Mixed Signals from Semafor Media
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Description
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.
103 Episodes
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A note from Ben:
We'll be back on Friday with our regularly scheduled episode of Mixed Signals, but I wanted to drop into your feed this week with an interview I think you'll like from another Semafor show — Compound Interest, Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami's great new show about how business is changing in both subtle and seismic ways.
I sat down with Liz to guest host this week's episode — a conversation with Joe Weisenthal of Bloomberg's Odd Lots — to examine how the business of business media has evolved. We also talk about why X is still the place to be for finance and tech watchers, why he thinks Substack’s drive to monetize expert amateurism has made it worse, and why he’s optimistic that the age of AI may actually be good for journalism … or at least podcasts.
Subscribe to get Compound Interest from Semafor Business, or watch it on YouTube.
Chef and Cove owner Flynn McGarry joins Mixed Signals to talk about what it's like to navigate food media. He was first profiled as a teenaged chef prodigy and has since become a restaurant owner trying to figure out what actually drives people through the door in 2026. Max and Ben ask Flynn how early media attention shaped his sense of himself, how he missed years of TV development deals (including one with White Lotus creator Mike White), and how he learned what kinds of social media content drives traffic at his restaurants.
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, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
The brothers behind Angel Studios, the faith-and-values-based studio behind increasingly popular blockbusters, join Mixed Signals to explain how their two-million-member Guild subverts the traditional greenlighting process. Max and Ben ask the Harmon brothers whether Angel Studios is a niche media company or something with genuine mainstream scale.
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, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
YouTube creator and Newpress co-founder Johnny Harris joins Mixed Signals to break down how he went from selling his own plasma to running a YouTube channel with over 7 million subscribers. Max and Ben ask Johnny about how he built a sustainable business explaining difficult topics without chasing the outrage that drives so much attention online, and why millions of people are obsessed with longform video explainers.
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 mixedsignals@semafor.com
Sports media mogul Maverick Carter joins Mixed Signals to discuss the next phase of athlete-led media, from scaling SpringHill Company into a global content powerhouse to rethinking how fans engage with sports. He also breaks down the NBA’s attention economy, his foray into live and digital entertainment, and why a more global basketball game could be the industry’s biggest opportunity.
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 mixedsignals@semafor.com
Max Tani and Ben Smith sit down with bestselling author and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe to discuss his gripping new book, London Falling. Keefe reveals how he finds his projects, and navigates his new, unexpected status as a celebrity journalist. They also discuss the art of true crime storytelling, adaptations of his work for film and TV, and how compelling human drama lies at the heart of every interesting topic.
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, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
On this week’s episode of Mixed Signals, Max and Ben chat with Bluesky COO Rose Wang about how the social media platform is rethinking social media through a more decentralized model. They discuss its rapid growth, reputation as a politically charged space, and the challenge of turning a utopian vision into a real business.
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 mixedsignals@semafor.com
Tech journalist Joanna Stern joins Mixed Signals to discuss leaving The Wall Street Journal after more than a decade to launch her own venture, “New Things,” and what it really takes to bet on yourself in today’s media landscape. Max and Ben ask how she’s using AI as a “co-founder,” and what she learned from immersing herself in artificial intelligence for her new book, I Am Not a Robot.
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, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
Former Sony Entertainment CEO and current Snap Inc. Chairman Michael Lynton joins Mixed Signals to revisit the decision that led to one of the most consequential hacks in history: approving The Interview, the Seth Rogen–James Franco comedy that provoked a cyberattack from North Korea. Max and Ben ask why he broke his own greenlight process, and how he managed the fallout as private emails were leaked and careers were upended. They also dive into Lynton’s new book with Josh Steiner, and why he was frustrated by the US federal government’s inaction on its own TikTok ban.
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, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
Douglas Scott Wreden and Aiden McCaig of the Lemonade Stand podcast join Ben and Max to explain how they turned gaming audiences into a loyal following for business, tech, and politics—and what it says about the future of media.
Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media
Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani
If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
Introducing The CEO Signal, a new show from SEMAFOR hosted by Penny Pritzker and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson.
In each episode, they sit down with global CEOs to discuss the moments of judgment that define leadership — how they interpret the forces shaping their industries, weigh difficult choices, and make decisions when the stakes are high.
The CEO Signal builds on the SEMAFOR's CEO Signal newsletter, the briefing read by many of the world’s leading chief executives, bringing those insights into direct conversations about leadership, strategy, and the forces shaping the global economy.
Watch the full conversations on The CEO Signal with Penny Pritzker and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson.
Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg joins Mixed Signals on the one-year anniversary of the scoop known as "Signalgate" — when he was accidentally added to a top-secret Trump administration group chat. Max and Ben ask if anything actually changed after the scandal, how Donald Trump reacted to the story, and why the president invited Goldberg to the Oval Office afterwards. Goldberg also talks about falling out with Benjamin Netanyahu, The Washington Post’s struggles under Jeff Bezos, and why he believes The Atlantic’s mix of magazine storytelling and newspaper reporting is the key to its success.
Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media
Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani
If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker joins Mixed Signals for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to be the internet’s most prominent leftist streamer. Max and Ben ask him about the scale of his audience, the grind of broadcasting seven days a week, and whether constant livestreaming changes the way he thinks. Piker also talks about collaborating with Democratic politicians like Zoran Mamdani, and dialing back his rhetoric as he edges closer to real political power.
Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media
Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani
If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com
A note from Ben Smith: If you're listening to Mixed Signals' coverage of the radical changes to the world of media, I think you'll really enjoy Semafor's newest show, Compound Interest from Semafor Business, that casts a light on how pressure from technology and from Wall Street is radically shifting virtually every business.
On Compound Interest, our brilliant colleagues Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami are talking to people at the front lines of those changes — starting with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who used to run a ride-hailing service and now says he's running a platform to be "the operating system for your daily life."
You can listen to Compound Interest from Semafor Business wherever you get your podcasts, or watch it on YouTube.
Former BBC News boss Deborah Turness joins Mixed Signals for her first public interview since resigning amid a controversy over an editorial mishap involving a Donald Trump speech. She talks about whether the BBC is truly impartial, how she handled newsroom blind spots around rising populist movements like the UK's Reform party, and why she believes public media can survive a polarized age. The interview was recorded at Semafor’s Trust In Media summit, which can be watched in full on Semafor’s YouTube channel.
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 mixedsignals@semafor.com
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer join Mixed Signals to talk about their leap from the Situation Room to the podcast studio. They explain why they started The Long Game, what they learned about media while running US foreign policy, and how the war in Ukraine became as much an information battle as a military one. The conversation ranges from Gaza and Al Jazeera to AI-generated propaganda, reactions to the Munich Security Conference, and whether Democrats ever figured out how to explain foreign policy to the American middle class.
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 mixedsignals@semafor.com
1Gus Wenner, chairman of Rolling Stone and son of the magazine’s legendary founder, has spent years balancing the brand’s print heritage with its digital transformation. On this week’s Mixed Signals, Ben and Max talk with Wenner about his new holding company, Wenner Media Ventures, and why he thinks algorithms disrespect audiences. They also discuss the venture’s investment in the hit video series Track Star, his defense of Rolling Stone’s most provocative journalism, and his potential future media investments.
When now-President Donald Trump decided to put on an apron and serve customers at a McDonald’s drive-thru on the 2024 campaign trail, it put Tariq Hassan, then McDonald’s chief marketer, in a tight spot. On this week’s Mixed Signals, Ben and Max sit down with the former Golden Arches CMO to discuss the Trump episode, why he thinks ad makers should engage with journalists, and what goes into a good celebrity Super Bowl ad.
A year into Hollywood’s heralded vibe shift, as major production companies in the US have increasingly catered to broader or more conservative tastes, a gay Canadian hockey romance was not an obvious choice to become a hit. On this week’s Mixed Signals, Ben and Max bring on Bell Media CEO Sean Cohan to unpack the success of Heated Rivalry and explain how it became an overnight cultural sensation. Cohan also talks about Bell’s strategy of using licensing deals to reach new audiences, the enduring power of a well-told romance, and why Canadian storytelling is only getting started on the global stage.
Stephen Dubner has spent 20 years proving that things aren't what they seem—and now he's not so sure that's always true. The co-creator of Freakonomics and host of one of podcasting's most enduring shows joins Ben and Max to talk about why he never sold to Spotify, how The New York Times shifted from telling readers things to telling them what to think, and his new self-funded TV experiment that's "like laundering podcast money." Along the way, Dubner explains how he accidentally got sucked into the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni gossip vortex (Candace Owens was involved), makes the case for prediction markets over pundits, and reveals why he's now considering buying a pizza place with a Michelin-starred chef who hated his soup. Plus: the real reason insider trading bans are absurd, and why Mario Cuomo was wrong about vowels.
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