Decoder with Nilay Patel

Walker & Company Brands founder and CEO Tristan Walker talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how technology can disrupt the health and beauty industry. Walker & Company's shaving brand, Bevel, is aimed at people of color who are underserved by the big cosmetics companies, and Walker says he plans to focus even more on personalized products those competitors can't deliver. An alumnus of Twitter, Foursquare and Andreessen Horowitz, he also discusses his problems with tech companies' "culture fit," and why those who say they can't find talented black and Latino tech workers are spouting "complete bullshit." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Atlassian co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about co-founding an enterprise software company in Sydney, Australia, in 2002. Cannon-Brookes reflects on Atlassian's successful American IPO and the differences between his team and tech companies that start in other parts of the world. Rather than trying to beat Silicon Valley at its own game, he says, the right approach for Australia is to nurture its own tech talent while building bridges across the ocean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sallie Krawcheck, formerly the CFO of Citi Group and the CEO of Merrill Lynch, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about launching Ellevest, a new online investment platform for women. Krawcheck says the male-dominated world of finance overlooks the needs of female customers, and that women invest differently. She also discusses the 20-20 hindsight of the 2008 financial crisis, the danger of another downturn and why being an entrepreneur is "harder than running Merrill Lynch." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eric Jackson, a longtime activist investor in Yahoo and the managing director of SpringOwl Asset Management, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the momentous deal that will sell Yahoo's core business to Verizon for nearly $5 billion. Jackson reflects on how he came to be a champion, and then a critic, of Yahoo's final CEO, Marissa Mayer, and whether saving the pioneering internet company was doomed from the start. He also suggests that the end of an independent Yahoo carries some lessons for other tech companies moving forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Antonio García-Martinez, author of the new tell-all book, "Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley," talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about starting a company, getting acquired by Twitter, and defecting to Facebook one year before its IPO. García-Martinez knew from the start that he wanted to write a book, and the end result doesn't mince words with its subjects. He says one of the big takeaways from "Chaos Monkeys" is that Silicon Valley constantly lies to itself, and that that mass delusion has helped it succeed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Peloton CTO Yony Feng talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the indoor cycling company is trying to shake up in-home exercise programs with its custom fitness bike, which sells for $2,000. Peloton broadcasts 12 live spinning classes to those bikes every day and challenges its bike owners to compete for a spot on its global leaderboards. Feng discusses how the bike compares to other techie fitness gear and why Peloton may be interested in virtual reality — just not right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Hamilton" lead producer Jeffrey Seller talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the hit Broadway musical goes forward now that three of its stars — Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Phillipa Soo — have taken their final bows. Seller says he avoids or doesn't understand much of Silicon Valley's tech obsessions, and praises the power of live theater as an antidote to gadget addiction. He explains how "Hamilton" and Ticketmaster have tried to thwart ticket-buying bots behind the scenes, and reflects on some of his other Broadway productions, including "Rent" and "In the Heights." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel talks with Recode's Ina Fried about how the network is building on the digital reach of the Summer Games via livestreaming, virtual reality, Snapchat and more. Zenkel says NBC and Samsung expect to produce two to three hours of virtual reality content per day throughout the Games. He also addresses concerns about the Zika virus and politics in Rio de Janeiro, but says he's not worried about their effect on the Olympics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins — the co-founders of Palm, Handspring and Numenta — talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about their efforts to decode the human brain. They say everything that makes us human, from language to art to engineering, derives from the same learning algorithm, and Numenta hopes to ultimately teach that algorithm to a machine. Dubinsky and Hawkins explain why we shouldn't be afraid that machines will take over the world and why they believe artificial intelligence will drive advancements in technology for the rest of the century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coursera president and co-founder Daphne Koller talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how she helped build the popular online learning platform after a successful early experiment at Stanford University. Koller says the future of higher education is a mixture of online and offline learning, with people continually going back to school in some form throughout their lives, rather than stopping in their 20s. She discusses whether universities themselves are at risk of going extinct and whether technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality could replace a college professor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices