Decoder with Nilay Patel

In this special, Thursday episode of Decoder, Andrew Hawkins spoke with secretary of transportation Pete Butigieg ahead of his speech at CES 2022. 2021 was an eventful year for Buttigieg, the youngest and arguably the most notable person to take on the role of transportation secretary in many years. Congress passed President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, which will provide billions of new funding for the creation of a national network of electric vehicle charging stations. The secretary and Andrew talked about that, about self driving vehicles, and of course, Tesla. Links: Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the future of transportation The Verge CES hub Biden signs $1 trillion infrastructure package into law The investigation into Tesla Autopilot’s emergency vehicle problem is getting bigger Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22633231 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 Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andru Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 Tammi 202229min

Logitech is one of those ubiquitous companies — it’s been around since 1981, selling all kinds of important things that connect to computers of all shapes and sizes: mice, keyboards, cases, cameras, you name it. Nilay Patel spoke with Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell about how the company met increased demand during the pandemic, whether that changed his plans to shift to a services company, and how the supply chain issues around the world affect his business. They also talked about how he manages Logitech’s relationships with other tech giants like Apple and Amazon. And we had to talk about the decision to kill the Harmony remote line. Links: Nilay's interview with Bracken Darrell from 2019 Everything you need to know about the global chip shortage Why charging phones is such a complex business with Anker CEO Steven Yang Logitech officially discontinues its Harmony remotes How an excel TikToker manifested her way to making six figures a day Logitech is buying Streamlabs for $89 million Logitech announces cheaper Magic Keyboard alternative for new iPad Pro Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22610722 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 Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21 Joulu 202158min

So today I’m talking to Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, about one of the hardest problems at the intersection of tech and policy right now: the question of how to regulate social media platforms. Everyone seems to think we should do it – Democrats, Republicans – even Facebook is running ads saying it welcomes regulation. It’s weird. But while everyone might agree on the idea, no one agrees on the execution, and the biggest hurdle is the First Amendment.. Links: Florida governor signs law to block ‘deplatforming’ of Florida politicians Judge blocks Florida’s social media law Texas passes law that bans kicking people off social media based on ‘viewpoint’ Federal court blocks Texas law banning ‘viewpoint discrimination’ on social media Social media companies want to co-opt the First Amendment. Courts shouldn’t let them. Miami Herald Publishing Company vs. Tornillo Pacific Gas & Electric Company v. Public Utilities Commission of California Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian Bisexual Group Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22602514 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 Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andru Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

16 Joulu 202145min

John Hanke is the CEO of Niantic, a company that makes the wildly popular Pokemon Go mobile game in partnership with Nintendo and the Pokémon company. Pokemon Go, and its predecessor Ingress, are now the largest and most successful augmented reality games in the industry, which means John has long been at the forefront of what we’ve all started calling the metaverse—digital worlds that interact with the real world. Lots of companies are chasing metaverse hype but John’s been at it for a while, and I wanted to talk about the reality instead of the hype. We also coin the phrase “marketplace of realities.” It’s a ride. Links: What’s left of Magic Leap? Microsoft is supplying 120,000 HoloLens-based headsets to the US Army Snap’s first AR Spectacles are an ambitious, impractical start Facebook just revealed its new name: Meta There will never be another Pokémon Go Pokémon Go is still incredibly relevant Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is shutting down next year Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone is out now The best thing to do in VR is work out NFT's, explained Pokémon Go creator Niantic is working on AR glasses with Qualcomm Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22596531 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 Jackie McDermott with research by Liz Lian and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andru Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

14 Joulu 20211h 6min

Jonah Erlich is one of the core members of a group called ConstitutionDAO, a group that raised $47 Million to try to buy one of the original copies of the United States Constitution at an auction held by the high-end auction house Sotheby’s. Links: ConstitutionDAO Endaoment Crypto collective raises $27 million to bid for rare copy of US Constitution ConstitutionDAO loses $43 million auction of rare US Constitution copy ConstitutionDAO will shut down after losing bid for Constitution Almost buying a copy of the Constitution is easy, but giving the money back is hard Code is Law Ice Bucket Challenge dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS Iwata Asks: Just Being President Was A Waste! Succession Could ConstitutionDAO's PEOPLE token be the next meme coin? Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22584604 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 Jackie McDermott. We are edited by Callie Wright. Our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

7 Joulu 20211h 4min

Kat Norton is a Microsoft Excel influencer. She has over a million followers on TikTok and Instagram, where she goes by the name Miss Excel, and she’s leveraged that into a software training business that is now generating up to six figures of revenue a day. That’s six figures a day. And she’s only been doing this since June 2020. Nilay Patel talks to her about how she built the business, how she uses energetics to go viral, and why her relationship with social media is so different than other creators and influencers, Links: Excelerator Course A Microsoft Excel influencer quit her day job and is making 6 figures from her unconventional way of teaching spreadsheet hacks, tips, and tricks Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22571899 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 choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

30 Marras 202150min

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky prides himself on thinking very differently than other CEOs, and his answers to the Decoder questions about how he structures and manages his company were almost always the opposite of what I’m used to hearing on the show. Airbnb is pretty much a single team, focused on a single product, and it all rolls up to Brian. That’s very different from most other big companies, which have lots of divisions and overlapping lines of authority. And Airbnb’s relationship to cities is changing as tourism changes. Airbnb used to be the poster child for a tech company that showed up without permission and fought with regulators, but as the company has grown and the pandemic has changed things, it’s entered what is hopefully a more mature phase — it just came to a deal with New York City after ten years of argument. I asked Brian about that and about what it’s like to run a public company now — the transition from scrappy startup to public company engaged with regulators is a big one. Of course, I also had to ask about cryptocurrency and the metaverse — does Brian think we’re all going to be visiting virtual NFT museums on vacations in the future? You have to listen and find out. Okay, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, here we go. Links: Can Brian Chesky Save Airbnb? Jony Ive is bringing his design talents to... Airbnb Zillow reportedly needs to sell 7,000 houses after it bought too many City of New York and Airbnb Reach Settlement Agreement Airbnb hosts discriminate against black guests based on names, study suggests Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22547463 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, our research was done by Liz Lian. And we are edited by Callie Wright. Our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

16 Marras 20211h 11min

Nilay Patel talks to Steven Yang, the CEO and founder of Anker Innovations. The conversation covers the full stack of Decoder topics: taking bets on new tech like gallium nitride, building a direct-to-consumer business on Amazon, and the complexity of managing the Amazon relationship, regulatory issues, platform fees — you name it. And all from a company that started making phone chargers. Anker is endlessly fascinating. Links: Anker CEO Steven Yang is all in on USB-C Amazon-Native Brand Anker Goes Public EU proposes mandatory USB-C on all devices, including iPhones Gallium nitride is the silicon of the future Video: Is gallium nitride the silicon of the future? Anker MagGo devices snap on for wireless iPhone charging in your car and home Amazon confirms it removed RavPower, a popular phone battery and charger brand Another Amazon-first gadget brand has suspiciously vanished: Choetech Doug DeMuro on Decoder Nebula Capsule II mini projector review: TV in a can Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/22533880 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Today’s episode was 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

9 Marras 20211h 2min