GeekWire

Come on, Amazon, really? The tech giant spent more than a year looking for its "HQ2," planning to establish a second headquarters equal to its Seattle home, before surprising everybody by instead splitting the giant project between New York City and Arlington, Va. Now, after facing initial opposition from some New York city and state leaders, the company this morning said, well, nevermind.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Gates sits down with GeekWire to talk about what's on his mind in 2019, including what he would say to President Trump about nationalism vs. globalism, why he's pushing the U.S. to double down on nuclear energy, thoughts on the future of techbooks, and memories of his late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Plus, his take on the viral photo of him standing in line at a popular Seattle burger stand. See GeekWire.com for more coverage of the interview, and read Bill and Melinda Gates' 2019 annual letter at gatesletter.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Publicly challenging the National Enquirer's parent company AMI for attempted blackmail and extortion, as Jeff Bezos did in his remarkable post Thursday afternoon, is bold, risky and even admirable, especially for someone in his position. But for Amazon and its founder, there's more than some embarrassing pictures at stake.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're starting a new tradition on GeekWire, periodically sharing selected episodes of some of our favorite podcasts about startups, leadership, technology, science and more from the Seattle region and beyond. First up: What Fuels You, a new podcast from Shauna Swerland of Fuel Talent, featuring conversations and insights from successful business leaders. Her guest on this episode is Jane Park, the CEO and founder of Seattle-based beauty products company Julep. Park, who founded Julep in 2006, was named CEO of the Year in the 2014 GeekWire Awards. She sold Julep in 2016 to beauty brand Glansaol, which filed for bankruptcy late last year. (Park hasn't been involved in day-to-day operations at Julep since the acquisition.) For more episodes of What Fuels You, go to fueltalent.com/podcast or subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can Howard Schultz make a serious run for U.S. president? Can Zillow's Zestimate be improved? And can a new Bluetooth feature help Todd find his freakin' AirPods Those are just a few of the burning questions on this episode of GeekWire's Week in Geek podcast, as GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop John Cook discuss the news of the week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amazon rolled out its latest effort to conquer the last mile of delivery, and it's named "Scout." Plus, an app that helped new U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get elected is spreading to other campaigns, with a catch. And the latest twist in New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichik's on-again off-again relationship with Microsoft Surface tablets on the NFL sidelines. And a mildly profane installment of the Random Channel. With GeekWire editor Todd Bishop, civic editor Monica Nickelsburg, and Geek Life reporter Kurt Schlosser.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As two of the world's most valuable companies, Amazon and Microsoft have created mind-boggling wealth and economic vitality in the Seattle region. But around them, housing prices have skyrocketed and the number of people experiencing homelessness has spiked as the rising tide of the tech industry fails to lift all boats Now the two tech giants are taking on the housing crisis, but their approaches are as different as the companies themselves. Which will be more effective? That's one of the topics we discuss as we recap the week's news on the GeekWire podcast. Also in the news: The Seattle Sounders' new jerseys, and Bill Gates at Dick's Drive-In,See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With his AT&T Cingular Flip 2 in hand, Michael Valeri genuinely believes he’s living a better life for himself without a smartphone, and he’s interested in teaching people how they can do it, too. And the distinction is important — he doesn’t want to tell people why they should give up their iPhones, but rather how to survive if they do. He spoke with GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, who wrote about Valeri here: https://www.geekwire.com/2019/can-live-without-smartphone-flip-phone-fan-done-13-years-will-teach/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're back! John Cook, Monica Nickelsburg and Todd Bishop get the GeekWire Podcast rolling for 2019 with our weekly news discussion, exploring the potential  implications of Jeff Bezos' divorce for Amazon and the Seattle region, explaining why Facebook needs its Uber moment, and debating the finer points of modern grocery shopping. Go to geekwire.com/podcast for links and more info.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New York Public Library’s Tony Ageh was recently in Seattle to talk about libraries’ digital transformation. Ageh made the point that tech now permeates pretty much all of a library’s operations. But in many ways, it's a good thing that libraries have been behind other organizations in adopting technology. Highlights from Ageh's conversation with GeekWire contributor Frank Catalano at Seattle Public Library.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.