Decoder with Nilay Patel Podcast

Today, Im talking with Taskrabbit CEO Ania Smith. Taskrabbit is an interesting company; its known best for being a platform for hiring people to put together your furniture, so much so that Ikea acquired it in 2017. But Taskrabbit is still operating as a mostly independent company all these years later, and Ania is now in charge of maneuvering a fast-changing labor market during uncertain economic times and a potentially major AI disruption to the workforce on the horizon.

Help us plan for the future of Decoder by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Wed really appreciate it. Thanks!

Links:

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wants to build the everything app | Decoder

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is okay with reinventing the bus | Decoder

Googles Project Mariner | Google

Uber is testing a service that lets you hire drivers for chores | Verge

Taskrabbit CEO on using empathy in leadership | Fortune

Taskrabbit takes over on-demand moving service Dolly | GeekWire

Ikea integrates Taskrabbit booking service into checkout | Retail Dive

TaskRabbit to close its offices, go entirely remote | MarketWatch

IKEA has bought TaskRabbit | TechCrunch

Taskrabbit CEO: People will still power an AI workforce | Verge



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 Ursa Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I’m talking with Runway CEO and co-founder Cris Valenzuela. This one’s special: Cris and I were live at an event in New York City last month hosted by Alix Partners, so you’ll hear the audience from time to time. 

Runway is a leading AI video generation platform, and it’s getting better all the time. That puts Cris and his company on the same collision course with creators, artists, and copyright law as every other part of the AI industry — and you’ll hear Cris and I really get into all that here.



Links: 

AMC Networks inks deal with AI company Runway | Hollywood Reporter

We made a film with AI. You’ll be blown away — and freaked out | WSJ

Mark Zuckerberg just declared war on the entire advertising industry | Verge

Runway says its latest AI video model can generate consistent scenes, people | Verge

Runway releases an impressive new video-generating AI model | TechCrunch

Runway Trained on Thousands of YouTube Videos Without Permission | 404 Media

Runway partners with Lionsgate to train on its catalog of video | Verge

AI companies lose bid to dismiss parts of visual artists' copyright case | Reuters



Help us plan for the future of Decoder by filling out this ⁠brief survey⁠. Thank you!

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 Ursa Wright. 

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I’m talking with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. This is Brian’s fourth time on the show, and he’s one of my favorite guests because he’s so clearly obsessed with things like company structure, design, and decision making. You know, Decoder stuff.

This time, Brian came on to talk about the company’s new services product and the full-scale redesign and rebuild of the Airbnb app to support these broader ambitions. There’s a lot of fun, very Decoder-y stuff in this one. Read the full transcript here on The Verge.  

Links: 

Airbnb’s new app has all of your vacation extras in one place | Verge

“Flat design is over” | Brian Chesky

Airbnb Is in midlife crisis mode | Wired

He revolutionized travel. Can Airbnb’s founder redesign your entire life? | WSJ

Airbnb’s CEO explains how he helped Sam Altman during OpenAI fiasco | Fast Company

A conversation with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky | Figma

Jony Ive is bringing his design talents to Airbnb | Verge

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on what founder mode really means | Decoder

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is taking it back to basics | Decoder

Why the future of work is the future of travel, with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky | Decoder



Help us plan for the future of Decoder by filling out this brief survey. Thank you!

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 Ursa Wright. 

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, I’m talking with journalist Megan Greenwell about her new book Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream. It comes out June 10th. It's fantastic and maddening in equal measure. I highly recommend it.

In this episode, we discussed the genesis of Megan’s interest in the subject and its genesis in media — including her time as editor-in-chief of the website Deadspin, which underwent a very public PE takeover of its parent company. We also talk a lot about the healthcare industry, another major pillar of Megan’s book. I'm excited to hear what you think of this one.

Links: 

Bad Company | HarperCollins

Private equity bought out your doctor and bankrupted Toys ‘R’ Us | Decoder

Private equity Is gutting America — and getting away with it | NYT

I was fired from Deadspin for refusing to ‘stick to sports’ | NYT

Will private equity be the next ‘Big Short’? | Marketplace

The profit-obsessed monster destroying American ERs | Vox

Why your vet bill is so high | The Atlantic

The investment firms leave behind a barren wasteland’ | Politico



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 Ursa Wright. 

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinde Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In what's become a bit of a Decoder tradition, I spoke with Google CEO Sundar Pichai in person after I/O. The conference this year was all about AI, particularly a slew of actual AI products, not just models and capabilities.

To Sundar, this marks the beginning of a new era for search and the web overall. So I had to ask: what happens to the web when AI tools and eventually agents do most of the browsing for us? It was a very Decoder conversation. Read the full transcript here.

Links: 

Help us plan the future of Decoder! | AUDIENCE SURVEY

The 15 biggest announcements at Google I/O 2025 | Verge

We tried on Google’s prototype AI smart glasses | Verge

AI Mode is obviously the future of Google Search | Verge

News publishers call Google’s AI Mode ‘theft’ | Verge

Details leak about Jony Ive’s OpenAI device | Verge

DOJ says Google must sell Chrome to crack open monopoly | Verge

Google Zero is here — now what? | Verge

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is okay reinventing the bus | Decoder



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 Ursa Wright. 

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices