Mixed Signals from Semafor Media
Every Friday media reporter Max Tani and Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith pull back the curtain on the most important stories about media, revealing why you see and hear what you see and hear. Mixed Signals from Semafor Media is supported by Think with Google.
Show episodes
Alison Roman on cookbooks, food influencers, and the surprising way AI is changing her recipes
Alison Roman was one of digital media’s first food stars – she’s had recipes go viral since 2018 and an infamous ‘cancellation’ in 2020. Now, with her latest cookbook, Something From Nothing, she’s trying to move away from life on the Internet. This week, Ben and Max bring on the chef and author to talk about food medi
Blackbird Spyplane’s Jonah Weiner on Substack, resisting selling out, and Obama’s pants legacy
Blackbird Spyplane, a style and culture newsletter, launched in 2020 as one of the early adopters and success stories on Substack. This week, Ben and Max bring on co-author and longtime magazine journalist, Jonah Weiner, to talk about how the newsletter has evolved, how it changed his marriage, and why he’s ‘grossed ou
Can MS survive without NBC? Inside CEO Mark Lazarus’ efforts to save cable’s great brands
MSNBC and 10 other television channels, from CNBC to Golf Channel, are splitting from NBC over the next several weeks to form a new digital-focused, publicly traded company called Versant. In his first interview about the new “SpinCo,” Ben and Max talk to CEO Mark Lazarus about how he envisions the company will operate
Malcolm Gladwell’s theories on podcasting, America, and Joe Rogan
Malcolm Gladwell is a man of many theories – he’s made a career of it through his books and podcasts through Pushkin Industries. This week, Ben and Max bring on the author and Revisionist History host to get his current theories about the state of podcasting, how that industry can extend your career, and why he’s betti
This week, a special episode featuring Josh Spanier, VP of marketing at Google, who you might recognize from our branded segments. In this sponsored episode, Ben asks Josh about how Google thinks about advertising, how he’s navigated the technological changes in that space, and if AI is going to homogenize all of the a
The Financial Times is the paper for business and world leaders, and comes with a hefty subscription price of $45/month. But what does it mean to serve the elite in a growing age of populism, and what are the consequences of high quality journalism only being available to the 1%? This week, Ben and Max bring on the edi
