Did the algorithm make you watch Tiger King?

Netflix’s recommendation algorithm is supposed to find you TV and movies that you’ll like — and that will keep you paying for Netflix. But is Netflix really showing you stuff you want to watch, or just stuff that Netflix made?Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani MollaThis podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode...

1d

Who really killed Blockbuster Video?

Netflix killed our trips to the video store and ushered in the streaming era. But when Netflix started out, it was a fraction of the size of Blockbuster. It should have been crushed, and almost was. What went wrong?Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani MollaThis podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced...

2w

“Netflix is a team, not a family”

Is working on a team of all-stars, excellent pay, and unlimited vacation worth the stress of constant criticism from co-workers and the knowledge that your boss is considering whether to replace you? Netflix execs will tell you that their internal culture is the key to their success.Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani MollaThis podcast is a production of...

3w

The Netflix Effect

In Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect, Recode’s Peter Kafka and Rani Molla examine how Netflix got where it is today and whether or not it can maintain its streaming supremacy. Hear from Netflix’s founders and top executives as well as its competitors, critics and more - covering everything from its unusual internal culture to its battle with Blockbuster,...

4w

Amazon's Middlewomen

Why do so many Amazon packages take a pitstop in the small town of Roundup, Montana? Find out in this episode of Reset, the new tech podcast from Recode and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Jason Del Rey and Reset host Arielle Duhaime-Ross discuss how Amazon's Marketplace has created some very unusual business opportunities.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe...

Nov 2019

'I love Amazon. Let’s break it up'

In the final episode of our season on Amazon, NYU professor and “Pivot” podcast co-host Scott Galloway tells Jason Del Rey that Amazon needs to be broken up - and which parts of the company should be spun off first. They discuss Amazon’s ultimate impact on us as consumers, who are the companies left that can really compete with Amazon, and question...

Sep 2019

Is Amazon Too Big? We Ask Its Sellers

Small businesses and major brands alike rely on Amazon but are increasingly ambivalent about selling on the platform. The Amazon Marketplace is a battle royale of millions of sellers and declining profit margins. Meanwhile, Amazon is building its own branded line of competing products, called AmazonBasics. That, and other practices, make Amazon their...

Aug 2019

How Amazon Charmed Wall Street

When Amazon became a publicly traded company  in 1997, it was losing money. And it wouldn’t turn a profit for years. So how did it convince Wall Street to do something unprecedented: Turn a blind eye to profit? And how did that help Amazon become one of the world’s most valuable companies today -- and how did it change the way tech companies grow?

Aug 2019

Why the Robot Revolution is Our Fault

In recent years Amazon has quietly become one of the leaders in automation, reshaping its workforce of nearly 600,000 workers, and the way humans work with robots. We fear robots taking over the world, but do we understand just how we as consumers are making that future happen?

Aug 2019

When Amazon Leaves Your Town

In 1999, Amazon opened one of its first warehouses in the small town of Coffeyville, Kansas. Fifteen years later, it closed. We visit Coffeyville to learn what Amazon can bring and what it can take away, and what lessons Coffeyville might have for a community that’s just getting started with an Amazon warehouse: Staten Island, New York.

Aug 2019