Cover of Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

By: Semafor Podcasts
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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.2024 Semafor, Inc Economics Marketing & Sales Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Alex Gibney on his Elon Musk documentary and why the doc business has never been more scared

    Alex Gibney on his Elon Musk documentary and why the doc business has never been more scared
    9 Oct 2026
    Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney joins Mixed Signals to talk about his four-hour film on Elon Musk. Max and Ben ask Gibney how he built an AI avatar of Musk using only his actual words when Musk refused to participate, what Elon’s first wife, Justine Musk, taught him about “gaslighting” as a management strategy, and why he thinks Musk’s political turn was less ideological than it was transactional and childlike. 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
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    49 min
  • Kasey Esser on being the "Brad Pitt of microdramas" and what's next for the booming vertical video format

    Kasey Esser on being the "Brad Pitt of microdramas" and what's next for the booming vertical video format
    2 Oct 2026
    Actor and producer Kasey Esser joins Mixed Signals to explain the multi-billion dollar "microdrama" industry, and why he's become one of its biggest stars. Max and Ben ask Kasey how a werewolf Romeo-and-Juliet show that shot in just a week for a hundred thousand dollars became a global hit, what it's like to translate Chinese scripts for American audiences in real time on set, and how microdramas make all of their money. 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
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    39 min
  • Liquid Death CEO Mike Cessario on selling water like a punk band, and why comedy is the one thing Coca-Cola can't buy

    Liquid Death CEO Mike Cessario on selling water like a punk band, and why comedy is the one thing Coca-Cola can't buy
    25 Sep 2026
    Liquid Death founder and CEO Mike Cessario joins Mixed Signals (with Semafor business editor Liz Hoffman filling in for Max) to explain how he built a billion-dollar water company by treating his ads like SNL sketches. Ben and Liz ask Mike why he thinks comedy is a more durable marketing genre than celebrity testimonials, why big companies almost never win when they sue smaller ones, and whether Liquid Death will fizzle out into the graveyard of buzzy consumer brands that came before it. 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
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    51 min
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