Decoder with Nilay Patel

John Napier Tye, the founder and CEO of Whistleblower Aid, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how his non-profit law firm helps people seeking to legally expose corruption in the government and at private companies. It recently worked with a whistleblower at MIT, connecting them with New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow to discuss the university's cover-up of funding that had come from convicted s...

Recode's Kara Swisher talks with Hermitage Capital CEO Bill Browder, a hedge fund manager turned human rights activist and his son, Josh Browder, whose company DoNotPay helps consumers fight everything from parking tickets to the Equifax leaks. They talk about the different ways they have pursued justice for relatively powerless people, their entrepreneurial journeys, and how both the Putin regime...

New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their new book, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement. They talk about how Kantor and Twohey reported stories about sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein; how Weinstein's network of lawyers and advisers kept his misconduct under wraps; and how the stor...

Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of the private equity firm The Blackstone Group, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence. Schwarzman — a longtime advisor to President Trump — also discusses his scholarship program that teaches future leaders how to do business in China, how he would like to see policymakers address populist anger, and the...

Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why he's still running for the Democratic nomination in 2020, the threat of job automation and his proposed "robot tax," and how de Blasio thinks about the future of transit in New York and beyond. He also talks about how the plan for New York to become one of Amazon's "HQ2" locations fell apart, and why he supports...

Author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her campaign to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020. Williamson explains why she's still in the race even though she didn't qualify for the third debate and talks about what she has learned from running as an non-establishment candidate, negativity and anger on social media, and how she thinks about...

Audrey Gelman, the co-founder and CEO of women's coworking space The Wing, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's new hiring network for its members, and how it can combat bias in hiring. They also discuss why Gelman and her co-founder Lauren Kassan started The Wing, the services it provides for its members, and the challenges of raising money for a business aimed at women. Featuring...

Microsoft President Brad Smith talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about his new book, co-authored with Carol Ann Browne, Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age. They discuss what Microsoft learned from United States v. Microsoft Corp. in 2001 and how that antitrust investigation compares to today’s techlash; the culture of disruption and “move fast and break things” in Silic...

Former New York Times labor reporter Steve Greenhouse talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. Greenhouse explains why worker power and compensation are at their lowest levels since World War II and how a series of cultural changes — including globalization, the internet, and the gig economy — have affecte...

James O'Toole, a professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his book, The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good. O'Toole discusses the first such "enlightened capitalist," British industrialist Robert Owen; why, like Owen, do-gooder CEOs can't or won't make change today; and the his...

Jennifer Eberhardt, professor of psychology at Stanford University, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her most recent book, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. She talks about where bias comes from, why the erosion of old social norms has brought our prejudices to the surface, and how technology can encourage bias. Eberhardt shares examples of acade...

Lime President Joe Kraus talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how he came to Lime after a long career in both startups and venture capital, the company's pivot from bikes to scooters and the "unbundling of the car." Kraus also talks about the impact of scooters on cities and public transit, how Lime is trying to stand out in the crowded global scooter market, and the large valuations for scooter...

Gro Intelligence founder and CEO Sara Menker talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the growing field of agriculture technology and how farmers around the world are using data. She also talks about the impact of geopolitical events like the US-China trade war and the challenges of raising capital for an ag-tech startup. Featuring: Sara Menker, founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence (@SaraMenker) Host...

Andy Purdy, the chief security officer for Huawei Technologies USA, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher. They discuss the trade and security disputes between the US and Chinese governments, the increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threats facing America, and how China's government intersects with its tech industry. Purdy also talks about Huawei's 5G ambitions, saying that some of its competitors...

Recode's Kara Swisher convenes a panel of experts to talk about section 230 of the Communications Decency Act: cybersecurity law professor Jeff Kosseff, author of "The Twenty Six Words That Created The Internet"; lawyer Carrie Goldberg, author of "Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs, and Trolls"; and the CEO and founder of Techdirt, Mike Masnick. Follow us Kara Swisher (@karaswisher...

Writer Joe Menn talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, "Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World." In this episode: How Menn started writing about cybercrime; the rise and fall of Napster; his first book about hacking, “Fatal System Error”; the origins of Cult of the Dead Cow; “they’re basically good guys”; its invite-only membership...

Mike Volpi and Danny Rimer, the co-founders of the San Francisco office of Index Ventures, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher. In this episode: Volpi and Rimer's backgrounds and the early days of the internet; applying a global perspective to venture capital; being a smaller firm when capital is abundant; why the rise of other regions does not mean Silicon Valley is "over"; open-source culture in Eur...

US Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents California's 17th district, joins Recode's Kara Swisher live onstage at Manny's in San Francisco to talk about the state of tech policy and the next elections. In this episode: Khanna's internet bill of rights; will we ever have a national privacy bill?; the problem with "break them up"; the FTC’s Facebook fine; President Trump's racist attacks on the “squa...

Scott Kupor, the managing partner of Andreessen Horowitz, talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Teddy Schleifer about his new book, Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It. In this episode: How Kupor became a venture capitalist; his role at Andreessen Horowitz; what makes AH different from other venture firms; how other firms have copied it; why Kupor wrote his book; the “secre...

Inspired by the trendiness of intermittent fasting in the tech community, Kara Swisher's executive producer, Erica Anderson, talks with three eating habit experts — a biohacker, an academic, and an eating disorder specialist. In this episode: HVMN CEO Geoff Woo on the culture of body optimization, the mainstreaming of biohacking, and how humans are "approaching God"; aging and nutrition expert Dr....

Larry Diamond, a professor at Stanford University and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency. In this episode: Diamond’s background studying the development and failure of democracies; authoritarian regimes and the internet; why the book is called “Ill Wi...

Lauren Underwood, the US Congresswoman who represents Illinois' 14th district, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in this live interview recorded on July 29, 2019 at Manny's in San Francisco. In this episode: Underwood’s background in healthcare and the Obama administration; why she decided to run for Congress at age 30; gerrymandering in Illinois; how Underwood won the Democratic primary; why she b...

Pearson CEO John Fallon talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about why the company is pivoting from print to digital textbooks. In this episode: Fallon’s background; the publishing industry’s slow-motion embrace of the internet; “the $300 textbook is dead”; how Pearson will make money from a cheaper digital textbook; competing with well-funded education startups; how Pearson’s Aida will grade calculus...

In this live interview, Recode's Kara Swisher talks with former Cambridge Analytica COO Julian Wheatland, early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, and the director and writer of the new Netflix documentary The Great Hack — Karim Amer and Pedro Kos. Then, later in the show, Recode’s Jason Del Rey explores the origins of Amazon Prime, why it’s so effective at keeping us locked into their ecosystem, an...

On the 400th episode of Recode Decode, Megan Rapinoe, the co-captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher. This live conversation was recorded at the Mobile Marketing Association CEO & CMO Summit in Sonoma, CA. In this episode: Where Rapinoe's confidence comes from; her famous “victory” pose; the marginalization of women’s soccer; her favorite moments from the 2...