Épisodes

  • Hasan Piker on streaming all day, his relationship with Zohran Mamdani, and the lefty media machine

    Hasan Piker on streaming all day, his relationship with Zohran Mamdani, and the lefty media machine
    Mar 6 2026
    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
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    47 min
  • Introducing: Compound Interest from Semafor Business

    Introducing: Compound Interest from Semafor Business
    Mar 3 2026
    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.
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    1 min
  • Deborah Turness on bias, the BBC, and the future of public media

    Deborah Turness on bias, the BBC, and the future of public media
    Feb 27 2026
    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
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    36 min
  • Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer on turning foreign policy into a podcast

    Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer on turning foreign policy into a podcast
    Feb 20 2026
    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
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    48 min
  • Rolling Stone scion on investing in ‘Track Star’ and the anti-algorithmic future of music media

    Rolling Stone scion on investing in ‘Track Star’ and the anti-algorithmic future of music media
    Feb 13 2026
    Gus 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.
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    1 h
  • Marketing pro Tariq Hassan on how McDonald’s embraced its Donald Trump drive-thru moment

    Marketing pro Tariq Hassan on how McDonald’s embraced its Donald Trump drive-thru moment
    Feb 6 2026
    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.
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    54 min
  • Heated Rivalry & 'Big C' Canadian Content, with Bell's Sean Cohan

    Heated Rivalry & 'Big C' Canadian Content, with Bell's Sean Cohan
    Jan 30 2026
    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.
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    53 min
  • Freakonomics’ Stephen Dubner on why long-form podcasting isn't dead yet

    Freakonomics’ Stephen Dubner on why long-form podcasting isn't dead yet
    Jan 23 2026
    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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    53 min