Recode Media with Peter Kafka
489 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago - ★★★★★ - 468 ratingsWhat happens when media, entertainment, and technology collide? Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians and podcasters to get their take. Produced by Recode and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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Episodes
Why is tech in trouble if the economy is ok?
February 09, 2023 05:00 - 44 minutesTech and media companies (including the one that brings you this podcast) are laying off workers left and right. Meanwhile, the latest national jobs report is shockingly strong. So… why? Do the excuses make any sense? First, Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Vox’s Emily Stewart about the overall economy, the likelihood of a recession, and when we’d actually know if one is happening. Then, New York Times correspondent Mike Isaac is back to dive into the specifics of the tech sector. Featuring: Em...
Land of the Giants: The Hidden Hand Behind Your Swipes
February 02, 2023 05:00 - 39 minutesThis week, we bring you an episode of The Cut and The Verge’s latest season of Land of the Giants: Dating Games. This episode is all about Match Group, the company that went on an acquisition spree and now controls two-thirds of the dating apps market. To hear more stories about how dating apps became a billion-dollar industry and the algorithms that control your love life, subscribe to Land of the Giants wherever you subscribe to podcasts. Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) a...
Don't tell investor Li Jin that Web3 is dead
January 26, 2023 05:00 - 44 minutesInvestor Li Jin helped popularize the idea of the Creator Economy — the theory that many people who make stuff online could and should get paid for that work. Then she merged that pitch with an embrace of crypto/Web3 — and by 2021 the New York Times was calling her the “It Girl in venture capital.” Now many of the people who embraced both creator economy investments and crypto want nothing to do with that. But not Jin, who says she’s still all in. She talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about launc...
How The Last of Us went from hit game to hit zombie tv
January 18, 2023 05:00 - 38 minutesThe critically-lauded video game The Last of Us is now a critically-lauded HBO series. It's about a global pandemic that turns much of the world’s population into zombie-like monsters. Executive producer (and former roommate of Ted Cruz) Craig Mazin talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about what makes the game special — and adaptable into prestige television. Mazin dives into how he went from writing The Hangover sequels to making Chernobyl, and the science and emotional math of storytelling. Feat...
"Resist trying to make things better" - a conversation with internet security expert Alex Stamos
January 16, 2023 12:30 - 54 minutesA new study in the journal Nature Communications finds "no evidence of a meaningful relationship" between Russian disinformation and voting behavior in the 2016 election. If disinformation maybe isn’t as effective as we assumed, does that change social networks’ responsibility to control it? Recode’s Peter Kafka discusses it with Alex Stamos, former chief security officer at Facebook and director of the Stanford Internet Observatory. They touch on the insurrection in Brazil, and Hunter Biden’...
Was YouTube’s NFL deal a $2 billion mistake?
January 12, 2023 05:00 - 37 minutesFor the first time in 3 decades, NFL’s Sunday Ticket - a subscription service that lets viewers watch many but not all of the NFL’s games each week - has a new home: YouTube TV. The deal will cost YouTube/Google/Alphabet $2 billion a year. Was it it worth it? There’s no one better to answer that question than Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand. He joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to talk about the deal — and what it tells us about other moves by tech giants to get into big-time sports. Featurin...
Apple’s new goggles; Hollywood’s new streaming pitch.
January 05, 2023 05:00 - 41 minutesBefore we face the reality of 2023, we discuss the state of virtual reality — specifically, the still-unannounced VR/AR headset Apple’s been developing for years. The Information’s Wayne Ma joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to share the details of his latest report on the device, which he predicts will cost $3,000 and debut this year. Then, Jeremy Zimmer, the CEO of United Talent Agency, talks to Peter about Hollywood’s economics and the way he’d like them to change, particularly as streamers like N...
Reader Mail!
December 29, 2022 05:00 - 37 minutesRecode’s Peter Kafka answers listener questions about Twitter, niche content streaming, print media microtransactions, regional sports networks and more. Peter’s producers and son also make appearances in descending order according to 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 tod...
An Elon-free year in review
December 20, 2022 05:00 - 36 minutesThe Earth has just about completed its latest orbit around the sun, which means it’s time to take a look at what was happening over the past 584 million miles. Joining Recode’s Peter Kafka is Bloomberg’s, Lucas Shaw. Together, they tackle what Avatar: The Way of Water means for Disney, why concerts are doing well and in-person movies are doing meh, and HBO Max and Netflix’s pivot to gaming. Plus, they have a Tik Tok-length discussion about Tik Tok. Featuring: Lucas Shaw (@Lucas_Shaw), Report...
A n00b’s guide to the Microsoft / Activision deal the FTC wants to stop
December 13, 2022 05:00 - 44 minutesThe FTC wants to (candy) crush Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc., the makers of games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush. Meanwhile, Microsoft, the maker of Xbox, assures Call of Duty players they’ll still be able to shoot Nazi zombies on rivals’ consoles. For an overview of the gaming business in general and this acquisition in particular, Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Bloomberg’s Jason Schrier, co-host of the podcast Triple Click and bestselling author ...
Why the media landscape is “dire” with WSJ’s Jessica Toonkel
December 08, 2022 05:00 - 29 minutesLayoffs, Disney CEO take-backsies, and the Netflix of it all — this week, Recode’s Peter Kafka catches up on the not-that-upbeat media industry with Jessica Toonkel, deputy media editor at The Wall Street Journal. They discuss why Big Media companies of every variety are struggling to please investors, advertisers and users, and why good news isn’t coming anytime soon. Also: WTF is Netflix’s video game business going to be? (And if you do want to check out a Netflix-branded mobile game, "Into...
How Eventbrite survived the pandemic, and why it’s not fighting Ticketmaster
December 01, 2022 05:00 - 36 minutesSelling tickets for live events can be… tricky, as Ticketmaster has proven yet again. But Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz runs a much smaller ticketing business and says she’s learned valuable lessons after the pandemic brought her revenue to zero. She talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about growing once again — and how she’s preparing for a potential recession. Featuring: Julia Hartz (@juliahartz), CEO of Eventbrite Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for ...
It’s not TV it’s HBO — the book
November 29, 2022 05:00 - 53 minutesHBO’s 50-year-old history tells you a lot about culture, business, and TV’s past and future. This perhaps explains why we’ve seen two HBO books in the last 12 months. Felix Gillette is the co-author of the newest one: It’s Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO. He sits down with Recode’s Peter Kafka to talk about HBO’s story, and the impact his book made before it even hit the shelves. Featuring: Felix Gillette (@felixgillette), editor for Business Insider and Author Ho...
How to watch a complicated World Cup
November 21, 2022 05:00 - 37 minutesQatar is hosting the 2022 World Cup, casting a pall over one of the globe’s most-watched sporting events. Men With Blazers co-host Roger Bennett joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to talk through the geopolitical awareness and cognitive dissonance required to enjoy this year’s tournament. First they tackle the human rights abuses of Qatar and the perennial corruption of FIFA. Then, they get into the games — players to watch, which countries have a chance, and we learn that PETER KAFKA WAS BORN IN WAL...
Life, the internet, and everything with Garbage Day’s Ryan Broderick
November 17, 2022 05:00 - 49 minutesRyan Broderick is very online so you don’t have to be. His internet culture Substack ‘Garbage Day’ is a mix of thought-provoking analysis, trend reporting, and, when you read all the way to the end, dumb memes. In this wide-ranging coversation with Recode’s Peter Kafka, he talks about the big topic of the day: An explanation of NyQuil chicken. But before that, Twitter — and Ryan reminds us that there are some places on the internet where people are actually having a good time. Plus, a whole l...
What Elon’s past tells us about his present
November 15, 2022 11:00 - 42 minutesThis is not an emergency podcast, but, you know, maybe it will be? As questions swirl around what exactly Elon Musk is doing at Twitter (and why) we wanted to take a look at Musk’s history and how it might inform WTF is happening now. Fortunately, we’re joined by Bloomberg’s Ashlee Vance, author of “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.” Recode Media’s Peter Kafka talks to Vance about Musk’s rise, how his public persona changed over the years, and his flirtations wit...
Tech’s big bust, plus Marvel (and Wakanda) Forever?
November 10, 2022 05:00 - 33 minutesMass layoffs and cutbacks at companies like Meta and Twitter point to a slowdown (and chaos) in tech. Bloomberg tech reporter Sarah Frier helps us sort through the madness. Then, Disney has used Marvel movies to basically print money over the past ten years. With the release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” we look at whether that strategy will continue to be a winning one with pop culture expert and X-Ray Vision podcaster Jason Concepcion. Featuring: Jason Concepcion (@netw3rk), Writer...
Election special with Punchbowl's Jake Sherman
November 03, 2022 04:03 - 40 minutesPunchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman joins us from the U.S. Capitol building just in time for the 2022 midterm elections. Recode’s Peter Kafka hits him up for some election spoilers. Then he gets into the business of Punchbowl News: He asks Sherman what drove him to leave Politico, and how Punchbowl’s various revenue streams work (including a $300 annual subscription) and why Sherman isn’t worried about raising money. Featuring: Jake Sherman(@JakeSherman), Co-Founder of Punchbowl News Host...
Jason Gay isn’t making Elon Musk jokes
November 01, 2022 04:00 - 25 minutesWe’re taking a short break from the Twitter shitshow to give you an interview with Jason Gay, sports and humor columnist at The Wall Street Journal. His new book is “I Wouldn’t Do That If I Were Me: Modern Blunders and Modest Triumphs (but Mostly Blunders).” Gay talks to Peter Kafka about what it’s like to write humor for a publication that’s not exactly known for that, the cognitive dissonance required to enjoy football, and why he isn’t interested in making Elon Musk jokes. Featuring: Jas...
Bloomberg’s Matt Levine still loves crypto; Ankler’s Janice Min loves newsletters
October 27, 2022 04:00 - 1 hourWhen Bloomberg’s Matt Levine sent an enticing email about “a big thing coming out about crypto in Businessweek,” Recode’s Peter Kafka couldn’t resist. Turns out, the “big thing” is a 40,000(!) word piece that took over the entire magazine, titled “The Crypto Story." Levine explains why he wrote a 40,000(!) word piece about cryptocurrency, which he thinks is fascinating even if the boom has turned to a bust. Plus some bonus thoughts on the end (?) of the Elon Musk Buys Twitter Saga, and What I...
Ben Smith says Semafor will take 10 years to get right
October 24, 2022 14:38 - 35 minutesOne week after the launch of Semafor, Recode’s Peter Kafka flags down the news startup’s co-founder Ben Smith. Who is Semafor for, really? How can a news startup based in NYC and Washington solve polarization? What, exactly, is a “Semaform” and what’s the point of it? And what New York Times office amenity does Smith miss the most? Featuring: Ben Smith (@semaforben), Editor-In-Chief at Semafor Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode...
Netflix is back (?) + Julia Boorstin on women who lead
October 20, 2022 04:00 - 50 minutesNetflix added 2.4 million subscribers! Ads are coming! Wall Street’s excited again! But is Netflix back for real? Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw to get a reality check on the streamer and the streaming business. And then, CNBC’s Senior Tech & Media Correspondent, Julia Boorstin, joins Peter for a wide-ranging interview about the latest media news, her career, and her new book "When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them." And reme...
Inside the curious mind of XKCD cartoonist Randall Munroe
October 13, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutesSince 2005, Randall Munroe has used his webcomic XKCD to comment on the world around him and express his love for pop culture, math, and science. Now, with the release of his new book “What If 2?: More Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions”, the cartoonist is yet again using his physics expertise to answer the most interesting hypothetical questions with a dash of humor. He sits down with Recode’s Peter Kafka to reflect on his career so far, and what he has planned ahead...
Elon Musk is buying Twitter. Really. (Really?)
October 05, 2022 02:55 - 44 minutesHe’s back! Elon Musk, who agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion last spring and then tried to back out of the deal, says he wants to buy Twitter for $44 billion, after all. That doesn’t mean it will actually happen - because, Elon Musk - but maybe it’s real this time. Maybe. So how did we get here and what happens next and what have we learned about Elon Musk over the last few months? Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to two Twitter pros: Jason Goldman, the company’s first product VP, who says a Mus...
Interview with Interview with a Vampire’s Eric Bogosian
September 29, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutesWriter and actor Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Succession) has been in the business for a while. Long enough, that he tells Recode’s Peter Kafka, he’s learned to let other people worry about the business stuff. AMC’s hoping he’s good business for them; the network is hoping its new Interview with a Vampire can help fill the zombie-shaped genre hole left by the ending of The Walking Dead. Bogosian talks about the modern-day relevance of Talk Radio, paying for his ki...
YouTube fights TikTok with cash
September 21, 2022 18:34 - 30 minutesYouTube wants a piece of that sweet TikTok action, so it’s getting out the checkbook. The most popular creators on YouTube’s TikTok clone — that’s YouTube Shorts, officially — will get a cut that comes from a pool of all Shorts revenue, rather than on an individual video-by-video basis. The company's also introducing a “Super Thanks” tipping feature. Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to YouTube’s Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan about the changes and tries to find out why his YouTube Shorts feed is ...
José Andrés has a full plate, but he's adding more
September 15, 2022 04:00 - 29 minutesChef José Andrés may very well be The Best Person. His nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, activates local restaurants to provide meals to people in crisis areas. He’s the man behind acclaimed restaurants like Jaleo and minibar. And, he’s a pure delight wherever he shows up, whether it be on TV or this podcast you’re looking at right now. And he has a new podcast and a Substack, both called “Longer Tables.” Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Andrés about why he added another thing to his… plate. (So...
The inside story of YouTube
September 08, 2022 04:22 - 50 minutesDespite YouTube’s massive influence, it's been chronically underreported on. But finally, Bloomberg’s Mark Bergen wrote the comprehensive, soup-to-nuts history of the site. His new book is called "Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination." Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Bergen about changes to YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, its various attempts to make original premium content, the rise of TikTok, and FЯED. Plus, how the entirety of YouTube almost got fi...
Why the Good Fight creators are glad they moved from CBS to streaming
September 01, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutesLike other big deal TV creators, Robert and Michelle King are thriving in the streaming era. The duo behind the long-running CBS show The Good Wife is making two shows for Paramount+, with more on the way. As The Good Fight - a Good Wife spinoff - enters its sixth and final season, Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to the Kings about the move from broadcast to streaming, and why they spend a lot of time tweaking the Trump administration, but less talking about the pandemic. Plus: a very costly Bitco...
Algorithms that give you anxiety and a Web3 project that doesn't suck.
August 25, 2022 04:00 - 35 minutesKyle Chayka writes about tech and internet culture for the New Yorker; he’s also the co-founder of Dirt, a newsletter — powered in part by crypto — about… tech and internet culture. He talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about both of his gigs: They dive deep into his recent essay about “The Age of Algorithmic Anxiety”, and what humans mean when they say they’re upset with The Algorithm. Then Chayka describes the way Dirt is using Web3 tech — specifically, a DAO - to help run Dirt, and why he think...
Home Box Office of the Dragon
August 18, 2022 04:00 - 30 minutesIn 2011, HBO changed the prestige television landscape with its expensive, ultra-violent, sex-filled fantasy epic Game of Thrones. Three years after that show’s divisive ending, HBO's hoping the world is ready to go back to Westeros with its GoT prequel, House of the Dragon. The Ringer’s Joanna Robinson joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to talk about House of the Dragon and its competition, Amazon’s long-awaited The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. Which fantasy show will rule them all? Is there r...
Why the Democrats finally got on TikTok
August 11, 2022 04:00 - 41 minutesDemocrats have a complicated relationship with social media - sometimes they think it’s a huge help; other times, not so much. Which is why it’s interesting to hear from Nell Thomas, the chief technology officer for the Democratic National Committee, who previously worked on data science for… Facebook. Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Thomas about how working for Facebook helped her understand the platform; how her current role at the DNC is supposed to help Democrats win elections; and how the ...
Land of the Giants: Why Instagram Broke Its Square
August 04, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutesThis week, we bring you an episode of Recode and The Verge’s latest season of Land of the Giants: The Facebook / Meta Disruption. To check out the first two episodes, subscribe wherever you subscribe to podcasts! This episode explores Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012. Mark Zuckerberg promised he would be hands-off with the company’s curated aesthetic and simple features. But as Facebook scaled the startup into a social media juggernaut, tensions flared. Instagram’s founders would l...
B.J. Novak on “Vengeance”, podcasts and the downside of the streaming boom
July 28, 2022 16:26 - 46 minutesB.J. Novak has starred on TV, written a best-selling kids’ book, and tried his hand at app-making. Now he’s written, directed, and starred in his own movie: Vengeance, about a self-obsessed podcaster, red/blue state divides, and much more. He talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about making the movie during a pandemic, what it was like to be on The Office when it was on NBC and then on Netflix, and why streaming is a “wasteland for comedy.” Plus! The New York Times' James Poniewozek explains why t...
What is the metaverse, when is it going to show up and who’s going to run it?
July 19, 2022 04:00 - 32 minutesPeople have been talking about the metaverse for years. But they’re talking about it much more these days, spurred by Mark Zuckerberg’s full-fledged embrace of the… actually, what exactly is the metaverse again, anyways? Investor, analyst and metaverse explainer Matthew Ball, who’s already tried explaining this stuff to Recode’s Peter Kafka, has written a whole book about it, so he’s back again: Ball talks about what he thinks the metaverse is really going to be, what it’s not going to be, ho...
Ken Auletta on the Harvey Weinstein story he wrote, the story he couldn’t write, and the one he’s publishing now.
July 11, 2022 21:28 - 32 minutes20 years ago the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta wrote a seminal profile of famed and feared producer Harvey Weinstein - with one glaring omission. Now Auletta has written a book about Weinstein — Hollywood Ending — and this time he’s able to cover the full story. Auletta talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about the two works, and why it took so long for Weinstein’s much-rumored sexual abuses to come out in the open. Featuring: Ken Auletta (@kenauletta), Writer at The New Yorker, and Author Host: Peter ...
Netflix has a huge hit with Peaky Blinders — and Caryn Mandabach owns it.
July 07, 2022 04:00 - 31 minutesCaryn Mandabach produced some of the biggest hits in TV history — like The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and That ’70s Show. Now she’s thriving in the Netflix era, with Peaky Blinders — a historical crime drama that just ended a six-season run and is a global success story. She talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about the way the TV business has changed, and the risk and reward of owning your own shows. Featuring: Caryn Mandabach (@mandabachtv), Executive Producer of Netflix's Peak...
The future of: Crypto criticism; Substack and ABC News
June 30, 2022 04:00 - 1 hourThree interviews! One pod: First entrepreneur and investor Zach Weinberg tells Recode’s Peter Kafka why he’s accidentally become Twitter Famous as a crypto skeptic — and explains how you can do it, too. Then two talks from the recent Collision Conference: Substack CEO Chris Best on the growth of his company, and about an unsuccessful attempt to raise a funding round (this was recorded before Substack laid off 14% of its workforce); and ABC News boss Kim Godwin on the challenges of reaching au...
Is this a Netflix problem or a streaming problem?
June 23, 2022 04:00 - 35 minutesToday, CNBC’s Alex Sherman joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to ponder several media mysteries: Why did Netflix lose 2 million subscribers? Why was Disney executive Peter Rice unexpectedly fired? What’s going on at Warner Bros. Discovery? Is someone gonna buy VICE? Why is Wall Street meh on BuzzFeed? Featuring: Alex Sherman (@sherman4949), Media and Tech Reporter for CNBC Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of th...
Bill Simmons on podcasts, celebrity interviews and life at Spotify
June 15, 2022 04:16 - 1 hourThe Bill Simmons Podcast is, by its own description, "the most downloaded sports podcast of all time." This week, it hits its 1,000th episode. Bill Simmons began his career as a Boston sportswriter and went on to found ESPN's sports and pop culture blog Grantland. After ESPN shut down the site, Simmons started the Ringer — which he sold to Spotify in 2020. In this wide-ranging conversation, Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Simmons about how he became a podcasting pioneer, and when he realized ne...
Why is this VC on your TikTok?
June 09, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutesTikTok isn’t just funny dances and glow-ups anymore… it’s also for venture capital!!! Logan Bartlett, managing director at the VC firm Redpoint, reaches out to startups via the socials. He also hosts a podcast called Cartoon Avatars. Bartlett talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about wooing the next generation of tech entrepreneurs, the VC world’s abrupt shift to restraint, and, of course, more crypto stuff. Featuring: Logan Bartlett (@loganbartlett), Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures and hos...
Engineer Molly White explains why Web3 isn’t going great
June 02, 2022 04:00 - 32 minutesSoftware engineer Molly White has emerged as one of Web3’s most high-profile skeptics. Her website “Web3 is going just great” chronicles scams, bugs, “rug pulls” and thefts plaguing the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), and other blockchain technologies. She and Recode’s Peter Kafka discuss her take on all things Web3, why she took on this project in her free time, and how the feedback she’s received compares to her previous work on GamerGate a...
Is Big Tech getting better about misinformation?
May 26, 2022 04:00 - 32 minutesLots of people will tell you that misinformation is a big problem online. But exactly what the problem is, and what tech companies can and should do about it, is up for debate. It’s also what Bloomberg reporter Davey Alba covers every day. In this conversation, she talks to Recode’s Peter Kafka about the recent massacre in Buffalo, which the shooter promoted on Discord and live-streamed on Twitch; copies of his manifesto and clips of the killing then migrated around the internet. All of which...
What can you learn from the guy who built the iPod?
May 19, 2022 04:27 - 1 hourThe markets are crashing - and that includes both Netflix and the media companies that wanted to be Netflix. What’s next? Wall Street analyst and investor Rich Greenfield weighs in. Then, Recode’s Peter Kafka has a conversation with Tony Fadell, who helped bring the iPod and iPhone to life, and then built and sold Nest, the smart home company. His new book is “Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making.” Fadell talks about how developing a product begins with creating its “story...
Ronan Farrow: “We are living in a post-privacy age”
May 12, 2022 04:00 - 46 minutesRonan Farrow’s latest investigative work for The New Yorker looks into the surveillance technology Pegasus — spyware that gives remote access to a smartphone’s camera, microphone, and contents. Be sure to power your phone completely off after you listen to the episode; Farrow will tell you why. Recode’s Peter Kafka also asks Farrow about his career — what it’s like to have his work put under a microscope, the impact of his Pulitzer-winning reporting on Harvey Weinstein, and what he doesn’t mi...
Behind the scenes at Apple with journalist Tripp Mickle
May 05, 2022 04:00 - 35 minutesDesign genius Jony Ive was Steve Jobs’ chief collaborator at Apple. But Ive didn’t run Apple after Jobs’ death: That role went to Tim Cook, the supply chain guy. Now Apple is a company that’s increasingly interested in making money from services and is less dependent on jaw-dropping devices. And Ive doesn’t work at Apple anymore. Journalist Tripp Mickle, who covered Apple for years at the Wall Street Journal, has a new book about the fraught relationship between Cook and Ive, and Apple’s tran...
NYT’s Wesley Morris on writing, podcasting and staying off TikTok
April 28, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutesWesley Morris wrote his first review when he was 15 years old, about the movie “Cape Fear.” Since then, he’s become one of the most celebrated cultural critics of our time, and has two Pulitzers to prove it. Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to Morris about his work as a critic at large for the New York Times and the new season of his podcast, “Still Processing.” Other topics discussed in this very fun and thoughtful interview include The Slap, why we’re not getting another “Basic Instinct,” and wha...
Can Elon Fix Twitter? Can Reed Fix Netflix?
April 27, 2022 02:37 - 1 hourIt’s been a big week for media events involving tens of billions of dollars: Elon Musk is buying Twitter for $44 billion, meanwhile, Netflix lost more than $50 billion in value. First, Recode’s Peter Kafka talks to The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel about the multiverse of possibilities of how Musk’s Twitter might operate. Will we enter the “darkest timeline” of supervillain nihilistic world-burning, or revert to Twitter’s pre-2016 stance on content moderation? Then, Peter checks in on Netflix, wh...
Elon and Twitter: A love/hate story
April 19, 2022 23:00 - 46 minutesElon 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 Ring...
Disney vs. Itself vs. The Right
April 14, 2022 04:00 - 53 minutesWithin 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 ...