How TikTok (still) works

David Zaslav sent up the white smoke, marking the selection of a new CNN CEO. Mark Thompson comes from The New York Times and the BBC, and has his work cut out for him to dig CNN out of the hole dug by his predecessor - but really, the hole that every TV news operation is in. Puck’s Dylan Byers (@dylanbyers), who broke the news of Thompson’s hire, returns to tell Vox’s Peter Kafka all about Thompson and CNN’s second big streaming play after the quickly-abandoned CNN+. Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

31 Aug 202326min

Born at BuzzFeed in 2014, The Try Guys make online videos where they try all sorts of things: earwax extractions, baking pie without a recipe, getting kidnapped, the usual. Since then, they’ve become their own independent media company, wrote a bestselling book, hosted a Food Network show — and broke up with one of their founding members in a public cheating scandal that was even parodied on Saturday Night Live. Vox’s Peter Kafka talks to one of the titular guys, Zach Kornfeld (@korndiddy), about what being a Try Guy is like almost a decade in, whether it’s time to try new Try Guys, and their recent live “Choose Your Own Shakespeare” Romeo and Juliet performance. Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24 Aug 202333min

A movie made for peanuts and distributed by a studio far outside the Hollywood system has done better box office numbers than both the new Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones movies. Sound of Freedom is about a rogue federal agent who goes to Colombia to break up a child sex trafficking ring. The conservative media love it. Faith-based groups love it. QAnon loves it. But how did this movie get made? And is the guy the movie based on the hero the movie makes him out to be? Recode Media sister podcast Today, Explained recently took on these questions. Listen in. Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Aug 202330min

This week, a quick update on Disney’s deal to get into sports betting. Then, we’re bringing you an episode of The Verge’s latest season of Land of the Giants, The Tesla Shock Wave. This episode tells the story of how Elon Musk joined the electric car company - and how he eventually led a coup against the original founders. Musk went on to make the car company’s brand synonymous with his own, which was great for Tesla… until it wasn’t. Hosted by Tamara Warren (@tamaratam) and Patrick George (@bypatrickgeorge) Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10 Aug 202338min

Black Mirror isn’t just a hit TV show: It’s a window into the not-too-distant future. Creator Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) has an astonishing track record of consistently imagining what we’re just about to see - whether it’s Donald Trump, the downside of social media, or AI-generated TV shows. And he’s made something that’s pervaded pop culture - when someone says “That’s like a Black Mirror episode” we know exactly what they mean. Brooker tells Vox’s Peter Kafka that, despite what you might think, he doesn’t hate tech - his problem is with the humans that use it. Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3 Aug 202342min

Joe Biden wants to stop big companies - especially big tech companies - from buying or merging with other companies. FTC boss Lina Khan is supposed to be his enforcer, but… it’s not going well. In fact, it’s possible Khan’s struggles have made it easier for big companies to bulk up, or at least more likely to try. Vox’s Peter Kafka talks about all this with Cecilia Kang (@ceciliakang), who covers tech and regulation for The New York Times. Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

27 Juli 202329min

This is a very good week to make a Recode Media episode: Hollywood is reeling from two different strikes. Disney CEO Bob Iger has hung a For Sale sign on parts of his company. And Steven Soderbergh just made a TV series and is selling it directly to consumers, like it’s 2012 or something. First up, Vox’s Peter Kafka runs all of his Hollywood strike theories past Matt Belloni (@MattBelloni), founding partner of Puck News. Is AI really that big of a hangup for writers and actors on the picket line? When does this get solved and will consumers care? Then they discuss the problems Iger is grappling with in his second stint as Disney’s boss - and how he created those problems during his first stint in that job. Finally, a conversation with writer Kurt Anderson (@KBAndersen), who co-created Command Z with Soderbergh, on why now is the perfect time to self-release a project. It’s a business move that feels like a throwback to times before the streaming boom. Are we going to see more of these? Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

20 Juli 202356min

We’re one week into the Threads era. How long is that going to last? What does it mean for Twitter, really? And what do Threads and continued chaos at Twitter say about the future of social media? That’s maybe a lot to talk tackle, but we’re going to do it anyway. NYT tech reporter Mike Isaac (@mikeisaac) joins Vox’s Peter Kafka to get us up to speed on Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to depants Elon Musk — it seems to be going pretty well, for the moment. And we’ll try to answer one big question: Why exactly does Zuckerberg want a Twitter clone, anyway? Then veteran tech exec and big thinker Eugene Wei (@eugenewei) joins to talk about what Musk got wrong at Twitter, why Meta is building its own Twitter using cues from Instagram and TikTok, and life in the algorithm age. Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Juli 20231h 10min