Recode Daily

Mandating vaccines shouldn’t be a restaurant worker’s job

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In some parts of the US, customers in bars and restaurants are now required to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 in order to enter the busine...

Blaming Facebook won't solve the misinformation problem

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The New York Times’ Shira Ovide, writes the popular and incisive On Tech newsletter, which means she gets to write about… everything. She sits dow...

Big Tech’s Taliban problem

27 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For the first time in 20 years, the Taliban controls Afghanistan. This change in power raises questions for companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouT...

Did we pull the plug on virtual school too soon?

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Students and teachers are returning to classrooms after more than a year of virtual learning, but going back to school doesn’t mean going back to no...

Is the future of work in employees’ hands?

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Many companies are preparing to return to the office this fall, but how is that going to work? Will the way we do our jobs be forever changed because ...

404: Podcast not found

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The World Wide Web is kept interconnected through hyperlinks. But what happens when those hyperlinks stop working? Researchers say hyperlinks are dyin...

Your next office could be inside a VR headset

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Work from home typically means Zoom calls and Slack, but Mark Zuckerberg is envisioning a new way to work remotely: virtual reality. Last week, he unv...

TikTok is making tax policy cool

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok is the go-to place for memes and dance videos. But sometimes those pieces of content can play a critical role in letting lawmakers know which p...

Why am I so invested in Alabama sorority TikTok?

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, videos of students hoping to join a sorority at the University of Alabama exploded on TikTok. For You pages were all about girls’ outfits...

TikTok made me buy it

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok has a tendency to make products fly off the shelves. But then they flame out fast. Vox’s in-house TikTok expert Rebecca Jennings explains the...

Tesla is in trouble with the US government

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla is in trouble. The US government is investigating Autopilot, a feature that Elon Musk says could turn Teslas into fully self-driving cars. Tesla...

Why it’s always moms

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We know that working mothers had a really hard time during the pandemic. It was untenable. Three million women left the workforce last year, and less ...

America is losing the electric car race

13 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Through his infrastructure bill and recent executive orders, Biden is pushing for more Americans to start driving electric vehicles. The president has...

Bitcoin and Biden’s infrastructure bill

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Senate just passed a massive, trillion-dollar infrastructure deal, and lawmakers are looking to cryptocurrency to help pay for it. But users of th...

Apple’s plan to protect kids by scanning your iPhone

11 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Apple announced new child safety features for the upcoming iOS 15 update. But, one of the measures has privacy advocates in an uproar: the ability to ...

On tonight’s menu: Your personal data

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

QR codes have been around for almost 30 years, but they’ve seen renewed interest during the pandemic. They’re convenient for customers, and they c...

Facebook banned researchers studying ... Facebook

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At this point, it’s old news that Facebook has a misinformation problem. Not just in user posts and comments, but within advertiser content, too. An...

An app’s plan to profit off your fear

06 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Citizen, the controversial safety app, has a new feature called Protect. For $20 a month, you get extra security and access to Protect Agents, who can...

The risks of “buy now, pay later” apps

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Square just announced they’re buying out Afterpay, a “buy now, pay later” app. The move could mean CashApp will soon offer the option to pay for...

Tech companies: No shot, no coming back to the office

04 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Without a federal mandate in place, tech companies have started requiring their employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine before they return to work in pe...

Another gaming giant reckons with its sexist work culture

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Hundreds of employees for the gaming studio Activision Blizzard are speaking out after the company was sued for sexual harassment and gender-based dis...

OlympicTok

02 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The best place to watch the Olympics this year is TikTok. The videos – including behind-the-scenes clips of the Olympic Village, the training center...

A priest’s cautionary tale in dating and data privacy

30 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month, a Catholic media outlet published a story exposing a priest for using the dating app Grindr, costing him his job. The article was ...

Big Retail is watching you

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Some of the country’s biggest retailers are being accused of using face recognition technology without customers’ knowledge. Stores can use this b...

Congress vs. Covid lies

28 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Well over a year into the pandemic, and major social media platforms are still failing to moderate Covid-19 misinformation. With cases rising in all 5...

Why Netflix wants to be a gaming app

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix is betting on gaming to be its next big offering. The company saw lackluster growth as the world began to come out of the pandemic lockdown, s...

The rest stop doctor’s appointment

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When you were stuck at home last year, did you visit a doctor online? For some people, it was a convenient option; for others, it gave them potentiall...

Roblox: 40 million games in one

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Roblox is one of the fastest growing games in the world right now. But depending on who you ask, some would say it’s more than a game. The app lets ...

Did Anthony Bourdain say that?

22 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The new documentary Roadrunner takes a look at the life of Anthony Bourdain, the late celebrity chef, author, and travel show host. But one decision b...

Yes, iPhones can be hacked

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

iPhones have a reputation for being unhackable. But that’s not exactly the case. This weekend, we learned about Pegasus, software specifically desig...

How much does it cost to leave Earth?

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rich entrepreneurs have taken significant steps in recent weeks to make civilian space travel a reality. But that reality is only accessible to those ...

Bring on the 4-day workweek

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic changed where we work and how we work — and our work-life balance pretty much disappeared. That’s especially true for working mothers...

Social media’s racial bias problem

16 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Social media has a problem with racism, and it knows it. But as social media giants like Facebook and Twitter promise to make things better, their use...

Why is everything so expensive right now?

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lots of consumer products and services have gotten more expensive over the last year, when the pandemic threw prices out of whack. Some have worried t...

How social media threatens humanity

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Social media has, in an incredibly short period of time, drastically restructured the way we communicate. But there's a problem: We know very little a...

The power grid vs. climate change

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Recent extreme temperature events, like snowstorms in Texas and heat waves in Oregon and California, have put the United States’ power grid to the t...

The real reason Trump is suing Big Tech

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump filed lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter, and Google last week, accusing the companies of violating his and other conservatives’ First ...

A billionaire, a cryptocurrency, and a disaster in India

09 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Crypto philanthropy is a burgeoning field, and one with lots of unique complications. Take the case of Vitalik Buterin, the programmer who co-founded ...

The problem with post-pandemic work

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A special repost from the folks at Vox Quick Hits! While the Recode Daily team is out enjoying some vacation, Tell Me More host Emily Stewart and Vox ...

Don’t fear the wrinkle

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Wrinkles have been the bane of aging women's skin since forever. A fear of growing older and physical signs of aging is at the core of a $200 billion ...

What does “monopoly” mean in the internet age?

02 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A Washington, DC, judge dismissed a lawsuit that accused Facebook of behaving like a monopoly, claiming the suit did not have enough detail. It’s a ...

Remote workers are on the move… to the suburbs

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As cities throughout the US lift Covid-19 restrictions, many Americans are looking for remote work opportunities. Could distance from the office usher...

Subscribe to everything. Own nothing.

30 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When you buy or use a product that’s connected to the internet, you don’t necessarily have full control. Companies that make these gadgets — pho...

Should Instagram influencers unionize?

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Content creators and online business owners have benefited from an influx of customers during lockdown, and companies like Instagram are taking notice...

Delivery wars

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Food delivery apps have made it possible to order pretty much anything we want to eat with the click of a button. The latest season of the Land of the...

The ghosts of Google Maps

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine coming across your dead relative in Google's Street View. For some people, it's a strange reality. Recode’s Rebecca Heilweil (@rebheilweil) ...

Is it hot in here?

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Or is it just my smart thermostat being remotely controlled by my power company without my knowledge? Power companies all over the country have been k...

Big Tech is scared of Lina Khan

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For a few years now, Congress and regulatory agencies have been issuing warnings for Big Tech. And in the past week, those threats got more real. On J...

Why UFOs are back

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Later this month, Congress is expecting to receive a long-awaited report from the Pentagon revealing their investigations into unidentified flying obj...

Amazon’s HR problem

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In interviews with Recode, dozens of Amazon employees detailed allegations of racial bias and discrimination on the job — and many of them said the ...

Where on the internet is Donald Trump?

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The former president was kicked off social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in the wake of the Capitol riots, and it’s not cle...

Why the internet is a luxury

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Think about everything you did yesterday. Now imagine how the day would have gone if you didn’t have the internet. Access to the internet isn’t as...

Congress’s plans to break up Big Tech

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, House Democrats on the Antitrust Subcommittee announced legislation aimed to check the power of Big Tech: namely Amazon, Apple, Facebook, a...

I got my (digital) driver's license last week

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve all done it, we’ve all left the house without our wallet. And that used to be a big problem. You couldn’t buy anything, and certainly coul...

Big events are back!

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sports! Festivals! Concerts! After an 18-month hiatus, these big events (and more) are expected to return to — and possibly exceed — their pre-p...

The tradeoffs of the Substack hustle

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Rob Walker sits down with Recode’s Peter Kafka to discuss why he decided to go the independent route instead of writing for another publi...

The ugly truth about credit card points

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re like most Americans, you probably have a credit card that offers rewards such as points, cash back, or miles. Credit card rewards programs...

Amazon wants to share your internet. With everyone.

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Starting today, owners of Amazon echo speakers will be part of something called Amazon Sidewalk. The basic idea is, Amazon’s about to share your int...

Elon Musk is a stonckfluencer

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2018, Elon Musk tweeted about taking Tesla private. The SEC fined him and his company $40 million, he lost his Tesla chairmanship, and he was ...

Ransomware is everywhere

04 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Hackers breached New York City’s MTA back in April, a few weeks ago the Colonial pipeline was a target, and most recently, a new attack shut down th...

Etsy just bought cooler Etsy

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The shopping site Etsy announced on Wednesday that it was buying Depop, a secondhand shopping platform designed for the age of influencers selling stu...

Why you should be wary of AI and your insurance claim

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Have you heard about Lemonade? The insurance company, not the drink or the album by Beyoncé. Lemonade is an insurance company that prides itself for ...

Hot beach summer

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial official start of summer. And after a year of being stuck inside, many Americans are ready to get out of the ho...

Biden’s antitrust brain trust

28 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Recode’s Jason Del Rey explains why President Biden’s early hires signal an administration serious about taking on Big Tech. Read Jason’s stor...

How websites trick you into saying “yes”

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (April 9, 2021): Dark patterns, the design tricks websites and apps use to get you to click “yes,” are all over the...

Bitcoin’s inconvenient truth

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (April 20, 2021): Cryptocurrencies are more popular than ever. But they require a mind-boggling amount of electricity t...

Amazon Rx

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (Nov. 20, 2020): You can now fill your prescription at Amazon's pharmacy. Recode’s Jason Del Rey explains why the e-c...

How Instacart’s harsh ratings system hurts grocery deliverers

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (March 25 2021): Instacart is a gig economy app, similar to Uber or Airbnb, but for grocery deliveries. It has two sets...

Would you ditch your doctor for an app?

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A growing number of startups are offering ways to make health care more accessible, but to those who can afford it —companies like One Medical and P...

Why AT&T and WarnerMedia split

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

AT&T bought WarnerMedia three years ago for more than $100 billion, so it could chase after Netflix. Now it’s getting out of streaming, and every ot...

Bill Gates will never be the same

19 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bill and Melinda Gates shocked the world when they announced their divorce in early May. It left many people wondering about the future of their globa...

Buy now, pay later...but read the fine print

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Thanks to Afterpay and Klarna, it’s easier than ever to buy in installments. Now, the model is coming for necessities. The buy now pay later concept...

The FCC’s big bet on Elon Musk

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It remains to be seen if the satellite internet service, Starlink, from Elon Musk’s Space X, can live up to its potential. But it certainly has a lo...

Young viewer discretion advised

14 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Since 2015, YouTube Kids has dominated the world of video streaming content for kids online. But over the years, the app has been criticized for its m...

How Alexa learned to talk

13 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bloomberg's Brad Stone and Recode's Jason Del Rey report on all things Amazon and Jeff Bezos. They discuss the company’s underrated tech and how Ama...

The Colonial Pipeline, hacked

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, a major US oil pipeline was hacked and held for ransom. The Colonial Pipeline shut down in an effort to stop the hackers, causing a major d...

India's Covid censorship

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you remember how bad the coronavirus pandemic was in the US about a year ago, right now in India … it’s worse. In fact, it’s the worst outbre...

The housing boom, but for renters

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

America’s high-flying housing market might mean you’ll be renting forever — or, at least, for quite some time. Housing prices have soared during...

Why you should be skeptical of Jeff Bezos’s worker satisfaction stat

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos released his last annual letter to shareholders, it's his final farewell. Bezos mentioned a stat that said 9...

iOS 14.5 lets you say no to data tracking

28 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The long-awaited Apple iOS 14.5 update comes with a new privacy tool called App Tracking Transparency. This tool prompts users to opt out of tracking ...

Apple and Facebook are all ears

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Recode’s Peter Kafka (@pkafka) explains why the two big tech companies are pushing into audio and could change how podcasts make money.  Referenc...

The surprisingly exciting future of batteries

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Batteries are crucial for the transition to an economy powered entirely by renewables. David Roberts (@drvolts), writer of the Volts newsletter, expla...

If an atmospheric scientist had a billion dollars

22 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, and Bill Gates have made pledges to commit their earnings to saving our heating planet, but are they going...

Is remote work better for the environment?

21 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Working from home seems like it could be great for the climate. You don’t need to drive a car to work, and companies won’t need to heat and power ...

Bitcoin’s inconvenient truth

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cryptocurrencies are more popular than ever. But they require a mind-boggling amount of electricity to operate. The Verge's Justine Calma (@justcalma)...

The gas stove myth

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The oil industry spent decades convincing Americans that there was something special about cooking with gas. Rebecca Leber (@RebLeber), then of Mother...

A wealth tax for tech billionaires

16 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A proposal in the Washington state legislature would impose a 1 percent wealth tax on assets over $1 billion. Recode’s Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschlei...

How do taxes work for remote employees? It's complicated.

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you're one of the millions of employees who work remotely in the last year, your taxes could be changing. With a month left to file your income tax...

Is AI really a national security threat?

14 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What do you think about when you're asked about artificial intelligence? You might think about search algorithms or social feeds or robots, but what y...

Twitter doesn't want Trump's tweets, but the National Archives does

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When a presidency ends, the National Archives and Records Administration's work begins. They play a key role in transferring millions of records and a...

A union drive at Amazon fails

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, voted overwhelmingly not to form a union. But as Recode's Jason Del Rey (@DelRey) explains, union...

Listen now! Offer ends soon

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dark patterns, the design tricks websites and apps use to get you to click “yes,” are all over the digital world. Recode’s Sara Morrison (@SaraM...

Back to the movies?

08 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As we inch closer towards a post-pandemic world, will everyone go back to watching movies in theaters? Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson talks with Pet...

Supreme code

07 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For years, two tech giants have been locked in a legal battle over lines of code. When Google built the Android operating system, it used software cre...

Vaccine passports, explained

06 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One way that America can get “back to normal” is through what's called a digital vaccine passport. America is well underway with its covid vaccina...

Why Covid-19 tests aren’t going away

05 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The FDA recently authorized at-home Covid-19 tests that are available without a prescription. Recode’s Sara Morrison explains why these kinds of tes...

Should you buy your grandma a robot?

02 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (Sept. 21, 2020) :The pandemic has made robot caregivers a popular way to keep elderly people company. But as Vox's Sig...

Don't get duped by these vaccine scams

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (Feb. 8, 2021): The latest innovation in pandemic scamming is fake vaccine doses and vaccine cards. Recode’s Rebecca ...

The Internet, From Space

31 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (Oct. 5, 2020): The pandemic has boosted demand for satellite Internet connections. Recode's Adam Clark Estes explains ...

How the pandemic broke Nextdoor

30 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Recode Daily archives (Feb. 19, 2021): The platform, which calls itself the social network for neighborhoods, was once used for things like s...