Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Kara Swisher has been a reporter, an editor, a founder, and is now one of the most successful podcasters in the world. This week, Ben and Max bring on the host of On with Kara Swisher and co-host of the popular tech podcast Pivot to talk about the business of media in 2025. She talks unabashedly about her own income, and whether other journalists can and should break out of big media companies to build brands like hers. She’s also got unexpectedly kind words for how Rupert Murdoch – “Uncle Satan” as she calls him – is handling the current media moment, and an update on her bid to buy The Washington Post.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

This week, we look at digital fragmentation through the eyes of a transformed marketing industry – because to really see where media is headed, you have to follow the money. Ben and Max bring on CMO of Verizon and former Twitter CMO, Leslie Berland, to talk about how creators have changed marketing and what she thinks is coming next. They also talk about how Twitter and social media changed the brains of the people who worked there and how advertisers avoid cringe when chasing memes.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

As the second inauguration of Donald Trump approaches and global leaders head to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, we at Mixed Signals want to know: what will media’s role be in an increasingly unstable era? And will it bring more order or disorder for global politics? To discuss this, Ben and Max bring on political risk advisor Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group. They talk about how global leaders are engaging with new media and if digital media is shaping global politics, or vice versa. They also talk about Ian’s run-in with Elon Musk in 2022, and how Donald Trump’s second term will influence media leaders like Zuckerberg and Bezos.

Be sure to follow Nayeema’s new show, Smart Girl Dumb Questions, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your content!

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) showcased an array of new gadgets, screens, and robots – but will any of them impact how and what we consume? Or will the real changes come from Washington, where the big tech companies from Meta to Amazon seem to be targeting their attention? To discuss all the ways that tech and tech leaders will impact the media industry this year and beyond, Ben and Max talk to Jessica Lessin, founder and CEO of The Information. And Max hits the ground running with his first episode as co-host, as Taniacs rejoice.

Nayeema Nation: Be sure to follow Nayeema’s new show, Smart Girl Dumb Questions, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your content!

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

We’re kicking off 2025 with a foray into dating apps — and an announcement of Nayeema’s next venture (not a dating app but a new show called Smart Girl Dumb Questions). But first: Today’s episode of Mixed Signals merges Ben and Nayeema’s interests in CMO podcasts and dating apps, respectively. Tinder CMO Melissa Hobley joins us to talk about digital exhaustion, the reality of rebranding and the political license that comes with a GenZ audience. Max Tani joins to debrief, and next week, he’ll take the baton as co-host for the next era of Mixed Signals!

Be sure to hit follow on Nayeema’s new show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your content!

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

On Monday, Carlos Watson, the founder of Ozy Media, was sentenced to nearly 10 years – 116 months – in prison for fraud. Today, in Ben’s first extensive conversation about it since Watson’s arrest, he and Nayeema discuss Ozy, the scandal, and what it reveals about the broader digital media and advertising business. They bring on Madison and Wall analyst and former GroupM Global President for Business Intelligence, Brian Wieser, to talk about why marketers and investors were duped by Watson, what changed in the aftermath, and what the next digital media scam might be. After the conversation, Max Tani joins them to debrief.

If you want more on the Ozy story, check out the three-part series, “The Unraveling of Ozy Media” from CJR’s The Kicker. And for more from Brian Wieser, check out Madison and Wall’s podcast and newsletter.

NOTE: We’ll be off next week – but stay tuned for our next episode (and some exciting news) on January 3rd, 2025.

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

YouTube and podcasts have come fully of age as dominant forms of media, and legacy media companies are frantic to buy their way in. Ben and Nayeema tackle this with Colin and Samir, two veteran YouTubers and media thinkers who have spent years helping their peers figure out digital media. They talk about this latest rise of YouTube, the reality of revenue-backed creative, and what legacy media gets wrong about digital creators. It’s a conversation so compelling that… Nayeema reveals she might try to jump ship into that world herself…?! After the conversation, Max Tani joins to debrief and offer his fact-check for the lacrosse scene in LA.

Oh, and Colin and Samir also share their many GoDaddy accounts for their endless business ideas. For more from Colin and Samir check out their podcast, The Colin and Samir Show, and their newsletter, The Publish Press.

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

Mixed Signals is back for Season 2, and this season we’re following the money in the changing media business. What happens now, after the clear win by podcasts and YouTubers in the election? Is it the end of legacy media, for real this time? And can advertisers keep up with audiences’ evolving media diet? To kick off this conversation, Ben and Nayeema bring on author, New Yorker writer, and media savant, Ken Auletta, who’s been examining the industry since the 90s. They talk about if and how this moment feels different from previous disruptions, how Elon Musk is reshaping media, and Ken shares his, uh, colorful recollections of flying with Ted Turner, his girlfriend, and the couple’s bed.

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

The 2024 election cycle is finally over – so, what’s coming to your screens next? Today, Ben and Nayeema dissect what the media learned from 2024 and where we go from here. They first chat to Max Tani about the news media, and then sit down with Ankler Media’s Janice Min – who has been reporting on (and embedded in) Hollywood culture for decades. The conversation tackles whether politics and art stay linked or divorce, if Donald Trump will wake up “wokeism” again or if Americans will turn to escapism … and why TV is chasing the “gourmet cheeseburger.”

Importantly: This is our last episode of season 1 and we want your feedback! Please email us with what you’ve liked, not liked and want more of for season 2. We’re at [email protected] and [email protected].

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

In a noisy election cycle it’s hard to find signals — even of the mixed variety. Today, Ben and Nayeema sit down with reporters David Weigel and Max Tani to parse what you’re not seeing, from the “insane” tv ads at a Pittsburgh Steelers game and the print ads in an Arizona nail salon, to an unpublished Washington Post endorsement that was quashed by Jeff Bezos. One of these things may decide the election, and another could shape the blamegame that follows.

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

With recent appearances from Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, JD Vance and Tim Walz, it looks like Fox is dominating this election. Ben and Nayeema investigate the channel’s durability despite massive lawsuits, MeToo scandals, and star exits from Tucker Carlson, Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly. To go inside the machine, they talk to former “O’Reilly Factor” and “The Five” producer Nate Fredman (who spent nearly 20 years at the network) about what makes Fox tick — and stick.

Stick around for Ben and Nayeema’s debrief with Max Tani, who wrote about Fox this week. Fox News insiders, send your tips to Max! 

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

Ben and Nayeema take on the critique of bias in the media with The Economist's James Bennet —a conversation that always seems timely, but especially so right now, weeks away from a US election and with an expanding conflict in the Middle East. To help make sense of what we see as media bias and the moral questions that journalists grapple with every day, James shares his experience as the Jerusalem Bureau Chief at The New York Times. He continued to be at the fulcrum of this discourse when he was forced to resign as the Times Editorial Page editor during a heated moment at the publication in 2020. Bennet is now a senior editor at The Economist where he writes the Lexington column.

Read James' piece "Letter From the Middle East; Children Fill Ledger of Death, No Matter How, or How Many."

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

Ben and Nayeema tackle the emerging AI battle between machines and humans, a topic that was glaringly absent from this week’s Veep debates but is at the center of everything from the dockworkers’ strike to Hollywood’s grand plans. To figure out how long they and the creative and media elite have job security, they speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar whose latest play, McNEAL, wrestles with AI and ethics.

And for Blindspots, Max spills on what film you need to see … before, um, the machines replace the filmmakers. 

NOTE: This episode discusses the dockworkers’ strike, and was taped before the strike was suspended on Thursday night.

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

Ben and Nayeema discuss a reporter’s digital dalliance with RFK. Jr, and what it says — and doesn’t — about journalism. Then they bring on Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast, and a star of the anti-MAGA movement. They ask: Is the hot new space in the media, and on YouTube, in the political center? Finally, Max joins in for Blindspots to get quick takes on VP Harris’ decision to guest on the All The Smoke podcast.

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

On the heels of Mark Zuckerberg’s live interview with the Acquired podcast, hosted at a packed Chase Center in San Francisco, Ben and Nayeema explore the icy relationship between traditional media and big tech. 

Why are Silicon Valley’s CEOs more likely to be found gabbing on a podcast about their fashion choices than quoted in the New York Times? When did the media and tech breakup, who is to blame, and who wins and loses when hard questions are optional?

To answer these questions, they talk to a podcast host, creator, and investor who has been on the winning side of this dynamic: Jason Calacanis host of This Week in Startups and co-host of All-In. On All-In, Jason has interviewed tech titans and political figures including Marc Benioff, Elon Musk, JD Vance, and Donald Trump. Ben and Nayeema ask whether anything is lost when “CEO safe spaces” replace hardball interviews. 

To wrap things up and bring the temperature down, Max Tani brings on an ESPN blindspot. 

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

After a quick review of what moderator lessons and memes will stick from this week’s debate, Ben and Nayeema turn to New York Times reporter and former restaurant critic Pete Wells to explore the fight between the new wave of influencers and the old guard of gatekeepers in food. On the menu: the health hazards of criticism, how celebrity chefs and TikTokers altered the power of his seat and whether diversifying food reviews in the midst of the culture wars were “DEI,” “virtue signaling” or simply — as Pete reveals — an organic evolution. Also: if, unlike immigrants in Ohio, he’s ever tasted dog or cat.  “It's one of the few things I haven't eaten” 

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxtani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

If you feel surrounded by sports on all sides, losing the battle to keep up with new leagues (hello pro pickleball?), athlete-influencers post-game podcasts, and who’s getting paid what, you’re not alone. Sports is swallowing media, and swallowing our lives. This week, Ben and Nayeema explore whether the sports boom is driven by culture or by commerce, and if this boom might be a bubble. 

To help figure it out, they bring on John Skipper, former President of ESPN and current founder and CEO of Meadowlark Media who makes a compelling case of American exceptionalism in sports, and the incentives of billionaires who own these teams.

Finally they bring on Semafor business and finance editor Liz Hoffman for a blindspot from Silicon Valley: the rise of “founder mode.”

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @lizrhoffman or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

Ben and Nayeema tape from the Democratic National Convention, breaking down the positive vibes, rise of the credentialed TikTok creator and what Trump is up to on the outside of this bubble. Tommy Vietor joins them to discuss what sway he and his fellow Pod Save America hosts have with Obama, why the DNC is tuning out Gaza protesters, and whether the party’s newfound unity around Kamala Harris can last through November 5. Finally, fresh off a GQ photoshoot, Max joins the podcast to talk style and the viability of a Chick-fil-A streaming service. 

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema@maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter here.

Mixed Signals from Semafor Media is presented by Think with Google

Fresh off digital detoxes, Ben and Nayeema plug back in to a moment of Olympics patriotism and to a patriotic (?) American media that is refusing to report on the substance of a foreign hacking campaign that targeted former President Trump.

This episode digs into the irony of the media’s glee at the 2016 DNC hack – and the careful treatment of the Trump campaign hack of today. Eight years ago Wikileaks dumped a trove of emails before the public, leading to revelations about Hillary Clinton’s Goldman Sachs speeches and John Podesta’s secret to a great risotto. Today, we’re not sure if any amazing recipes are part of the Trump campaign hack because The New York Times, Politico, and The Washington Post have all declined to report its contents. Ben and Nayeema explore why these two campaign hacks are receiving totally different media treatments and why people are mad at Ben for celebrating today’s editorial restraint. 

To dive deeper, they talk to Christina Reynolds, a Democratic operative, opposition researcher, and two-time victim of digital hacks. Her emails were part of both the 2014 Sony hack and the 2016 DNC hack. Finally, producer Alli stands in for Max this week, offering a breakdancing blindspot.

COVID-19 feels like ancient history, but its effects linger — including what the pandemic did to citizens’ trust in media. Ben and Nayeema discuss the distrust that came out of the coronavirus pandemic and dig into the role that the media played. They talk to the man who became the center of media scrutiny during the peak of the crisis: Dr. Anthony Fauci, who recently came out with his memoir, On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service. Then for Blindspots, they check in with Donald McNeil Jr., the health and science reporter behind The Wisdom of Plagues, whose voice became a fixture of The Daily during the pandemic. 

If you have a tip or a comment, email us [email protected]

Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza 

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

Mixed Signals from Semafor Media is presented by Think with Google