Podcasting challenges late nite, lying in media, shopping as content, super consumers and Alex rediscovers America at Disney.Watch us on... more

Tech has swallowed media, and is increasingly swallowing other industries and accruing power along the way. Plus: why adding a... more

Prediction market + news; media’s bifurcating star system; media’s management-labor divide; AI + browsers; car talk; LinkedIn cringeWatch us on... more

This week: The internet comes to life as spectacle, Elon proclaims you are the media, why publishers need to get... more

This week on People vs. Algorithms, we unpacked London’s charm, the shifting dynamics of media and search, and why Google’s... more

The election in many ways confirmed what many had suspected: the information space has superceded and subsumed the traditional media... more

We run through the implications of the return of Donald Trump to the presidency after an election that saw the... more

Complex is a digital media survivor. It has lived many lives, including as a magazine, a dot-com, an ad network,... more

There’s a new consensus about the media business that is emerging. The past is not coming back, that much is... more

Mass media’s extinction event has come first for text content. Text is increasingly being "pushed down the stack" and commoditized... more

This week, we take a look at making bets that go wrong, and how it’s often difficult to tell if... more

This week, we discuss a new framework for the media industry that separates content into two distinct categories: "above the... more

The heart of organizations is tension, which when productive can lead to great outcomes. If it goes to extremes, disaster.... more

We discuss the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Google as a classic case of fighting the last war. And... more

This week we’re joined by Emily Sundberg and celebrate our 100th episode, talking about classic topics like X vs Threads... more

Founders can force change that managers (call them operators) can’t, at least as efficiently. Plus: AI land grab update, Gannett’s... more

This is shaping up to be a TikTok election where relatability is at a premium. The successful rollout of the... more

This week, we discuss conversations vs interviews, why social networking has been replaced by algorithmic content, YouTube’s pivotal role in... more

A federal judge has ruled Google a monopoly for locking up distribution with Apple. We discuss the percent and likely... more

OpenAI is readying a new search engine, Meta is pushing further into search with Llama, Perplexity is cutting deals with... more

This week, we’re joined by Joe Marchese, operating and build partner at Human Ventures and veteran media exec. We discuss... more

The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was a stress test for the Information Space, and a reminder of just how... more

The tidal wave of crap is a reality in the Information Space. This week, we discuss the rules of winning... more

In this July 4th episode, Alex, Brian and Troy chat about whether life will ever get back to 'normal,' Threads... more

Troy and Brian discuss the realist mood in Cannes, the key to good brand events, why hotels need a good... more

Apple has entered the AI fray with a compelling view of using it to remove friction that gets in the... more

Technology acts as a compressor. AI is the latest pressure point. This week, we look at compression in software development,... more

In this episode Brian, Troy, and Alex talk about AI hallucinations, and how they mirror human misperceptions. Troy believes the... more

What do tech and media look like in five years? Plus: Sam Altman as slippery character and AI comes to... more

Brian, Alex, and Troy get into the new AI updates from OpenAI and Google. They unpack how these big changes... more

Jess Sibley, CEO of Time, joins Brian and Troy to discuss adapting Time to today’s digital challenges. Jess shares her... more

Brian, Troy, and Alex discuss the commercialization of the internet and the impact of AI on media. They explore big... more

Omnicom digital chief Jonathan Nelson joins the show to discuss why ad agencies, forever under threat, will adapt to AI.... more

In this episode Alex, Brian and Troy dive into topics like how AI is changing advertising, the ways tech meets... more

In this episode Brian, Troy, and Alex dive into AI mishaps in Teslas, muse over BuzzFeed's AI pivot, and ponder... more

With Alex still on vacation, Axios senior media reporter Sara Fischer joins Troy and Brian to break down the current... more

Emily, Brian and Troy delve into the complex world of influencers and celebrities as they navigate public scrutiny and fame... more

In this episode of 'People vs. Algorithms,' hosts Brian Morrissey, Troy Young, and Alex Schleifer engage in a wide-ranging discussion... more

As Alex says, the ground is shifting more and faster than it has in some time in the tech world,... more

This week, we discuss how to turn the ship at two very different companies facing different challenges: CNN and Google.... more

This week, we're joined by Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman, who gives her view on how to build a career... more

Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel joins the show to discuss how a publisher reliant on search traffic is back in... more

The arrival of AI means the paradigm of searching for information and entertainment will give way to instant delivery. This... more

In this episode Alex, Brian, and Troy, with guest Rafat Ali, discuss the future of technology, focusing on the Apple... more

With an era of digital media ending in chaos, we look ahead to the challenges media companies face in fixing... more

Layoffs at The Los Angeles Times, the end of the road for Pitchfork, and an uncertain future for Sports Illustrated... more

This week we talk CES, the ongoing silliness of the Bill Ackman-Business Insider feud, and why news aggregation apps are... more

This week, we dig into the latest front into the so-called hit piece. Last week, Business Insider published a pair of... more

The New Year is maybe the perfect holiday. It’s celebrated by just about every culture and creed. And in a... more

Troy and Brian go over some of the lessons of 2023 and look ahead to 2024, starting with the end... more

Troy and Alex kept the conversation going after the recording of last episode. After sharing a "transcendental" experience with Chat... more

In news, we discuss Google's antitrust loss, the miracle of Cheddar selling for $200 million, 5-Hour Energy Guy cleaning house... more

We live in an age of cults, narratives and fleeting fame. Centralization is giving way to a fragmented culture and... more

The website might be dying. How will this affect media and advertising? We cover this and other hot topics in... more

The OpenAI drama exposed fault lines in the very unique culture of Silicon Valley, highlighting the imperfect methods used to... more

AI agents will accelerate the interface shift and change the economics of software, media and beyond. Troy Young's People vs... more

The power of brands has eroded, particularly media brands. The path forward for legacy media brands is uncertain but almost... more

9-5 Girl on TikTok sparked a debate over the outdated ideas of the 9-5 work day, which was stared by Henry... more

While many people pretend that “the media” are still gatekeepers to information, those days are past. The information space is... more

On a crossover episode of The Rebooting Show and People vs Algorithms, Alex and Brian discuss zero-interest rate phenomena and how... more

“Deliver something nobody else is delivering,” advises Milk Street’s Christopher Kimball. The media veteran, who created Cooks Country and America’s... more

You don't have to be an engineer or be a developer to be a product person, although it helps. This week,... more

Bustle Digital Group's Bryan Goldberg joins to discuss why the scale era wasn't as great as it was portrayed. The... more

Most of the challenges facing media come down to misaligned incentives. Publishers face a bad set of options to serve... more

This week, we discuss the rebundling, with a focus on the future of pay TV and why tech companies will... more

One person's "fire-breathing dragon" is another person's asshole. The zero-interest rate era is in the rearview mirror, and businesses will... more

The foundations of mass media continue to erode, from the declining relevance of presidential debates to the uncertain future of... more

In this Brian-free episode Troy and Alex discuss the tension between media and tech, what changed and why. Plus: weird... more

This week Troy, Brian and Alex talk about their summer media habits when on vacation or just trying to unplug.Troy... more

Maybe publishing stinks as a scaled business, and it won't ever be otherwise. The most promising models I see tend... more

This week: Media cannot escape being aggregated; Elon Musk's superapp fever dream; Hollywood's dead-cat bounce with Barbieheimer; and publishers look... more

Every business deals with disruption and challenges, but the media business is somewhat unique in having such profound upheavals to its... more

The zero-interest rate is in the rearview mirror. And now comes the repricing, not just of assets but also talent.... more

The open web has never faced more threats, and the prevailing winds of the digital economy are working against the... more

The FTC has declared war on dark patterns, the use of design to manipulate people into taking actions against their... more

The old levers of the media business aren't working. This is a time of existential change in many parts of... more

Apple has unveiled its long-anticipated entree into mixed reality, with the announcement of a headset that will be available starting next year.... more

Ads are like cockroaches. You might not like them, but they always find a way to survive and multiply. But... more

This week, Troy, Alex and I discuss a variety of topics, ranging from Alex’s beef with advertising, whether gaming will... more

The pageview has long been the atomic unit of the internet. The business of digital publishing has revolved around it.... more

The battle for engagement has long been a losing battle. The arrival of AI, and the prospect of limitless synthetic... more

The commanding heights of the digital economy are control of the interface. It’s the interface through which the vast expanses... more

Today we talk about why a lack of alignment led to the demise of the once buzzy Buzzfeed News. We... more

Nobody likes friction, at least in the moment. It stands in the way of accomplishing a task. Modern life in... more

This week, Troy, Alex and Brian discuss how we come up with ideas and take them through to execution. We... more

This week, we discuss how the conversation about AI has broken into camps of maximalists, doomers and fatalists. AI looks... more

It's been 20 years, and despite endless attempts to bend the internet to its will, advertising remains a fraught part... more

Brian, Troy, and Alex tackle the fascinating topic of formats and explore why they can make or break media companies.... more

Brian, Troy, and Alex jump on a call to talk about that SVB thing and the discourse around it. Some... more

This week Brian, Troy and Alex discuss Substack, why it's turning into a platform, and why e-mail may or may... more

Today Brian, Troy and Alex ask themselves "what is premium"? They also discuss bundling in its many different forms. How... more

Software has eaten the world, and for publishers that means a continuous battle to fend off second-order impacts of decisions... more

Troy, Alex and Brian discuss what's next for interfaces and how we will be getting our media in the future.Show... more

Troy, Alex and Brian discuss differentiation or uniqueness and what it means as the algorithmic age moves into new territory.Show... more

In this episode we discuss the virtues and misuses of optimism. We dig into how optimism gets applied to the... more

This week we’re talking about decisions: how to make them, when they go wrong, and the tough decisions that are... more

We're still in January so we thought we might as well slip in a late predictions episode. Everyone came prepared.Show... more

Brian's fresh off CES, where he saw no robots at all but definitely got a coffee behind a guy just... more

This week, we consider whether we’re on the cusp of the end of the link era. The web was built... more

The end of calendar years tend to be times for resets. We like to use them as an excuse for... more