Decoder with Nilay Patel

Barry Diller, the chairman of IAC and the Expedia Group, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the state of the tech and media industries, problematic people in power and why Diller is building a new public park in New York. In this episode: What does he do as chairman of those companies?; the future of dating apps; how Diller evaluates the travel industry and Airbnb; how did Diller anticipate how the internet would change media?; why Netflix is beating Amazon and will beat all other competitors; "Hollywood is now irrelevant"; techlash and criticizing Mark Zuckerberg; how Facebook and Google should be regulated; Amazon's power and Jeff Bezos' battle with the National Enquirer; how he has run the Washington Post; Rupert Murdoch and Marc Benioff; Diller is writing a book; President Trump is "thoroughly rotten" and "an accident of history"; Mike Bloomberg, Howard Schultz and billionaire backlash; saving the High Line in New York City; public spaces and civic responsibility; "we're building an island off the Hudson River." Click here to vote for Kara Swisher in the Shorty Awards! You can vote once per day between now and Thursday, February 21. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

18 Helmi 20191h 2min

Nuala O'Connor, the CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the group she leads is lobbying the government and private companies on issues like consumer privacy and free speech. In this episode: O'Connor's background in big companies and the Department of Homeland Security; what the Center for Democracy and Technology does; the "Summer of Snowden"; why antitrust isn't a cure-all; speech and responsibility are the biggest issues facing the internet right now; why O'Connor says tech is engaged in a "holy war"; why she's optimistic about Capitol Hill; the reality of what the internet is vs. what we thought it would be; the big themes for tech reform in 2019; a lot of what we call "fake news" is actually government propaganda; can net neutrality be revived?; and online bullying and tech addiction, Click here to vote for Kara Swisher in the Shorty Awards! You can vote once per day between now and Thursday, February 21. Thanks to Microsoft Azure for sponsoring this episode. Get started with a free account and 12 months of popular free services at Azure.com/trial today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Helmi 201951min

Elevation Partners founding partner Roger McNamee talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe. In this episode: Transitioning from tech optimist to critic; the 1990 crash and rebound; starting Silver Lake Partners; McNamee’s health crisis and struggles with office politics; “then Bono calls up”; meeting and mentoring the 22-year-old CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg; recruiting Sheryl Sandberg to be COO; the Beacon disaster and clashing with Sandberg; the suspicious early warning signs in 2016; speaking out against Facebook and the cost of becoming an activist; why McNamee wrote Zucked; trying to get around Google’s privacy invasions; the fundamental problems with Google and Facebook’s business model; tech companies that never think about consequences; how the limits on what data can be collected keep changing; and how can regular people help fix these problems? Click here to vote for Kara Swisher in the Shorty Awards! You can vote once per day between now and Thursday, February 21. Thanks to Microsoft Azure for sponsoring this episode. Get started with a free account and 12 months of popular free services at Azure.com/trial today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11 Helmi 20191h 12min

Journalist and Pop-Up Magazine co-founder Evan Ratliff talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, The Mastermind: Drugs, Empire, Murder, Betrayal. In this episode: How Pop-Up got started; what happened when Ratliff tried to become anonymous for a month; starting the digital-first magazine The Atavist; how Paul Calder Le Roux went from programmer to prescription drug kingpin; the intersection of the international drug trade and tech; how Le Roux got into harder drugs, Somalian militias and selling missile technology to Iran; how he got caught; how Le Roux "embodied the entrepreneurial spirit" of a startup founder; "there's no viable drug operation that's not gonna be utilizing technology"; where is the (legal and illegal) drug trade going?; drug submarines; can modern drug cartels be stopped?; and why "there is clearly a market for an internet-driven cartel." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 Helmi 201951min

James Citrin, the head of Spencer Stuart CEO Practice, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about placing top executives at companies like Yahoo, PayPal, eBay, Twitter, Cisco, Pandora and Hulu. In this episode: Citrin's background as an analyst, consultant and CD-ROM true believer; how he was recruited to Spencer Stuart and how he recruits executives for his clients; do tech companies need a technical CEO?; the evolving power dynamics of talent in Silicon Valley; the triple threat of capability, credibility and attractability; the rise of internal recruiting and succession planning; why leadership actually matters; what happens inside a company when there's a crisis threatening top leadership?; what about when the CEO is toxic?; what is Facebook's board doing right now?; the importance of not "selling" executive candidates to companies; and lessons for CEOs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4 Helmi 201956min

Case Foundation CEO Jean Case, who was an early marketing and communications executive at AOL, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Be Fearless: 5 Principles for a Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose." In this episode: Why Case never finished college; working at The Source and GE, and why she left GE for Quantum Computer Services, which became AOL; finding unlikely allies and pivoting the business; The Case Foundation and impact investing; Case's other role, chairing the National Geographic Society; why she wrote Be Fearless; taking risks, failing the right way and breaking out of your bubble; are women making progress against discrimination?; the power of urgency; startups are at a 30-year low; does Case still feel entrepreneurial?; what does she think of AOL now?; "be fearless" does not actually mean having no fear; and expanding opportunity for entrepreneurial people everywhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

30 Tammi 201959min

Boston University professor Ellen Shell talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, The Job: Work and Its Future in a Time of Radical Change. In this episode: Shell's background in science and culture journalism; her earlier books, "The Hungry Gene" and "Cheap"; how writing about 1800s department store sales in "Cheap" led to writing "The Job"; what jobs will be automated and how we should prepare; how this transition compares to the Industrial Revolution; the ripple effects of one job being automated; the recent government shutdown; what does it even mean to be employed in the gig economy?; the "skills gap" myth and the opportunities of growing up rich; what should young people in the workforce do now?; will robots ever take all the jobs? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28 Tammi 201951min

Divorce attorney Laura Wasser talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about starting It's Over Easy, an online platform to help people who are getting divorced in New York and California. In this episode: Why Wasser launched It's Over Easy; the other services it provides besides legal help; why Wasser isn't afraid of losing her $850/hour clients; how she hopes to expand to more states this year; why some locations may require "doing an Uber"; why the legal world has been slow to embrace the internet; can lawyers and judges be completely replaced?; and advice for anyone getting divorced. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

26 Tammi 201948min