Decoder is a new show from The Verge about big ideas – and other problems. Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policy makers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future. Subscribe here!
Today’s episode of Decoder is all about Disney, the massive activist investor revolt it just fought off, and what happens next in the world of streaming. Earlier this month, Disney survived an attempted board takeover from businessman Nelson Peltz. While investors overwhelmingly sided with Disney and CEO Bob Iger, the boardroom showdown made something very clear: Disney needs to figure out streaming and get its creative direction back on track.
To help me better understand what’s happening here, I brought on my friend Julia Alexander, who is VP of strategy at Parrot Analytics, a Puck News news contributor, and, most importantly, a former Verge reporter. She’s a leading expert on all things Disney, and I always learn something important about the state of the entertainment business when I talk to her.
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston wants you to embrace AI and remote work
Leaders can’t ‘keep mashing the go back to 2019 button.’
Nilay was on vacation last week, so they let me guest-host Decoder! I spent the show talking with The Verge’s Sean Hollister all about game emulators: why they exist, how they became so popular, and why Nintendo picked a fight with an emulator called Yuzu.
It’s a story about reverse engineering, about the DMCA, and about what we get to do with our hardware and software. It’s a fun episode!
Federation is the future of social media, says Bluesky CEO Jay Graber
The head of Threads and Mastodon competitor Bluesky on why she thinks decentralization is the way forward in a post-Twitter internet.
The Justice Department just announced a long-awaited, massive antitrust suit against Apple. Those antitrust suits — big but slow-moving — are the primary way the US is challenging big tech.
But across the Atlantic, the European Union has been hard at work enforcing what’s known as the Digital Markets Act, a sweeping regulation that went into effect earlier this month that’s aimed at leveling the playing field between big tech and smaller competitors. Apple, in particular, has been engaging in what we can only describe as “malicious compliance.”
Verge reporter Jon Porter, who’s been covering EU regulation for years, joined me on Decoder to break down which companies qualify as “gatekeepers,” what new rules they have to follow, and what this means for the future.
Why Figma CEO Dylan Field is optimistic about AI and the future of design
The leader of design toolmaker Figma on life after the failed Adobe deal and what comes next in a live interview from SXSW.
How to save culture from the algorithms, with Filterworld author Kyle Chayka
The author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture discusses how we might be able to cultivate our own tastes once more.
Guest host Hank Green makes Nilay Patel explain why websites have a future
On this special episode of Decoder, Complexly co-founder and YouTuber Hank Green turns the tables on Nilay Patel.
Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini on how anime took over the world
The head of the fast-growing streaming service discusses the Funimation merger and shutdown and where he sees growth in anime.
How AI copyright lawsuits could make the whole industry go extinct
The New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI is part of a broader, industry-shaking copyright challenge that could define the future of AI.
DOJ’s Jonathan Kanter says the antitrust fight against Big Tech is just beginning
The assistant attorney general says ‘the resonance these issues have is something that I’ve never witnessed in my lifetime.’
This week marks the launch of Decoder’s second episode, which will explain big topics in the news with Verge reporters, experts, and other friends of the show. (The other Decoder you know and love, featuring big interviews with CEOs and others, now publishes every Monday.)
For this episode, I sat down with Verge Transportation Editor Andy Hawkins, to discuss a fantastic article he wrote called, “The EV Transition trips over its own cord.” It’s all about how the momentum for electric cars in America has started to hit serious snags, even as more people than ever before go fully electric. Check it out.
Why Sen. Brian Schatz thinks child safety bills can trump the First Amendment
The Democratic senator from Hawaii on regulating social media: ‘An algorithm doesn’t have a First Amendment right.’
In case you haven’t listened to the most recent episode of Decoder, Hsiang, who is now the United States Digital Service administrator, told us the inside story of how she helped fix the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov a decade ago. Read the full interview here, or listen to the podcast here.
Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami on why the web isn’t dying after all
The co-founder of website builder Wix is embracing generative AI, and he’s not too worried that it might destroy the business models of the web.
Volvo CEO Jim Rowan thinks dropping Apple CarPlay is a mistake
As cars become computers on wheels, the former BlackBerry and Dyson executive is approaching Volvo’s EV transformation with a consumer electronics mindset.
In a sitdown with Verge EIC Nilay Patel on Decoder, the 44th president discussed Joe Biden’s recently-signed executive order about AI, why Obama disagrees with the idea that social networks are a “common carrier,” and which iPhone apps he uses the most, now that he’s no longer president and he can use an iPhone.
Barack Obama on AI, free speech, and the future of the internet
The former president joined me on Decoder to discuss AI regulation, the First Amendment, and of course, what apps he has on his homescreen.
The 44th President just posted his AI reading list and let it slip that he and I chatted about the challenges of regulating AI — and he recommended our episode on free speech and social networks with Larry Lessig as well. Coming on Tuesday — subscribe now so you don’t miss it.
AI is on a collision course with music — Reservoir’s Golnar Khosrowshahi thinks there’s a way through
The publisher behind the songwriting copyrights to some of the most popular music ever recorded doesn’t think AI spells doom for the industry.
Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig on balancing free speech with protecting democracy
After 30 years teaching law, the internet policy legend is as worried as you’d think about AI and TikTok — and he has surprising thoughts about balancing free speech with protecting democracy.
Kashmir Hill, author of the book Your Face Belongs to Us and “not a privacy nihilist,” spoke to Nilay on Decoder about whether or not we can do anything about the rise of a facial recognition-enabled dystopian world.
CEO David Baszucki’s mission to make Roblox a billion-player platform
AI is relatively easy. Working in China? That’s harder.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe on ramping up R1T production and competing with the Cybertruck
The Rivian founder kicked off last month’s Code Conference with a conversation about supply chain challenges, the company’s Amazon deal, and whether the R1T will compete with the Cybertruck.
Getty Images CEO Craig Peters has a plan to defend photography from AI
Getty’s entire brand is built on authenticity. CEO Craig Peters sat down with us at Code to talk about how the company is dealing with AI and disinformation.
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott on how AI and art will coexist in the future
Microsoft’s Kevin Scott sat down with us at Code to talk about Bing’s competition with Google, the race to acquire and develop high-end GPUs, and how art can survive in the age of AI.
‘The Android of agriculture’: Monarch Tractor CEO Praveen Penmetsa on the future of farming
Monarch Tractor’s Praveen Penmetsa has a grand vision for agriculture, and it includes autonomous electric smart tractors powered by AI.