Recode Decode: How to fix Silicon Valley's 'Brotopia'
Bloomberg Technology executive producer Emily Chang talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about her new book, “Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley.” Chang says the idea for the book originated when venture capitalist Michael Moritz suggested that bringing more women to Sequoia Capital might mean “lowering our standards.” However, in between then and now, Donald Trump was elected president and the #MeToo movement arose, which “changed dramatically” how many women would speak on the record. Plus: Chang discusses the impact of Ellen Pao and Susan Fowler, and her much-discussed Vanity Fair story about sex parties and “cuddle puddles” in Silicon Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
5 Feb 20181h 6min
Recode Decode: Dipayan Ghosh and Ben Scott, co-authors, ‘Digital Deceit’
New America fellow Dipayan Ghosh and senior advisor Ben Scott talk with Recode’s Kara Swisher about their new policy paper, “Digital Deceit: The Technologies Behind Precision Propaganda on the Internet.” Both alumni of the Obama administration, Ghosh and Scott say we need to fundamentally reevaluate how digital platforms collect data on their users, and how advertisers can use that information. Although they acknowledge that figuring out how Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election is important, they argue that there are much deeper questions that need to be answered, and possibly problems that need to be regulated. They also discuss what responsibility they and others who worked for the Obama White House have for the rise of tech companies to their current level of power over the past decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
31 Jan 20181h 1min
Recode Decode: Chuck Todd, moderator, 'Meet the Press'
NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he's evolving what it means to be the host of the longest-running series in TV history, "Meet the Press." Todd discusses how a childhood interest in politics led him to Washington, D.C., and how a lucky break at the pioneering digital service Hotline led him to NBC. He also talks about how technology accelerated trends of political polarization that began during Watergate and why social media has "peaked" in politics. Plus: Why the "best and the brightest" don't come to Washington anymore, and should anyone in Silicon Valley run for office? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
29 Jan 20181h 9min
Recode Decode: Alexandra Petri, columnist, the Washington Post
Alexandra Petri, who writes the Compost blog for The Washington Post, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Chorus CEO Dick Costolo about making fun of politics. Petri says some politicans have a sense of humor about her columns, but others don’t like it or don’t get the joke — the Trump White House once distributed one of her satirical pieces to journalists, mistaking it for earnest praise. She explains how she became a humor columnist, how she comes up with ideas and where she finds the funny in the Trump family and the Trump White House. Plus: Petri’s pitch for a romantic comedy about a Supreme Court justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
24 Jan 201852min
Recode Decode: Andrew Keen, author, 'How to Fix the Future'
"How to Fix the Future" author Andrew Keen talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, which examines reasonable solutions to the social and political disruptions created by the digital revolution. Keen says tech is neither the solution nor the scapegoat for all problems, urging Silicon Valley to look to history for answers. In the book, he examines four categories of things that need fixing: Economic inequality; the "imminent crisis" of jobs; the rise of surveillance capitalism, in which consumers pay for free products by trading away their personal data; and a cultural crisis of incivility, divisiveness and "fake news." Plus: Why Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is best positioned to set an example for the rest of the industry and why Keen believes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is "re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
22 Jan 20181h 3min
Recode Decode: Gregg Spiridellis, CEO, JibJab
JibJab CEO Gregg Spiridellis talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Chorus CEO Dick Costolo about how the company has adapted to the ever-changing internet over the past two decades. JibJab was on the verge of shutting down when it released “This Land,” an animated viral video sensation that parodied the 2004 U.S. Presidential race between George W. Bush and John Kerry. JibJab later moved into personalized greeting cards and apps for messaging platforms, which Spiridellis says is a low-risk way to make comedy scale. He says it’s harder than ever to justify the production costs of “mass funny” digital videos, because creators are now competing against the entire history of comedy, available for free on YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
17 Jan 20181h 2min
Recode Decode: David Friend, author, ‘The Naughty Nineties’
David Friend, Vanity Fair’s editor of creative development, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, “The Naughty Nineties: The Triumph of the American Libido.” Much of today’s social and political unrest can be traced back to the sea change in who Americans voted for and how they consumed entertainment in the 1990s — and it’s no accident that the world wide web was born in that decade. He explains why today’s #MeToo movement owes a debt to Anita Hill, who unsuccessfully tried to stop Clarence Thomas’s nomination the Supreme Court in 1991, and how everyone from Bill Clinton to Lance Armstrong ushered in an “age of lies” that paved the way for Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
15 Jan 20181h 1min
Recode Decode: Sarah Cooper, author, "100 Tricks To Appear Smart in Meetings”
Comedian Sarah Cooper talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Chorus CEO Dick Costolo about why she left a career in the tech industry to become a stand-up comic. Cooper has made tech a central part of her comedy and has written a book based in part on her time at Yahoo and Google called “100 Tricks To Appear Smart in Meetings.” The group debates whether people who work in tech are funny (on purpose) and whether depictions of them in popular culture, on shows like HBO’s “Silicon Valley” or CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory,” are really hitting their mark. Plus: Cooper previews her next book, “How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings,” which will include tips such as “be authentic by hiding yourself." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
10 Jan 20181h 8min
