Rewind: CEO Jim Farley on Ford's EV gamble

Rewind: CEO Jim Farley on Ford's EV gamble

Author: The Verge June 25, 2026 Duration: 1:03:48
Hey everyone, Nilay here. You might remember I took a break from Decoder last year — we had a baby, so I took some leave. In my place, we had an excellent slate of guest hosts, and we’ve been working hard to bring you those episodes in full video since we launched our official Decoder YouTube channel. So today, we’re featuring a really great interview conducted by my very good friend Joanna Stern, now the founder and CEO of New Things, and Ford CEO Jim Farley. Joanna pulled some exclusive news out of Jim at the time, including some telling quotes on Trump’s tariff policy, on Ford competing with Chinese EVs, and the company's stance on Apple CarPlay.  Read the full interview transcript on The Verge. Links:  Ford CEO Jim Farley on China, tariffs, and the quest for a $30,000 EV | Decoder Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them | Decoder Ford's Jim Farley: 'I totally would’ve done it differently.’ | The Verge Ford pulls the plug on the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck | NPR Inside the lab where Ford is trying to crack the code on cheap EVs | The Verge Ford is fighting against physics to build affordable EVs | The Verge Ford reveals breakthrough process for lower priced EVs | The Verge Ford CEO Jim Farley on building the electric F-150 | Decoder (2021) Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. The show is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. The video version of this episode was edited by Kabir Chopra. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the intersection of power, innovation, and consequence, you'll find Decoder with Nilay Patel. Hosted by The Verge's editor-in-chief, this isn't a typical business or technology podcast that simply recites the news. Instead, Nilay engages with founders, CEOs, legislators, and artists in substantive conversations that dissect the mechanics behind major decisions. The dialogue focuses on the real-world implications of big ideas, probing how today's choices in boardrooms and legislatures ripple out into society tomorrow. You'll hear guests articulate their toughest challenges, the trade-offs they've made, and the often-unseen forces shaping industries from social media and artificial intelligence to transportation and entertainment. Each episode is built on a foundation of genuine curiosity, aiming to unpack not just what is happening, but why it matters for the way we all live and work. Listening to this podcast feels like gaining access to a nuanced, behind-the-scenes briefing where strategy and philosophy collide. It's for anyone who suspects that the most important stories aren't the announcements themselves, but the human decisions, the unforeseen problems, and the ethical calculations that happen long before the headlines are written. Through these detailed conversations, Decoder provides a crucial lens on the architects of our modern world and the complex systems they are building, for better or worse.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Decoder with Nilay Patel
Podcast Episodes
Skydio CEO argues more drones will make us safer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:17
Today, I’m talking with Slydio CEO Adam Bry, who runs the leading US maker of autonomous drones. We covered a lot in this conversation, including Skydio’s police and government work at a time when military use of AI is m…
Elon Musk is steamrolling Wall Street to become a trillionaire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:51
My guest today is Ryan Mac, a technology reporter at The New York Times and co-author of the excellent book Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, which came out in 2024. I wanted to have Ryan on today because…
AI is blowing up music. How should the Grammys handle it? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:53
I last talked to Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr in 2024 — when it was obvious that generative AI would upend the music industry, but not exactly clear how that would happen. Now, Harvey says AI is “omnipresent” in…
Rivian's software chief thinks you don't need CarPlay or buttons [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:59
Today, I’m talking with Wassym Bensaid, the chief software officer at Rivian, and the co-ceo of Rivian’s platform joint venture with Volkswagen. That joint venture, called RV Tech, is about a year and a half old, so I wa…
How Sundar Pichai is rethinking Google for the AI era [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:16
Connecting with Google CEO Sundar Pichai at I/O every year is one of my favorite Decoder traditions. This was our fifth year doing it, and there’s always a whole slew of new things to talk about. This year, in addition t…
Musk v Altman: Much ado about nothing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:01
Musk v Altman was nominally about OpenAI's conversion to a for-profit entity, and how it went about that change. But really, the suit seems mostly to have been about Elon Musk being mad at Sam Altman — or at OpenAI, for…
Exclusive: Jonah Peretti explains why he sold BuzzFeed [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:22
Just days before we spoke, BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti agreed to sell the company, which was losing money and at risk of shutting down. Now there’s a new lease on life — and new leadership. Jonah is taking…
How companies weaponize the terms of service against you [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:36
Brendan Ballou is founder of the Public Integrity Project and author of the new book, When Companies Run the Courts, about the rise of forced arbitration. Forced arbitration is similarly everywhere in modern life, and th…