Land of the Giants

In October 2022, Elon Musk made the world’s most expensive impulse purchase. His reasons for buying Twitter were murky at best, but in the story he tells now, he’s saving civilization. In the final episode of this season, we look at Twitter today, inside Elon’s fantasy. What happens when the world’s richest man buys the global town square - and announces that we are doing it all wrong? Hosted by Peter Kafka (@pkafka) Follow Land of the Giants on your favorite podcast app to get future seasons Follow @voxdotcom for more coverage of X/Twitter and Big Tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter employees had always imagined the platform would be used for social good. Their idea was that free expression on the internet would lead to good things. But after the 2016 U.S. election, that notion would be put under stress. And Twitter would have to grapple with the question: what happens when its powerful superuser - who also happens to be the most powerful person in the world - creates havoc on the platform? Hosted by Peter Kafka (@pkafka) Be the first to hear next week's episode by following Land of the Giants on your favorite podcast app Follow @voxdotcom for more coverage of X/Twitter and Big Tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter was created by its users, who invented features like the retweet and hashtag. These features helped create vibrant communities like Black Twitter and Comedy Twitter, but eventually, some groups exploited Twitter’s virality in order to intimidate and harass others online. In this episode: how Twitter became the best and worst place on the internet. EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode contains descriptions of sexual harassment and of graphic threats of violence. This section begins 9 minutes after the midroll break and lasts for about 5 minutes, or approximately 35:30 through 41:20. This episode hosted by Peter Kafka (@pkafka) and Lauren Goode (@laurengoode) Be the first to hear next week's episode by following Land of the Giants on your favorite podcast app Follow @voxdotcom for more coverage of X/Twitter and Big Tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter began life as an accident. In the beginning, even its founders weren’t sure what it was: the internet’s town square, a real-time information source, or the next Facebook, maybe? Twitter's power has always been misunderstood -- by its leaders, by its users, and lately, by the world's richest person. Hosted by Peter Kafka (@pkafka) Be the first to hear next week's episode by following Land of the Giants on your favorite podcast app Follow @voxdotcom for more coverage of X/Twitter and Big Tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A year ago, in what was essentially the world’s most expensive impulse purchase, Elon Musk bought Twitter. That made him Twitter’s most important user. But he’s certainly not the only one to fall for its spell - a spell that promises attention, connection, and power. This season will explore why Twitter’s cultural and political influence far exceeds its size, and how its biggest users shaped it, for better and worse. Hosted by Vox senior correspondent Peter Kafka. Episodes drop every Wednesday beginning October 25th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tesla has spurred the EV revolution around the world, most notably in China. So why is the US so far behind on EV adoption, when it's the birthplace of Tesla? What went wrong here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seven years ago, Elon Musk stood on stage and said he “would consider autonomous driving to be basically a solved problem.” He also said Teslas could “drive with greater safety than a person right now.” That statement wasn’t true. But Musk has continued making this claim. Meanwhile, several other companies have made major strides on autonomous driving. Can Tesla catch up? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Please prepare yourself for a level of intensity that is greater than anything most of you have ever experienced before,” Elon Musk once wrote in an email to employees at Tesla. The subject line, “ultra hardcore,” also operates as an edict - go hard or go anywhere else. But this “ultra hardcore” philosophy has led to injuries, scandals and lawsuits. Are the costs of “ultra hardcore” worth it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A few years ago Tesla owned roughly 80% of the EV market. But now, the company’s share is down to 60%. And some projections whittle it down even further - to just 18% - by 2026. It appears the competition has caught up… or has it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Not many people can name the original founders of Tesla. So how did two guys who wanted to build an electric car create a company synonymous with Elon Musk? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before Teslas were everywhere, they were playthings for the rich and famous. Building its first affordable car made Tesla a breakout success, but it nearly bankrupted the company. This is the story of how the Model 3 changed Tesla and the entire auto industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

About a decade ago, Tesla did something extraordinary: it started making electric cars people actually wanted to drive. They were fast. They were high-tech, and eventually, Tesla reset the future of cars. Now, with the entire industry racing to go electric, can Tesla continue to lead the charge against the best carmakers in the world? ‘The Tesla Shock Wave’ arrives July 26th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Looking ahead, where is dating headed? Is it leaning into artificial intelligence or dating chat bots? Or is it unplugging and trying to meet people the old-fashioned way – in real life? And with Gen Z skeptical of dating apps, will tech continue to manage the dating experience? Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear next week's episode by hitting the plus sign in your favorite podcast app Follow @TheCut and @verge on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the wide world of niche dating apps. There's an app for almost every group -- Muslims, vegans, the kink community, cat lovers, farmers, rock climbers, and many more. All aimed at helping specific communities find "their people." But do these apps work, and are they sustainable as a business? Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear next week's episode by hitting the plus sign in your favorite podcast app Follow @TheCut and @verge on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bumble is the second most downloaded dating app in the U.S., behind Tinder. Dubbed the "feminist dating app," the "anti-Tinder" was designed to make dating feel better, safer, and less creepy for women. But does Bumble deliver on its promise? In today's episode, the story of how Bumble came to rival the power of Tinder and Match Group by harnessing the brand power of feminism. Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear next week's episode by hitting the plus sign in your favorite podcast app Follow @TheCut and @verge on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dating app execs don’t like to explain how their matchmaking algorithms work– they’ll claim it’s too hard to explain, or that they just can’t talk about it, Fight Club style. But critics say that if daters really knew how basic the algorithms are, they might not put so much blind faith into them. In this episode, we dive into just how these algorithms work and speak with daters trying to hack the code that controls their love lives. Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear next week's episode by hitting the plus sign in your favorite podcast app Follow @TheCut and @verge on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, The League. If you’ve ever wondered why using these different dating apps feels similar, it may be because they’re all owned by Match Group, the company that helped start online dating in the 90s, and now owns two-thirds of the dating app market. Today, Match is a dating app conglomerate with millions of users and over 45 brands around the world. That’s billions of dollars worth of swipes and subscriptions. But does paying for what Match Group calls “superpowers” — things like Hinge’s ‘roses’ and Tinder’s ‘super likes’ — get users any closer to connecting with real-life people? Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear next week's episode by hitting the plus sign in your favorite podcast app Follow @TheCut and @verge on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Tinder launched in 2012, it changed dating culture and our expectations around dating forever by leveraging the iPhone and gamifying the dating experience. But did the rise of dating apps make finding romance easier or harder, and what are the consequences of playing a game that never ends? Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear next week's episode by hitting the plus sign in your favorite podcast app Follow @TheCut and @verge on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This season, The Verge and New York Magazine's The Cut trace the evolution of the multi-billion dollar dating app industry. Through conversations with industry leaders, experts, and users, hosts Sangeeta Singh Kurtz and Lakshmi Rengarajan explore the modern dating landscape forged by companies like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, and their impact on our hopes for connection. Looking at the past decade of dating, we're asking the question: are the goals of dating app companies aligned with our romantic aspirations? New episodes begin Wednesday, January 11th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for the future -- that in a few years, we’ll be living our digital lives in a blend of augmented and virtual reality. The metaverse. To pursue that vision, Zuckerberg’s renamed his entire company and invested billions of dollars in a bid to make Meta the leader of the next tech platform. In our season finale: what are the chances his bet pays off, and why it would give Meta more power than ever. Hosted by Shirin Ghaffary (@shiringhaffary) and Alex Heath (@alexeheath) Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear our next season by hitting the plus sign in your favorite podcast app Follow @recode and @verge for more coverage of Meta and Big Tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices