Recode Decode: Why tech is "flunking" the diversity test

Stacey Abrams, a candidate running for governor of Georgia and former minority leader of its general assembly, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and SKDK's Hilary Rosen about the early stages of the campaign. Abrams explains why everyone needs to be talking a lot more about the automation of jobs, why she's wary of blank-check tax incentives written for tech companies and why Democrats learned the wrong lessons about the internet from Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. She also discusses how she is using technology and how she contends with some voters' reductive tendency to only think of her as "the black candidate." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Nov 20171h 4min

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how the century-old nonprofit is evolving to fight antisemitism and other forms of extremism in the digital age. Greenblatt explains how online platforms have helped white supremacists inject their beliefs into the mainstream conversation and why companies like Twitter, Facebook and Google have so far failed to stop them. He says the ADL is now working directly with engineers at those organizations to confront the problem, and praises the potential of emerging tech like artificial intelligence and virtual reality for making social media — and society — saner. Greenblatt also discusses the right way for journalists to report on extremists like Richard Spencer and how Silicon Valley could make a big difference by having a “bias for good.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Nov 20171h 3min

MSNBC anchor Katy Tur talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and SKDK's Hilary Rosen about her new book, "Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History." While she was at NBC News, Tur was the first reporter assigned to cover the Trump campaign full-time, and one year since his unlikely electoral victory, she says many in the media who considered him a joke before haven't learned the right lessons from 2016. Tur explains how her parents' pioneering TV journalism gave her the resolve to weather threats during the campaign, and says journalists covering President Trump need to stop being indignant about little things, and focus instead on the big stories that matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Nov 20171h 3min

Ray Dalio, the founder of the world's largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, "Principles: Life and Work." In it, he lays out how he makes smarter decisions based on clearly articulated criteria and how that process has worked on a massive scale at Bridgewater, which Dalio describes as an "idea meritocracy." At the controversial hedge fund, every conversation is recorded for anyone to consult, and every decision is compared against the employees' transparent histories of successes and defeats. Dalio also talks about why independent thinking is the most important principle, how tech companies can apply Bridgewater's formula and why the biggest issue facing America may be the fragmentation between the top 40 percent of the economy and bottom 60 percent: Perfect breeding grounds for a populist president like Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 Nov 20171h 6min

Recode's Kara Swisher and SKDK's Hilary Rosen talk about tech, regulation and politics with two special guests: Luther Lowe, the vice president of public policy at Yelp, and Beth Wilkinson, the co-founder of trial law firm Wilkinson Walsh Eskovitz. The group explains how lawyers from Twitter, Facebook and Google found themselves testifying in front of Congress this week and why the politics of the hearings around the 2016 election are so messy and different from what has come before. Lowe and Wilkinson also talk about the other political issues facing Silicon Valley, including antitrust regulation, consumer data privacy and the future of jobs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1 Nov 20171h 9min

1stdibs CEO David Rosenblatt explains how his company, a marketplace for rare luxury products, made the transition from an advertising to e-commerce. Unlike other executives in the commerce space, Rosenblatt isn't worried about Amazon competing with him directly because 1stdibs' sellers aren't comfortable selling their expensive goods alongside lower-priced brands. Rosenblatt also talks about the growing importance of VR and AR for his industry and how his former company — the online advertising pioneer DoubleClick — survived the dot-com crash and got acquired by Google. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

30 Okt 201755min

Kara Swisher joins venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, theBoardlist founder Sukhinder Singh Cassidy and Uptake CEO Brad Keywell in this live discussion about tech culture from the 2017 Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, moderated by Nick Bilton. The group has a popcorn-worthy debate over what can be done about management troubles, rampant sexism in Silicon Valley and the weaponization of social media. Singh Cassidy says investors have leverage that they're not using to make tech firms behave better, while Pishevar and Keywell talk about the significant change that can come from within companies and via professional mentors. Plus: Swisher explains why the future may hinge on the people in the middle of the economy who have neither won nor lost in the internet revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25 Okt 201738min

Author Walter Isaacson talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new biography of Renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, which he describes has a "culmination" of themes he explored in past books about Ada Lovelace, Ben Franklin and Steve Jobs. Isaacson explains how da Vinci's pursuit of the intersection of art and science made him who he was, and how his life's story can inform our thinking today about innovation and technology. He also dissects the biology of da Vinci's most famous work, the Mona Lisa, and explains why the portrait took 16 years to paint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23 Okt 20171h 11min