosts: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large More to explore: Subscribe for free to Piv...

Andy Purdy, the chief security officer for Huawei Technologies USA, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher. They discuss the trade and security disputes between the US and Chinese governments, the increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threats facing America, and how China's government intersects with its tech industry. Purdy also talks about Huawei's 5G ambitions, saying that some of its competitors also have deep ties to China but have not been similarly scrutinized by the US government. Featuring: Andy Purdy...

Recode's Kara Swisher convenes a panel of experts to talk about section 230 of the Communications Decency Act: cybersecurity law professor Jeff Kosseff, author of "The Twenty Six Words That Created The Internet"; lawyer Carrie Goldberg, author of "Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs, and Trolls"; and the CEO and founder of Techdirt, Mike Masnick. Follow us Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), host Jeff Kosseff (@jkosseff), guest Carrie Goldberg (@cagoldberglaw), guest Mike Masnick (@mmasnick), guest ...

Writer Joe Menn talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, "Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World." In this episode: How Menn started writing about cybercrime; the rise and fall of Napster; his first book about hacking, “Fatal System Error”; the origins of Cult of the Dead Cow; “they’re basically good guys”; its invite-only membership and how it works; how it forced Microsoft to take security seriously; how future presidential candidate Beto O’...

Mike Volpi and Danny Rimer, the co-founders of the San Francisco office of Index Ventures, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher. In this episode: Volpi and Rimer's backgrounds and the early days of the internet; applying a global perspective to venture capital; being a smaller firm when capital is abundant; why the rise of other regions does not mean  Silicon Valley is "over"; open-source culture in Europe; Latin America, Israel, and China; scooters, autonomous driving, and the future of urban mobility; disrupti...

US Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents California's 17th district, joins Recode's Kara Swisher live onstage at Manny's in San Francisco to talk about the state of tech policy and the next elections. In this episode: Khanna's internet bill of rights; will we ever have a national privacy bill?; the problem with "break them up"; the FTC’s Facebook fine; President Trump's racist attacks on the “squad” and Democrats’ reactions; the current mood in Washington; is Silicon Valley "over?”; Trump’s continued popul...

Scott Kupor, the managing partner of Andreessen Horowitz, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Teddy Schleifer about his new book, Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It. In this episode: How Kupor became a venture capitalist; his role at Andreessen Horowitz; what makes AH different from other venture firms; how other firms have copied it; why Kupor wrote his book; the “secrets” of how VCs think; stories that founders tell employees and investors; working with limited partners; why f...

Inspired by the trendiness of intermittent fasting in the tech community, Kara Swisher's executive producer, Erica Anderson, talks with three eating habit experts — a biohacker, an academic, and an eating disorder specialist. In this episode: HVMN CEO Geoff Woo on the culture of body optimization, the mainstreaming of biohacking, and how humans are "approaching God"; aging and nutrition expert Dr. Valter Longo on the origins of biohacking, the science behind intermittent fasting, and the problem with Silic...

Larry Diamond, a professor at Stanford University and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency. In this episode: Diamond’s background studying the development and failure of democracies; authoritarian regimes and the internet; why the book is called “Ill Winds”; the right-wing populist backlash across Europe; the deeper frustrations underneath anti-immigration sentim...

Lauren Underwood, the US Congresswoman who represents Illinois' 14th district, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded on July 29, 2019 at Manny's in San Francisco. In this episode: Underwood’s background in healthcare and the Obama administration; why she decided to run for Congress at age 30; gerrymandering in Illinois; how Underwood won the Democratic primary; why she beat the incumbent Tea Party Republican, Randy Hultgren; "Pat, Barb, Sue and Marge"; being a congresswoman in a...

Pearson CEO John Fallon talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why the company is pivoting from print to digital textbooks. In this episode: Fallon’s background; the publishing industry’s slow-motion embrace of the internet; “the $300 textbook is dead”; how Pearson will make money from a cheaper digital textbook; competing with well-funded education startups; how Pearson’s Aida will grade calculus problems and, one day, essays; why teachers won’t be made obsolete; how the school of the future will be infor...

In this live interview, Recode's Kara Swisher talks with former Cambridge Analytica COO Julian Wheatland, early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, and the director and writer of the new Netflix documentary The Great Hack — Karim Amer and Pedro Kos. Then, later in the show, Recode’s Jason Del Rey explores the origins of Amazon Prime, why it’s so effective at keeping us locked into their ecosystem, and how it became the source of the company’s power. In this episode: How Wheatland looks back on the Cambridge An...

On the 400th episode of Recode Decode, Megan Rapinoe, the co-captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher. This live conversation was recorded at the Mobile Marketing Association CEO & CMO Summit in Sonoma, CA. In this episode: Where Rapinoe's confidence comes from; her famous “victory” pose; the marginalization of women’s soccer; her favorite moments from the 2019 Women’s World Cup; how she focuses on the game; did Trump actually help her?; the fight for equal pay; what...

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at Manny's in San Francisco. Huffman co-founded the company in 2005, left it in 2009, and returned in 2015 after the resignation of Reddit's previous CEO, Ellen Pao. In this episode: How Huffman thinks about Reddit today; how the site almost died; how it started and its early experience with backlash; tech leaders that don’t want to make content moderation decisions; why /r/The_Donald was quarantined and how it could c...

Stitch Fix founder and CEO Katrina Lake talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the future of fashion, how the company has changed in the past nine years, and the rarity of female tech CEOs. In this episode: Lake’s background and taking Stitch Fix public; the difficulties of raising venture capital for a fashion startup; the "myth" of staying private forever; is Stitch Fix a “tech company?”; its expansion into new verticals, including men’s fashion; the broader online fashion landscape; how Stitch Fix has c...

Congressman Adam Schiff, who represents California’s 28th district and chairs the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the 2020 election, the Russia investigation, and more. In this episode: Schiff’s letters putting Facebook, Google and Twitter “on notice” for deepfakes in the 2020 campaign;  the lack of tech regulation to date; Edward Snowden and the encryption fight; how things have changed since the Democrats gained a majority in the House of Representatives; partisan diff...

Entrepreneur and Venture for America founder Andrew Yang talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his campaign to be the Democratic nominee in the 2020 presidential race. In this episode: Being "the tech candidate" during the techlash; the the #YangGang; his version of universal basic income, the Freedom Dividend; the challenges of UBI and how to convince people that it's a good idea; job automation and the “robot apocalypse”; why the unemployment rate isn't as low as you think; what will future jobs look lik...

Michael Bennet, the senior U.S. Senator from Colorado, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the intersection of social media and politics, and running for president in 2020. In this episode: Denver schools and the racial education gap; Bennet’s assessment of his past 10 years in the Senate; why people voted for Trump; the changes in Washington; why Frederick Douglass (and you) are founders of America; why Bennet believes he can win; politicians who over-index on Twitter and the "downward spiral" of social...

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his campaign for president of the United States. In this episode: Systemic racism and Buttigieg's "Douglass Plan"; mobilizing black women voters; how to appeal to Trump supporters who wanted to "burn the house down"; reforming the Supreme Court; the “mystical fascination” with the Rust Belt; climate change and rural America; why Buttigieg hasn’t attacked tech as much as some of his opponents; should Americans have a right ...

Harley-Davidson president and CEO Matthew Levatich talks with Recode's Kara Swisher live onstage at the 2019 Code Conference. In this episode: The impact of tariffs on Harley-Davidson’s global business; Trump's tweets attacking the company; managing a well-known brand during a trade war; is it possible to manufacture everything in the US?; the expertise required to make things domestically; Harley Davidson’s new electric bikes; the merits of a silent bike; the scooter market; omni-channel sales; competitors...

Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her popular profiles of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and her new novel, "Fleishman Is in Trouble." In this episode: Why Brodesser-Akner started writing profiles; how she got to the New York Times; working with editors and fact-checkers; Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop; Paltrow’s “radical” personality; her story about the transformation of Weight Watchers and contemporary fatness; how Brodesser-Akner chooses the topics of her stories; why th...

Carole Cadwalladr, a reporter for the Guardian and Observer, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her investigations into the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the links between tech and political disinformation campaigns. In this episode: Cadwalladr's background; tech's impact on democracy; the "cancer" of the far-right internet; Google's lack of accountability; Cambridge Analytica and its co-founder Robert Mercer; talking to whistleblower Christopher Wylie; the links among Brexit, Donald Trump, and Russia...

Eric Ries, the founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange and author of The Lean Startup, talks with Vox.com's Ezra Klein at the 2019 Code Conference. In this episode: The LTSE’s recent SEC approval; what’s the point of a stock exchange and why do we need a new one?; the problem with short-term public markets; how would going public on the LTSE be different for CEOs?; how things would change for employees?; the culture of short-term vs. long-term leadership ownership; the values of “Lean Startups”; what public...

Actor and producer Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange Is the New Black) and Netflix's vice president of original content Cindy Holland talk with Recode's Kara Swisher at the 2019 Code Conference. In this episode: How Lyonne got connected with Netflix; Holland’s background at Kozmo.com; Orange is the New Black; the Netflix way of doing things; developing Russian Doll; Netflix’s cancelation of One Day at a Time; how it evaluates creators like Lyonne; the production process of Russian Doll; how Netflix has c...

In these interviews from the 2019 Code Conference, Rockfeller Foundation president Raj Shah and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon talk with Recode's Teddy Schleifer. In the Shah interview: Rising inequality and the limits of private philanthropy; the growing scrutiny of wealthy endowments like Rockefeller; are "opportunity zones” just a tax giveaway?; what do Silicon Valley’s ultra-rich owe to people in need?; and the low percentage of billionaires who have committed to the Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's Giv...

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Jason Del Rey at the 2019 Code Conference. In this episode: How the Boeing 737 Max crashes affect the aviation industry; innovations in airplanes in that Delta would like to see; using facial recognition to replace paper tickets; RFID bag tracking and changing the layout of airports and gates; Delta’s investments in alternative fuels and its impact on climate change; Georgia's new abortion law and corporate activism; Delta's controversial a...

Joichi "Joi" Ito, the director of the MIT Media Lab, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about engineers who over-simplify the world's problems, the Media Lab's role in "surveillance capitalism," and why the values of the tech world will shift from within. In this episode: Ito's background and what the Media Lab does; techno-utopianism and the early days of the internet; how Ito got to MIT; computers implanted in the human body; Shoshana Zuboff and "surveillance capitalism"; the gap between technology and the ...

In these live interviews from the 2019 Code Conference, Casey Newton first talks to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri and Facebook's head of AR and VR, Andrew "Boz" Bosworth; then; later in the show, he interviews three former tech insiders: former Googler Jessica Powell, ex-Facebooker Antonio García-Martínez, and Twitter/Google veteran Nicole Wong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...

Georgia politician Stacey Abrams and her former campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo, now the co-founders of Fair Fight Action, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher and Vox.com's Ezra Klein at the 2019 Code Conference. In this episode: Abrams’ campaign for governor and what Fair Fight does; how Abrams defines the importance of voting rights; is America a democracy? “Yes, but…”; why Abrams doesn’t use the term “stolen election”; the Republican Party’s voter suppression habits; the problem with companies boycotting ...

Jonathan Ryan and Erika Andiola, the CEO and chief advocacy officer at RAICES, talk with Vox.com's Ezra Klein at the 2019 Code Conference. In this episode: The current situation at the US-Mexico border; the increasing power of the executive branch of the US government as you approach the border; how tech companies like Palantir, Amazon, Microsoft, and Dell are working with ICE; the history of corporations enabling unconstitutional behavior; alternatives for the government; what would be a non-tyrannical way...

Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon's cloud computing service AWS, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher at the 2019 Code Conference. In this episode: How Jassy came to work at Amazon 22 years ago; how Jeff Bezos has changed in that time; how AWS differentiates itself from the competition; could it be disrupted by a small business?; facial recognition, sensor creep, and trust; alleged misuse of Amazon’s facial recognition tech by law enforcement; its work with the government, and employee objections to that; should te...

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 re...

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...

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 ...

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?...

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...

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...

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 founde...

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 ...

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 Go...

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...

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about bringing legitimate financial institutions into the formerly-sketchy world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. In this episode: Garlinghouse's background at Excite@Home, Dialpad, and Yahoo; the "peanut butter manifesto" memo he wrote at Yahoo; moving on to Silver Lake Partners, AOL, and then becoming CEO of Hightail; being recruited to Ripple; the appeal of blockchain and cryptocurrency; working with the banks, not against them; the coming ...

Jim Collins, the author of business books such as Built to Last and Good to Great, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his latest work, Turning the Flywheel. In this episode: Collins’ background in business education; his mentor and Stanford colleague Jerry Porras; his past books, including Built to Last and How the Mighty Fall; why he left Stanford and moved to Boulder, Colorado; teaching Jeff Bezos and Amazon how to save the company; how to be a “level-five” leader; what Bill Hewlett and David Packard ...

Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and host of the podcast Stay Tuned With Preet, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher. In this episode: Bharara’s background; digital crime and the “ticking time bomb” of hacking threats; why Bharara was fired by President Trump; what he did post-firing; his Twitter fatigue; the public’s newfound interest in the law; his new book, "Doing Justice"; the "first principles" of law that the entire country could benefit from; the Mueller repo...

In this live conversation recorded at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Recode's Kara Swisher talks with Ash Carter, the former Secretary of Defense under President Obama who now runs the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. In this episode: Government regulation vs. self-regulation in tech; CDA Section 230; privacy laws and the potential for new regulations around the world; antitrust action that doesn't require a breakup; does regulation ruin innovation?; Mark Zuckerberg's...

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his recent New York Times op-ed, "It's Time to Break Up Facebook." In this episode: Why Hughes wrote the column; how he met Mark Zuckerberg; how the 2016 election changed his view of Facebook; Hughes' role in the early days of Facebook; the company's "missionary zeal"; Zuckerberg’s “unchecked power” and reactions to the column; "He cannot fix this"; how the FTC screwed up; Facebook Live; Zuckerberg’s interest in Roman emperors; why has ...

Author and journalism educator Esther Wojcicki, Silicon Valley’s “mother of dragons,” talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results. In this episode: Why Wojcicki became a journalism educator and why she threw out her curriculum in the mid-1980s; how she became “the Woj” to her students; embracing the internet and news literacy; the state of journalism in 2019; the power of giving kids independence; how Esther raised her own daughters...

Writer and podcaster Sam Harris talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his views on Islam, social media, and President Trump. In this episode: Harris’ background; why he wrote his first book; the controversy around his books about religion and why Harris didn’t initially call himself an “atheist"; Islamophobia and Harris’ enemies; Christopher Hitchens and the performance of public debate; identity politics; feminism and hijabs; white supremacists online; the terror attacks in Sri Lanka and New Zealand; the ...

Tristan Harris, the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the latest problem he and his peers are trying to solve: "Human downgrading." In this episode: Harris’ background as a design ethicist Google; how his previous movement, Time Well Spent, was co-opted by the tech industry; how are Apple and Google's "digital well-being" features doing?; the utopian promise of tech; why Harris shifted to focus on “downgrading”; what the Center for Humane Technology does;...

NYU professor and Pivot co-host Scott Galloway talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, The Algebra of Happiness. In this episode: Galloway’s past books; why the new book is about happiness; don’t listen to people who say “follow your passion”; the number one piece of advice that older people give to younger people; the happiness you get from stuff vs. experience; social media addiction; how algorithms encourage outrage; the small things you can do to have meaningful relationships; how Galloway ...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at Manny's in the Mission District. In this episode: How does Breed feel about being mayor?; her biggest priority, the homelessness epidemic; how San Francisco has changed since her childhood; mental health reform; the public image of SF; civic irresponsibility and the "poop patrol"; affordable housing, NIMBYs and the Embarcadero homeless shelter; building housing near transit centers; how to remove delays on n...

Kara Swisher's executive producer, Erica Anderson, talks with four TED Fellows at the 2019 TED Conference in Vancouver. In this collection of mini-interviews, you'll hear from biologist Danielle Lee, space environmentalist Moriba Jah, astrophysicist Erika Hamden and Good Food Institute founder Bruce Friedrich. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...

Julia Angwin, the former editor-in-chief of The Markup, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live podcast recorded in Washington, DC. In this episode: How Angwin got into journalism; why weren’t people always angry about tech privacy?;  ProPublica’s investigations into tech companies; the "ungovernable" tech giants; leaving ProPublica to co-found The Markup; Angwin’s co-founders, Jeff Larson and Sue Gardner; what the hell happened?; what part of it was Angwin’s fault?; the difference between being skept...

WeCroak co-founder Hansa Bergwall talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his mobile app, which reminds users of death five times a day.  In this episode: Why thinking about death is good for you; how WeCroak got started; the “Emily Dickinson test”; why it’s called WeCroak; why Bergwall and his co-founder avoided ads and social media hooks; you’re going to die, but "do whatever you want” with that information; Steve Jobs’ speech about death; how the misguided ways we think about death affect our whole lives;...

Venture capitalist and prominent activist Freada Kapor Klein, the founder of Kapor Capital, talks with Recode's Teddy Schleifer about diversity in tech and impact investing. In this episode: In this episode: Kapor Klein’s background; her first forays into activism; why the term “sexual coercion” is more meaningful in the workplace than “sexual harassment”; holding managers accountable when they don’t live a company’s values; why did Kapor Klein and her husband Mitch Kapor become impact investors?; how to ha...

Ford CTO Ken Washington talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about AI and autonomous vehicles in this live interview recorded at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. In this episode: The current state of autonomous vehicles; where Ford is testing its self-driving cars and why it picked those cities; 3-D printing and other AI-enabled engineering tools; mapping the whole world, again; Ford’s history in self-driving and the DARPA challenge; the difference between a human car collision and an AI one; when will we ...

Paula Kerger, the president and CEO of PBS, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of public media as President Trump is trying to cut its federal funding. In this episode: How Kerger got to PBS 13 years ago; why running it is more like running a co-op than a normal company; the decline of local media; how public media is funded; bringing PBS into the digital age; why it’s backed off of Netflix in favor of competitors like Amazon; YouTube isn’t just a stepping-stone to TV; the commercial cable cha...

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about breaking up Big Tech, immigration, hate speech, and more. In this episode: Foreign influence on the 2016 election; protecting future elections; Silicon Valley's days of self-regulation are "probably" numbered; state and federal privacy legislation; net neutrality; hate speech online and how "haters" make themselves victims; should Washington break up Big Tech?; Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act "could be a question mar...

Journalist David Wallace-Wells talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming. In this episode: How Wallace-Wells got to writing about climate change; common misconceptions about it; “we’ve made no progress at all” on clean energy use; his first story about global warming; the ripple effects and “all-encompassing threat” of warming around the world; today’s storms are literally unprecedented; why Silicon Valley has invested little into solutions; apocalypse...

AI Now Institute founders Meredith Whittaker and Kate Crawford talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about artificial intelligence in this live interview recorded at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. In this episode: What is the AI Now Institute?; how "dirty data" can lead to faulty AI conclusions; how machine learning works; the “whack-a-mole” problem of biased search results; the politics of AI; diversity in computer science; what systems should not be run by humans?; Amazon's résumé-scanning AI failure; ho...

Valerie Jarrett, who was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. In this episode: What Jarrett did in the Obama White House; her early childhood in Iran; why she became a lawyer, but gave up practicing law to get into politics; why Jarrett never ran for office herself, and what she looks for in the candidates she helps; the aftermath of the 2016 election; why today's ...

Writer and activist Ashton Applewhite talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism." In this episode: What society gets wrong about aging; a realistic picture of mental and physical decline; why Applewhite wrote her "manifesto"; why we need to start with ourselves to fight ageism; how Silicon Valley fetishizes youth; How do you change attitudes in tech?; tech’s investments in delaying aging and extending healthspan; and the medical benefits of having a r...

Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of daily news podcasts and the future of the medium. In this episode: How Rameswaram got into public radio and then podcasting; why Serial took off and how it changed the podcast landscape; the daily news explainer podcasts The Daily, Up First, and Today Explained; how Today, Explained got started and how Rameswaram thinks about his job as host; how the show chooses what to cover; the future of podcasting; Gimlet's $300 m...

Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton and Deeds Not Words founder Wendy Davis talk with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview from South by Southwest 2019. In this episode: Youthful political energy in the US and Texas; the history of women and people of color not being seen in politics and tech; Hamilton's Twitter tiff with Paul Graham; how Davis' group Deeds Not Words gets women in the room; her 13-hour filibuster and the way it echoed into 2018; are things getting better and what's next?; the n...

In this episode, you'll hear two interviews from the latest edition of An Evening With Code Commerce in Las Vegas: First, the dtx company CEO Tim Armstrong talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and Jason Del Rey about his investment company's plans to bring online retailers into the physical world with Coachella-like festival events; then, Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra talks with Del Rey about how the clothing reseller became the second-most-popular iPhone shopping app in the United States. Learn more about your a...

Historian and urbanist Richard Walker, a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his latest book, Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area. In this episode: How California has historically been affected by economic growth; the Bay Area’s first tech boom, the 1849 gold rush; why has California had so many booms?; the social impacts of this change; waking up to the downside of tech prosperity; “money is literally burning hole...

European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at South by Southwest 2019. In this episode: America's newfound appetite for tech regulation; why Vestager doesn't agree with Elizabeth Warren's "break them up" pitch; how Vestager assesses her tenure; why Big Tech is like pesticides; does GDPR favor larger companies?; the big problem with smart home devices; Mark Zuckerberg's pledge to pivot Facebook toward privacy; what Vestager will do af...

Amy Klobuchar, the senior U.S. Senator from Minnesota who is running for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2020 presidential race, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at South by Southwest. In this episode: The infamous comb incident; why Klobuchar thinks she can win; big pharma and big tech; why Klobuchar is aiming for the center while her fellow Democrats are pulling left; what she learned from studying Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss; the crowded Democratic field; the need for...

Comedian Kathy Griffin talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the notorious photo shoot that got her investigated by the Secret Service — and her new self-financed stand-up special, A Hell of a Story. In this episode: The notorious severed-head photo shoot; what happened after the initial wave of backlash; Griffin's run-ins with Donald Trump before he ran for president; why she believes the current battle with Trump is "historic"; Elon Musk; "I've been in Hollywood trouble, but never two federal agencies"; ...

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at Lesbians Who Tech in San Francisco. In this episode: Why YouTube turned off comments for tens of millions of videos recently; its latest attempts to keep kids safe; the criteria it weighs when making a policy change; toxicity in YouTube's comments; what would it do if it lost section 230 immunity?; "the only way to solve this, at the end of the day, is going to be with a combination of human and machines"; diversi...

Hudson's Bay Company CEO Helena Foulkes talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded at An Evening With Code Commerce in Las Vegas. In this episode: Yep, Foulkes was considered for the Uber CEO job; her background at CVS; how she came to Hudson's Bay; why she sold its European department stores, Gilt Groupe, and Home Outfitters; the importance of making retail shopping an experience; how Foulkes is rethinking Saks Off Fifth; "you can never out-Amazon Amazon"; how do physical retail store...

Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder of the Emerson Collective, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about journalism, VR, and activism. In this episode: Why Powell Jobs is investing in media; President Trump's attacks on journalists; are billionaires buying outlets the only way forward?; Alejandro G. Iñárritu's VR border crossing film, Carne Y Arena; art and activism; how to fix the immigration impasse; how social media changes art; Powell Jobs' first education nonprofit, College Track; and when will Silicon Valle...

Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Teddy Schleifer about an “identity crisis” that pitted his wealth and fame against personal happiness and relationships. In this episode: Social Capital’s attempts to disrupt venture capital;  Palihapitiya’s “identity crisis” and search for happiness; nonwhite people aren’t allowed to appear crazy; “to all the people that worked for me ... you’re fucking welcome”; why Silicon Valley has never been unhappier; the lack of heroes and...

David Chavern, the president and CEO of the nonprofit News Media Alliance, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about advocating on behalf of journalists in Washington, D.C. In this episode: How Chavern got to the News Media Alliance; the unique challenges of representing the media business; the ripple effects of the declining print business; the impact of Google and Facebook; revenue sharing, algorithm changes and conspiracy theories online; the differences among how the platforms understand the media; how tec...

Lora DiCarlo CEO Lora Haddock talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the process of designing an innovative new sex toy for women — and the fight to get mainstream acceptance for her invention. In this episode: Why Haddock started Lora DiCarlo; how she designed its first product, Osé; how startups design and create new physical products; with advanced robotics, "what we're trying to elicit is a blended orgasm"; why Haddock is avoiding vibration; funding Osé's development; receiving a CES innovation award fr...

Michael Connor, the artistic director of the digital art community Rhizome, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the group's museum exhibit, "The Art Happens Here," and the future of art made on the internet. In this episode: How Rhizome was founded and how the museum exhibit came together; the unique challenges of preserving internet art; the earliest works of art in Rhizome's Internet Art Anthology; what does "net art" mean?; what tools do net artists use?; the impact and legacy of the Net Art Anthology...