Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Adam Conover explains how YouTube ruined everything

#25 trending · Business

Adam Conover is a familiar face to anyone who’s spent time on the internet. He got his start at CollegeHumor back in the day, before transitioning into cable TV with Adam

Sep 14
1 h 05 min

Why the current tech backlash feels different

We’re back with another Decoder mailbag special. This time, we focused on feedback to Nilay’s “software brain” video essay, our ongoing coverage of AI and Big Tech backla

Sep 10
54 min

How Sonos rebooted itself

My guest today is Sonos CEO Tom Conrad. Tom was on the board at Sonos during the disastrous 2024 app redesign that threatened to crash the entire brand, and he took over

Sep 3
1 h 13 min

New York Governor Kathy Hochul thinks AI should be ‘less evil’

It’s an election year, with a shocking amount of tech policy at stake, and Gov.Hochul has taken strong positions on almost every major tech issue there is. You'll hear us

Aug 31
51 min

OpenAI's executive exodus has one big winner

Today, I’m talking with Hayden Field, The Verge’s senior AI reporter, about some pure Decoder bait: the seemingly-endless org chart changes at OpenAI, and how all of them

Aug 27
40 min

How GoFundMe became America's backup plan

Tim Cadogan is CEO of GoFundMe, the for-profit platform where you can donate to help people with everything from medical expenses to little league uniforms to starting a

Aug 24
1 h 17 min

Welcome to the AI crisis in math

My guest today is Robert Hart, The Verge’s London-based AI reporter. Robert recently wrote a fantastic story for us about the debate raging inside the world of mathematic

Aug 20
40 min

It's about ethics in journalism, with Ben Smith

Today I’m talking to Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of Semafor. Ben ran BuzzFeed News at the height of the Facebook traffic boom, and even wrote a book about it, called T

Aug 17
1 h 11 min

Does Google even want to win in AI?

My guest today is The Verge’s Hayden Field, and we’re discussing a question that’s been rocketing around the tech industry for the past week: Is Google losing the AI race

Aug 13
39 min

Bose CEO Lila Snyder on the fight for high-quality audio

My guest today is Lila Snyder, the CEO of Bose. Lila was last on the show about four years ago, and since then she’s dramatically rearchitected the company — she sold off

Aug 10
1 h 06 min

The left and right agree on one thing: no data centers

Our guest today is Gaby Del Valle, a policy reporter here at The Verge, and we’re discussing the growing backlash against AI data centers. Gaby recently reported a fantas

Aug 6
37 min

Bluesky’s new CEO wants a big tent, not a bubble

Today, I’m talking with Toni Schneider, the new head of social platform Bluesky who formally took over after a short stint as interim CEO. This is one of my favorite kind

Aug 3
1 h 15 min

The end of the human internet

Hey everyone, this is Nick Statt, senior producer on Decoder. We’re taking a brief publishing break while Nilay is out on vacation. We’ll resume regular programming next

Jul 30
43 min

Tariffs didn’t bring manufacturing jobs back to the US

Evan Smith, cofounder and CEO of Altana, was last on the show in early 2025 to talk about how Trump’s first few waves of tariffs were starting to affect global trade. It

Jul 27
1 h 11 min

What Apple’s OpenAI lawsuit is really about

Today, I’m talking with Hayden Field, The Verge’s senior AI reporter, about the major trade secrets lawsuit between Apple and OpenAI, and what this tells us about OpenAI’

Jul 23
44 min

Dr. Jill Lepore on why the AI backlash is vital for the future

Dr. Jill Lepore is one of the best writers there is at identifying institutional patterns in history, and Decoder is a show about systems and organization — so her new bo

Jul 20
59 min

Proton’s CTO: No company is going to jail for you

We’ve got the first of a two-part series on the systems that run the world: I’m talking today with Bart Butler, the CTO of Proton, the company that makes private and secu

Jul 16
1 h 24 min

Yes, even Nvidia's head of automotive is fighting for compute

Nvidia is obviously in the news constantly because of the AI boom — but it's also a major supplier to the entire auto industry As head of Nvidia's automotive division, Xi

Jul 13
1 h 11 min

Why did Comcast ever buy NBC?

My guest today is Peter Kafka, chief correspondent at Business Insider and host of Channels, a podcast about the media industry. And it’s a big week for the media industr

Jul 9
1 h 02 min

Inside the big business of the creator economy, with Ali Berman and Raina Penchansky

Today I’m talking with Ali Berman and Raina Penchansky, who run the Creators Division at United Talent Agency. UTA is an enormous talent agency, and Ali and Raina's creat

Jul 6
1 h 08 min

Chart trend

Position in the Business chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#101#200JunJulAugSep

#67

all-time peak

days in the top 100 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Decoder with Nilay Patel ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 15, 2026).

#169 ▲ 8 Business US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

I thought this interview did a great job of explaining how the business works from the creators' agents' POV while flagging the threat that AI may pose very soon to creators.

PhillyGirl99 · Jul 2026

A podcast that talks about tech with normal people in mind? Who would have imagined such a thing could exist. It is refreshing to hear talk about tech take the social world into account instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. This podcast gives a way better perspective than most tech podcasts. The hosts care about “why” questions and not just bootlicking for billionaires

northshorestalker · May 2026

It’s incredibly satisfying to watch Nilay hold tech leaders accountable while delivering real journalism on the most important tech developments of this era. Truly a refreshing approach to get to the bottom of critical issues, and avoid the classic canned talking points. Excellent conversation, journalism, and tech reporting.

estuhldreher · Mar 2026

A great blend of business insights from top leaders and well researched policy implications. Bringing a tech savvy perspective to the modern political and business landscape.

ItsNevin · Mar 2025

Nilay has some great guests and topics, but it’s often worsened by his very apparent political bias. Would love if this was more independent and neutral

AMH238 · Jun 2025

Has a noticeable political bias the last few months, to the point that chunks of episodes are just rants. Unfollowed and lost a lot of respect for the journalistic integrity here with the latest Tesla protestor organizer interview. I learned nothing and felt dumber for listing. It was over-the-top whining, some outright wrong numbers and misinformation, and Nilay didn’t correct or pushback. He went right along with the guy, and Nilay’s questions were softballs. Very disappointed as it used to be a good show, but par for the course for the Verge content.

playermagic · Mar 2025

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.