Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers ...
Rewind: Bluesky CEO Jay Graber on the future of federated social media
Bluesky has really taken off since the election, and since the Decoder team took some time off for Thanksgiving break, we felt it was a great time to bring back the interview we did earlier this year with Jay Graber, the CEO of Bluesky, the upstart competitor to Meta’s Threads and the platform formerly known as Twitter.
At the time, Bluesky was a pretty small platform. It had just reached 5 million users when Jay and I spoke. But since the election, Bluesky’s growth has absolutely skyrocketed to more than 20 million users, and it's starting to put real competitive pressure on Threads at the feature level. As Bluesky really ramps up, it seemed like a great time to engage with some of the core questions behind its design and see if Jay and her team can keep it up.
Links:
Twitter’s heir apparent isn’t X or Threads — it’s Bluesky | The Verge
Bluesky now has more than 20 million users | The Verge
Bluesky moves deeper into moderation hell | The Verge
Twitter is funding research into a decentralized version of its platform | The Verge
Bluesky built a decentralized protocol for Twitter | The Verge
The fediverse, explained | The Verge
Bluesky showed everyone’s ass | The Verge
Can ActivityPub save the internet? | The Verge
Bluesky snags former Twitter/X Trust & Safety exec cut by Musk | TechCrunch
Protocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Free Speech — Mike Masnick
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23872913
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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1:10:46
GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani on the enduring power of the website
I spoke with GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani live on stage last week at an event hosted by Alix Partners in Palo Alto. GoDaddy is one of those companies that feels tied to an earlier era, but Aman’s been CEO since 2019, and he’s been building out what he calls adjacencies.
The business of the web has really changed in the past few years: the walled-garden, social network era really took over in the past decade, and now huge changes to Google Search and the addition of generative AI have really put a massive strain on the very foundations of the open web. So I started out by asking Aman the question I’ve asked so many other guests on Decoder in the past year: What is the point of a website in 2024?
Links:
If GoDaddy can turn the corner on sexism, who can’t? | New York Times (2017)
Google Zero is here – now what? | Decoder
Five for the Future – GoDaddy | WordPress.org
2024 is shaping up to be the smallest Black Friday ever | GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s mission to get entrepreneurs up and running fast | Forbes
GoDaddy launches a suite of AI tools for small businesses | Fast Company
Why make a website? Squarespace CEO Anthony Casalena has ideas | Decoder
Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami on why the web isn’t dying after all | Decoder
How WordPress and Tumblr are keeping the internet weird | Decoder
Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi | Decoder
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/24069405
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Travis Larchuck and Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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57:16
Remix: Google Zero is here — now what?
For nearly 20 years now, the web has been Google’s platform; we’ve all just lived on it. Google is constantly changing that platform — it launched another attempt to combat ‘parasite SEO’ just this week — and not all of those changes have worked well.
Earlier this year I talked to a lot of people who have built on that platform. For a lot of small businesses and content creators, that’s suddenly not stable anymore. The number one question I have for anyone building things on someone else’s platform is: What are you going to do when that platform changes the rules?
Links:
Google is cracking down on sites publishing parasite SEO content | The Verge
How Google is killing independent sites like ours | HouseFresh
HouseFresh has virtually disappeared from Google results. Now what? | HouseFresh
Google Is Killing Retro Dodo & Other Independent Sites | Retro Dodo
Google CEO Sundar Pichai on AI-powered search and the future of the web | The Verge
Will AI break the internet? Or save it? | The New York Times
The biggest findings in the Google Search leak | The Verge
Mountain Weekly News
Telly Visions
E-ride Hero
That Fit Friend
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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34:01
Will the world end before I can retire?
Hey everyone, it’s Nilay — Decoder is on a short break this week. We’ll be back with a special live interview episode on Monday of next week, and then regular programming will resume in December. I’m very excited for what we have coming up on the schedule.
But while we’re out, we’d like to highlight a great episode of a new podcast from our friends over at Vox called Explain It To Me. On this episode, host Jonquilyn Hill and her team tackle a decision that looms large for a lot of young people in America: How and when should you start saving for retirement — and will it even matter in a future of big, often scary uncertainties about work in the age of AI and the climate crisis?
Links:
Explain It To Me | Apple Podcasts
Will the world end before I can retire? | Vox
Vox launches Explain It to Me franchise to answer audience questions | Explain It To Me
The doomers are wrong about humanity’s future — and its past | Vox
Against doomerism | Vox
End Times: A Brief Guide to the End of the World | Bryan Walsh
Here's how self-made millionaire Vivian Tu created wealth | CNBC
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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45:02
How Trump’s second term could be bad for EVs, but great for Tesla
Today we’re talking about Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Tesla — and I have to say, it feels like the first of many episodes about these three characters that we’ll be doing over the course of the next four years. Because when Elon used his wealth and influence to help Trump get elected, he also bought himself a seat at the president-elect’s inner circle. But what does the world’s richest person really want in return?
And how is the CEO of an electric car company, an outspoken advocate for combating climate change, going to square his support for Trump and a Republican policy agenda centered on climate change denial? Verge transportation editor Andy Hawkins joins me this week to make sense of it all, and to figure out how Elon and Tesla may still benefit, even if Trump's climate policy reversals and tariffs lay waste to the auto industry.
Links:
What does Trump’s election mean for EVs, Tesla, and Elon Musk? | The Verge
This election will decide what kind of car you’ll buy | The Verge
Trump says Musk will lead ‘DOGE’ office to cut ‘wasteful’ government spending | The Verge
Elon Musk attends Trump's first post-election meeting with House Republicans | CNBC
At Mar-a-Lago, ‘Uncle’ Elon Musk puts his imprint on the Trump transition | NYT
Musk believes in global warming. Trump does not. Will that change? | NYT
Elon Musk helped elect Trump? What does he expect in return? | NYT
With ready orders and an energy czar, Trump plots pivot to fossil fuels | NYT
Tesla hits $1 trillion market value as Musk-backed Trump win fans optimism | Reuters
Trump’s return dims outlook for Chinese EV makers amid tariff threats | SCMP
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers 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.