Decoder with Nilay Patel

Boston University professor Ellen Shell talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, The Job: Work and Its Future in a Time of Radical Change.

In this episode: Shell's background in science and culture journalism; her earlier books, "The Hungry Gene" and "Cheap"; how writing about 1800s department store sales in "Cheap" led to writing "The Job"; what jobs will be automated and how we should prepare; how this transition compares to the Industrial Revolution; the ripple effects of one job being automated; the recent government shutdown; what does it even mean to be employed in the gig economy?; the "skills gap" myth and the opportunities of growing up rich; what should young people in the workforce do now?; will robots ever take all the jobs?

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Divorce attorney Laura Wasser talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about starting It's Over Easy, an online platform to help people who are getting divorced in New York and California.

In this episode: Why Wasser launched It's Over Easy; the other services it provides besides legal help; why Wasser isn't afraid of losing her $850/hour clients; how she hopes to expand to more states this year; why some locations may require "doing an Uber"; why the legal world has been slow to embrace the internet; can lawyers and judges be completely replaced?; and advice for anyone getting divorced.

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Basecamp CEO Jason Fried talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his most recent book, It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work, which he co-wrote with his business partner David Heinemeier Hansson.

In this episode: How Basecamp got started; why chat apps like Slack and Basecamp's own Campfire are bad for productivity; the things that make work crazy, including access to coworkers' calendars, ASAP-response culture and codependent departments; why Basecamp does not set any goals internally other than "be profitable"; how Silicon Valley's "world domination mindset" stresses workers out; which tech exec would win in a fight?; the fakeness of fancy office perks; the problems with serial entrepreneurship, best practices and intentional sleep deprivation; "hacking anything is stupid"; why venture capital destroys more businesses than it helps; and how tech companies are trying to avoid becoming Philip Morris.

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Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher about running a modern dairy and food company, which is co-owned by thousands of farmers. 

In this episode: What Land O’Lakes does other than butter; Ford's thoughts on being an openly gay female leader; the changing role of a modern CEO; why farmers are the “ultimate entrepreneurs”; agriculture technology, aka agritech; automation and big data in farming; the future of food; why Land O’Lakes withdrew its support for Congressman Steve King; and the political demands on modern CEOs.

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Cindy Cohn, the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Claire Boyle, the managing editor of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about a special nonfiction issue the two organizations teamed up to produce, "The End of Trust."

In this episode: Why the EFF and McSweeney's decided to work together; have consumers given up on having privacy?; why "Facebook doesn't really have users or customers, they have hostages"; the current copyright battles in Europe; why the ability of AI to play chess says little about the usefulness of AI in general; surveillance that doesn't seem malevolent and the privilege of "I have nothing to hide"; China's "bonkers" social scoring system; the history of the internet and how things got screwed up; how to unscrew it; will Congress make a move on tech when the shutdown ends?; the importance of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

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In this live interview from the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Glossier founder and CEO Emily Weiss talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about running a "beauty company that's also a tech company."

In this episode: How Glossier got started; the passionate fans of Glossier and Weiss; its Instagram strategy; its plans to make a social "utility" platform; why it's choosing to not grow as fast as possible; the pressures of being a leader and building a great team; could Amazon outmaneuver Glossier?; advice for entrepreneurs raising their seed rounds; and why you shouldn't make everyone at your company a VP.

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CNN.com editor in chief Meredith Artley talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about overseeing some of the most popular news sites on the internet and how things may change in 2019.

In this episode: Artley's background at the New York Times and International Herald Tribune; the "complete chaos" of working at the Los Angeles Times; what actually works in digital news?; How CNN has changed its approach to covering President Trump's tweets; its relationships with social media companies; what it's like working under Trump's "enemy of the people" attacks; the speed of news; and how to earn the public's trust.

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99designs CEO Patrick Llewellyn talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about leading a design startup based in Australia.

In this episode: How 99designs helps designers and their clients work together online; how it makes finding work easier for freelance designers; why design will never be completely done by computers; founding a startup in Australia; why 99designs sees itself as a "platform" and not just a marketplace; and where the company goes next. Plus, can places outsides Silicon Valley build entrepreneurial societies?

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Tony Xu, the CEO and co-founder of DoorDash, and Christopher Payne, the COO, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the delivery company's busy 2018 and why it's starting to think about delivering more than food. In this episode: (01:41) Where DoorDash is now and the delivery business; (05:25) Is Amazon a competitor?; (08:07) Xu and Payne's backgrounds; (11:32) Why DoorDash succeeded where Webvan failed; (15:10) Working with big restaurants and why they don't do it themselves; (21:03) How DoorDash makes money; (25:53) The gig economy and the future of work; (30:48) Where the business could go beyond food delivery; (34:09) Why Xu started DoorDash; (36:08) The current startup environment and the image of tech; (39:31) What does it take to be an entrepreneur now?; (43:05) Raising money from SoftBank's Vision Fund; (44:55) The future of DoorDash and the future of retail stores; (50:51) Trends in shopping and the delivery business

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Molly Barton, the CEO and co-founder of serialized reading app Serial Box, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about trying to make a Netflix-style digital platform for books. In this episode: (01:19) Barton's background and the early days of e-books; (06:45) Looking for digital innovation in publishing; (12:38) Combining e-books with audiobooks; (15:48) Why Barton started Serial Box; (20:13) How it works; (26:42) The business side and fundraising; (29:52) How the traditional publishing industry has reacted and what sort of books perform best; (33:52) Copyright and contract writers; (37:07) How well does a successful Serial Box book do?; (40:01) Where does reading go from here?

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