Channels with Peter Kafka

Vox Media Podcast Network

Media and tech aren’t just intersecting — they’re fully intertwined. And to understand how those worlds work, and what they mean for you, veteran journalist Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers - and gets them to spell it out in plain, BS-free English.

Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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593 episodes
Updated Wednesday

Episodes593

Newest first

Mar 29, 2018 · 39 min
Why every Hollywood movie is a superhero movie
Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Fritz talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about his new book, "The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies." Fritz says the economics of the movie business have been completely transformed by the rise of online streaming services and by brands like Marvel, which have supplanted name-brand stars and directors as the most reliable indicator of a film's success. He explains how Sony fumbled the "Spider-Man" franchise and missed a big opportunity to own the rest of the Marvel characters, and what the big studios are still doing that Netflix and Amazon can't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 22, 2018 · 35 min
What it's like to be the only woman in a TV writers’ room
TV writer and "Lean In" co-author Nell Scovell talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about her new book, "Just the Funny Parts ... And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys’ Club." Scovell says TV is hierarchical, meaning bad behavior at the top — including sexual harassment — trickles down to other employees. She also talks about what has changed since "Lean In" and what happened when she publicly criticized her former boss, David Letterman. Plus: How writing an episode of "The Simpsons" is like chiseling a sculpture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 17, 2018 · 29 min
Houseparty CEO Ben Rubin on livestreaming and SXSW fame
Ben Rubin, the CEO of Houseparty, talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about why his livestreaming company pivoted away from its original product, Meerkat, just three months after that app was the toast of South By Southwest. Although Meerkat was the first mobile livestreaming app to get a lot of buzz, the company quickly realized that most users can't make good, genuine live content for others every day. Rubin explains how Houseparty is doing things differently, making it possible for multiple friends to hang out together on their phones and — he hopes — have genuine, troll-free interactions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 15, 2018 · 45 min
'Get Out' producer Jason Blum (Live at SXSW)
Blumhouse Productions founder and CEO Jason Blum talks with Recode's Peter Kafka at South by Southwest 2018. Blum's company, which largely makes low-budget "genre" films such as "The Purge," "Happy Death Day" and "Paranormal Activity," scored a Best Picture nomination this year with Jordan Peele's hit thriller "Get Out." He talks about the experience of awaiting — and losing — that Oscar, as well as what makes Blumhouse so different from all the other companies more commonly represented at the big awards shows. Plus: Why the studio is often happy to sell its films directly to Netflix or Amazon, rather than sending them to theaters, and why Blum thinks the Hollywood establishment has already lost the in-theater vs. at-home battle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 8, 2018 · 37 min
How to make a hit TV show for Amazon
Veteran screenwriter Graham Yost talks with Recode’s Peter Kafka about the second season of the Amazon Prime Video series “Sneaky Pete.” Showrunner Yost previously wrote movies like “Speed” and TV series like the FX crime drama “Justified,” and he explains what makes writing for Amazon different — including how the online streaming service thinks about the all-important cliffhanger. He also discusses working with the late novelist Elmore Leonard on “Justified,” and how to stop binging shows like “Sneaky Pete” if you’re hooked but need to get some sleep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 1, 2018 · 28 min
SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor (Live at Code Media 2018)
SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor talks with Recode's Peter Kafka at the 2018 Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. Trainor replaced then-CEO Alex Ljung last summer at a time when the music-streaming company was struggling and couldn't find a buyer. He explains how he convinced the board not to sell the company and what changes he's making to reorient its business model toward audio creators instead of audio listeners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 24, 2018 · 38 min
Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (Live at Code Media 2018)
Rony Abovitz, the founder, president and CEO of Magic Leap, and Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, talk with Recode's Peter Kafka at the 2018 Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. They talk about a new partnership to bring some NBA content to Magic Leap's augmented reality goggles, due out sometime this year, and Abovitz shares some new hints about the roadmap for his company. Plus: A cameo appearance by basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 22, 2018 · 35 min
How Lauren Duca became an internet star overnight
Journalist/activist Lauren Duca talks with Recode’s Peter Kafka about the column she wrote for Teen Vogue that catapulted her into fame, and the ensuing interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that made her even more of a star. Duca’s original mega-viral essay, “Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America,” is “still true” today, she says; it established her as a leading feminist critic of the Trump administration before he even took office. Since then, she has endured waves of backlash from the alt-right internet (and, occasionally, Carlson himself), and has had to think carefully about everything she posts and tweets — but Duca says the experience has made her “fireproof,” and her convictions are now “unshakeable.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 20, 2018 · 37 min
Hollywood Reporter part owner Janice Min (Live at Code Media 2018)
Janice Min, part owner of the Hollywood Reporter, talks with Recode’s Peter Kafka at the Code Media Conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. She talks about how the Reporter is keeping an eye on the nexus of Hollywood, media and power and that one time when she got dinner with Steve Bannon, Michael Wolff and Roger Ailes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 17, 2018 · 36 min
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti (Live at Code Media 2018)
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti talks with Recode's Peter Kafka at the 2018 Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. Peretti says Facebook should be willing to share in the revenue it makes from its News Feed, something it has already done on other parts of its platform that make a lot less money. He also addresses recent reports that BuzzFeed might spin off its news division and argues that Google and Facebook have distorted the media business by hoovering up most of the digital ad revenue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 15, 2018 · 54 min
Facebook's Adam Mosseri and Campbell Brown (Live at Code Media 2018)
Campbell Brown, Facebook’s head of news partnerships, and Adam Mosseri, the company's head of News Feed, talk with Recode’s Peter Kafka and Kurt Wagner at the 2018 Code Media conference. They defend the recent controversial changes to the types of stories that appear in users’ feeds, with Brown saying that Facebook is okay with having a point of view if it means “leaning into quality news.” However, Mosseri says Facebook will never make a judgment on any entity’s ideological or political point of view. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 8, 2018 · 40 min
MoviePass sounds too good to be true. Is it?
MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about how he's trying to make a profitable business out of charging $10/month for nearly unlimited visits to the movie theater. Lowe says MoviePass now has more than 1.5 million paying subscribers, who see twice as many films in the theater as non-subscribers. He also talks about the company's risky public feud with the large theater chain AMC, which he says is due to AMC's unwillingness to share the profits of all the new business it is getting. Plus: What Lowe learned as an early Netflix exec from CEO Reed Hastings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 1, 2018 · 43 min
Paywalls make content better (Nick Thompson, editor in chief, Wired)
Wired editor in chief Nick Thompson talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about the merits of running a print magazine in 2018 and why Wired.com is adding a $20/year paywall. Thompson, previously the editor of NewYorker.com, learned there that asking readers to pay for content changes not just their experience, but also how writers and editors do their jobs because now the pressure is on to make unique content that people will love. He also discusses why much of the conventional wisdom around Facebook's News Feed changes is wrong, the difference between writing for print versus the web and how he is reconciling Wired's original mission of techno-optimism with the realities of 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 25, 2018 · 53 min
How we pivoted from Facebook to Instagram (Dave Finocchio, CEO, Bleacher Report)
Bleacher Report CEO Dave Finocchio talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about founding a sports media site, selling it to Turner and leaving — and why he came back to lead the company again. Finocchio discusses the recently announced changes to Facebook's News Feed that will deemphasize news from publishers like him, but says Bleacher Report started migrating to other platforms years ago, and now sees the highest enagement with its content on Facebook-owned Instagram. He also talks about how the company is using Snapchat to understand its teen readers, how it weaned itself off of having unpaid contributors and what he thinks of sports media rivals like ESPN, SB Nation and Barstool Sports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 18, 2018 · 1 hr 29 min
NYU’s Jay Rosen, CNN’s Oliver Darcy and BuzzFeed’s Charlie Warzel talk Trump and the media
Recode’s Peter Kafka brings three past podcast guests back into the studio on this special two-in-one episode about how the media has handled President Trump. First, he interviews NYU Professor Jay Rosen, who lambastes the political press for trying to treat Trump like a normal president; Rosen says interviewing Trump is “meaningless” because his answers aren’t tethered to actual policy ideas. Later in the show, CNN’s Oliver Darcy and BuzzFeed’s Charlie Warzel return to the studio to talk about what’s new in the right-wing media sphere. They say that digital-savvy right-wingers like Mike Cernovich and Milo Yiannapolous have been sidelined, and it’s becoming clear to the pro-Trump media that Trump mostly cares about conventional outlets like Fox News and the New York Times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 11, 2018 · 44 min
Digital media companies are headed for a crash (David Carey, president, Hearst Magazines)
Hearst Magazines President David Carey talks with Recode's Peter Kafka about how the 130-year-old media giant is striking a balance between its print legacy and the digital future. Carey says print still accounts for two-thirds of his division's profits, and it will be a "long time" before those lines cross. And he predicts that many digital media companies that are heavily reliant on advertising have a rough year ahead, with too much cash heading out the window and no moat to protect themselves. Carey also talks about the advantages of being a private company, why he readily partners with or invests in tech platforms like Snapchat and why everyone still wants to be on the cover of a magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 4, 2018 · 42 min
Will Trump still dominate the news in 2018?
Washington Post Media Reporter Sarah Ellison and New York Times Media Columnist Jim Rutenberg talk with Recode's Peter Kafka about what the media got right and got wrong in 2017. Ellison says readers' interest in all things Trump, known as the "Trump bump," may be waning, so now is the time for journalists to figure out what comes next. Rutenberg agrees that more focus is needed, but says last year was the best for the media in his 25-year career. They also talk about what stories are currently under-covered in the media world, the challenges of balancing writing with investigative reporting and why the Harvey Weinstein scandal seems to have contributed more to the #MeToo movement than the oustings of Bill O'Reilly and Roger Ailes earlier in the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 28, 2017 · 46 min
Kara Swisher reviews the media, 2017 edition
Recode's Kara Swisher returns to the podcast to talk with Peter Kafka about how the media and Silicon Valley have fared in the year-plus since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. Swisher says tech companies are still abrogating their share of the responsibility over the content that appears on their platforms and says she's tired of a perpetual-victim mentality among "the richest and most powerful people in the world." She also talks about how Susan Fowler's blog post took down Uber, whether there's a Harvey Weinstein-style predator in tech and why she's reconsidering a run for mayor of San Francisco. Plus: A guest appearance by Recode Editor in Chief Dan Frommer, who explains why we made a list of the 100 most important people in tech this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 21, 2017 · 33 min
Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir want to make figure skating great again
Figure skating commentators Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir talk with Recode's Peter Kafka about the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Lipinski and Weir, both former professional skaters, got their start as commentators at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, and explain why the official ban on Russian participation this year will not take away from the drama of their sport. Unlike in the 1990s, Lipinski says, there are no household-name figure skaters, meaning it's up to her and Weir to be the stars. Plus: How the commentators use social media and why Weir is not looking forward to the Tonya Harding movie "I, Tonya." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 14, 2017 · 50 min
How Netflix makes a hit (Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank, co-creators, ‘Godless’)
Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank talk with Recode’s Peter Kafka about their new western miniseries, “Godless.” The duo brought Frank's 180-page movie script to Netflix and witnessed firsthand how the streaming service gets its shows noticed: Rather than aiming for a specific opening weekend like a traditional movie studio would, Netflix waited to spend much of the marketing budget for “Godless” until after the show was released. The filmmakers also share their perspectives on how consumers are watching more shows on smaller screens, and Soderbergh explains why it was a mistake to go all-in on social media when promoting his recent theatrically released movie, “Logan Lucky.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Channels with Peter Kafka

Why every Hollywood movie is a superhero movie

What it's like to be the only woman in a TV writers’ room

Houseparty CEO Ben Rubin on livestreaming and SXSW fame

'Get Out' producer Jason Blum (Live at SXSW)

How to make a hit TV show for Amazon

SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor (Live at Code Media 2018)

Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (Live at Code Media 2018)

How Lauren Duca became an internet star overnight

Hollywood Reporter part owner Janice Min (Live at Code Media 2018)

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti (Live at Code Media 2018)

Facebook's Adam Mosseri and Campbell Brown (Live at Code Media 2018)

MoviePass sounds too good to be true. Is it?

Paywalls make content better (Nick Thompson, editor in chief, Wired)

How we pivoted from Facebook to Instagram (Dave Finocchio, CEO, Bleacher Report)

NYU’s Jay Rosen, CNN’s Oliver Darcy and BuzzFeed’s Charlie Warzel talk Trump and the media

Digital media companies are headed for a crash (David Carey, president, Hearst Magazines)

Will Trump still dominate the news in 2018?

Kara Swisher reviews the media, 2017 edition

Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir want to make figure skating great again

How Netflix makes a hit (Steven Soderbergh and Scott Frank, co-creators, ‘Godless’)