Recode Decode, Hosted By Kara Swisher

Facebook announced a major corporate rebrand by changing its company name to Meta. The new name is meant to solidify the social media giant’s longterm bet on building the metaverse. On this episode of Decoder, vice president of Reality Labs Andrew Bosworth talked with The Verge’s Alex Heath about Facebook’s rebrand to Meta, how content moderation will work in the metaverse, and the hardware journey from virtual to mixed reality, and eventually, AR glasses. Links: Mark Zuckerberg on why Facebook is rebranding to Meta Facebook is spending at least $10 billion this year on its metaverse division Eight things we learned from the Facebook Papers Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22517027 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Andrew Marino and we are edited by Callie Wright. Our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.  Learn more about your ad choic

Adobe is one of those companies that I don’t think we pay enough attention to — it’s been around since 1982, and the entire creative economy runs through its software. You don’t just edit a photo, you Photoshop it. We spend a lot of time on Decoder talking about the creator economy, but creators themselves spend all their time working in Adobe’s tools. On this episode, I’m talking to Scott Belsky, chief product officer at Adobe, about the new features coming to their products, many of which focus on collaboration, and about creativity broadly — who gets to be a creative, where they might work, and how they get paid. Transcript Links: NFTs Explained Adobe brings a simplified Photoshop to the web Adobe is adding a collaborative mood board to Creative Cloud Soon you can use Photoshop to prepare your art as an NFT The Dog Ramps Tweet The Furry Lisa, CryptoArt, & The New Economy Of Digital Creativity A $120,000 Banana Is Peeled From an Art Exhibition and Eaten Adobe and Twitter are designing a system for perman

This week we are talking to Jeep CEO Christian Meunier – and there’s a lot to talk about. Jeep just announced its second hybrid electric vehicle in the US, the Grand Cherokee 4xe. It also announced a plan for its first electric car in 2023, and to have EVs across the line by 2025, which is very soon. And it’s now part of a huge global car company called Stellantis. So I wanted to know: why start with hybrids, instead of jumping straight to EVs? What does it mean to be the CEO of a brand like Jeep inside of of a huge international company like Stellantis? How does the Jeep team make decisions about features and technology, and how much do they have to defer to a larger parent company? And what does it mean for Jeep, one of the most iconic American car brands, to be part of a huge global company now? Christian and I talked about all of that, as well as how the chip shortage is affecting Jeep, what cars will look like in 2040, and Jeep’s use of the name “Cherokee” in 2021. Yeah, this interview goes places. Link

My guest today is Dave Limp, the senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon – or, more simply, the guy in charge of Alexa. Dave’s group at Amazon also includes the Kindle e-reader, the Ring and Blink security camera systems, the Eero wifi router, and a host of other products that connect to Amazon services.  We wanted to know what the business behind Alexa looks like — Amazon sells Echo products at basically break even, it runs the Alexa for all of them for free, and it employs thousands of engineers who work on it. How does that make money? How might it make money in the future? How should we think about Alexa competing with other smart assistants, and for what kinds of business? The answers were not what you’d expect. Links: Why the global chip shortage is making it so hard to buy a PS5 Amazon's new Ring Alarm Pro combines a security system with an Eero Router Say Hello to Astro, Alexa on wheels Amazon is now accepting your applications for its home surveillance drone Amazon Glow is a video ch

In Land of the Giants: The Apple Revolution, Recode’s Peter Kafka explores the company that changed what a computer is — and then changed what a phone is. From its beginnings as a niche personal computer company, Apple became the preeminent maker of consumer tech products, a cultural trendsetter, and the most valuable company in the world. And along the way, it changed the way we live. Listen to Land of the Giants on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Waymo is working on self-driving taxis. Which is a huge deal. Ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft have remade cities, allowed people to give up their cars, and generally connected the buttons you push on your phone to real things happening in the world more directly than almost any other app. Nilay Patel talked to Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, about expanding Waymo’s service to other cities, the hurdles in place, and how she thinks the company will make money over time. We also talked about the regulatory issues the industry faces as it tries to roll out self-driving more broadly, and whether things like Tesla’s “full self driving” are confusing the issue or helping it.  This was a really fun conversation made even better because we recorded it live, on stage at Code Conference. Links: Meet the self-driving brains working with Tesla and Ford https://www.theverge.com/22627847/argo-ai-bryan-salesky-decoder-interview-lyft-self-driving   Ford CEO Jim Farley on building the electric F-150 -- and reinventing

Nilay Patel talks to John Carreyrou about his reporting on Theranos from his Wall Street Journal articles that broke the scandal in 2015 to his podcast covering the trial of Elizabeth Holmes today. Links: Bad Blood: The Final Chapter https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-blood-the-final-chapter/id1575738174 Theranos’ greatest invention was Elizabeth Holmes https://www.theverge.com/22656190/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-wire-fraud-trial-founder-myth Elizabeth Holmes is on trial for fraud over her time at Theranos https://www.theverge.com/22684354/elizabeth-holmes-trial-wire-fraud-theranos Apple Podcasts launches in-app subscriptions https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/20/22381980/apple-podcasts-app-subscriptions-new-design Hot startup Theranos has struggled with its blood-test technology https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901 *Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged when Model 3 crashed into truck, report states https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/16/18627766/tesla-autopilot-fatal-

We talk a lot about the creator economy here on Decoder and one thing we’ve learned from all those conversations is that the creator economy is a market just like any other, with supply and demand, but that it’s also a market that is absolutely starved of information. So today I’m talking to Lindsey Lee Lugrin, the co-founder and CEO of a new platform called Fuck You Pay Me, which is an all-time great company name. FYPM is an app for creators to review and compare brand deals: what brands are paying, what it’s like to work with them, and whether people would work with them again. It’s kind of like Glassdoor or Yelp for influencers. Links The quirks and features of YouTube car reviews with Doug DeMuro https://www.theverge.com/22637871/doug-demuro-car-reviews-youtube-decoder-interview Advertising is complicated, but Melissa Grady is very good at it https://www.theverge.com/22174582/decoder-podcast-interview-cadillac-cmo-melissa-grady-advertising YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan on the algorithm, mone

This week on Decoder we are doing something a little different. We're talking with Charlie Harding, co-host of the podcast Switched on Pop a podcast about pop music, about the state of the music industry particularly as it relates to copyright. The conversation is framed around Olivia Rodrigo's debut album Sour and why she keeps handing out songwriting credits months after the album was released. This is kind of a hybrid between an episode of Decoder and an episode of Switched on Pop. We play a lot of music throughout the episode and in case you want to go back and listen to full songs we've made playlists for both Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3nuMTt7 Apple Music - https://apple.co/3986hUw Links Olivia Rodrigo Studied All the Right Moves  https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/olivia-rodrigo-sour-album-review Why Taylor Swift is rerecording all her old songs https://www.vox.com/culture/22278732/taylor-swift-re-recording-fearless-love-story-master-rights-scooter-braun Olivia Rodrigo Gives T

Apple has had a lot going on lately: we did a whole episode about the controversial child protection photo scanning features, which have now been delayed. A law in South Korea might force the company to change how App Store payments work; the company settled a Japanese case about the App Store recently, as well as a class-action lawsuit in this country. The verdict in the Epic trial will arrive and there are renewed questions about Apple’s relationship with the Chinese government. And, of course, it’s September — the month when new iPhones usually come out. But in the background, Verge senior reporter Zoë Schiffer has spent the past few months publishing story after story about unhappy Apple employees, who are starting to talk to the press more and more about what working at Apple is like, and how they’d like it to change. Nilay Patel talks to Zoë about the work she's been doing and what the future holds. Links: Here’s why Apple’s new child safety features are so controversial https://bit.ly/3n9E07W Apple d

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the demand for microchips has far exceeded supply, causing problems in every industry that relies on computers. And if you’re a Decoder listener, you know that that is every industry. Right now, major automakers have unfinished cars sitting in parking lots waiting for chips to be installed. Game consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X are impossible to find. And even things like microwaves and refrigerators are impacted, because they contain simple controller chips.  So we realized it was time to figure out what caused the chip shortage, why that happened, and how we are going to get out of it.  My guest today is Dr. Willy Shih. He’s the professor of management practices at Harvard Business School. He’s an expert on chips and semiconductors — he spent years working at companies like IBM and Silicon Graphics. And he’s also an expert in supply chains — how things go from raw materials to finished products in stores. Willy’s the guy that grocery stores and paper companies cal

Nilay Patel talks with Doug DeMuro, who reviews cars on YouTube for almost 10 years. Nilay and Doug talk about the economics of YouTube, how Doug feels about the platform, and about the new company he co-founded called Cars and Bids. Read the transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22401912 Decoder is produced by Creighton DeSimone, Alexander Charles Adams and Andrew Marino. We are edited by Callie Wright. Our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today I'm talking to Bryan Salesky, the cofounder and CEO of Argo AI, a startup that's trying to build the tech stack for self-driving cars. Argo just launched a small fleet of robotaxis in Miami and Austin in partnership with Lyft. I wanted to talk to Bryan about his partnership with Lyft, but I also wanted to know if the pandemic accelerated any of his investment or development the way we have seen in other industries. After all, the proposition of having a taxi all to yourself is pretty enticing in the COVID era, and lots of people moving away from offices to work from home might love having a car that gets them to and from a central office a couple days a week. Of course, I also had to ask about 5G. Is 5G enabling any of Argo's current self-driving technology? Does he see 5G as a benefit in the future? His answer might surprise you… unless you're a regular listener of this show. Then it won't surprise you one bit. Read the transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22391888 Decoder is produced by Creighton De

Nilay Patel is joined by Riana Pfefferkorn and Jennifer King to talk about Apple's new child safety features. Riana and Jen are both researchers at Stanford and between the two of them have expertise in encryption policies and consumer privacy issues. Guest Bio: Riana Pfefferkorn: http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/about/people/riana-pfefferkorn Jennifer King: http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/about/people/jen-king Links: Apple reveals new efforts to fight child abuse imagery: https://www.theverge.com/e/22375762 WhatsApp lead and other tech experts fire back at Apple’s Child Safety plan: https://www.theverge.com/e/22377406 Apple pushes back against child abuse scanning concerns in new FAQ: https://www.theverge.com/e/22380422 Apple's Plan to "Think Different" About Encryption Opens a Backdoor to Your Private Life: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/apples-plan-think-different-about-encryption-opens-backdoor-your-private-life Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22381595 Decoder is a production of The Verge, and

On today’s episode I’m talking with Neal Mohan, the chief product officer at YouTube. And there’s a lot to talk about – YouTube is announcing a $100 million fund to begin paying creators who use YouTube Shorts, which is its competitor to TikTok. YouTube remains the default video hosting platform for the entire internet, in a way can feel almost invisible, like it’s a utility, like water, or electricity. And on top of all that, there are YouTubers – that particular kind of influencer at the center of the creator economy – the people who have turned YouTube not only into a career, but multimillion dollar businesses that extend into everything from merch drops to cheeseburger restaurants. When people talk about creators and the creator economy, they’re often just talking about YouTube. YouTube as a whole continues to grow in massive ways – in Google’s last earnings report, YouTube reported 7b in advertising revenue alone, which means it’s a business that is now as big or bigger than Netflix. YouTube is big – jus

This week Nilay Patel talks to Chuck Todd, the political director at NBC News and moderator of Meet The Press, the longest running television show in the country. Seriously: Meet the Press started in 1946, and Chuck is only the 12th moderator the show’s ever had. As streaming upends television, he’s expanding Meet The Press from a single weekly show where Chuck interviews politicians to an entire roster of formats. There’s Meet the Press, Meet The Press Daily on MSNBC, Meet the Press Reports on the Peacock streaming service, and, of course, a Meet the Press podcast. They discussed how streaming and direct distribution has changed TV news, and what the purpose of a show like Meet the Press really is in an environment where politicians can reach audiences directly whenever they want. Read the transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22358331 Decoder is produced by Creighton DeSimone, Liam James, Alexander Charles Adams, and Andrew Marino, and is edited by Callie Wright. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po

Nilay Patel encountered the name Blackstone on TikTok last year, just as the pandemic lockdowns were starting. He saw people posting videos smashing burgers and making pancakes outside on a griddle frequently with the caption “I finally got a Blackstone.” 20 minutes ago he hadn’t even heard about this thing, and now he was late to a trend? So he bought one. And hasn’t used his regular grill in over a year. Nilay sat down with the CEO of Blackstone products and inventor of the Blackstone griddle Roger Dahle. They talked about Blackstone’s ability to generate recurring revenue, and how the griddle itself is a platform for a variety of additional products and services, some of which might be made by competitors. And Blackstone has big competitors in Weber, and Cuisinart — so we talked about competition, and branding, and going up against the biggest players in a space, and the creator economy. You know: Decoder stuff. Take a listen. And you can read the transcript here: https://www.theverge.com/e/22347828 Learn

We are back after our week off, and we’ve got a good one today. On this episode I’m talking to Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar, a new car company with close family ties to Volvo. We talked a lot about what kind of company Polestar is — it’s pretty small, and has the ability to rethink a lot of things about how a car company is organized, while having the ability to fall back on a larger company if needed. We also talked a lot about what makes a car company a car company, at a time when everything about cars seems up for grabs. Transcript here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While Decoder is on vacation this week, we're sharing an episode of Land of the Giants, a podcast from our friends at Recode and Eater. Land of the Giants is a podcast that explores how the biggest tech companies rose to power, and what they're doing with that power. In this 4-part mini-season, they’re covering the world of restaurant delivery apps and exploring how big tech is transforming the business of food, and the true cost of our convenience.  You can listen to the full season of Land of Giants wherever you find your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Juul became a sensation — and a sensationally dramatic story. Lauren Etter, author of The Devil's Playbook: Big Tobacco, JUUL, and the Addiction of a New Generation, joins us to explain how a tech startup founded in a Stanford design studio to disrupt the smoking industry upended years of tobacco regulation in the United States, got a new generation of teenagers addicted to nicotine after years of declining teen smoking rates, and eventually found itself valued at 38 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices