Shows
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersBob Sherwin, CMO of Zoe: Navigating Media ShiftsWatch this interview on YouTube
Full transcript
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Media consumption habits are changing rapidly, which means marketers have to thread the needle between "chasing the shiny new object" and embracing emerging platforms strategically. For Bob Sherwin, the chief marketing & commercial officer of Zoe, the solution is to frame new media initiatives as a test.
"The test is that you're going to either win and find something new, or you're going to learn," Bob says. "As long as you set it up...2025-04-3051 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersAlex Craddock, CMO of Citi: Own Your Career & Know Your MotivationWatch this interview on YouTubeFull transcript—"If you want to get to the next level, you need to understand what motivates you," says Alex Craddock, Chief Marketing and Content Officer at Citi. "As you get more senior ... your role does change. And if you want to continue to grow, you need to be able to find a reward in it beyond just the joy that you have in marketing as a discipline."Today on Building Better CMOs, Alex ta...2025-04-0259 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersMicky Onvural, CMO of TIAA: The Power of VulnerabilityWatch this interview on YouTubeFull transcript—"As marketers, we can't just respond to the bottom line," says TIAA CMO Micky Onvural. "We can't just say, 'Well give me a million dollars and I will give you this many customers or this many clicks, and if I do the right kind of mathematics, I'll give you this kind of lifetime value that's going to deliver you this to the bottom line.' I think you actually have to connect further upstream with the CFO."Today on Building Better CMOs, Micky explains wh...2025-03-051h 02
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersBrian Irving, CMO of Lyft: The Future of RideshareWatch this interview on YouTubeFull transcript—"Business and humanity can actually not only live together, but I think that they can thrive together," says Brian Irving, CMO of Lyft. That sort of philosophy has informed his work at companies like Apple, Airbnb, and the agency Rapp, and today at Lyft he's applying it to everything from autonomous vehicles to city bikes.Today on Building Better CMOs, Brian discusses how marketing strategies can align with broader business goals to demonstrate real impact, moving beyond traditional metrics. He and MMA Global CEO Gr...2025-02-1950 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersRavi Kandikonda, SVP of Marketing at Zillow: Customer Experience FirstWatch this interview on YouTubeFull transcript—"Our grand purpose is to make home a reality for more and more people," says Ravi Kandikonda, SVP of Marketing at Zillow.Today on Building Better CMOs, he and Greg Stuart discuss the significance of empathy in brand messaging, and the importance of integrating product knowledge, customer experience, and business outcomes to effectively connect with audiences. Ravi emphasizes that marketers should actively shape solutions, not just identify pain points, and explains how Zillow views AI as a tool for more effective marketing.—2025-02-0553 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersMichelle Barbeau, CRO of eHealth Insurance: Comfortable with DiscomfortFull transcriptGetting the right health insurance is serious business; it's the number one reason for bankruptcy in America, says eHealth Insurance CRO Michelle Barbeau. But when she joined eHealth — which helps consumers compare and select providers — she realized that scaring people into action was not a winning strategy."What we found was, it's all about transparency," says Michelle, who initially served as eHealth's CMO, and is now a CRO who also oversees marketing. "We had just never told the story. And so that's where our campaign was born. Our strategy was 'Your remarkably transparent advi...2024-12-041h 04
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersCarolyn Pollock, CMO of Tailored Brands: Don't Believe Your HypeFull transcriptMarketing measurement is a complex puzzle—especially when it comes to balancing long-term brand-building efforts with short-term performance metrics that will please stakeholders. Tailored Brands CMO Carolyn Pollock acknowledges that CFOs may be skeptical of matched market testing and other tools for measuring brand-building impact, but that long-term may have an edge."The consistency and the continuity of showing up with a message over time, you think back to almost every brand example," Carolyn says. "The ones that are really strong and bring long-term brand value, they've delivered something very consistently for a re...2024-11-131h 03
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersAriel Kelman, CMO of Salesforce: AI Agents in ActionFull transcriptIt's easy to say you want your decisions to be data-driven. But as Salesforce CMO Ariel Kelman has learned, hard data doesn't tell the full story. Often, you also need to consider the qualitative."Let's say you go and do some executive event series, where you have 30 people come to each event," he says. "It's not like if we want to go draw conclusions from, let's say, Dreamforce, we had 45,000 people. You've got a lot of data to work with there."Ariel previously led worldwide marketing for Amazon's cloud services business...2024-10-3045 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersAllyson Witherspoon, Global CMO of Nissan: Creativity is QueenFull transcriptAutomotive marketing is fiercely competitive, and even though she's excited about the potential of AI, Nissan's Global CMO Allyson Witherspoon says an over-reliance on technology could be dangerous. She believes the safer bet is to continue to embrace creativity and a strong brand identity, even in an era dominated by AI and data-driven tools."If everyone is using AI and the data set is the same for everyone, then what's going to be differentiated?" she asks.Today on Building Better CMOs, Allyson talks with MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart about how...2024-10-1651 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersManolo Arroyo, Global CMO of Coca-Cola: What Kind of Leader Are You?Full transcriptManolo Arroyo, EVP and global CMO of the Coca-Cola Company, believes there are three types of leaders: One type lacks confidence in themselves and frequently changes the strategy; another buys time for themselves by changing the team around them; and the third decides to commit to the strategy and the team and get the work done."[They] roll up their sleeves, having the confidence that the strategy is the right one," he says. "The team fundamentally is the same. It might not be perfect, but they're willing to roll up their sleeves and...2024-10-021h 02
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersAndy Rebhun, Chief Experience Officer of Cava: Bring the WeatherFull transcriptToday on Building Better CMOs: Andy Rebhun, the chief experience officer at the fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava, talks with MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart about the importance of consistent authenticity, how to thrive in the C-Suite, and "bringing the weather" for everyone — including Uber Eats drivers."We welcome everyone to our table," he says. "It should never be that DoorDash or Uber Eats driver is anything different from one of our other customers. Because again, if we do a good job with a handoff, they're likely going to do a good job wi...2024-06-1259 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersLinda Boff, Global CMO at GE: Servant of PurposeFull transcriptGE has changed a whole lot since Global CMO Linda Boff started working there, more than 20 years ago. It was once a sprawling portfolio company that made everything from microwaves to television shows; recently, it spun off its healthcare, energy, and aerospace divisions into three distinct public companies, and executives like Linda take these core areas of focus very seriously."We are a company, I like to say a capital-P Purpose company," she says. "A third of the world has power because of GE. Planes with our engines take off every two seconds...2024-05-1554 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersCharisse Hughes, Chief Growth Officer at Kellanova: Evolution of the CMOFull transcriptIt doesn't matter how good your marketing is if you can't communicate its impact to the larger organization, says Charisse Hughes, senior vice president and Chief Growth Officer of Kellanova. Her firm spun off of the Kellogg Company last year to manage iconic brands like Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats, as well as breakfast cereal outside of the U.S. Those have been household names for a long time, but Charisse says that across the marketing world, it's easy to lose sight of the long term."Marketers are missing the mark in...2024-05-0148 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersMichelle Crossan-Matos, CMO of Ulta Beauty: Visionary and OperatorFull transcriptSome marketers think of themselves as operators and some see themselves as visionaries. But only the great ones, says Ulta Beauty CMO Michelle Crossan-Matos, understand that they have to be both. Just before the POSSIBLE conference in Miami, where she spoke to MMA CEO Greg Stuart, she was in Orlando, working to inspire 3000 leaders from Ulta's massive retail operations."But when I get in the office tomorrow, it is about how are my sales doing? How can I pivot? How can I get even more this Friday?," she says. "So ask yourself deeply...2024-04-2634 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersAndrea Zaretsky, CMO of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and E*TRADE: Can You Measure Customer Experience?Full transcriptMarketing is both an art and a science, but unless the science is sound, the rest of the company won't believe that you're driving results. So says Morgan Stanley Wealth Management CMO Andrea Zaretsky, who has devoted her entire marketing career — starting at American Express in 2003, with stops at Sephora and Toys-R-Us in between — to improving measurement."From the beginning, it's been really important for me to understand how to use analytics," Andrea says. "How to make sure that we're setting up the right test and control, how do we ensure that we're gett...2024-03-061h 00
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersLeslie Sims, CMO of Impossible Foods: Remember the HumanFull transcript"At the end of the day," says Impossible Foods CMO and Chief Creative Officer Leslie Sims, "we're helping save the planet, we're helping the environment, but people don't necessarily want to hear that when they're eating a cheeseburger."The arrival of the plant-based meat industry came in the form of a scientific breakthrough: Foods made from plants that behave like meat when cooked, which have been steadily added to restaurant menus around the world; in the case of Impossible's chicken nuggets, many critics have declared them "better than the real thing." But our...2024-02-211h 00
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersKellie Richter, CMO of First Command Financial Services: Marketing a MissionFull transcriptBy her own admission, First Command Financial Services exec Kellie Richter's official title is a mouthful. It's "EVP, Chief Marketing and Client Experience Officer" — but those aren't empty words to her.The clients who First Command cares about are military service members, veterans, and their families; even more than a regular financial services customer, Kellie says, "they do their research ... they're protective of their services and they should be."Having Client Experience in her title gives Kellie an added layer of accountability, and serves as an invitation to anyone researching the pr...2024-01-2452 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersEsther-Mireya Tejeda, CMO of Anywhere Real Estate: Emographics, Not DemographicsFull transcriptTo connect with their customers, companies have to understand them. But current approaches just don't work, says Anywhere Real Estate CMO Esther-Mireya Tejeda.Breaking those customers into demographic groups obscures important differences, and psychographic profiles are not easily targetable. The missing link is an emerging neuroscience-backed framework called emographics, which explains why people do what they do."The majority of human behavior upwards of 95 percent is actually emotionally driven by the unconscious," Tejeda says. "The closer we get to actually understanding that unconscious persona — and we marry that data set with th...2024-01-1057 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersLaura Jones, CMO of Instacart: Love the ChallengeFull transcriptLaura Jones is Instacart's CMO and was previously the former global head of marketing, but she never explicitly set out to get jobs like those. "How did I end up here?" she asks. "It really centers on proactively seeking out learning opportunities."After stints at Deloitte, Visa, and Google, Laura's last two job hops were both motivated by a realization that she had learned what she could from those roles and "that I wanted to continue pushing myself ... every day has been hard. It's the opposite of comfortable." That helped her reach the...2023-12-2751 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersAron North, CMO of Mint Mobile: Marketers Have Lost Their InsightFull transcriptWhen Aron North was hired to lead marketing and creative at Ultra Mobile — the fastest-growing private company in the world, in 2016 — he had no idea what would be waiting for him on day one: The outlines of a new prepaid cell phone plan aimed at consumers, then called Mint SIM, which would be sold online only.Aron was blunt with the company's president: "Oh, this is incredibly interesting. Unfortunately, this is never going to work the way you've laid it out. There's no chance this succeeds."At the time, the consumer prop...2023-12-131h 01
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersZena Arnold, CMO of Sephora US: Balancing Brand and PerformanceFull transcriptThe "brand versus performance" marketing debate happens in all industries, but no one appreciate the value of brand as performance better than Zena Arnold, the CMO of Sephora US. Her job requires her to balance the demands of both online and in-store operations ("I get emails every hour during our great sales," she notes), so performance means more than just clicks."One of our key roles of marketing and retail is driving traffic, whether that's into a store or whether it's to our site or our app," Arnold says. "And it's pretty awesome...2023-11-2954 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersVineet Mehra, CMO of Chime: "Performance Storytelling" is Brand AND PerformanceFull transcript"We have this East Coast, West Coast dynamic going on in our industry," says Vineet Mehra, the CMO of Chime. But rather than 2Pac and Biggie, the split is between brand marketing and performance marketing — which Vineet says shouldn't be mutually exclusive."Instead of integrating our worlds and realizing that all of this is now marketing, we have marketed marketing in an absolutely divisive way," he says, "and actually split the community as opposed to recognizing that there's just a new way of marketing and these two things need to be integrated and li...2023-11-151h 02
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersRebecca Messina, Former Global CMO of Uber: Value Creation MindsetFull transcriptOne of the three core principles of successful marketing operations, says McKinsey & Co senior advisor Rebecca Messina, is articulating and keeping to a clear mission. Sometimes, companies already have one, but "engagement in the mission is low." Other times, business leaders may think they have a mission, but it's wildly inconsistent across the organization. Formulating a proper answer to the mission question means asking some fundamental questions."It's based on the bigger question, which is where in the value equation are you?," says Rebecca, the former global CMO of Uber and longtime marketing...2023-11-011h 08
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersHeather Freeland, Chief Brand Officer of Adobe: Advertising is OverratedFull transcript“You need content to deliver a good customer experience.” Sounds obvious, right? Except in today's marketing environment, says Adobe's chief brand officer Heather Freeland, one campaign can require 5,000 unique assets: Consider every possible channel, multiply that by the number of audiences you're trying to reach, and that by the number of customer segments within those audiences, and that by the number of markets you're launching in."It is virtually impossible to keep pace," she says. "So we've had to fundamentally rethink how we're building content to keep pace with this. And if we didn...2023-10-1855 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersDara Treseder, CMO of Autodesk: Invest in YourselfFull transcriptOnce upon a time, Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder was selected by her then-employer for an assessment with a professional coach, to see if she was executive material. "I knew I could, but I didn't think I would" make it to the C-Suite, she recalls. "And I didn't think I would because I didn't think anyone would give me the shot."The big takeaway of the session reduced Dara to tears: Her CEO really believed in her, so much so that — if she improved on some problem areas — she could be a great CMO. So...2023-10-041h 15
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersDomenic DiMeglio, CMO of Paramount Streaming: Lead with EmpathyFull transcriptHow do you advertise a streaming movie or TV show? "Flashy campaign assets" like a trailer and key art are certainly part of it, says Paramount Streaming's head of marketing Domenic DiMeglio. But in the modern entertainment business, that's just the tip of the iceberg. In reality, he says, you need hundreds of assets that will appear on every platform, and a plan to "manage the customer life cycle as part of that process.""There's just so much that goes into successfully building and managing and executing a campaign that you don't necessarily...2023-09-201h 01
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersDavid Mogensen, VP of Marketing at Uber: Not Embarrassed to SellFull transcriptUber's big Super Bowl campaign this year was a hit: In the ad, actual Uber executives try to convince Diddy to produce a jingle for the company's membership program, Uber One. The entertaining spot was "about as blatantly overt about selling as you can get," says VP of Marketing David Mogensen — and he's proud of that."As an industry, I think we tend to think that selling is a bit of a dirty word," David says. "And so we do all this beautiful work that, as you said, wins all kinds of awards, bu...2023-09-061h 04
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersAndrea Brimmer, CMO of Ally: Great Privilege, Great PressureFull transcriptAs recently as the late 2000s, if you wanted to launch a new banking brand you needed brick-and-mortar branches. But GMAC, a spinoff of GM that was bought by private equity firm Cerberus, didn’t have the liquidity to build or buy a network like that. Joining the company as a brand executive and later becoming its CMO, Andrea Brimmer recalls how risky it felt to debut GMAC’s new identity, Ally Financial, as an online-only firm.“It sounds funny to say that now, 15 years later when everybody's banking in the palm of their...2023-08-231h 02
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersMike Raffensperger, Chief Commercial Officer of FanDuel: Second Screen SuccessFull transcriptThere are some necessary dividing lines in FanDuel CCO Mike Raffensperger's line of work. The most obvious one is that online sports gambling is legal in 19 states, but not others. The company also refuses to do name & likeness deals with college athletes because many of them aren't old enough to gamble, Mike explains. But he outright rejects the idea — widely accepted in some marketing circles — that there needs to be such a bright line between brand and performance marketing."What human being experiences a brand or marketing that way?" he says. "'Ah, I see...2023-08-091h 09
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersKellyn Smith Kenny, CMO of AT&T: Beware of These Famous FailsFull transcriptWhen CMO Kellyn Smith Kenny joined AT&T in 2020, she led an ambitious overhaul of the company's purpose; as is the case in many companies, this required a huge amount of customer research, and countless workshops and conversations with employees from across the company. But after landing on a stronger brand — to connect people to greater possibility through expertise, simplicity, and inspiration — Kellyn realized the new identity couldn't be launched to the public yet. Internally, AT&T's staff would have to "live it" first."We needed to get our employees excited about it, our...2023-07-2658 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersZach Kitschke, CMO of Canva: Design For EveryoneFull transcriptThe online design software Canva has more than 130 million users around the world, but it wasn't obvious 10 years ago that the Australian startup would one day be a runaway hit, valued at $40 billion. Just ask CMO Zach Kitschke, who was employee number five. He was hired to do communications and marketing, but also wound up being tapped to lead customer service, product, HR, and even food prep for a time."When you're working towards a mission like that, it's just like, okay, one step after the other, this kind of relentless pursuit of...2023-07-1250 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersDiana Haussling, Colgate-Palmolive North America: Is the Funnel Dead?Full transcriptColgate-Palmolive has been in business for more than 200 years, and it won't be around for another 200+ unless its operators continue to innovate, says Diana Haussling, the company's VP and GM North America Consumer Experience & Growth."It's really important that we don't have a sense of entitlement," she says. "We are parts of a broader history, of a huge brand and a huge brand story. Our responsibility as brand stewards has to drive our passion, our focus, to make sure that these brands don't fall down on our watch."Diana originally came...2023-06-281h 00
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersMayur Gupta, CMO of Kraken: When the S**t Hits the FanFull transcriptMayur Gupta attributes everything he understands about marketing to his background as an engineer, the safest career path for a young person in India. He pivoted twice: First to Sapient's ad tech product BridgeTrack, and then to his first proper role in marketing, joining Kimberly-Clark in 2012. Today, Mayur is the CMO of the Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, which he describes as a crypto brand with a soul."Fundamentally, the way I look at it is the next stage of growth and adoption for crypto will come when the technology underneath crypto becomes hidden...2023-06-141h 00
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersJonnie Cahill, CMO of Heineken USA: Buy the IdeaFull transcriptJonnie Cahill has served as CMO of Heineken USA since 2018, overseeing the marketing for some of the world’s biggest beer brands, including Heineken, Dos Equis and Tecate. He also worked on their alcohol-free beer, Heineken Zero, including a Super Bowl TV spot starring Paul Rudd as Ant-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.On this episode of Building Better CMOs, Cahill tells MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart why live experiences are an underrated form of marketing; makes the case for marketers to be both "disciplined and driven," all the time; and issues what sh...2023-05-311h 02
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersLinda Lee, CMO of Meals and Beverages at Campbell's: Scientific MethodFull transcriptSince 2019, Linda Lee been the CMO of Meals and Beverages at Campbell Soup Company, and she also chairs MMA's North America board of directors. Her pre-Campbell's resume includes stints at Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and Mondelēz International. But before all that, she was a scientist, earning a BS in chemical engineering.On this episode of Building Better CMOs, Lee convinces MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart that marketers should apply a kind of scientific method to their work; she also talks about the challenges of bringing original thinking to iconic brands, and why t...2023-05-3153 min
Building Better CMOs and Marketing LeadersNorm de Greve, CMO of CVS Health: The Framework CrisisFull transcriptAs CMO of CVS Health, Norm de Greve has overseen some incredibly important and sometimes controversial campaigns, including the removal of cigarettes from all of their stores in 2014. More recently, CVS has made a point of calling out when photos of models have been retouched, and is offering both virtual and in-person mental health counseling to customers who need it.On this episode of Building Better CMOs, de Greve talks to MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart about all of those things, as well as the balancing act between being successful and doing the...2023-05-3140 min
Follow FridayPatrick Willems (Night of the Coconut): Baby chefs, Baby Back Ribs, George LucasPatrick Willems spent six years on YouTube trying to attract an audience for his short films, before he pivoted to video essays about everything from baseball movies to Francis Ford Coppola's filmography to Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again. Those essays got wildly popular and today, he has more than 350,000 subscribers.However, he kept making shorts, embedded in his essays as narrative framing devices. In other words, he says, he "trick[ed] the audience into watching short films that I also wanna make, but that normally would not get the views on YouTube or have sponsors on...2022-07-221h 01
Follow FridayRoman Mars (99% Invisible): City flags, stupid walks, shearing sheep"When you're a broadcaster, you don't have a conversation you can't use as content," jokes Roman Mars — well, mostly jokes. The host of 99% Invisible says he's trying to use the internet more thoughtfully than he used to, and that includes not needing to share everything with the world."The past year, it's been really the focus of my time, actually not having every thought be on social media and making everything into something," he says.Today on Follow Friday, Roman talks about which creators he likes to follow, including: Constitutional law professor Elizabeth Joh (@elizabeth_jo...2022-07-0840 min
Follow FridayAnnie Rauwerda (Depths of Wikipedia): Living statues, #NotAllBots, the Holy Trinity BikiniWhen her college internship was canceled by the COVID-19 shutdown in spring 2020, Annie Rauwerda had a lot of unexpected time on her hands. And instead of learning to bake bread or speak Esperanto, she began curating weird and amusing things she found on Wikipedia.Two years later, Depths of Wikipedia has more than 1.5 million followers combined across Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. That success means walking a fine line: Annie wants to celebrate Wikipedia's oddities and encourage her followers to edit pages, but not to intentionally contribute false info or "bad writing for the sake of humor."2022-06-2436 min
Follow FridayRusty Foster (Today in Tabs): Giving up on crypto, bear chandelier, Halloween punsWhen Rusty Foster started the email newsletter Today in Tabs, in 2013, "tabs" was trendy media slang for the articles open in your browser that you were hate-reading. That meaning has faded into obscurity, but Today in Tabs is going strong, dishing up must-reads, great tweets, and a song every Monday-Thursday."I do the sort of thing that you do when you have a job where you don't have enough work to do, and you spend a lot of time procrastinating on Twitter," he says. "I do that professionally. I read stuff on Twitter. I keep track of...2022-06-1737 min
Follow FridayUNLOCKED: Bonus follows from Traci Thomas, Josh Fruhlinger, Bridget Todd, and Jesse ThornToday we're playing four bonus follow recommendations that originally were exclusive to Follow Friday XL, our special podcast feed for supporters on Patreon. If you want to get five follow recommendations per week instead of the usual four, you can donate $1 or more at patreon.com/followfriday!In today's episode:The Stacks host Traci Thomas talks about someone super-talented who’s still under the radar, Whit McClure (@whit_hazen on Instagram)The Comics Curmudgeon writer Josh Fruhlinger talks about someone who makes the internet a better place: Rusty Foster (@fka_tabs on Twitter)There Are No Gi...2022-06-1042 min
Follow FridayBridget Todd (There Are No Girls On the Internet): 2+2 = applesauce, bringing chaos, three-way phone callsThere Are No Girls on The Internet is an award-winning podcast about people who have always been at the forefront of technology, but whose stories are often ignored or misrepresented. That's a big and sometimes contentious field, and TANGOTI host Bridget Todd says it's important to make space for everyone to work through difficult conversations about inclusion, rather than expecting everyone to "get it" right away."I've been in social change movements for a long time and I do think we have this expectation that we expect people to show up with the right ethos and the...2022-06-0353 min
Follow FridayEncore - Lindsay Ellis (Axiom's End): Phantom of the Opera, 50 Shades of Grey, air disastersFor more than five years, Lindsay Ellis produced video essays on YouTube, analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV. And in 2020, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel Axiom's End, which was informed by that same attentiveness to pop culture. After 9/11, she noticed, popular alien invasion stories had shifted from "goofy" stories to "dead serious" ones, like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds."It's an alternate history that takes place in th...2022-05-2047 min
Follow FridayJesse Thorn (Bullseye): Scruffy dogs, breakfast cereal, the worst albums of the 20th centuryJesse Thorn has been podcasting since 2005, when he put his college radio show The Sound of Young America on the internet. He was a little early to the party: Six million Americans had listened to a podcast back then, versus 177 million today. But Jesse stuck with it, and then some. The Sound of Young America became the hit NPR series Bullseye, and he founded the comedy & culture podcast network Maximum Fun, which powers dozens of other podcasts, including Jesse's other shows — Judge John Hodgman and Jordan, Jesse, Go!Today on Follow Friday, he explains why he...2022-05-131h 01
Follow FridayReggie Fils-Aimé (Disrupting the Game): Becoming a meme, becoming a Muppet, video game skillsFormer Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé first became an internet meme before most people knew what memes were: At Nintendo's presentation at the gaming expo E3 2004, he turned heads by announcing, "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games.""I received a message from my teenage son who told me, 'Dad, you're famous,'" Reggie says. "They weren't called memes at the time — these were Photoshopped images. He sent me these images of me blowing up a competitive console; me dressed up like Sylvester Stallone from one of...2022-05-0646 min
Follow FridayDanielle Friedman (Let's Get Physical): Cooking in the nude, human footballs, no filtersOn the internet, body shaming is alive and well, nutrition advice can be wildly inaccurate, and it's a lot easier to scroll through Instagram for hours than to get up and go for a run. But Danielle Friedman, who literally wrote the book on women's fitness, says there's one extremely good thing that social media has done for our bodies, which we shouldn't ignore."Body acceptance activist Virgie Tovar told me that social media has given a voice to the people who have always been the majority in number, but not in influence," Danielle says. "...2022-04-2940 min
Follow FridayT.J. Raphael (BioHacked: Family Secrets): Brooklyn moms, "monogamish," T9 textingWhen her college friend Amber invited her to the beach five years ago, T.J. Raphael had no idea that saying "yes" would change the course of her career. On the beach, Amber told T.J. about discovering — thanks to an at-home DNA kit — that her biological father was not the man who helped raised her. Instead, her "bio-dad" was a formerly anonymous sperm donor, and Amber was not his only child finding out about him.Reporting out the story of Amber's parentage opened the door to all kinds of stories about the "baby business," which T.J. e...2022-04-2244 min
Follow FridayCharlie Harding (Switched on Pop): Daft Funk, TikTok music, canceling BeethovenCharlie Harding says he "procrastinates" by watching YouTube videos about sound design. But it's not an aimless hobby, because Charlie is a musician and the co-host of Switched on Pop, Vulture's podcast about the making and meaning of popular music. "Reporting on music, I'm like, 'I need to understand every little thing about how the songs are made,'" he says. "I frequently will actually recreate songs before I think about how to report on them, because I almost want to get inside the creative mind of the person making it."Today on Follow Friday...2022-04-1541 min
Follow FridayJustin Myers (The Guyliner): Fear of custard, writing about yourself, mixtapes vs. d*ck picsJustin Myers is a writer for British GQ and the author of three novels, most recently The Fake-Up. But he's probably best known for his blog The Guyliner, where since 2014 he has added his own commentary to a long-running dating column from the British newspaper The Guardian. Today on Follow Friday, Justin talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who makes the internet a better place: Daytime Snaps, @daytimesnaps on TwitterSomeone who makes him think: Annie Lord, @annielord8 on Twitter and InstagramSomeone who makes him laugh: R Eric Thomas, @oureric on TwitterSomeone he doesn't...2022-04-0844 min
Follow FridayJosh Fruhlinger (The Comics Curmudgeon): Beetle Bailey, Hyperloop, bisexual lightingJosh Fruhlinger is better known to the internet as the Comics Curmudgeon, and for something like 15 years, he's been riffing on the oddities of newspaper comics at joshreads.com. If you want to know which Mary Worth character got into a fight with a cat, Josh is your guy. Today on Follow Friday, Josh talks about four of his favorite people he follows online:Someone who's an expert in a very specific niche that he loves: Numble, @numble on TwitterSomeone he's followed forever: Katie Notopoulos, @katienotopoulos on Twitter Someone he's jealous of: Annie Rauwerda, @anniierau and...2022-04-0147 min
Follow FridayAlasdair Beckett-King, Morgan Sung, Lindsay Ellis, and Gavin Purcell: Bonus follows UNLOCKED(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Supporters of the Follow Friday Patreon page get a shout-out on the podcast, exclusive previews of who's coming up on future episodes, and — most importantly — bonus podcasts, with follow recommendations from our amazing guests that didn't make it into the main episode.Today on Follow Friday, we're unlocking four of those bonus episodes, which were originally available only to Patreon supporters. They feature ...- Comedian Alasdair Beckett-King, recommending "aspiring philosopher" Liam Bright- NBC News reporter Morgan Sung, recommending journalist/roller dancer Liz Brazile- Yo...2021-11-1237 min
Way Too InterestedRUBBER STAMPS with Tim Schafer and Roberta SperlingOn this episode of Way Too Interested, video game designer Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Grim Fandango) joins Gavin Purcell to talk about his obsession with rubber stamps. They also discuss how Tim got into game design and how his young mind was blown by the digital "rubber stamp" tool on early Macintosh computers.Then, they're joined by Roberta Sperling, a.k.a. Rubberta Stampling, the editor and owner of the website and magazine Rubber Stamp Madness. She explains the history of the publication, the creative diversity of the stamp enthusiast community, and how stamps became art themselves, as...2021-11-101h 06
Follow FridayDana Schwartz (Noble Blood): Bruce Willis, very British words, bad art friends(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Let's get one thing clear: Despite what some of her podcast critics might claim, Dana Schwartz is not a monarchist. "The whole point of Noble Blood is me pointing out that these royals are just normal people," she says. "I think they're interesting people because they've been given unchecked power often throughout history, but for the record, I don't think that that's the best system of government."And after telling true stories of various monarchs for years on that podcast, Dana has turned her focus to Hollywood royalty...2021-11-0530 minWay Too InterestedANIMAL NAVIGATION with Zito Madu and David BarrieOn this episode of Way Too Interested, writer Zito Madu joins Gavin Purcell to talk about poetry, being a voracious reader, and his interest in how animals like homing pigeons and monarch butterflies navigate around the world.Then, they're joined by David Barrie, the author of the books Sextant — about human navigation — and Supernavigators: Exploring the Wonders of How Animals Find Their Way. Barrie explains what we know and don't know about the topic and shares some mind-blowing examples of animals who can navigate far better than modern humans.Please follow or subscribe to Way Too...2021-11-031h 13
Follow FridayGavin Purcell (Way Too Interested): Homing pigeons, Gollum, NFTs(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)When he set out to make a podcast, Emmy-winning writer and TV producer Gavin Purcell thought about the last time he took a chance on a new medium, in the early days of blogging and YouTube."I was really interested in Japanese TV," he says. "YouTube was like this weird wild west where like all this stuff was getting uploaded, and I started paying attention to it. And then I started a blog and the blog got really successful and it almost became like a completely separate part of my...2021-10-2942 minWay Too InterestedWOLVES with Dani Fernandez and Garrick DutcherActor and writer Dani Fernandez joins Gavin Purcell to talk about the deep connection she feels with wolves, and how the symbol of the wolf has guided her through personal and mental health challenges. Then, they're joined by the research and program director of the non profit Living with Wolves, Garrick Dutcher, who talks about the inaccurate stereotypes about wolf conservation, harmful stereotypes that misrepresent the dangers posed by wolves, and what to do when camping in their territory.Please follow or subscribe to Way Too Interested in your podcast app of choice! And if you liked...2021-10-2757 min
Follow FridaySamir Mezrahi (Zillow Gone Wild): Hidden treasure, reply guys, Spirit Halloween(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Samir Mezrahi's mind is on the gutters — not in the gutter. As the creator of the Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild and the video series Celebrity Home Shopping, he's seen a lot of gaudy McMansions (and proper mansions), which typically haven't been designed with water removal in mind."They just stick out, and so many HOMEies — which is our squad in the show — will send me pictures of terrible gutters they see," he says. "I've awoken people to seeing bad gutters in their neighborhoods, around town, everywhere. So people are always...2021-10-2234 minWay Too InterestedDEEPFAKES with Rex Sorgatz and Henry AjderWriter and web designer Rex Sorgatz (The Encyclopedia of Misinformation) joins Gavin Purcell to talk about his obsession with deepfakes, why he's less worried about them now than he used to be, and why he believes a dead actor will win an Oscar someday. Then, deepfakes and synthetic media expert Henry Ajder joins to explain whether we should be worried about deepfakes — and how much — and to talk about "shallow fakes," revenge porn, and the perverse way the existence of deepfakes has affected our perception of real media.Please follow or subscribe to Way Too Interested in your...2021-10-201h 13
Follow FridayReza Farazmand (Poorly Drawn Lines): Persian chicken, desert blues, Commodore 64(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Poorly Drawn Lines creator Reza Farazmand thought he knew what to expect when adapting his popular webcomic as an animated TV show. After all, he had seen a documentary about how South Park gets made."That gave me the sense that making an animated show would be this wild process with late nights and a bunch of fast food," he says. "But it was really more of a slow, gradual process with a lot of emailing and phone calls ... It was a lot slower than I thought, but it was...2021-10-1535 minWay Too InterestedBIBLE STORIES with Felicia Day and Dr. Malka SimkovichActor and writer Felicia Day (The Guild, Embrace Your Weird) joins Gavin Purcell to talk about her obsession with religious mythologies and, specifically, the origins of Bible stories. Then, they're joined by Dr. Malka Simkovich — the director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago — to talk about the historical origins of Jews, Jesus, the canonical Bible, and more.Please follow or subscribe to Way Too Interested in your podcast app of choice! And if you liked this episode, then tell a friend to check it out.Also ...Follow Gavin...2021-10-131h 09
Follow FridayEric Molinsky (Imaginary Worlds): Spice Girls, colorizing history, James Bond's friend Chewbacca(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)"Imagine if NPR went to Comic-Con and decided that's all they ever wanted to cover." That's how Eric Molinsky describes his podcast Imaginary Worlds, which takes science fiction, fantasy, and other "genre" entertainment seriously — and explores the depths that have attracted fans for decades."When it gets couched within Marvel or Star Trek or Star Wars, people that aren't into that stuff just laugh and think, 'Oh, it's a bunch of nerds arguing,'" Molinsky says. "It's like, 'No, they're talking about gender, race, representation, capitalism in there. They're arguing ov...2021-10-0839 minWay Too InterestedPUZZLES with Roy Wood Jr. and Steve RichardsonComedian Roy Wood Jr. (The Daily Show, Roy's Job Fair) joins Gavin Purcell on the first-ever episode of Way Too Interested to talk about his obsession with jigsaw puzzles. Then, Stave Puzzles co-founder Steve Richardson joins to talk about the handmade wooden puzzles that Stave crafts for jigsaw enthusiasts.Please follow or subscribe to Way Too Interested in your podcast app of choice! And if you liked this episode, then tell a friend to check it out.Also ...Follow Gavin on Twitter @gavinpurcellListen to Roy's Job Fair, a podcast that...2021-10-061h 02
Follow FridayLIVE - Kara Swisher (The New York Times): Crypto bros, Uncle Satan, political sex scandals(Full transcript of this episode)~Some of New York Times writer Kara Swisher's favorite follows are people she has admired, crushed on, and befriended — and also people she has battled with, debated, and investigated. And that's no accident. "I think people are dying for that in this incredibly partisan time. It's very hard to reach out to people you disagree with," she says, explaining why she comes to the table with people whom others might consider unpalatable. Pushing them away, she says, "plays into all the malevolent people who are trying to take us...2021-10-0154 minWay Too InterestedWhat is Way Too Interested?About the showWay Too Interested is a new podcast where we talk to interesting people and ask them about a subject they’re currently obsessed with outside of their everyday lives. Then, the two of us talk to an expert in that subject matter and do a deep dive.It’s a show about curiosity, discovery, creativity, and, most importantly, pursuing those little things that get stuck in your brain & end up being way more fascinating than you ever expected.About Gavin PurcellGavin Purcell is an Emmy-winning showrunner, writer, and...2021-09-2901 min
Follow FridayDallas Taylor (Twenty Thousand Hertz): Phil Collins, finding joy, fake supermarkets(Full transcript available at FollowFridayPodcast.com)~Once upon a time, Dallas Taylor remembers, it was a compliment to call someone an "audiophile.""Traditionally, audiophiles have been people who are super into Hi-Fi and putting together great systems. But over time, it turned into, at least the way that I hear it ... It's kind of a snobbish thing."But he says his "mission," as professional sound designer and the host of a podcast that celebrates sound design, Twenty Thousand Hertz, is to remind people that we are all audiophiles, even if we...2021-09-2440 min
Follow FridayLindsay Ellis (Axiom's End): Phantom of the Opera, 50 Shades of Grey, air disastersPlease nominate Follow Friday in the "New/Debut Podcast" and "Interview-Style Podcast" categories in the Discover Pods Awards!~Click here to read a full transcript of this episode~For more than five years, Lindsay Ellis has been producing video essays on YouTube, analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV. Last year, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel Axiom's End, which was informed by that sa...2021-09-1745 min
Follow FridayDave Jorgenson (The Washington Post): Hogwarts houses, wholesome comedy, SurvivorRead the full transcript of this episode at FollowFridayPodcast.comPlease nominate Follow Friday in the "New/Debut Podcast" and "Interview-Style Podcast" categories in the Discover Pods Awards!~On March 11, 2020, Dave Jorgenson posted a TikTok video of himself, dancing in his apartment. That isn't unusual for TikTok, but it was the first of hundreds he would produce at home while his employer — The Washington Post — tried to protect workers from the COVID-19 pandemic.Over the ensuing months, Dave's videos have been a much-needed source of levity and absurdity, often mining the Post...2021-09-1037 min
Follow FridayDave Pell (NextDraft): Florida men, Apple fanboys, Japanese roller coastersFull transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/dave-pellOur new YouTube channel: followfriday.co/youtubeDave Pell calls himself the "managing editor of the internet," and for good reason: Every weekday, he combs through 75 different news sources and plucks out the 10 most important stories for his popular email newsletter NextDraft.But it can be hard for anyone — even a voracious news reader — to put the news of the past couple years in context, which is why Pell is about to release a book about the 2020-2021 news cycle called Please Scream Inside Your Heart."As I...2021-09-0344 min
Follow FridayMorgan Sung (Mashable): Frog bread, astrology, poisonous mushroomsFull transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/morgan-sungOver the past 18 months, internet culture has become, simply, culture. And one of the top writers documenting and explaining the latest trends is Mashable's Morgan Sung.However, as she explained in one of her most-shared pieces — "Bimbos are good, actually" — Sung also sees the appeal of not being as savvy as she is."As someone who's painfully online, I think if you're going to have any sort of online presence or even just engage with online culture at all, you're expected to be on top of the discourse," she...2021-08-2733 minFollow FridayFour super-weird accounts you should follow (ft. Ed Zitron, Allegra Frank, Kevin Roose, and Freddie Wong)Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfriday~Hello again Follow Friday listeners! Today's show is another compilation of recommendations from previous episodes. This time, they're all from the weirdest corners of the internet. You can find links to all of them below, along with the original episodes they came from. Enjoy!greengiant_es (recommended by Ed Zitron from EZPR)George Ice Cube (recommended by Allegra Frank from Slate)The Horse Mafia (recommended by Kevin Roose from the New York Times)its557am (recommended by Freddie Wong from RocketJump)2021-08-2031 minFollow FridayFour comedians you should follow (ft. Adrianne Jeffries, Zack Bornstein, Alie Ward, and Helen Zaltzman)Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfriday~Hello Follow Friday listeners! I'm on vacation this week, so today's show is compilation of recommendations from previous episodes. All of them are comedians, and are linked below, along with the original episodes they came from. Enjoy!Amber Wallin (recommended by Adrianne Jeffries from Underunderstood)Patti Harrison (recommended by comedian Zack Bornstein)Chris Fleming (recommended by Alie Ward from Ologies)Jo Neary (recommended by Helen Zaltzman from The Allusionist)Follow us:- This show is on Twitter, Instagram...2021-08-1328 min
Follow FridayMax Miller (Tasting History): Musical theater, insatiable curiosity, Lady GagaPatreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfridayFull transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/max-miller~"The beginning of the research process, it's like walking into a pitch black room," says Tasting History host Max Miller. "You don't even know what's there ... Finally, you click on the light and there's something interesting. And then it's like, oh, now I can go down that rabbit holeMiller's YouTube channel, which releases new food history videos every Tuesday, has taken him down a lot of interesting rabbit holes: Medieval mead, 500-year-old pizza...2021-08-0635 min
Follow FridayLiana Finck (The New Yorker): Pit bulls, Hawaiian tortoises, bread shoesPatreon: Patreon.com/followfridayLeave a review: LoveThePodcast.com/followfridayTranscript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/liana-finck~As a graphic novelist and cartoonist whose work regularly appears in The New Yorker, Liana Finck mostly follows other artists and illustrators. But she makes an exception when the person she wants to follow has impeccable taste — and maybe a pet tortoise."I feel very embarrassed to like stalk/follow people who aren't posting, to like peek into their lives," she says. "I do it with a few people, and then I unfollow them repeatedly be...2021-07-3026 min
Follow FridayAlasdair Beckett-King: Mr. Blobby, Vine, paper puppetsBack us on Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayReview us: LoveThePodcast.com/followfridayFull transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/alasdair-beckett-king~"One of my principles is that putting too much effort into things makes them funnier."So says Alasdair Beckett-King, an award-winning comedian whose videos on YouTube and Twitter have repeatedly gone viral over the past year. They include parodies of Star Trek, spooky podcasts, and "every single Scandinavian crime drama," but Beckett-King is constantly trying new things — sometimes for practical reasons."People keep saying, 'When are you doing Captain Picard ag...2021-07-2337 min
Follow FridayThe Auralnauts (Craven Moorhaus and Zak Koonce): Funeral DJs, lightsaber ASMR, Howard the DuckFull transcript: FollowFridayPodcast.com/auralnautsBack us on Patreon: Patreon.com/followfridayReview us: LoveThePodcast.com/followfriday~Craven Moorhaus and Zak Koonce owe it all to Bane. Craven, an audio designer, and Koonce, a comedy writer, teamed up as the Auralnauts in 2012 to dub over scenes from The Dark Knight Rises."Because [Bane] had a mask on, and you could make him say whatever we wanted, so we just changed the context of everything that was happening and we turned him into this weird fitness freak," Koonce says. "And...2021-07-1646 min
Follow FridayFreddie Wong (RocketJump): TikTok magic, train surfing, singing skeletonsFull transcript: https://followfridaypodcast.com/freddie-wongBack us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/followfridayReview the show: https://lovethepodcast.com/followfriday~Podcaster and filmmaker Freddie Wong — the co-founder of RocketJump and co-host of Story Break and Dungeons and Daddies — knows better than anyone that the way we consume media on the internet is constantly changing. And throughout it all, he's been paying close attention.Today on Follow Friday, Freddie talks with Eric Johnson about why TikTok is funnier than any other social media app, a "terrifying" realization he had...2021-07-0945 min
Follow FridayMark Chrisler (The Constant): Chicago's worst food, The Berenstain Bears, video games are artFull transcript: https://followfridaypodcast.com/mark-chrislerBack us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/followfridayReview the show: https://lovethepodcast.com/followfriday~On The Constant, Mark Chrisler chronicles "a history of getting things wrong" — the many ways that humans have misunderstood the world, or misled others about it. Over the past 100 (!) episodes, Mark's topics have ranged from death rays to forensic science to a submarine that was discovered at the bottom of the Chicago River. Today on Follow Friday, Mark talks about his years-long podcast feud with the ancient Gr...2021-07-0235 min
Follow FridayAnn Reardon (How to Cook That): Food fakery, glitterbombs, steamy photographsFull transcript: https://followfridaypodcast.com/ann-reardonBack us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/followfridayReview the show: https://lovethepodcast.com/followfridayOn her YouTube channel How to Cook That, Ann Reardon has shown viewers how to make desserts like an iPad cake, a giant Kit Kat bar, and even a chocolate book. But she's also well-known for debunking viral food videos that purport to show amazing life-hacks, and are often just disinformation. "If your end goal is simply to get the most views so that you get a bonus, then...2021-06-2538 min
Follow FridayFollow Friday's new Patreon + Alexandra Petri, Rose Eveleth, and Ed Zitron bonus picks(Full transcript available on FollowFridayPodcast.com)Big news: Starting today, for as little as $1 a month, you can support Follow Friday on Patreon!Other than the warm fuzzy feeling you get from helping an indie podcaster out, you'll also get cool stuff when you back us: A shout-out on the show, your name in the show notes, sneak peeks at upcoming episodes, AND — most importantly — bonus mini-episodes! Today on the podcast, we're playing three examples of what those minisodes will sound like.These are never-before-heard bonus recommendations from three popular recent guests: Flash Forw...2021-06-1823 min
Follow FridayFranklin Leonard (The Black List): Ted Lasso, being a good ally, how to sell a book(Full transcript of this episode available here).If you want to know what's going to win an Oscar in a couple years, you should talk to film and TV producer Franklin Leonard. Since 2005, he and his team at The Black List have circulated an annual list of the best screenplays floating around Hollywood that haven't yet been made into movies. But films that make it to the Black List — such as Argo, The King's Speech, and Promising Young Woman — often find later success.When he's not making movies or helping screenwriters win trophies, however, Franklin is a...2021-06-1141 min
Follow FridayAlexandra Petri (The Washington Post): Smuggling drugs in fish, the end of the universe, yelling at "Cats"(A full transcript of this episode is available at FollowFridayPodcast.com)Washington Post humorist and avowed pun enthusiast Alexandra Petri writes columns with headlines like, "Are you a Brood X cicada, or just someone emerging from pandemic isolation?"; "We must get everyone in America a yacht to protect them from gun violence!"; and "I do not wish to learn anything more about my wealthy husband's near demise (which would have been sad)."Her interests extend far beyond comedy and wordplay, however. Today on Follow Friday, she talks about being a diehard fan of newspaper comics...2021-06-0438 min
Follow FridayRose Eveleth (Flash Forward): Underwater aliens, COVID journalism, the language of science(A full transcript of this episode is available at FollowFridayPodcast.com)For more than six years, Rose Eveleth has hosted one of the best science podcasts around, Flash Forward. In every episode, she takes listeners on a trip to the future to explore "possible (and not so possible)" scenarios, such as: What if we killed all the mosquitoes? What if every volcano on Earth erupted at the same time? What if we never fixed any of the Y2K bugs?The podcast has also spawned an illustrated companion book, featuring comics based on Flash Forward...2021-05-2830 min
Follow FridayEd Zitron (EZPR): Joker memes, baseball isn't boring, the best tweet ever(Full transcript of this podcast available here).When he's not writing about the media and running a PR agency, Ed Zitron is probably on Twitter, where he's curated a perfect experience for himself: He follows fascinating people who represent what he cares about, and aggressively mutes what he doesn't care for, including words like "doge," "stonk," and "Gamestop.""It's a melting pot of crap, just like my brain," he says.On today's show, Ed puts talks about four of his favorite accounts on Twitter: A baseball analyst who seems like a genuinely fun...2021-05-2135 min
Follow FridayAdrianne Jeffries & Regina Dellea (Underunderstood): McMansions, dogs eating butter, persuading Joe Rogan(Full transcript of this podcast available here).On the podcast they co-host, Underunderstood, journalists Adrianne Jeffries and Regina Dellea answer the questions that you can't resolve with a simple Google search. For example: Why does everyone in Japan attribute this one quote to Snoopy from Peanuts? Are America's telephone area codes all part of a big conspiracy? And why did people all over the US receive "mystery seeds" in the mail from China last year?But when they're not solving mysteries, Adrianne and Regina have been spending a lot of time on TikTok recently, so...2021-05-1431 min
Follow FridayMichael Tucker (Lessons From the Screenplay): “Jingle Bells," visual effects, the danger of common sense(Full transcript of this podcast available here).On his YouTube channel Lessons From the Screenplay, Michael Tucker and his colleagues have analyzed the stories of films like The Dark Knight, Get Out, Casino Royale, and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.On today's episode, Michael explains why he likes having his assumptions challenged by the podcast Revisionist History and learning about visual effects from one of the best communicators in the industry, Todd Vaziri. He also talks about how the movie producer Sev Ohanian inspires him, and why he wants to be friends with another YouTube...2021-05-0732 min
Follow FridayAllegra Frank (Slate): S**tposting, Instagram art, ice cube role-playingSlate senior editor Allegra Frank usually writes about things that have a big cultural footprint — movies like Godzilla vs. Kong, or TV shows like the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But one of her all-time favorite social media accounts has only 45 followers and hasn't posted in two years. "I've read their entire Twitter feed many times," she says. On today's episode, Frank also talks with Eric Johnson about her love of s**tposting, endearing comedy videos, Instagram art, and more. Read a full transcript of this episode hereFollow us:...2021-04-3037 min
Follow FridayNick Quah (Hot Pod): Gen Z musicians, sports journalism, video game designNick Quah has been chronicling the growth of the podcasting industry since 2014 in his email newsletter, Hot Pod, and he also offers up regular podcast recommendations in the Vulture newsletter 1.5x Speed. But he's not only listening to the big, prestigious shows you've heard of."One of my favorite things to do is to pick up a chat show about a subject that I know absolutely nothing about and just listen to people go at it," Nick says on today's episode of Follow Friday.He also shares his complicated feelings about representation in Hollywood, what...2021-04-2330 min
Follow FridayHelen Zaltzman (The Allusionist): Blind dates, the word “queer," the wellness industryOn her podcast about language, The Allusionist, Helen Zaltzman has covered everything from cryptic crosswords to translations to public apologies. But don't worry: She's not judging your vocabulary when she's reading something for fun."When I'm not forced by work to do this kind of interpretation, I like to switch that part of my brain off," she says.On today's episode of Follow Friday, Helen talks with Eric Johnson about poorly-spelled names, stand-up comedy, blind dates, the word "queer," horrifying kitchen gadgets, witch doctors, and more.Follow us:- Helen is...2021-04-1641 min
Follow FridayRachelle Hampton & Madison Malone Kircher (ICYMI): The Tudors, The West Wing, Cate BlanchettOn Slate's new internet culture podcast ICYMI, Rachelle Hampton and Madison Malone Kircher "gaze deep into the online abyss—and tell you what's gazing back." They've covered topics like Clubhouse, millennials vs. Gen Z on TikTok, and the controversial music video for Lil Nas X's song Montero (Call Me By Your Name).On today's episode of Follow Friday, Rachelle and Madison talk with Eric Johnson about who they follow online, and why. Topics include: Joe Biden's dogs, the War of the Roses, The West Wing, the only person who's good at Twitter dunks, and the "Sapphic looks" of...2021-04-0936 min
Follow FridayJohana Bhuiyan (The Los Angeles Times): Funny TikToks, Filipina hip-hop, Brown dadsAt the Los Angeles Times, tech journalist Johana Bhuiyan writes about privacy, surveillance, and how the actions of companies like Google and Amazon impact real people. And just like the rest of us, she's trying to avoid getting even more addicted to her phone."I have not allowed myself to download TikTok except for once," she says. "And it was like a three-day binge."On today's episode of Follow Friday, Johana talks with Eric Johnson about her trusted source for funny TikToks that ensures she never needs to download the app again; a talented young...2021-04-0228 min
Follow FridayDevindra Hardawar (The /Filmcast): Parasite, Hades, surviving a pandemicAs the co-host of two popular podcasts — the movie discussion show the /Filmcast and the tech-focused Engadget Podcast — Devindra Hardawar has his finger on the pulse of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. But to understand those rapidly changing industries, he follows critics and academics who have smart, original takes on what's next.On today's episode of Follow Friday, Devindra talks with Eric Johnson about the state of representation in Hollywood, the impact of Parasite's Best Picture win last year, why so many people are obsessed with the mythology-based video game Hades, and the person on Twitter who has help...2021-03-2629 min
Follow FridayZack Bornstein: Bigoted biscuits, stand-up heroin, Twitter politiciansWhat is it like to be the most popular person on Twitter for a day? Comedy writer Zack Bornstein can tell you — he's been that person three times, thanks to his jokes about politics and current events that frequently go viral. "Finally some good news," he tweeted in June 2020, on one of those three days. "Scientists discovered a treatment that can reduce COVID19 transmission by 70%, and its just a piece a cloth you wear in front of your dumb f**king face."On today's episode of Follow Friday, Zack talks with Eric Johnson about the fu...2021-03-1924 min
Follow FridayKevin Roose (The New York Times): Boomer memes, the power of naps, and hustle cultureNew York Times columnist Kevin Roose is best known for writing and podcasting about online extremism and disinformation. But his new book, Futureproof, is a practical guide that offers "9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation," making it a sort of self-help book for people who don't want to be replaced by robots."I was talking to someone yesterday and they said, did you write a self-help book?" Roose says on today's episode of Follow Friday. "And it's like, well, literally yes. I was trying to help myself."He also talks with Eric Johnson...2021-03-1228 min
Follow FridayAlie Ward (Ologies): Diversity in science, shy comedians, the gayness of paintOn Alie Ward's comedy/science podcast Ologies, she interviews real experts in topics like trees (dendrology), decluttering (oikology), and crow funerals (corvid thanatology). She's also a host of the Netflix show 100 Humans and a correspondent on the long-running CBS show Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca. On this episode of Follow Friday, Ward talks with Eric Johnson about unfortunate bird names, the comedian she's afraid to befriend, the time she angered her now-fiancé by calling him a "green banana," and why the corner is the gayest part of the house. Plus: How Ward, as a professional science communicator, t...2021-03-0540 min
Follow FridayChelsea Rebecca (Dead Meat): Horror movie fans, the dirtbag left, pro wrestlingChelsea Rebecca wants you to know that "people who love horror aren't all total sickos." She's the co-host of the hugely popular YouTube channel Dead Meat, along with her fiancé James Janisse, and previously starred in the comedy-video series Drunk Disney and other shows made by the comedy group Practical Folks.On this episode of Follow Friday, Rebecca talks with Eric Johnson about the famous horror actor she has a crush on, why she's so transparent about her political leanings online, and the internet "rite of passage" of being strafed by a right-wing quasi-celebrity. Plus: Why it's e...2021-02-2631 min
Follow FridayTre’vell Anderson (FANTI): Black journalists, hairy people in dresses, “love/hate”Tre'vell Anderson is on the front lines of how the media is evolving: The former LA Times film reporter now writes for the queer culture magazine Xtra and co-hosts a podcast about "the people, places and things we're fans of, but sometimes have some 'anti' feelings toward," called FANTI. They also use non-binary gender pronouns (they/them) and lead the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.On this episode of Follow Friday, Anderson talks with Eric Johnson about better media representation for Black and queer people, how artists are forcing a conversation about...2021-02-1935 min
Follow FridayJenn Takahashi (Best of Nextdoor): Ice-T’s first bagel, very good dogs, meme thievesBy day, Jenn Takahashi does PR for companies like the dating app Coffee Meets Bagel. But by night — or maybe also by day, we don't know her schedule — she is the "chief lurker" behind Best of Nextdoor, which posts high-quality neighborhood drama to hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and Instagram.On this episode of Follow Friday, Takahashi talks with Eric Johnson about giving Law & Order: SVU star Ice-T his first bagel, the untimely demise of Google Reader, the best dog breed, and meme thieves. Plus: Air-fried hot dogs!Follow us:- Jenn...2021-02-1225 min
Follow FridayRyan Broderick (Garbage Day): Twitter trolls, ska music, goblincoreRyan Broderick understands the internet better than you do, probably. After being fired from BuzzFeed last year, he launched an independent email newsletter called Garbage Day, which documents and explains the fun and strange and sometimes disturbing things people are posting online. Broderick also hosts the internet culture podcast The Content Mines with British news editor Luke Bailey.On this episode of Follow Friday, Broderick talks with Eric Johnson about why it's a mistake to assume people are lying online, the implausible fact that email newsletters are cool now, and why making ska music in your bedroom...2021-02-0534 min
Follow FridayAvery Trufelman (Nice Try!): “Thirsty on main,” distilled knowledge, future karaoke classicsSince August 2020, Avery Trufelman has hosted the New York Magazine podcast The Cut, which covers "culture, sex, politics, and more." She previously worked at the widely beloved design podcast 99% Invisible, where she created and hosted an award-winning miniseries about the meaning of fashion, called Articles of Interest.On the series debut of Follow Friday, Trufelman talks with Eric Johnson about comedy that only makes sense to Twitter addicts like her; why she wants her email newsletters to have "meat on those bones"; the strange feeling of hearing a stranger describe a real-life friend's private life; and her...2021-01-2926 minFollow FridayWhat is Follow Friday?Follow Friday is the podcast about who you should follow online. Every week, you’ll hear from podcasters, writers, comedians, and other creative people. They’ll give us a guided tour to best people on the internet, who we should be following, too.Follow or subscribe to the show for free in your favorite podcast app. And for bonus mini-episodes every month, you can back us on Patreon.Learn more about the show: FollowFridayPodcast.com2021-01-1601 min