logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2020
30m 36s

5. Susan Wojcicki: “Hey, Let’s Go Buy Yo...

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode

She was the sixteenth employee at Google — a company once based in her garage — and now she's the C.E.O. of its best-known subsidiary, YouTube. But despite being one of the most powerful people in the tech industry, few outside of Silicon Valley know the name Susan Wojcicki. Levitt talks with her about the early days of Google, how her background in economics shapes the company's products, and why YouTube's success has created a range of unforeseen and serious issues.

Up next
Sep 27
167. The Secret of Humanity? It’s Common Knowledge.
Steven Pinker’s new book argues that all our relationships depend on shared assumptions and “recursive mentalizing” — our constant efforts to understand what other people are thinking. He and Steve talk about the psychology of eye contact, the particular value of Super Bowl ads, ... Show More
58m 45s
Sep 20
How to Have Great Conversations (Update)
The Power of Habit author Charles Duhigg wrote his new book in an attempt to learn how to communicate better. Steve shares how the book helped him understand his own conversational weaknesses. SOURCES:Charles Duhigg, journalist and author. RESOURCES:Supercommunicators: How to Unl ... Show More
44m 24s
Sep 13
166. The World’s Most Effective Public Health Intervention Is Under Attack
Seth Berkley used to run the world's largest vaccine funding organization. He and Steve talk about the incredible value of vaccines, the economics of immunizing the developing world, and the current attacks on public health. SOURCES:Seth Berkley, epidemiologist at Brown Universit ... Show More
1h 1m
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2020
YouTube's Susan Wojcicki: How to find – and keep – true north
When you scale at warp speed, it’s easy to lose your bearings. You have to establish your company’s true north, or the dizzying pace of growth will push you off course. No one knows this better than Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube. Under her leadership, YouTube has grown to be the ... Show More
43m 35s
Oct 2022
Susan Wojcicki ON: How to Avoid Burnout in a Leadership Role & Learning to Celebrate the Small Wins
Today I sit down with one of the most influential women in the tech industry, Susan Wojcicki. Susan Wojcicki is CEO of YouTube, the world’s most popular digital video platform used by more than a billion people across the globe to access information, share video, and shape cultur ... Show More
50m 31s
Mar 2023
Why women in tech hold high-profile positions, but rarely CEO
First to leave was Sheryl Sandberg, the longtime chief operating officer at Facebook and Meta known for her bestselling book about women in leadership “Lean In.” Last summer, she stepped down after 14 years. Then, last month, Susan Wojcicki, the only woman CEO in Big Tech, announ ... Show More
9m 12s
Nov 2018
The Accidental Technologist: Caterina Fake
Caterina Fake was on her way to life in academia as a Renaissance literature scholar when the tech world came knocking. She co-founded Flickr, the hugely popular photo-sharing site, and started a handful of other tech companies. These days she runs her own VC investment firm and ... Show More
40m 41s
May 2024
Megan Kaspar on the Fusion of Digital Technology and Fashion
In this episode of Louis Vuitton [EXTENDED] – The Podcast, host Loïc Prigent immerses himself in the digital world with Megan Kaspar. A pioneering investor in emerging technologies, the American entrepreneur talks about the dematerialization of fashion and the immense potential i ... Show More
24m 56s
Feb 2024
Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)
It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”?  SOURCES:Marissa Mayer, co-founder of Sunshine; former C.E.O. of Yahoo! ... Show More
56m 53s
Sep 2023
Google Turns 25
Google was founded 25 years ago by two Stanford PhD students, Larry Page and Sergei Brin. The company went on to shape the internet and now, after a quarter century, finds itself at a turning point. With the rise of AI and social media platforms like TikTok, its continued dominan ... Show More
10m 21s