Channels with Peter Kafka

Elon Musk loves Twitter and also thinks it’s broken. So he wants to buy it. Can he, really? And who would help him? And why? And wtf does it mean when the world’s richest man is also one of its best shitposters? Bloomberg's Kurt Wagner and the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson try to help Recode’s Peter Kafka figure it out. Featuring: Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8), tech and social media reporter for Bloomberg Derek Thompson (@DKThomp), staff writer for The Atlantic and host of Plain English for The Ringer 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

19 Apr 202245min

Within the past few months, Disney CEO Bob Chapek managed to piss off his shareholders, the LGBT community, and right-wing conservatives. Today we talk about how he did it, why it happened, and what’s next. First, Puck’s Matt Belloni joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to compare Disney’s old and new Bobs, Iger and Chapek. Belloni details the inner turmoil at Disney over the company’s initially tepid response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law - and why Disney investors are dissatisfied with Chapek for other reasons. Then, Jane Coaston, host of The New York Times podcast The Argument, explains what the “Don’t Say Gay” law actually says, and how the right made Disney its latest enemy in the culture war. Featuring: Matt Belloni (@MattBelloni), Founding Partner at Puck Jane Coaston (@janecoaston), Host of The Argument 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

14 Apr 202253min

It’s time to check back in on the state of the streaming wars, with two binge-worthy conversations. First, Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to analyst Michael Nathanson about Big Media’s new problem: TV ratings are plummeting because all the good stuff is streaming — but now Wall Street doesn’t just want streaming, it wants *profitable* streaming. Then, we travel into the time stream to talk about the past, present and future of the streaming wars with Dawn Chmielewski, co-author of Binge Times: Inside Hollywood’s Furious Billion-Dollar Battle to Take Down Netflix, and Julia Alexander of Parrot Analytics. We discuss the legacy of Seeso, why the real audience of CNN+ may be the people in front of the camera, and when and if we’re getting the bundle back. Featuring: Michael Nathanson, Senior Research Analyst at MoffetNathanson Dawn Chmielewski (@DawnC331), U.S. Entertainment Business Correspondent at Reuters Julia Alexander (@loudmouthjulia) Senior Strategy Analyst at Parrot Analytics 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

7 Apr 20221h 1min

Legendary comedy director/writer/producer Judd Apatow was busy during lockdown: He wrote a book and made two movies. One of them is The Bubble, a movie about… making a movie during the pandemic. Apatow talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about what success looks like in the streaming era, coming to terms with TikTok, and his Oscar tweets. Also discussed: How many meetings it took to design a CGI flammable alien dinosaur penis. Featuring: Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow), Writer, Director, Producer 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

29 Mars 202243min

The Oscars used to be one of the biggest things on TV. Now they’re… not. Does that matter to the movie business and to movie-goers? We discuss with our annual Oscar experts: Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson and Slate’s Allegra Frank, who talk about their favorite movies, and try to sell Recode’s Peter Kafka on watching a 3-hour foreign language film. But more important: How and why should the Oscars try to remake itself for a TikTok world — and will a Twitter poll + DJ Kahled and Tony Hawk do the trick? Featuring: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie), Film & Culture Editor at Vox Allegra Frank (@LegsFrank), Senior Editor at Slate 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 Mars 202238min

March Madness has started, but this isn’t a podcast about that: Today, it’s a podcast about sports media, about leaving sports media to do your own thing, and about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may radically reshape big-time soccer. First Dan Le Batard, formerly of ESPN, joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to talk about his “fool’s quest” to found Meadowlark Media, “a company with a soul.” And why that company needed a big infusion of cash from the sports betting business to get off the ground. Then, soccer journalist Grant Wahl shares an extraordinary story about how the UK’s sanctions against Russia impacted one of the most famous teams in the world, London-based Chelsea F.C. Plus, he talks about what it’s been like to strike out on his own after being fired from Sports Illustrated. Featuring: Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl), Soccer Journalist on https://grantwahl.substack.com/ Dan Le Batard (@LeBatardShow), Founder of Meadowlark Media and host of the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz 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 Mars 202258min

Silicon Valley goes out of its way not to upset countries around the world - even when that means making embarrassing compromises. But it has taken a stand against Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, limiting services or cutting them off entirely. What happens next? Recode’s Peter Kafka and the New York Times’ Shira Ovide both wrote about this separately, and now they’re talking about it together. Then, Wall Street Journal reporter Kirsten Grind talks about her new book, Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. Plus Kirsten reflects on her blockbuster reporting about the toxic culture at Activision. Featuring: Kirsten Grind (@kirstengrind), Investigative Reporter for Wall Street Journal and Author Shira Ovide (@ShiraOvide), writer of the On Tech newsletter 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

10 Mars 202243min

Recode's Peter Kafka talks to three reporters about the realities of covering the war in Ukraine and sorting truth from disinformation -- from the ground, from afar, and online. In Ukraine: CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward discusses the challenges of war reporting in 2022, everything from planning food and exit routes to working with a remote team to analyze online videos. In DC: Puck co-founder and Washington correspondent Julia Ioffe talk about how hard it is to learn what Russians think about what's going on, and how long she expects the war to hold the American people's interest. Finally, Jane Lytvynenko, a senior research fellow at Harvard's Shorenstein Center, gives us a crash course on Russia’s history of disinformation dissemination. She also tells us about Telegram, which essentially functions as “Eastern European Twitter." Featuring: Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward), Chief International Correspondent for CNN Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe), Co-Founder and Washington Correspondent for Puck Jane Lytvynenko (@JaneLytv), Senior Research Fellow at Harvard's Shorenstein Center 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 Mars 20221h 8min