Some good info but too many interviews that end up more like ads for company of the ceo being interviewed. Combined with advertisers like Schwab, you need to take everything with a grain of salt.

Really going down hill. Could be so much better. My advice: quit trying to be cool to these interview subjects and ask harder questions.

One of the best pod casts I have listened to in the last year. Extremely informative! Great lineup of guests. Host is great at questioning the guest. Listening to all the shows I have missed.

Idk what the exact issue is maybe it’s me. (It’s probably me) But Nilay sometimes mumbles or slurs his words slightly. And even when i have AirPods Pro in I struggle to know if he said “are” or “aren’t”, and similar but i know sometimes he says things as an aside kinda quickly and when he does I’m like pleeeease into the mic. I like everything these folks talk about bc it’s so far beyond me. But I can’t help but feel it’s an issue of diction, like there’s a reason why news people sound the way they do and did during time of radio and I guess I want that back. 🫥😬😮‍💨😵‍💫

homie is the most thoughtful thinker in the game. he’s open minded and inspired/inspiring but also ruthlessly critical at the same time - you can tell he takes a lot of care and time to wrestle with that balance. all the vergecast folks do this too tho. anyways much love

Decoder is a must listen for me. I'm especially interested in episodes on law and AI, and especially when those two intersect. But really, every episode is so well made, informative, and entertaining.

Great podcast on the pitfalls of idol worship, and the downfall of a company that ran out of ideas.

I’m in business development and I swear this podcast makes me better at my job. Nilay interviews some of the most successful, dynamic executives in tech and beyond. You learn so much about how they build and run their businesses, and you learn how to talk like an executive, which is a hilarious side benefit. I recommend this podcast to my colleagues, and I’m recommending it to YOU.

Be like Mike, give 5 stars

Nilay does a great job interviewing CEOs and getting into their philosophies and how they work. Definitely a great listen for anyone interested in tech, business, and how they intersect.

In a sea of podcasts for the intersection of business and tech, this one stands out as one of the best. Nilay is one of the best journalist interviewers out there, at a time when many just lib softball questions and don’t press the issues at hand, he handles the job incredibly well. I also like the new additional episodes that aren’t interviews. Keep up the great work!

Always interesting listen. Not the same standard business interview show.

Just heard it for the first time with Polestar CEO. It was a great and insightful interview. I’m looking forward to putting this podcast in my regular rotation.

Really great journalism requires two things: first, it requires deep and substantive reporting; but second, it requires a coherent vision of the subject. The balance of these two things is impossibly tricky, but Nilay is the rare genius who does the work and pulls it off. Journalism is not the bloodless, or mindless, assembling of facts. That’s a necessary precondition for journalism, but not the measure of success. Journalism requires an editorial insight into the beat being covered, it requires a clear point of view, that guides the journalists and the audience as they together explore the beat covered. Nilay is so successful because he is committed to both of these dimensions of his work, and DECODER is a pure example. I’ve learned so much from this podcast, and I am so grateful for it. When Nilay enters into every interview, I know what he cares about, and I understand WHY he cares about it. I love having him as a guide into the world of leaders, decision makers, and other entrepreneurs. I love the clarity and consistency of his curiosity, and how it has given me a useful framework for evaluating each of his guests. One of the special pleasures of Nilay’s work is that, because of his consistency and transparency, I can compare guests across podcasts. When CEOs return to the show, Nilay has a ready scorecard for them to answer to because he can refer back to their last visit. But even better, when he has multiple executives on from a single industry, we can meaningfully compare and contrast their styles, their visions, their assessments of the state of the industry, because Nilay is there to patiently set them each alongside the others. I have learned so much by the contrasting approaches of the different executives, even when they face identical problems. Ultimately, Nilay is producing a record of the industries that he covers. It is guided by his interests and passions, but it is developed with an exacting patience and thoroughness that has it grow more and more useful as the episodes pile up. You can feel Nilay’s work really elevating the industries he covers by meaningfully holding them accountable. Not to his arbitrary whims, but to the measure of their own words. Nilay remembers what you said six months ago, and he’s ready to hold you to your claims. On a personal note, I am really inspired by how Nilay balances the grace of a good host with the precision and bravery of a lawyer. He’s always genial, welcoming, respectful, but never timid or obsequious. He has his questions, and he wants answers. Not only is this impressive, but it’s an approach that really humanizes his subjects. Executives can often be distant, risk averse, and just plain difficult as interview subjects. But Nilay, as a successful founder himself, is able to really engage with these leaders in a way that helps me to understand who they are and why they do what they do. You should listen to DECODER.

Great mix of business and tech topics, and interviews with leaders in the space.

I think Nilay has a really interesting perspective so I appreciate how the second show allows a more deep dive into a topic than previously available. The AI copyright and Tesla episode were particularly insightful! I appreciate the thoughtfulness and insights from The Verge staff.

Thoughtful and amazing interviews!

Decoder is a super enjoyable, engaging show that dives into the business-y side of tech without buying into a lot of tech’s own hype. Nilay’s a fantastic interviewer - he does a great job getting into the minds of the interviewees, and pushing them on interesting, difficult topics. Definitely worth a subscribe

And his Tesla takes are completely valid. signed, a proud Model Y owner

I think this show is entirely too researched. If I want to want to bother to learn about things I’ll listen to this. Until then I’ll have Grok read my X feed while I am FSD my way TO THE MOON!!

I appreciate how Nay brings a broad context to his interviews… I love how he frames the podcast episode before each listen. Decoder team you do a great job.

Love Nilay and The Verge. I used to only listen if I was interested in the guest, but a lot of the guests were off my radar. But he’s switched things up lately and every episode is great.

Been listening ever since the host Nilay accidentally got the Substack CEO to launch their weird “no position on hate speech” — prescient! If you want to know a lot about org charts, this is the podcast for you

Nilay is a polished interviewer who asks pointed and pressing questions to all of his guests. I always learn something new and appreciate the perspective he brings with his role at The Verge and the jovial yet professional tone he carries throughout the conversation.

Really bad takes on business, based on pop culture / mass media more than actual facts and research. I can get this elsewhere thanks.

It’s harder and harder to take this seriously because the bias is so obvious they don’t even try to hide it. I agree with other comments that generally the interviews seem to avoid hard questions. It’s sad because there are some good conversations, but due to the bias it’s hard to take anything objectively.

Keeps you up to date on the most relevant business / tech related topics. I listen every week…

I started listening when the podcast first launch and found the experience mostly unsatisfying. I have always appreciated Nilay’s perspective, however, the interviews felt very shallow and repetitive to me: someone who has a clear stake in a position comes on and avoids answering any difficult questions with little charge by the host. I would finish each episode having learned nothing from the guest and the show soon lost any appeal for me. However, it looks like they have added some shows that do not center around guest interviews so I may revisit some of these newer episodes to see their value for me.

Nilay has been incredibly thoughtful in his structure for interviews. The “decoder questions” always come but there’s so much more to each discussion. He is not hesitant to push on guests when needed. He is also able to communicate concepts that I’m not sure I would otherwise care about or maybe not understand why they’re important.

The second episodes are fantastic! I love listening to Nilay just explain things. Love it.

This is the same guy who has ruined the vergecast by introducing a bad fit then failing to train them ! I tried quitting the show but I have failed so now I suffer through it because Niley who is the boss can’t give us a more intelligent person , Cranz ruined the vergecast and its all your fault.

Paul

Really liked the second episode about EV adoption this week. The CEO interviews are fantastic, and I’m always up for more and deeper analysis of important topics.

We wouldn’t have tech innovation without the business models attached to them. This is one of my favorite podcasts because it looks at the business and leadership side through the lens of educated tech listeners that you don’t get from a CNBC or Bloomberg interview.

Really enjoy my early listening experiences. Lots of useful information and an impressive choice of questions. Well done!

I’ve been listening for 4 or 5 months and I’ve really tried to enjoy it but the presentation style and cadence just doesn’t do it for me. Gives me the feeling of talking to what I thought was an energetic and outgoing college student who is now on day 3 of their ADHD prescription running out. Good knowledge of the industry (despite having some cringy and disconnected VC type takes), but the juice just hasn’t been worth the squeeze for me. YMMV

I’ve been a Vergecast listener for years (miss you, Dieter), so I finally decided to crack into Decoder. Nilay walks the fine line of letting CEOs say their piece while asking tough questions flawlessly. I love his ability to think about implications for users in regards to tech business choices (and tech in general) and ask CEOs about their opinion. His expertise of many years in tech journalism shines through this podcast. Thanks so much for your dedication, Nilay. Bonus: Get a drinking game going for when his interviewees say “I’m not sure I have a good answer for that.” You won’t be disappointed.

Podcasts don’t get any better than this. The information about how ultraviolet lithography machines work was fascinating. Intel betting against this technology was a epic mistake. The United States are really going to have to scramble to cover the distance created by TSMC. The people saying Nilay interrupts his guests are showing a lack of respect for his talent.

Want to like this podcast but the host is rather arrogant and is a self-proclaimed expert on every topic.

Nilay does a fantastic job of diving into the processes and thinking of executives in business and technology. There are not many other podcasts that discusses frameworks and management styles in such a deep yet approachable way.

The staff, host, guests, producers, editors- well done everyone!

Ive been following Nilay since his Engadget days, I must admit I miss that trio a bunch (Nilay, Josh and Paul)… Nilay does not hold punches, he asks the questions we’re all thinking and rattles well prepared execs out of their comfort zone. His background as a lawyer (of which he humblebrags occasionally) allows him to dig deep and hold his own against trained speakers and leaders of the tech world .The insight and industry knowledge has a depth unmatched in my opinion. Even if you dont work in tech, I highly recommend giving this (or The Vergecast) a listen, as they tend to focus is on the famous intersection of culture and technology.

Nilay tends to push the guests on Decoder, and gets to a place with real answers and less fluff, without being overly combative or rude. It’s important and feels especially needed these days. It’s like listening to journalism unfold in real-time

Nilay is awesome. Great interviewer. Does not pass on hard questions. Previous fan of TL;DR, reply all and now hard fork. Decoder is a great tech podcast but more so a product mgt pod. Does it different from the others.

After the hit piece on substack, in which Nilay made it about his personal ideological views (that I don’t really think he realizes are ideological views) I can’t really give this more than two stars. The interview was incredibly unprofessional. And am on a competing platform of substack and have no affiliation with them at all.

Precise and (often) pressing questions to get to the heart of these very important issues, events and trends. See most recent Substack CEO interview pertaining to content moderation as a clear and well appreciated example.

The content, Nilay, and guests are incredible. Very educational, regardless of the tech topic. That said, there are some MAJOR issues with some episodes, such as last year’s interview with ARM’s CEO. There are areas that are completely cut out, and audio skips around several times in the latter half of the episode. Then the episode abruptly cuts out mid conversation. Nilay and team, what’s happened here? Is this on Apple? Whatever the reason, it’s not good.

This is a great podcast. Nilay always has an interesting guest. I listen every week and can’t wait for the next episode.

Nilay is an excellent host, and hearing such a variety of personalities and perspectives is so important to stay aware and informed on what is happening across many industries. Hearing the insights from leaders in these companies gives you such an understanding on why things are. Nilay does such a great job at pushing these folks and asking right questions. Probably the only podcast I try to push on my coworkers and colleagues.

Sorry Nilay. The content has been trending downhill for months.