Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

• Ezra Klein on Trump, Sanity, and Podcasting

  Ezra Klein is on a book tour — you may have heard his voice on some of your other favorite podcasts talking about Abundance. Today, Ben and Max also talk to The New York Times columnist and host… but you won’t hear anything about the book (so you’ll just have to buy it). Instead, they ask Ezra what he’s learned about the media and podcasting through this latest tour, how the “abundance” framework might apply to media, and if Trump will go after the press next. They also discuss how he’s become a rare media celebrity for liberals, why his fans feel saner listening to him — and how that may not be a good thing. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media  For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com. Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

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• Zeitgeist Genius Tina Brown on Meghan Markle, Vanity Fair and Whether We Still Need Editors

  Tina Brown has shaped the culture and captured the zeitgeist since she reinvented Vanity Fair and The New Yorker in the 1980s and 1990s. But now, she’s moved onto the digital media space with her Substack, Fresh Hell. This week, Ben and Max talk to the magazine icon about what she makes of the state of print media today, if we still need editors in a world filled with influencers, and what she thinks the future holds for her former employer, Condé Nast. They also talk about her gripes with our current “uncouth” culture, how we’ve all become “scavengers of info,” and the stories she would assign today if she could. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media  For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com. Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

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• Can YouTube Debates Bring America Back Together? with Jubilee’s Jason Y. Lee

  In a YouTube landscape filled with podcasts and talking heads, Jubilee Media’s wild debate videos stand apart: A doctor debates 20 anti-vaxxers, Ben Shapiro debates 25 liberals, Pete Buttigieg debates 25 conservatives. But are these viral videos bringing a divided America back together or are they just profiting off of polarization? This week, Ben and Max bring on Jubilee’s founder and CEO, Jason Y. Lee, to talk about his vision for “radical empathy” for quite extreme views and how even dumb debates – between flat earthers and “round earthers,” for one – can be productive. They also discuss why the Biden White House censored parts of their video with Pete Buttigieg and the media lessons Democrats can learn for the next election. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media  For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com. Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

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• Piers Morgan On Going Independent, Meghan Markle, and Why He Likes Pouring Gasoline On the Fire

  Since the 80s, Piers Morgan has ridden massive changes in the media industry, jumping from print to cable to, more recently, YouTube. This week on Mixed Signals, the TV star joins Ben and (subbing in for Max) Semafor’s head of comms, Meera Pattni, to discuss how he’s building his Uncensored brand, what he likes about being a YouTuber, and if he misses anything about legacy media. They also talk about how some journalists take themselves too seriously, why having fun is important even in news media, and his views on Trump’s term so far. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media  For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com and visit their YouTube channel for the latest interview with Vidhya Srinivasan, Google’s VP of Ads and Commerce. Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani, @meerapattni If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

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• Nick Denton’s Surprising Return, Courtesy of Elon Musk, Denmark, and Chinese Cars

  Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker, more or less disappeared from the Internet in 2017, after a public legal battle with Hulk Hogan (backed by Peter Thiel) resulted in the site being shut down… That is until earlier this month, when Denton suddenly reappeared on X, tweeting over 200 times over the course of days. In his first podcast appearance since his recent return, Ben and Max talk to the former digital media mogul about why he’s come back after almost a decade of relative anonymity and what he makes of this current media moment. They also discuss his new AI venture for journalism, why he’s short Tesla and Elon Musk, long China, and how he looks back on his Gawker days today. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media  For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com. Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

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