Decoder with Nilay Patel

Lauren Feiner, a Verge reporter covering tech law, and Casey Newton, Platformer founder and veteran tech journalist, unpack the blockbuster verdicts against Meta and Google. They dig into infinite scroll, autoplay, and notifications as product design, the shaky future of Section 230, teen safety, First Amendment fights, algorithms, and the wave of lawsuits and regulation ahead.

Todd McKinnon, Okta co-founder and CEO, runs a company behind workplace logins and security. He gets into why AI has SaaS on edge, and why machine identities could become a huge new battleground. They also dig into runaway agent risks, kill switches, borrowed permissions, interoperability fights, and whether digital IDs could help separate humans from bots.

Lauren Feiner, a Verge policy reporter covering courts and antitrust, unpacks why Ticketmaster parent Live Nation got an unexpectedly soft federal settlement. They dig into alleged monopoly tactics in concerts, the call that became key evidence, why states like California and Texas kept fighting, and what this could mean for Apple, Amazon, and the future of antitrust.

Shishir Mehrotra, Superhuman CEO and former YouTube leader, steps into a tense conversation about an AI writing feature that used journalists’ identities without permission. They dig into attribution versus impersonation. They spar over opt-out policies, lawsuits, creator pay, and why AI can feel deeply extractive. The talk also stretches to copyright, subscriptions, and the future of software.

Rich Greenfield, media analyst and LightShed Partners co-founder, digs into Paramount’s massive Warner Bros. Discovery bet. They explore why Warner keeps burning buyers, how Larry Ellison made the deal possible, whether scale can be bought instead of built, Oracle Cloud’s risky starring role, hidden churn in channel stores, and why daily engagement matters more than prestige buzz.

Jim Lanzone, Yahoo CEO and veteran internet turnaround leader, talks about rebuilding Yahoo around its homepage, mail, sports, and finance. He gets into AI search, ad-tech bets, and why aggregation still matters. There’s also a sharp look at Google, the risks of relying on partners, and where Yahoo draws the line around gambling.

Mike Masnick, founder and CEO of Techdirt and longtime tech policy reporter, joins to unpack Anthropic's clash with the Pentagon. He explores how surveillance law evolved, how agencies stretch legal language, and why cloud and third‑party data erode privacy. The conversation digs into Anthropic's red lines, supply‑chain coercion, and the legal framing around compelled code changes.

Chris Cocks, CEO of Hasbro, who is steering the toy giant into digital games, licensing, and collectibles. He talks about aging up audiences to target adult collectors. He explains using AI to co-design characters like Peppa Pig and speed prototyping. He covers IP strategy, global franchise coordination, tariffs and supply resilience, and the company’s push into higher-quality digital and physical play.

Liz Lopatto, senior reporter at The Verge who covers the chaos beat, walks through the rise of prediction markets and how they insert themselves into news. Short takes on markets posing as journalism, insider trading risks, war and assassination bets, and how partnerships with outlets can create dangerous feedback loops.

Jeremy Wacksman, CEO of Zillow Group, leads the company from listings into an integrated transactions and services platform. He discusses building transaction tools, MLS data and transparency, agent-focused software, mortgage origination, AI-powered listing tools, and how Zillow aims to grow share even amid a housing affordability crisis.