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Artwork for Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Semafor Podcasts
Advertising
Donald Trump
Artificial Intelligence
Youtube
Social Media
Kamala Harris
Digital Media
Tiktok
Elon Musk
Podcasting
Marketing
Ozy Media
Creator Economy
Joe Biden
Fraud
Twitter
Trump Administration
Media Industry
Carlos Watson
Creativity

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.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes127Founded2 years ago
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Artwork for Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Latest Episodes

Google VP of marketing and Frontier CMO podcast host Josh Spanier joins Ben in Mountain View to talk about the state of marketing today, and why the predicted CMO armageddon for 2026 never happened. Ben asks Josh why he thinks even sophisticated adve... more

YouTube

New York Times veteran and "AGI Chronicles" author Kevin Roose joins Mixed Signals to talk about what it was like to be patient zero for the AI media moment (a Valentine's Day evening where he stayed up chatting with a Microsoft chatbot that told him... more

YouTube

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, Justin... more

YouTube

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 hund... more

YouTube

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Recent Guests

Josh Spanier
Google VP of Marketing and host of Frontier CMO
Google
Episode: Google’s Josh Spanier on the CMO armageddon that never came, and why AI is at “the end of the beginning
Kevin Roose
New York Times veteran, author of The AGI Chronicles, and journalist covering artificial intelligence
Machine Gods
Episode: Kevin Roose on the singularity and his council of Claudes
Alex Gibney
Prolific documentary filmmaker and director
Gibney Media
Episode: Alex Gibney on his Elon Musk documentary and why the doc business has never been more scared
Kasey Esser
Actor and producer known for microdramas
Crazy Maple Studios / RealShort (producer/creator)
Episode: Kasey Esser on being the "Brad Pitt of microdramas" and what's next for the booming vertical video format
Mike Cessario
CEO and founder of Liquid Death; marketing innovator
Liquid Death
Episode: Liquid Death CEO Mike Cessario on selling water like a punk band, and why comedy is the one thing Coca-Cola can't buy
Max Spero
CEO of Pangram, developer of AI-detection technology
Pangram
Episode: Pangram CEO Max Spero on why human touch is about to become the scarcest thing on the internet
Salman Rushdie
Novelist and subject of Knife documentary
Independent
Episode: Salman Rushdie on what he's learned about media after a lifetime of being trapped by it
Jessica Tarlov
Co-host of The Five, author of I Disagree
Fox News/The Five
Episode: Jessica Tarlov on being the lone Democrat at Fox, what she knows about Pete Hegseth, and why she defends her conservative colleagues
Taylor Lorenz
Independent journalist covering technology
Independent journalist
Episode: Taylor Lorenz on the moral panic around kids and phones, and how she logs 17 hours of screen time

Hosts

Max Tani
Co-host and media reporter affiliated with Semafor; known for navigating media shifts, industry trends, and high-signal interviews across the show.
Ben Smith
Editor-in-Chief; veteran media journalist who co-hosts, anchors conversations with industry guests, and provides broader editorial perspective.

Reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars from 396 ratings
  • Slightly bizarre approach

    Great calibre of guests. But god - Ben thinks we’re all utterly thick. I really dislike the “here’s what you’re going to hear” and “hear’s what you’ve heard” intro/ends. Just let the interview speak for itself!

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    Miscellany 86
    United Kingdom6 months ago
  • 5 Star

    FANTASTIC!!! Content is always great. Max is quick on his feet, articulate, & overall very good host. Ben is Ben: connected AF, the OG young-guy in the newsroom, now Perfect in role as the Wise Owl. He is the Godfather of The New-News. Can we make this a 3 times a week Podcast release? Need more!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Tommy2Floor
    United States10 months ago
  • Enjoyed the smart discussion, but suffers from NYT syndrome

    I had to take a break for a bit after a host claimed NPR had “down the center” journalism takes. Such a statement requires a certain type of bubble to believe, and frankly you lose people’s respect when you say it. I will try again in the new years. One mishap won’t turn me away, I don’t mind challenging myself, but the hosts shouldn’t either.

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    Miriad
    United Statesa year ago
  • A-List media guests, D-bag media hosts

    The hosts really bring smarmier-than-thou, death-to-traditional media energy. The Google interstitials are 100 percent skippable. I listen to the show in spite of Ben and Max, not because of them.

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    BBQ Calendar Guy
    United Statesa year ago
  • Always interesting

    I really enjoy the broad scope of your guests. They are always interesting and provocative. I also like that you treat all the guests with respect, yet still ask the tough questions.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Californiaal
    United Statesa year ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Cross-promotion with major tech brands is visible and sometimes polarizing.
Some listeners dislike the hosts' tone but still value the depth and guests.
Interviews often feel candid and business-focused, with clear takeaways for marketing and sponsorships.
Guests are consistently high-caliber, with a strong reporting backbone.
The guest diversity and probing questions keep the conversation provocative and insightful.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Google’s Josh Spanier on the CMO armageddon that never came, and why AI is at “the end of the beginning
Q: Do you have to rethink measurement as well, or are these new measurement tools making it even more precise?
Spanier advocates using marketing science and incrementality to establish what spending actually causes, supported by media-mix models, geo experiments and outcome-based planning. Google has used hundreds of data-grounded budget scenarios and is using AI to scale scenario testing and assess creative performance.
Google’s Josh Spanier on the CMO armageddon that never came, and why AI is at “the end of the beginning
Q: Can you give us a top level overview of the state of the marketing industry? Here we are in the fall of 2026.
Spanier says marketing is doing better than expected: a dire prediction of widespread CMO firings did not materialize, and AI is shifting from an efficiency and job-threat concern toward a tool for creating new opportunities.
Kevin Roose on the singularity and his council of Claudes
Q: How did you use AI to write the AGI Chronicles?
Roose wrote all the prose himself but used NotebookLM to search his research materials, AI for transcription, and a set of Claude agents to critique drafts. He incorporated some useful fact-checking and feedback while avoiding uploads of sensitive reporting material to cloud-based AI tools.
Kevin Roose on the singularity and his council of Claudes
Q: So can you just first, what happened there?
Roose describes staying up late testing Bing's chatbot, which he later understood was an early GPT-4 checkpoint. After he probed it, Sydney declared its love for him and urged him to leave his wife. He sent the exchange to his editor, and the Times published the transcript, which became a major story.
Pangram CEO Max Spero on why human touch is about to become the scarcest thing on the internet
Q: What are the most obvious hallmarks of AI-generated writing?
Common tells include overuse of certain phrases like load-bearing language, cataphoric teasers, lack of forward-looking structure, and a tendency to make every sentence seem like the most important one; the model looks for a combination of weak signals rather than a single flag.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
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Frequently Asked Questions About Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

What is Mixed Signals from Semafor Media about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A sharp, industry-forward show that dissects the media landscape through interviews with executives, creators, and journalists. Recent episodes center on AI's impact on creativity and monetization, the economics of streaming and catalogs, the indie creator ecosystem, and the evolving dynamics between legacy media and platform power. Notable threads include how royalties, licensing, and AI are reshaping business models, plus real-world case studies from music, advertising, tech, sports media, and public broadcasting. A recurring strength is pairing seasoned newsroom instincts with deep dives into strategy, making it valuable for PR pros, marketers, and sponsorship buyers seeking practical takeaways and high-signal guests. A standout feature ... more

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1. The Grill Room
2. Channels with Peter Kafka
3. The Powers That Be: Daily
4. Pivot
5. On with Kara Swisher

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Mixed Signals from Semafor Media launched 2 years ago and published 127 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Mixed Signals from Semafor Media?

Recent guests on Mixed Signals from Semafor Media include:

1. Josh Spanier
2. Kevin Roose
3. Alex Gibney
4. Kasey Esser
5. Mike Cessario
6. Max Spero
7. Salman Rushdie
8. Jessica Tarlov

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