Decoder with Nilay Patel

BuzzFeed’s Executive Editor of News Shani Hilton talks with Peter Kafka about how she rose to a leadership role within one of the world's most talked-about new media companies. She discusses how the site's strategies have changed as she manages a staff of more than 100 people. Plus: Why millennials don't need special news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Affirm CEO and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin talks with Kara Swisher about being a serial entrepreneur and discovering more about himself in the process. He also discusses why startup founders and investors are increasingly flocking to finance, the problems with banking that tech can solve and what Marissa Mayer is doing right at Yahoo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mic CEO Chris Altchek talks with Peter Kafka about building a news site for millennials and why such a thing should exist in the first place. He explores the differences among newsreading generations and explains what Mic has learned from four years of scaling from a few hundred viewers to tens of millions. Plus: Why there's no silver bullet for social media success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Trae Vassallo and former Yahoo exec Michele Madansky sit down with Kara Swisher to talk about "The Elephant in the Valley," their new report on gender bias and harassment in tech. The report examines the different facets of sexism through both data and anecdotes from hundreds of women. Later on: Lauren Goode and Kara Swisher are launching a new podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Union Square Ventures partner Albert Wenger talks with Peter Kafka about being an investor at a time of bubble anxiety and political debate about the trade-off between privacy and security. He argues that tech companies and the government should work together, and also discusses the growing class of mission-driven "benefit corporations." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's an all-star lineup of reporters from Re/code and The Verge in this special episode, featuring Kara Swisher, Lauren Goode, Casey Newton and Noah Kulwin. The team discusses the top tech stories of 2015, including online harassment, Google's restructuring and the wearable revolution that wasn't. Then, they preview CES 2016 and reflect on whether the annual trade show is still relevant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Heleo CEO Rufus Griscom talks with Peter Kafka about trying to build a "BuzzFeed for brains" that can distribute Big Ideas to the broader Internet. He also discusses the founding of his two previous startups, Nerve.com (which sold to IAC) and Babble (which sold to Disney), and why big media companies may be losing interest in star writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo de Masi talks with Kara Swisher about Glu's hit games like Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and Katy Perry Pop, and what makes them different from earlier video games based on licensed intellectual property. He also handicaps the future of the gaming business, and discusses what will separate the winners from the losers. Later on: Kara Swisher and Lauren Goode review the top gadgets of 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Medium CEO Ev Williams talks with Peter Kafka about founding his third company that makes it easier to "write on the Interwebs," and what makes Medium different from Blogger and Twitter. He also discusses why publishing on anything other than a platform doesn't make sense any more, and offers some insight into why Twitter's board seemingly changed its mind about Jack Dorsey's eligibility to be CEO again.. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman talks with Kara Swisher about spending a decade at the helm of the local-recommendations site, and the new challenges posed by private companies that can out-raise the public Yelp. He also explains why he thinks quasi-competitor Google has ?lost its mind.? Later on: Kara Swisher and Lauren Goode don virtual reality headsets that are powered by smartphones and talk about the inevitable dystopian future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices