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Recode Media with Peter Kafka
Recode Media with Peter Kafka
Recode

What happens when media, entertainment, and technology collide? Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans,... more

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Episodes

That’s a wrap (for now)

Peter Kafka, soon to be formerly of Vox, reviews the year in media with Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw. What did we... more

07 Dec 2023 · 38 minutes
Sam Altman’s back at OpenAI. What’s next?

After a wild series of events, Sam Altman is back as CEO of OpenAI… with more power than ever before.... more

29 Nov 2023 · 47 minutes
What just happened to OpenAI?

The board of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, ousted CEO Sam Altman on Friday. Since then, the board has appointed... more

20 Nov 2023 · 29 minutes
Why so, Sirius?

SiriusXM makes money by beaming music and talk radio - especially Howard Stern - to your car using satellites and... more

16 Nov 2023 · 34 minutes
No seriously. What’s the future of Disney? And why did Fox News fire Tucker Carlson?

It’s a double shot of media business takes, with conversations about the Walt Disney Corporation and Fox News, with references... more

09 Nov 2023 · 51 minutes
Land of the Giants: What We All Got Wrong About Twitter

This week, an episode of the latest season of Land of the Giants: The Twitter Fantasy, hosted by our own... more

02 Nov 2023 · 42 minutes
How Dropout found success streaming comedy for $6 a month

When Sam Reich bought CollegeHumor from Barry Diller’s IAC for pennies in January 2020, the comedy site was long past... more

26 Oct 2023 · 32 minutes
Inside the New York Times’ controversial Gaza headline

The New York Times issued a rare editors’ note Monday: a mea culpa for a headline repeating unverified claims from... more

25 Oct 2023 · 21 minutes
How the Washington Post is covering the Israel-Hamas War

The war in Israel and Gaza is hugely complicated - dangerous, horrifying, and moving fast. Which means it’s a huge... more

18 Oct 2023 · 20 minutes
The rise and (maybe) fall of Marvel

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an interconnected series of movies and TV shows that produced four of the top-grossing movies... more

12 Oct 2023 · 42 minutes
The internet, explained by Taylor Lorenz

Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) is the person who told you what “cheugy” means, what a “content house” is, and basically anything... more

05 Oct 2023 · 35 minutes
Warner Music Group’s CEO says AI songs are coming whether you like it or not

When Robert Kyncl (@rkyncl) worked at YouTube, he made deals with companies like Warner Music Group. Now, he’s the CEO... more

02 Oct 2023 · 31 minutes
HBO boss Casey Bloys on the strikes, the bundle and AI

The Hollywood writers’ strike is over and there’s hope the actors guild and studios will also settle their differences soon.... more

28 Sep 2023 · 29 minutes
Why did it take 5 months to solve the Writers’ Strike?

After a historic strike that went on for almost 150 days, the studios and the Writers Guild of America have... more

25 Sep 2023 · 22 minutes
Why did Rupert Murdoch just leave his media empire?

One of the most powerful people of the 21st century says he’s retiring. Rupert Murdoch, 92, will hand over control... more

21 Sep 2023 · 18 minutes
How Matthew Berry made fake football his real job

Once the domain of the nerdiest of sports fans, these days fantasy football analysis is on primetime TV. Matthew Berry... more

21 Sep 2023 · 39 minutes
Inside Sam Bankman-Fried's Rise and Fall

Wait a minute. For a couple of years there - 2020 through 2022 - everyone acted like bitcoin and even... more

14 Sep 2023 · 38 minutes
The Business of Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is on one of the most successful concert tours of all time, but what's her secret? Switched on... more

12 Sep 2023 · 26 minutes
It’s the US vs China with tech in between

The US and China are in a sort of cold war, and the tech industry is caught in the middle.... more

07 Sep 2023 · 25 minutes
CNN is Mark Thompson’s problem now

David Zaslav sent up the white smoke, marking the selection of a new CNN CEO. Mark Thompson comes from The... more

31 Aug 2023 · 26 minutes
How The Try Guys survived going viral

Born at BuzzFeed in 2014, The Try Guys make online videos where they try all sorts of things: earwax extractions,... more

24 Aug 2023 · 33 minutes
Today, Explained: Sound of Freedom is the surprise movie hit of the summer

A movie made for peanuts and distributed by a studio far outside the Hollywood system has done better box office... more

17 Aug 2023 · 30 minutes
Land of the Giants: How Tesla became the Elon Musk Co.

This week, a quick update on Disney’s deal to get into sports betting. Then, we’re bringing you an episode of... more

10 Aug 2023 · 38 minutes
Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker says tech isn’t our problem - it’s us

Black Mirror isn’t just a hit TV show: It’s a window into the not-too-distant future. Creator Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) has... more

03 Aug 2023 · 42 minutes
Why Lina Khan is fighting big tech - and losing

Joe Biden wants to stop big companies - especially big tech companies - from buying or merging with other companies.... more

27 Jul 2023 · 29 minutes
Strikes! AI! And a Steven Soderbergh show he’s selling himself.

This is a very good week to make a Recode Media episode: Hollywood is reeling from two different strikes. Disney... more

20 Jul 2023 · 56 minutes
Can Meta Make a Twitter Killer?

We’re one week into the Threads era. How long is that going to last? What does it mean for Twitter,... more

13 Jul 2023 · 1 hour, 10 minutes
Why ESPN’s old boss made movies you can’t see - yet

Former head of ESPN John Skipper has produced an ambitious new project. Now he has to figure out how to... more

03 Jul 2023 · 43 minutes
How to make laughs on TikTok and action on Netflix

Comedian Nimesh Patel was grinding it out in the stand-up mines for years with middling success. And then the stage... more

29 Jun 2023 · 58 minutes
Is Instagram the place to unbreak news?

Mosheh Oinounou worked his way up through the TV news ranks and ended up running CBS Evening News. Now he’s... more

22 Jun 2023 · 54 minutes
Meet the AI company that wants to remake Hollywood

For some people that’s a dystopian vision. But for Cristóbal Valenzuela, it’s a mission statement: Valenzuela is the co-founder and... more

15 Jun 2023 · 42 minutes
CNN’s CEO is out; Apple reveals its goggles

After just over a year of questionable leadership and on the heels of an unflattering Atlantic profile, Chris Licht is... more

07 Jun 2023 · 47 minutes
NYT rising star Astead Herndon on podcasts, power, and the 2024 race

It’s not just Ron DeSantis: All kinds of candidates are piling into the 2024 presidential race. New York Times national... more

01 Jun 2023 · 50 minutes
Meet the media insider who makes Succession feel real

Succession — the HBO drama about a Murdoch-ish family of media moguls — feels authentic thanks, in part, to consultant... more

22 May 2023 · 32 minutes
It’s TV’s biggest week - and TV is on strike

Live from New York, it’s Upfronts week, where TV networks sell billions of dollars of advertising with glitzy presentations. It’s... more

15 May 2023 · 44 minutes
Ken Jennings on the future of Jeopardy!

Ken Jennings won 74 straight episodes of Jeopardy back in 2004. Somehow he’s turned that winning streak into a career,... more

11 May 2023 · 48 minutes
How worried—or excited—should we be about AI?

AI is amazing… or terrifying, depending on who you ask. This is a technology that elicits strong, almost existential reactions.... more

04 May 2023 · 53 minutes
Jonah Peretti, Nick Denton and Ben Smith on digital news’ past and future

It’s our first four-way pod, featuring BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti, Gawker founder Nick Denton, and Semafor founder (and former editor-in-chief... more

02 May 2023 · 36 minutes
Inside the AI Gold Rush

Silicon Valley needs a new thing and AI is that new thing: investors are supposed to pour 43 billion dollars... more

27 Apr 2023 · 47 minutes
AI is the future! AI is a fraud. Let's debate.

AI has captured the imagination of Silicon Valley seemingly overnight. And in all this excitement, it's hard to tell what's... more

20 Apr 2023 · 51 minutes
Has Fox News learned a $787 million lesson?

Fox News, accused of repeatedly and knowingly spreading lies about Dominion Voting Systems, opted Tuesday to fork over $787 million... more

19 Apr 2023 · 30 minutes
'Chef Reactions' blew up on TikTok. But will TikTok blow up?

It’s a TikTok double-header! Vox’s Peter Kafka talks to ‘Chef Reactions,’ the semi-anonymous TikTok star whose hilarious culinary critiques skyrocketed him... more

13 Apr 2023 · 50 minutes
Why is a talent agency buying pro wrestling? Plus a green media startup

Endeavor started out as a traditional Hollywood talent agency - CEO Ari Emanuel, famously, was the model for Jeremy Piven’s... more

06 Apr 2023 · 1 hour, 1 minute
Is Apple sure about Apple’s new Goggles? Plus Roger Bennett, Media Mogul

We’ve had questions about Apple’s new VR headset — supposedly set to debut in June — for some time. Starting... more

30 Mar 2023 · 40 minutes
Podcast pioneer Jesse Thorn built his own business. Now his employees own it.

Jesse Thorn has been podcasting for so long it was called radio. Over time he turned his career into a... more

23 Mar 2023 · 41 minutes
An SVB (phew!) update + Benedict Evans on the future of (almost) everything

First: A Silicon Valley Bank check-in with Dan Primack of Axios. Why, exactly, did so many tech companies (and, um,... more

16 Mar 2023 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
Science fiction pioneer Neal Stephenson on the metaverse, the movies and why he still believes in blockchain

Mark Zuckerberg wants to build the metaverse. Neal Stephenson created the meta verse three decades ago. The author’s 1992 science fiction... more

06 Mar 2023 · 44 minutes
Meet the woman who got De La Soul streaming

De La Soul was legendary for their trail-blazing approach to hip-hop. But in recent years the trio become notable for... more

03 Mar 2023 · 37 minutes
Real-life “Succession”: Jim Stewart on Sumner Redstone’s sordid saga

Veteran business journalist James B. Stewart specializes in getting behind the scenes to tell the stories of rich, powerful, and... more

23 Feb 2023 · 37 minutes
We quiz BuzzFeed’s CEO about AI

It used to be that a human would have to write a BuzzFeed quiz about “Which Fictional Artificial Intelligence Are... more

14 Feb 2023 · 26 minutes
Why is tech in trouble if the economy is ok?

Tech and media companies (including the one that brings you this podcast) are laying off workers left and right. Meanwhile,... more

09 Feb 2023 · 44 minutes
Land of the Giants: The Hidden Hand Behind Your Swipes

This week, we bring you an episode of The Cut and The Verge’s latest season of Land of the Giants:... more

02 Feb 2023 · 39 minutes
Don't tell investor Li Jin that Web3 is dead

Investor Li Jin helped popularize the idea of the Creator Economy — the theory that many people who make stuff... more

26 Jan 2023 · 44 minutes
How The Last of Us went from hit game to hit zombie tv

The critically-lauded video game The Last of Us is now a critically-lauded HBO series. It's about a global pandemic that... more

18 Jan 2023 · 38 minutes
"Resist trying to make things better" - a conversation with internet security expert Alex Stamos

A new study in the journal Nature Communications finds "no evidence of a meaningful relationship" between Russian disinformation and voting... more

16 Jan 2023 · 54 minutes
Was YouTube’s NFL deal a $2 billion mistake?

For the first time in 3 decades, NFL’s Sunday Ticket - a subscription service that lets viewers watch many but... more

12 Jan 2023 · 37 minutes
Apple’s new goggles; Hollywood’s new streaming pitch.

Before we face the reality of 2023, we discuss the state of virtual reality — specifically, the still-unannounced VR/AR headset... more

05 Jan 2023 · 41 minutes
Reader Mail!

Recode’s Peter Kafka answers listener questions about Twitter, niche content streaming, print media microtransactions, regional sports networks and more. Peter’s... more

29 Dec 2022 · 37 minutes
An Elon-free year in review

The Earth has just about completed its latest orbit around the sun, which means it’s time to take a look... more

20 Dec 2022 · 36 minutes
A n00b’s guide to the Microsoft / Activision deal the FTC wants to stop

The FTC wants to (candy) crush Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc., the makers of games like Call of Duty,... more

13 Dec 2022 · 44 minutes
Why the media landscape is “dire” with WSJ’s Jessica Toonkel

Layoffs, Disney CEO take-backsies, and the Netflix of it all — this week, Recode’s Peter Kafka catches up on the... more

08 Dec 2022 · 29 minutes
How Eventbrite survived the pandemic, and why it’s not fighting Ticketmaster

Selling tickets for live events can be… tricky, as Ticketmaster has proven yet again. But Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz runs... more

01 Dec 2022 · 36 minutes
It’s not TV it’s HBO — the book

HBO’s 50-year-old history tells you a lot about culture, business, and TV’s past and future. This perhaps explains why we’ve... more

29 Nov 2022 · 53 minutes
How to watch a complicated World Cup

Qatar is hosting the 2022 World Cup, casting a pall over one of the globe’s most-watched sporting events. Men With... more

21 Nov 2022 · 37 minutes
Life, the internet, and everything with Garbage Day’s Ryan Broderick

Ryan Broderick is very online so you don’t have to be. His internet culture Substack ‘Garbage Day’ is a mix... more

17 Nov 2022 · 49 minutes
What Elon’s past tells us about his present

This is not an emergency podcast, but, you know, maybe it will be? As questions swirl around what exactly Elon... more

15 Nov 2022 · 42 minutes
Tech’s big bust, plus Marvel (and Wakanda) Forever?

Mass layoffs and cutbacks at companies like Meta and Twitter point to a slowdown (and chaos) in tech. Bloomberg tech... more

10 Nov 2022 · 33 minutes
Election special with Punchbowl's Jake Sherman

Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman joins us from the U.S. Capitol building just in time for the 2022 midterm elections.... more

03 Nov 2022 · 40 minutes
Jason Gay isn’t making Elon Musk jokes

We’re taking a short break from the Twitter shitshow to give you an interview with Jason Gay, sports and humor... more

01 Nov 2022 · 25 minutes
Bloomberg’s Matt Levine still loves crypto; Ankler’s Janice Min loves newsletters

When Bloomberg’s Matt Levine sent an enticing email about “a big thing coming out about crypto in Businessweek,” Recode’s Peter... more

27 Oct 2022 · 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ben Smith says Semafor will take 10 years to get right

One week after the launch of Semafor, Recode’s Peter Kafka flags down the news startup’s co-founder Ben Smith. Who is Semafor... more

24 Oct 2022 · 35 minutes
Netflix is back (?) + Julia Boorstin on women who lead

Netflix added 2.4 million subscribers! Ads are coming! Wall Street’s excited again! But is Netflix back for real? Recode’s Peter... more

20 Oct 2022 · 50 minutes
Inside the curious mind of XKCD cartoonist Randall Munroe

Since 2005, Randall Munroe has used his webcomic XKCD to comment on the world around him and express his love... more

13 Oct 2022 · 37 minutes
Elon Musk is buying Twitter. Really. (Really?)

He’s back! Elon Musk, who agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion last spring and then tried to back out... more

05 Oct 2022 · 44 minutes
Interview with Interview with a Vampire’s Eric Bogosian

Writer and actor Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Succession) has been in the business for a... more

29 Sep 2022 · 44 minutes
YouTube fights TikTok with cash

YouTube wants a piece of that sweet TikTok action, so it’s getting out the checkbook. The most popular creators on... more

21 Sep 2022 · 30 minutes
José Andrés has a full plate, but he's adding more

Chef José Andrés may very well be The Best Person. His nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, activates local restaurants to provide... more

15 Sep 2022 · 29 minutes
The inside story of YouTube

Despite YouTube’s massive influence, it's been chronically underreported on. But finally, Bloomberg’s Mark Bergen wrote the comprehensive, soup-to-nuts history of... more

08 Sep 2022 · 50 minutes
Why the Good Fight creators are glad they moved from CBS to streaming

Like other big deal TV creators, Robert and Michelle King are thriving in the streaming era. The duo behind the... more

01 Sep 2022 · 36 minutes
Algorithms that give you anxiety and a Web3 project that doesn't suck.

Kyle Chayka writes about tech and internet culture for the New Yorker; he’s also the co-founder of Dirt, a newsletter... more

25 Aug 2022 · 35 minutes
Home Box Office of the Dragon

In 2011, HBO changed the prestige television landscape with its expensive, ultra-violent, sex-filled fantasy epic Game of Thrones. Three years... more

18 Aug 2022 · 30 minutes
Why the Democrats finally got on TikTok

Democrats have a complicated relationship with social media - sometimes they think it’s a huge help; other times, not so... more

11 Aug 2022 · 41 minutes
Land of the Giants: Why Instagram Broke Its Square

This week, we bring you an episode of Recode and The Verge’s latest season of Land of the Giants: The... more

04 Aug 2022 · 37 minutes
B.J. Novak on “Vengeance”, podcasts and the downside of the streaming boom

B.J. Novak has starred on TV, written a best-selling kids’ book, and tried his hand at app-making. Now he’s written,... more

28 Jul 2022 · 46 minutes
What is the metaverse, when is it going to show up and who’s going to run it?

People have been talking about the metaverse for years. But they’re talking about it much more these days, spurred by... more

19 Jul 2022 · 32 minutes
Ken Auletta on the Harvey Weinstein story he wrote, the story he couldn’t write, and the one he’s publishing now.

20 years ago the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta wrote a seminal profile of famed and feared producer Harvey Weinstein -... more

11 Jul 2022 · 32 minutes
Netflix has a huge hit with Peaky Blinders — and Caryn Mandabach owns it.

Caryn Mandabach produced some of the biggest hits in TV history — like The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from... more

07 Jul 2022 · 31 minutes
The future of: Crypto criticism; Substack and ABC News

Three interviews! One pod: First entrepreneur and investor Zach Weinberg tells Recode’s Peter Kafka why he’s accidentally become Twitter Famous... more

30 Jun 2022 · 1 hour,
Is this a Netflix problem or a streaming problem?

Today, CNBC’s Alex Sherman joins Recode’s Peter Kafka to ponder several media mysteries: Why did Netflix lose 2 million subscribers? Why was... more

23 Jun 2022 · 35 minutes
Bill Simmons on podcasts, celebrity interviews and life at Spotify

The Bill Simmons Podcast is, by its own description, "the most downloaded sports podcast of all time." This week, it... more

15 Jun 2022 · 1 hour,
Why is this VC on your TikTok?

TikTok isn’t just funny dances and glow-ups anymore… it’s also for venture capital!!! Logan Bartlett, managing director at the VC... more

09 Jun 2022 · 42 minutes
Engineer Molly White explains why Web3 isn’t going great

Software engineer Molly White has emerged as one of Web3’s most high-profile skeptics. Her website “Web3 is going just great”... more

02 Jun 2022 · 32 minutes
Is Big Tech getting better about misinformation?

Lots of people will tell you that misinformation is a big problem online. But exactly what the problem is, and... more

26 May 2022 · 32 minutes
What can you learn from the guy who built the iPod?

The markets are crashing - and that includes both Netflix and the media companies that wanted to be Netflix. What’s... more

19 May 2022 · 1 hour, 18 minutes
Ronan Farrow: “We are living in a post-privacy age”

Ronan Farrow’s latest investigative work for The New Yorker looks into the surveillance technology Pegasus — spyware that gives remote... more

12 May 2022 · 46 minutes
Behind the scenes at Apple with journalist Tripp Mickle

Design genius Jony Ive was Steve Jobs’ chief collaborator at Apple. But Ive didn’t run Apple after Jobs’ death: That... more

05 May 2022 · 35 minutes
NYT’s Wesley Morris on writing, podcasting and staying off TikTok

Wesley Morris wrote his first review when he was 15 years old, about the movie “Cape Fear.” Since then, he’s... more

28 Apr 2022 · 44 minutes
Can Elon Fix Twitter? Can Reed Fix Netflix?

It’s been a big week for media events involving tens of billions of dollars: Elon Musk is buying Twitter for... more

27 Apr 2022 · 1 hour, 11 minutes
Elon and Twitter: A love/hate story

Elon Musk loves Twitter and also thinks it’s broken. So he wants to buy it. Can he, really? And who would... more

19 Apr 2022 · 46 minutes
Disney vs. Itself vs. The Right

Within the past few months, Disney CEO Bob Chapek managed to piss off his shareholders, the LGBT community, and right-wing... more

14 Apr 2022 · 53 minutes
Recode Media with Peter Kafka
Ronan Farrow: “We are living in a post-privacy age”
Recode Media with Peter Kafka
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Description

Ronan Farrow’s latest investigative work for The New Yorker looks into the surveillance technology Pegasus — spyware that gives remote access to... more