Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Is Pinterest Really a Social Network ‘for Women?’

Just ask engineer Tracy Chou, our guest on this week’s Too Embarrassed to Ask. Plus: Lauren Goode and Kurt Wagner answer your questions about Snapchat.

Vjeran Pavic for Re/code

How old is too old to start using Snapchat? Why do more women than men use Pinterest? And what gadget can you now safely squeeze to death?

The Verge’s Lauren Goode, Re/code’s Kurt Wagner and special guest Tracy Chou, a software engineer at Pinterest, answered all these questions and more on the latest episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask.

In the first half of the show, Lauren and Kurt answered listener questions about how Snapchat works, why young people love it and why it was one of the most talked-about topics at Code/Media last week. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions — remember that you can always send in questions about any topic to us by tweeting @LaurenGoode, @KaraSwisher or @Recode with the hashtag #AskRecode.

In the second half of the show, Tracy Chou joined in to talk about why she disagrees with the common assumption that Pinterest is a site for women, as well as her work to encourage gender diversity in tech workplaces. Then, in “Too Embarrassed to Answer,” Lauren and Kurt challenged Tracy with questions about encryption on Android, squeezable gadgets and social media avoidance.

Listen to or download the episode in the player above, or click here to subscribe on iTunes; you can also find Too Embarrassed to Ask on TuneIn and Stitcher.

We have lots more podcasts for your listening pleasure. For instance, our newest show, Re/code Media with Peter Kafka, features in-depth no-BS interviews with the most interesting people in the media world. Click here to subscribe to Re/code Media right now on iTunes.

Kara Swisher will be back in this space next week, but you can also hear her right now interviewing the movers and shakers in tech and media on Re/code Decode. Click here to subscribe on iTunes. And on Re/code Replay, you can hear all the audio from our live events, including some can’t-miss sessions from Code/Media 2016. To subscribe to that, click right here.

You can follow @Recode on Twitter for the latest on upcoming guests.

If you like what we’re doing, please write a review on iTunes — and if you don’t, just tweet-strafe Kara and Lauren. Tune in for more questions and answers next Friday!

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh