Decoder with Nilay Patel

This is the 21st century, not the 20th. Politics defines how the web works or doesn’t, what the web can deliver and what it illegal. Laws passed in Europe affect how technology works in America and how censorship is applied. China is a communist dictatorship which requires backdoors built in hardware, and they want to push their not-independent technology companies into the American marketplace. Most governments today can pull the plug on the web, as has been demonstrated in Africa and Russia, and China vigorously monitors and censors communication apps. If a podcast doesn’t or won’t discuss the effects of politics on technology, how can it possibly be a good podcast today? England forced Apple to stop decryption of private information. Anyone who thinks politics doesn’t matter in business and technology is, to be frank, an idiot.

Nilay is a great interviewer because he really understands what is at stake. He leads the conversations into the truly consequential parts of technology and how it continues to affect civics, economics, politics, and just being human. Other comments complain about the politics here, but you can’t do justice to the impact technology and innovation has if you don’t look at the whole picture. No one does it better than Nilay, in my opinion.

I’ve been listening to this podcast for around 3 years and have enjoyed it for the most part. Main issue is the drift towards political talk. I have political podcasts that I listen to, and that’s what I expect to hear there. When I listen to those, I’m in the mood for some political talk/theory. When I listen to Decoder, I’m looking for tech and business. I don’t even necessarily disagree with the political view expressed, it’s just not needed.

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