Land of the Giants
Big tech is transforming every aspect of our world. But how, and at what cost? This season of Land of the Giants – The Disney Dilemma – focuses on Disney’s ability to weather the ups and downs of the business cycle and changing tastes and explores what has kept it successful for over 100 years. The entertainment giant has leveraged nostalgia and its intellectual property to build a beloved brand, but after an acquisition spree that included Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox, can it sustain high quality and brand loyalty on a scale that keeps it growing? Who is Disney now, and can it compete against the tech giants in a battle for our attention and dollars? From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
Episodes
July 22, 2019 • 2 mins
Examine how the biggest tech companies rose to power, and what they're doing with that power. In season one, The Rise of Amazon, Recode's senior commerce correspondent Jason Del Rey traces how Jeff Bezos transformed Amazon from an online bookseller to one of the largest companies in the world, and what that means for how we shop, work, and live.
Tuesdays starting July 23rd.
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July 23, 2019 • 34 mins
With over 100 million members, Prime is the engine that’s made Amazon a retailing juggernaut and one of the largest companies in the world. Jason Del Rey explores how Prime came to be, why it’s so effective at keeping us locked into the Amazon ecosystem, and how it became the source of the company’s power.
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July 30, 2019 • 34 mins
Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant can tell you the weather, operate home appliances, and video chat family members. Alexa aims to be the centerpiece of the “smart home” connected to the Internet. It can lull us with the convenience, but what’s the downside to letting Alexa run your entire home? And why is Amazon making a microwave oven powered by Alexa?
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August 6, 2019 • 41 mins
In 1999, Amazon opened one of its first warehouses in the small town of Coffeyville, Kansas. Fifteen years later, it closed. We visit Coffeyville to learn what Amazon can bring and what it can take away, and what lessons Coffeyville might have for a community that’s just getting started with an Amazon warehouse: Staten Island, New York.
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August 13, 2019 • 38 mins
In recent years Amazon has quietly become one of the leaders in automation, reshaping its workforce of nearly 600,000 workers, and the way humans work with robots. We fear robots taking over the world, but do we understand just how we as consumers are making that future happen?
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August 20, 2019 • 37 mins
When Amazon became a publicly traded company in 1997, it was losing money. And it wouldn’t turn a profit for years. So how did it convince Wall Street to do something unprecedented: Turn a blind eye to profit? And how did that help Amazon become one of the world’s most valuable companies today -- and how did it change the way tech companies grow?
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August 27, 2019 • 46 mins
Small businesses and major brands alike rely on Amazon but are increasingly ambivalent about selling on the platform. The Amazon Marketplace is a battle royale of millions of sellers and declining profit margins. Meanwhile, Amazon is building its own branded line of competing products, called AmazonBasics. That, and other practices, make Amazon their frenemy -- a major competitor as well as their most important partner. From a soci...
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September 12, 2019 • 28 mins
In the final episode of our season on Amazon, NYU professor and “Pivot” podcast co-host Scott Galloway tells Jason Del Rey that Amazon needs to be broken up - and which parts of the company should be spun off first. They discuss Amazon’s ultimate impact on us as consumers, who are the companies left that can really compete with Amazon, and question the idea that we live in an era of innovation. Recorded live on September 9, 2019 at...
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November 26, 2019 • 22 mins
Why do so many Amazon packages take a pitstop in the small town of Roundup, Montana? Find out in this episode of Reset, the new tech podcast from Recode and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Jason Del Rey and Reset host Arielle Duhaime-Ross discuss how Amazon's Marketplace has created some very unusual business opportunities.
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Reset for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocke...
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June 15, 2020 • 3 mins
In Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect, Recode’s Peter Kafka and Rani Molla examine how Netflix got where it is today and whether or not it can maintain its streaming supremacy. Hear from Netflix’s founders and top executives as well as its competitors, critics and more - covering everything from its unusual internal culture to its battle with Blockbuster, its disruption of Hollywood and the upcoming streaming wars.
The series c...
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June 23, 2020 • 39 mins
Is working on a team of all-stars, excellent pay, and unlimited vacation worth the stress of constant criticism from co-workers and the knowledge that your boss is considering whether to replace you? Netflix execs will tell you that their internal culture is the key to their success.
Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani Molla
This podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Zach Ma...
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June 30, 2020 • 38 mins
Netflix killed our trips to the video store and ushered in the streaming era. But when Netflix started out, it was a fraction of the size of Blockbuster. It should have been crushed, and almost was. What went wrong?
Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani Molla
This podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Zach Mack, Bridget Armstrong. Our editor is Charlie Herman. Gautam Srikishan...
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July 7, 2020 • 22 mins
Netflix’s recommendation algorithm is supposed to find you TV and movies that you’ll like — and that will keep you paying for Netflix. But is Netflix really showing you stuff you want to watch, or just stuff that Netflix made?
Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani Molla
This podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Zach Mack, Bridget Armstrong. Our editor is Charlie Herman. Gauta...
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July 14, 2020 • 29 mins
Loaning out shows and movies to Netflix used to be a great way for studios to make a little money on the side, until they realized they were training audiences everywhere to watch Netflix. In this episode, we look at how Netflix went from renting content—and breathing new life into shows like Breaking Bad and The Office — to investing heavily in original content and changing Hollywood forever.
Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani Molla
This ...
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July 21, 2020 • 33 mins
Netflix hasn’t just disrupted Hollywood, it has become Hollywood. How has that changed the lives of studio executives, movie producers and creators in the entertainment industry? A lot.
Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani Molla
This podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Zach Mack, Bridget Armstrong. Our editor is Charlie Herman. Gautam Srikishan engineered and scored this ep...
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July 28, 2020 • 28 mins
Netflix owes around $15 billion, yet it continues to spend money billions each year to fund its original programming. Is this a brilliant move to set it apart from the competition or a house of cards ready to collapse?
Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani Molla
This podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Zach Mack, Bridget Armstrong. Our editor is Charlie Herman. Gautam Srikis...
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August 4, 2020 • 28 mins
The "streaming wars" are here, but they're not what you think—or rather, where you think. While competitors are duking it out in the US, Netflix wants to take over the world.
Hosts: Peter Kafka & Rani Molla
This podcast is a production of Recode by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This episode was produced by Zach Mack, Bridget Armstrong. Our editor is Charlie Herman. Gautam Srikishan engineered and scored this episode. Nish...
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February 9, 2021 • 3 mins
In Land of the Giants: The Google Empire, Recode’s Shirin Ghaffary and Big Technology's Alex Kantrowitz explore how a company that began with idealistic goals of creative experimentation and making useful products has turned into a worldwide power with enormous impact on the way we live. New episodes begin Tuesday, February 16th.
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February 16, 2021 • 41 mins
Some of the core values that built Google's runaway success — innovative technology to the max, an intellectually playful and open culture, and a corporate aspiration to do good ("Don’t be evil") — set it up for the existential questions it faces today. We examine how two grad students with a plan to search the Internet launched a company that would eventually become the gateway for the Internet for the entire world.
Hosts: Shirin...
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February 23, 2021 • 40 mins
Today, nearly all of the world's smartphones are powered by Android. Which means Google is the gatekeeper to the Internet for billions of people. The story of Android is the story of how Google became so big. And it started with an existential threat. With Google in survivalist mode.
Hosts: Shirin Ghaffary (@shiringhaffary) and Alex Kantrowitz (@kantrowitz)
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