TechCrunch interviews Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson, co-founders of Digg. The hour-long podcast covers the rise of the social news site and where it's going after the new edition's Monday release. TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington pulls some great info from the Diggers. But if you don't have time to listen, just read these WagNotes.

  • Digg started in October 2004, to give users control over the flow of content.
  • One of the first top stories was the Paris Hilton cellphone hack, which got a top Google and Yahoo rank and wiped out Digg's servers.
  • Digg's team wasn't watching when it overtook old-school tech site Slashdot. Ever since the "experiment" of Digg started working, Kevin and Jay planned to expand it past tech news.
  • Digg clones come from China, Japan, Spain, and Italy.
  • Digg's new categories include video — Kevin says, "We want to be the clearinghouse for YouTube, Google Video, and everything like that."

After the jump, the scoop on who wanted to buy Digg.

  • There's no need to advertise Digg, because the users keep growing it.
  • Kevin loves the friend features, which help people discover stories through what their contacts dugg. (TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington sounds unimpressed.)
  • Stamen Design whipped up classy real-time visualizations that debut in mid-July.
  • Arrington rips on Netscape for about three minutes. Jay sounds afraid to agree.
  • AOL never tried to buy Digg. Weblogs, Inc. founder Jason Calacanis did. But his offer ($4 million, we're told) was "ridiculous."
  • Kevin doesn't like Digg clone Netscape Beta because it gives power back to "anchors" — editors who pick the top stories to promote.
  • Arrington: "At some point, Digg is the New York Times." Jay: Not really — Digg needs something to link to.
  • Digg might be bigger than the New York Times online.