Land of the Giants

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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...

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) Enjoyed this episode? Rate us ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Want to get in touch? Tweet @recode. Subscribe for free...

When Google bought YouTube, it went from being a company that helps users search the Internet, to a company that shapes the Internet itself. With 2 billion users, YouTube generates its own gravitational pull on society and culture worldwide. And as an open platform that allows anyone to upload videos, it's a force that even Google can't quite control...

Since they were Stanford grad students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin have had big ideas for technologies that could change the world. Only now, they have Google's nearly limitless resources to turn those ideas into reality. Some of Google's projects seem like a vision from the future. Others have crashed and burned. This is the story of two moonshots, and the world we might live in someday...

One of Google’s long points of pride was its open, collaborative, and transparent company culture. But many Googlers feel like that's slipping away. Over our next two episodes, we’ll tell the story of a breakdown of trust inside Google — between management and employees. Starting with a covert contract Google made with the Department of Defense. Hosts: Shirin Ghaffary (@shiringhaffary) and Alex Kantrowitz (@kantrowitz) Enjoyed this episode? Rate us ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐and leave a review on Apple Podcasts...

On December 2nd, 2020, Dr. Timnit Gebru - co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI team - got an email that said Google had accepted her resignation. A resignation she didn’t think she made. Her exit is just the latest sign of the crisis unfolding within Google — a loss of trust between many of its employees and leadership. This week, what led to Gebru’s exit - and what it means for us, Google’s users...

Google is now facing antitrust scrutiny at a level it's never experienced before, from both sides of the political aisle. Which means we’re in an unprecedented moment that could define the company, our economy, and our daily lives for years to come. In our season finale, we explore the arguments for and against breaking up or regulating Google. And we explain why it’s virtually impossible to go online now without dropping a coin into Google’s pocket...