logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2023
29m 28s

Peak social media: Trouble at Twitter

Financial Times
About this episode

Elon Musk took over Twitter with the promise of promoting free speech and making the loss-making platform profitable again. But his critics say he’s destroying Twitter’s culture and driving it to bankruptcy. How much danger is the company really in? In the first episode in a new series of Tech Tonic, Elaine Moore, deputy editor of the FT’s Lex column, asks whether Musk will save Twitter or destroy it.


In this episode we hear from Evan Henshaw-Plath, one of the original creators of Twitter; Rumman Chowdhury, Twitter’s former head of machine learning, ethics, transparency, and accountability who was laid off by Elon Musk; and FT tech reporter Hannah Murphy.


Presented by Elaine Moore. Produced by Edwin Lane and Josh Gabert-Doyon, Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Hannah Murphy


Clips: TED Conferences, CBS, Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, MSNBC, CNN


We're keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you'd like to hear more of, so we're running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort earbuds.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
BCG tries to limit Gaza work fallout
EU negotiators are closing in on a trade deal with Donald Trump that would cement higher tariffs than those granted to the UK, and Boston Consulting Group’s chief executive said the group’s involvement with a postwar plan for Gaza had been “reputationally very damaging”. Plus, Eu ... Show More
10m 31s
Yesterday
Liechtenstein's zombie-trust apocalypse
US President Donald Trump extended tariff deadlines, and Liechtenstein’s trust industry is in a crisis spurred by American sanctions against Russia. Plus, Shein filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, and Elon Musk is trying to save Tesla from Trump. Mentioned in this ... Show More
11m 18s
Jul 7
US stocks: rally or overcorrection?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington DC today to discuss a Gaza ceasefire proposal with US President Donald Trump, and US stocks are booming again despite uncertainty about the wider economy. Plus, Hong Kong’s stock exchange is attracting lots of companies, ... Show More
10m 9s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2023
Peak social media: Trouble at Twitter
Elon Musk took over Twitter with the promise of promoting free speech and making the loss-making platform profitable again. But his critics say he’s destroying Twitter’s culture and driving it to bankruptcy. How much danger is the company really in? In the first episode in a new ... Show More
29m 28s
Nov 2022
Twitter in the Time of Elon Musk
It was long awaited, and some doubted that it would ever come to pass, but last week, the tech billionaire Elon Musk officially took over Twitter.The platform was once the place of underdogs, a public square that allowed users to challenge the moneyed and powerful. Is that about ... Show More
25m 8s
Jul 2023
Peak social media: The ads machine
Mark Zuckerberg used advertising to turn Facebook into the first global social media giant, boasting 3bn users around the world. But today there are questions about the business model that has powered it for the past 15 years, and what Zuckerberg’s new focus on building the Metav ... Show More
27m 5s
Apr 2022
Spotlight — A Bigger Picture on Elon & Twitter
If Elon Musk owns Twitter, what are the risks and what are the opportunities? In order for Twitter to support democracy — and Musk’s goal of becoming a multi-planetary civilization — we need a radical redesign that goes beyond free speech. Note: this conversation was recorded on ... Show More
13m 42s
Nov 2022
Elon’s Twitter is in the Sh*tter with Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge and host of the Decoder podcast, talks with Jon about Elon Musk’s newest and thorniest business venture: purchasing Twitter. In a recent article, “Welcome to Hell, Elon,” Patel describes the quandary that awaits the Tesla founder and argu ... Show More
41m 33s
Nov 2022
Elon’s Twitter hell
Twitter is about to suck for you. But it’s going to suck for self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” Elon Musk too. Recode’s Shirin Ghaffary and The Verge’s Nilay Patel explain.This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn and Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bulla ... Show More
24m 48s
Nov 2022
Elon Musk patron de Twitter : comment il chamboule tout
Le 27 octobre dernier, le milliardaire Elon Musk a finalement racheté le réseau social Twitter, après des mois de tergiversations. Désormais, que compte-t-il en faire ? Le patron de Tesla et SpaceX, partisan d’une liberté d’expression totale, a annoncé une «amnistie générale» pou ... Show More
19m 38s
Apr 2022
Elon Musk Might Break Twitter. Maybe That's a Good Thing.
If Elon Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter comes to fruition, the world’s richest person will own one of its most important communications platforms. Twitter might have a smaller user base than Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat, but it shapes the dominant narratives in key indust ... Show More
1h 5m
May 2022
Elon Musk, le milliardaire qui voulait contrôler Twitter
Le 4 avril dernier, Elon Musk entre dans le capital de Twitter en rachetant 9,2 % des actions, devenant ainsi le premier actionnaire du réseau social. Mais l’homme le plus riche du monde ne s’arrête pas là. Le 14 avril, il  annonce avoir déposé une offre d'achat de l'ensemble des ... Show More
20m 20s