Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

By Andrew Sharp and Ben ThompsonTechnology

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Typical duration
26 min
per episode

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Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson episodes

May 02, 2024 (Preview) The NBA Creates a Rights Bidding War, The Optimal NBA Schedule, RSNs and the Future of Customer Acquisition
Parsing the latest reports on the battle for the NBA's next round of broadcast rights, a question about the NBA schedule and how the league should think about competing with the NFL, and the implications of an increasingly bleak outlook for regional sports networks.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon and Microsoft Earnings — Stratechery Update
NBC Prepares $2.5-Billion-a-Year Bid to Pluck NBA Rights From TNT — Wall Street Journal
NBC Sports could buy back rights to iconic theme song ‘Roundball Rock’ if it airs NBA games again, composer John Tesh says — CNBC
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
15 min
April 29, 2024 (Preview) Virtual Reality and the Innovator's Solution, Meta Embraces the Android Approach, Uber as an Aggregator
Ben proposes a potential update to Clayton Christensen's theory of disruption, why the latest round of Meta market skepticism is not as crazy as the last few episodes, questions about Facebook and Apple, and an emailer wonders whether Uber is the future aggregator for transportation and beyond.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Meta and Open — Stratechery
Does VR Matter?, Modular Products and Defining New Markets, TikTok Acquirers — Stratechery Update
Apple Rivals Retool to Challenge the iPhone and Vision Pro — Bloomberg
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
11 min
April 25, 2024 (Preview) TikTok and the E-Commerce Giants, The FTC Moves to Ban Noncompete Agreements, 'Bluey' and Streaming Leverage
Why TikTok makes more sense for Wal-Mart and Amazon than Oracle and Microsoft, and the FTC's ban on noncompete agreements prompts reflections noncompetes in Silicon Valley and the decline of trust across society. At the end: A question about Bluey and purchasing power for streamers, and an update on Drake's AI freestyle.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The Inside Story Of How Glen Taylor Sabotaged The Timberwolves Sale — Huddle Up
An Interview with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon About Omnichannel Retail — Stratechery Interview
Business Groups Race to Block FTC’s Ban on Noncompete Agreements — Wall Street Journal
FTC Enrages Corporate America by Eliminating Non-Compete Agreements — BIG by Matt Stoller
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
12 min
April 22, 2024 (Preview) What Taylor Swift Can Tell You About Netflix, What Meta Wants from Generative AI, Google and the Moonshot
A closer look at Netflix after news that the streamer will stop reporting subscription numbers in 2025, a question about Meta’s AI ambitions, and the case for Google making a play to compete with the iPhone. At the end: Drake’s use of AI Tupac in a rap battle.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Netflix Earnings, Netflix’s Reporting Change, Netflix’s Waiting Game — Stratechery Update
Google and the Limits of Strategy — Stratechery
Google’s True Moonshot — Stratechery
Instagram, TikTok, and the Three Trends — Stratechery
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
13 min
April 18, 2024 10 Years of Stratechery: Best and Worst Takes, Creating on the Internet, AI as a Threat, and Memories of Day 1
Celebrating 10 years of Stratechery as a subscription business with 10 questions about analysis, creating on the Internet, what's coming with AI, and what it was like on day 1.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
MKBHDs For Everything — Stratechery
Meta Myths — Stratechery
Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery
Popping the Publishing Bubble — Stratechery
Peak Google — Stratechery
The Vision Pro and the Newton, The Case Against AVP as an Entertainment Device, The Most Valuable Tech Product of All — Sharp Tech
Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.
1 hr 11 min
April 15, 2024 (Preview) When AI Hits Digital Advertising, What the IT Era Can Teach Us About AI's Impact, Chip Questions and EV Mechanics
The advertising possibilities that AI can unlock for Meta, Google and Amazon, why TikTok is interested in AI to create digital influencers, and looking to past technologies to predict the impact that AI will make on the economy. At the end: Two questions about chips, a story about EVs and British mechanics, and Scrabble.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Actors Are Making Thousands of Dollars Through Fake Video Podcast Ads — Bloomberg
TikTok Plots Using Virtual Influencers for Advertising — The Information
The rise of the chief AI officer — Financial Times
Nike designed these wild Air sneakers with a little help from AI — Fast Company
EVs Head for Junkyard as Mechanic Shortage Inflates Repair Costs — Bloomberg
Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.
12 min
April 11, 2024 (Preview) Mailbag: AI Hardware, NBA Newsbreakers as Aggregators, Reels vs. Shorts, The Best Approach to Age Verification
Andrew and Ben turn to the emailers and answer questions on Jony Ive's post-Apple adventures, structural parallels between tech and the rise of journalists Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski, Instagram's strategy for Reels, the information environment surrounding Neuralink, and the best approach to solving age verification for teenagers.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Jony Ive and Sam Altman’s AI Device Startup in Funding Talks With Emerson, Thrive — The Information
Instagram, TikTok, and the Three Trends — Stratechery
Elon Musk’s Neuralink Shows First Patient Using Its Brain Implant — Wall Street Journal
What the NBA Can Learn From Formula 1 — Stratechery
ESPN Financials, NBA Spin, Jon Stewart vs. Apple — Stratechery Update
Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.
16 min
April 08, 2024 Amazon and the “Just Walk Out” Parable, Mythbusting on Meta and TSMC, The XZ Backdoor and Its Implications
Updated thoughts on Amazon rolling back “just walk out” in grocery stores, context for a viral Meta tweet and a year of pessimism surrounding TSMC in Arizona, and Ben walks through what happened with the XZ backdoor and the changes that should come next.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The Status of Just Walk Out, TSMC Gets CHIPS Act Grant — Stratechery Update
The XZ Backdoor, What Happened, Open Source Safety — Stratechery Update
Amazon Ditches 'Just Walk Out' Checkouts at Its Grocery Stores — Gizmodo
Facebook Gave Data Access to Chinese Firm Flagged by U.S. Intelligence — New York Times
TSMC says Arizona fab is now ahead of schedule; signs semiconductor talent agreement with Kyushu University — Data Centre Dynamics
Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.
1 hr 6 min
April 02, 2024 (Preview) Apple Flunks a Vision Pro Test, Microsoft Unbundles Teams from Office, AI and Energy Consumption
To email the show: [email protected]
Scheduling Note: There will be only one episode of Sharp Tech this week
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
MLS on Vision Pro, The Vision Pro’s Missing Content, The Vision Pro’s DRI — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Hugo Barra About a Career in Tech and the Future of VR — Stratechery Interview
Exclusive: Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally amid antitrust scrutiny — Reuters
Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.
18 min
March 28, 2024 New Laws to Regulate Big Tech, The Distinction Between Platforms and Aggregators, Apple’s API and Accessories
Follow-up on Apple and the DOJ, including new antitrust laws Ben would like to see, distinctions between platforms and aggregators in a regulatory context, and both sides of the Apple API argument. At the end: Attempts to bridge antitrust confusion and a rant on Boeing’s CEO search.
To email the show: [email protected]
Scheduling Note: There will be only one episode of Sharp Tech next week
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
United States v. Apple — Stratechery
Apple and Antitrust for Aggregators, DMA Investigations and Apple’s Risk — Stratechery Update
Apple and the Monopoly Question, iPhone Market Share, Apple’s Durability — Stratechery Update
A Framework for Regulating Competition on the Internet — Stratechery
Get Sharp Tech Premium, Sharp China, Stratechery Update, Stratechery Interviews, Greatest of All Talk and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $12/month.
1 hr 16 min