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After recording some 90 episodes of “Hard Fork,” a weekly New York Times podcast about technology and business, life is much the same for its hosts, Kevin Roose and Casey Newton. That is, except for the occasional encounter with a fan, which is a new and sometimes surprising experience for them.
“Just last night I was having dinner with two friends who were visiting from out of town,” Newton said. “On my way back from the bathroom, a man stopped me. At first I thought I already knew him because I basically have face blindness. But then I realized he recognized me from our YouTube channel.”
Since the podcast's first episode in October 2022, Roose and Newton have discussed and debated topics such as the impending ban on TikTok by US lawmakers, Elon Musk's acquisition of twitter, and the pros and cons of the digital company. They have interviewed guests such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI.
Along the way, Roose and Newton have experimented with the podcast format, inviting listeners to submit questions, for example. But their mission remains the same: to inform and entertain.
In an interview, Newton and Roose shared their goals for the future of the podcast and their ideal guests. These are edited excerpts.
How did you two meet?
Casey Newton My recollection of the first time I met Kevin is that I had been invited to a party to promote his book Young Money at the home of Evelyn Rusli, a former Times journalist. I remember walking in and being very annoyed that he was younger than me and already writing his second book. I don't even remember the meeting very well. I'm sure I said hello. Over the years I ran into Kevin repeatedly and we developed a friendship.
Kevin Roose I was a subscriber and a big fan of Casey’s newsletter, Platformer, which is a must-read here in Silicon Valley. Platformer is very good and also quite serious, covering topics like content moderation and tech legislation. I also knew that Casey had that other side to him. I knew he had done improv comedy. I knew he was very funny and sharp and quick-thinking, and it was a lot of fun to talk about this stuff with him. So I asked myself, “Could the person who writes this very important and very serious newsletter also be a co-host of my podcast?”
“Hard Fork” is almost two years old now. What has been the response from listeners so far?
Newton The typical email says we use the word “like” too much, there are too many “eh,” too many swear words. They ask why we talk so much about artificial intelligence.
ROOSE Casey is cheating. We get the best feedback on any project I've ever worked on in my career as a journalist. We hear from a lot of people who have really good, smart ideas. It's very rewarding to work on a show where your listeners are smarter than you and have PhDs in molecular biology or are artificial intelligence researchers.
What is the biggest challenge of making the podcast?
Newton Other than Kevin’s personality? The hardest thing is that sometimes there aren’t three things I want to talk about in an episode. There are a lot of tech shows that have a consensus by committee, like, “These are the three biggest stories of the week and we’re going to talk about them no matter what, even if we don’t feel like we have a strong point of view.” Kevin and I really try not to do that. We try to steer the podcast where our own curiosities go and just talk about things that we have something to say about.
What are your goals for the future of “Hard Fork”?
Newton I want to make sure that the show remains surprising and innovative. One of my original ideas for “Hard Fork” was to have it be like “The Price Is Right” in terms of games and segments. You never know what segments or games are going to come up in any given week. Right now, we’re brainstorming other types of segments that would fit into the show and would feel right at home with what we do and also allow us to explore more creatively. We want to grow the audience. We want to be the biggest technology show in the world.
ROOSE I want it to be the biggest show in the world, not just a tech show. I want Joe Rogan to bow down to us. That's my goal.
Who is your dream guest?
Newton It's interesting because a lot of the big names end up not getting great interviews. But I will say that Sarah Jessica Parker responded to me on Threads and said she was a fan of the show. If we could get her to come on the show, that would be a dream.
ROOSE When we started the show, we had a huge list of dream guests. I looked at it the other day and we've interviewed a lot of them, so I'm really happy about that. I would love to be invited to a ketamine party with Elon Musk and interview him on ketamine.
What do you like most about working together?
Newton Kevin was really the only person I wanted to do a podcast with. There's something about the way he talks that I totally resonate with. Kevin and I agree on an astonishing amount of things. Even though we sometimes have different views on topics, we see the world in the same way. So it's refreshing to get into the studio with him.
ROOSE That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.
Newton Okay, don't use any of that.
ROOSE Casey is a wonderful journalist and a good friend. He's the funniest person I know and has an unusually strong moral compass. I've been very impressed by how Casey hasn't abandoned his ethical core in the pursuit of journalistic excellence. He's still driven by principle. I'm not going to say that's unusual, because a lot of journalists are, but I think he's an especially strong example of that.
