Decoder with Nilay Patel

For this episode, I’m talking to Steve Aoki. He is a superstar DJ, producer, record label owner, and prolific entrepreneur. Steve has been part of the music industry since 1996, so he’s been through a lot of these big tech transitions, and now he’s heavily invested in another, with Web3, the Aokiverse. It involves selling tokens and NFTs and, over time, is meant to be part of the metaverse. Because, of course.

Links

Aokiverse

Dim Mak

Travel Advice from Steve Aoki, Who Throws Cake at 2,500 People a Year

Transcript

https://www.theverge.com/e/22763374

Credits

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott. Additional research was done by Liz Lian and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aparna Chennapragada is the chief product officer at Robinhood, the popular stock and crypto trading app. And we have some news to discuss: Robinhood is launching a new cash card today that allows people to spend money directly out of their Robinhood account and set up various plans to automatically invest by rounding up purchase amounts to the nearest dollar and putting the difference in various investments.

Links:

How r/wallstreetbets gamed the stock of GameStop

The chicken and the pig

Google is reportedly removing Google Now Launcher from the Play Store

Robinhood Snacks

Robinhood buys Say Technologies for $140M to improve shareholder-company relations

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22753372

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Margrethe Vestager is one of the driving forces behind tech regulation worldwide. Appointed as the European Commission’s Commissioner of Competition in 2014 and an executive vice president in 2019, she’s pursued antitrust cases against Apple, Google, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Amazon among others. Now, with the EU on the verge of implementing a new antitrust law called the Digital Markets Act, Vestager is planning her next moves.

Links:

EU's Vestager says analysing metaverse ahead of possible regulatory action

The Digital Markets Act: ensuring fair and open digital markets

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22745302

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt Mullenweg is the CEO of Automattic, the company that owns WordPress.com, which he co-founded, and Tumblr, the irrepressible social network it acquired from the wreckage of AOL, Yahoo, and Verizon. Matt’s point of view is that the world is better off when the web is open and fun, and Automattic builds and acquires products that help that goal along.

Links:

Exclusive: Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg on what’s next for Tumblr

Verizon is selling Tumblr to WordPress’ owner

Automattic, owner of Tumblr and WordPress.com, buys podcast app Pocket Casts

Gutenberg

Tumblr Shop

Why Apple’s new privacy feature is such a big deal

Taylor Swift's Tumblr

Tumblr will ban all adult content on December 17th

How Tumblr Became Popular for Being Obsolete

Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson and Rep. David Cicilline on Apple's monopolistic app store fees

Inside Sonos' decision to sue Google - and how it won

After the porn ban, Tumblr users have ditched the platform as promised

The Trauma Floor: The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America

Vox Media adds The Coral Project

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22741898

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott. Research was done by Liz Lian. It was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today I’m talking to Eben Upton, the CEO of Raspberry Pi, a fascinating company that makes beloved tiny hackable computers that are extremely inexpensive. They’re also some of the only readily available computers that are designed to be tinkered with. They’re not heavily locked down, and using one requires learning how a computer actually works. And that’s the entire point: Eben told me the idea of the Raspberry Pi was to create a product that enticed kids into studying computer science at the University of Cambridge. They’ve more than achieved that goal. Seven million Raspberry Pi units were sold last year, and there’s talk of the company going public. 

Links:

Raspberry Pi

The business of finding a better job, with Career Karma CEO Ruben Harris

How Artificial Intelligence is Helping Japanese Cucumber Farmers

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22730196

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week I sat down with Patrick Spence, the CEO of Sonos, and Eddie Lazarus, his Chief Legal Officer. I wanted both Patrick and Eddie on the show to talk about when a company like Sonos makes the decision to head to the courts and increasingly, Congress. Sonos has long accused other tech giants of stealing its tech, but in 2019 it actually sued Google for patent infringement. Sonos recently won that lawsuit at the US International Trade Commission, which ruled that Google infringed all five patents Sonos brought to court. I wanted to understand how Patrick and Eddie decided to take the risk of a lawsuit here – Sonos claims Google actually infringes over 150 patents, so how did they pick.. Five.. to sue over? 

Links:

Sonos sues Google for allegedly stealing smart speaker tech

Sonos CEO will testify to lawmakers after suing Google

Google countersues Sonos for patent infringement

Sonos sues Google for infringing five more wireless audio patents

A judge has ruled that Google infringed on Sonos’ patents

Sonos says Google is blocking it from offering more than one voice assistant at once

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22719377

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’m going to let you in on a Decoder secret: at the end of last year, I tasked our producers with finding better ways for us to cover crypto and Web 3.0 on Decoder. I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m fairly skeptical of crypto, but I want to come by that skepticism honestly—and on the flip side, I want to make sure to see its opportunities and benefits clearly. We’ve already done episodes on Bitcoin and DAOs, decentralized autonomous organizations, and we’re going to do more episodes as the year goes on.

Today I’m talking to Tonya Evans, a law professor at Penn State Dickinson Law. She teaches IP law, copyright, and blockchain. She also hosts the Tech Intersect podcast, where she covers how law and technology intersect. She has spent a lot of time thinking about crypto assets and how they interact with the law. Tonya’s point of view is that we shouldn’t just abandon many of the legal frameworks we have today—she just wants them to adapt to this new internet.

Links:

The counterfeit NFT problem is only getting worse

Instagram says sites need photographers’ permission to embed posts

BlockFi settlement with the SEC

A cringe rapper slash Forbes contributor allegedly found with billions in stolen Bitcoin

Constitution DAO Decoder episode

Alfonso Ribeiro Sues Fortnite Over Use of His Signature Fresh Prince Dance, The Carlton

The ‘Carlton dance’ couldn’t be copyrighted for a Fortnite lawsuit

Adi Robertson's reporting about Spice DAO

Tonya Evans' website, ProfTonyaEvans.com

Tonya Evans on Twitter

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22708620

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bärí Williams is a legal and operations advisor to tech companies who focuses on AI and diversity. Her credentials are rock solid: Bärí was lead counsel at Facebook working on various projects, including internet connectivity efforts and diversifying the company’s supply chain. After that, Bärí went to work at StubHub, an AI startup studio called All Turtles, and a data and identity analytics company called Bandwagon Fan Club.

But now, she’s independent — a business of one, consulting on operations with a focus on diversity and AI. I was curious why she decided to leave being a tech executive behind and make that shift to diversity work. We talked about that, but our conversation actually started with sports news — NFL news.

Links:

Diversity wins: how inclusion matters

Black in tech

The 4 most explosive allegations from Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL

California just made it a lot harder for companies to cover up harassment and abuse

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22697189

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lauren Williams is the co-founder and CEO of Capital B, a new nonprofit media company dedicated to news for Black audiences. Capital B launched on January 31st, with both a national news site and a local newsroom dedicated to Atlanta – and they plan to expand to more cities over time.

Links:

Capital B

Recode Media Podcast

Tired Of The Social Media Rat Race, Journalists Move To Writing Substack Newsletters

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22686070

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone, and Jackie McDermott with and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s an interesting time to talk to someone in the business of helping people get new jobs — we’re still fully in the middle of the pandemic-driven Great Resignation, and a record 4.5 million people quit their jobs in November 2021, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. But that’s exactly what Career Karma and CEO Ruben Harris are doing.

Links:

Career Karma

A record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in November

Breaking Into Startups

AT&T’s $1 billion gambit: Retraining nearly half its workforce for jobs of the future

Making uncommon knowledge common

The Great Resignation is accelerating

How an Excel TickToker manifested her way to making six figures a day

Launch House

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22674665

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone, Jackie McDermott, and Liam James. It was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices