Pulitzer Prize–winning editor David Remnick joins Lachlan Cartwright for a wide-ranging conversation on The Breaker Pod about Trump’s pressure on the press, billionaire media ownership, the weakening of legacy institutions, and how journalism survives its most dangerous era.

Remnick reflects on running The New Yorker through a century milestone, the collapse of print advertising, adapting to the internet and AI, the chilling effect of political intimidation, and why talent — not tech — still determines whether journalism endures.

They also discuss Bezos and the Washington Post, the Harvey Weinstein investigation, Trump’s attacks on the media, the role of ownership, and what the next generation of journalism must protect at all costs.

⏱ CHAPTERS

00:00 – Trump, Bezos, and billionaire pressure

01:25 – The New Yorker at 100

02:55 – Ad collapse and reader loyalty

05:35 – Why paywalls finally worked

07:00 – AI, archives, and audio

09:00 – Washington Post fallout

12:00 – Editing, longevity, and succession

17:50 – Weinstein investigation inside The New Yorker

22:10 – Trump, aging, and media scrutiny

27:40 – Free speech and intimidation

30:05 – Ownership, courage, and standing tall

33:25 – The future of journalism

#DavidRemnick #Journalism #MediaIndustry #FreePress #DonaldTrump

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Hollywood is reeling after Netflix’s bombshell plan to buy Warner Bros. — and Janice Min joins Lachlan Cartwright to explain exactly why the town is in full-blown panic.

From mass layoffs to collapsing leverage, shrinking marketplaces, shrinking salaries, and the death of bidding wars, Min breaks down how the merger could reshape Los Angeles, destroy thousands of jobs, and tilt all power toward tech giants. She also dives into HBO’s future, Disney’s succession mess, David Zaslav’s payday, the collapse of the trades, AI disruption, Substack’s rise, and why she built The Ankler as Hollywood’s inside-the-room voice.

This is one of the most definitive conversations yet about the future of entertainment, streaming, journalism, and power.

⏱ CHAPTERS

00:00 – Welcome to The Breaker Pod at Fish Cheeks

00:22 – Introducing Janice Min and her media legacy

01:00 – Netflix shocks Hollywood with plan to buy Warner Bros.

01:25 – Why the entire town went into meltdown

02:10 – The history of consolidation and why it always means job losses

03:00 – LA’s unemployment crisis and what comes next

03:50 – Shrinking marketplaces and the death of bidding wars

04:40 – Pay cuts, leverage collapse, and Sarandos spin

05:30 – Why Netflix triggers Hollywood more than anyone

07:00 – The Albanian Army metaphor and what it means now

09:20 – How Netflix + Warner Bros. upends every studio’s strategy

11:00 – Does the deal get approved? The Trump factor

13:00 – David Zaslav’s windfall and Warner Bros. whiplash

15:00 – Is HBO still the crown jewel?

17:00 – Anxiety, layoffs, fires, and Xanax in Hollywood

18:30 – The Ankler’s origin story

21:00 – Why the trades failed and The Ankler thrived

22:00 – Why chasing scale destroyed journalism

25:00 – Leo DiCaprio, Danny DeVito, and what US Weekly was like

27:00 – Managing Jan Wenner and the old magazine wars

33:00 – Jimmy Finkelstein, Trump, and The Hollywood Reporter

36:00 – Why the Harvey Weinstein story was impossible to land

38:00 – The Quibi chapter and lessons from failure

40:00 – Disney succession in a post-Netflix-Warner world

44:00 – Is Disney becoming a luxury brand?

46:00 – AI arrives in Hollywood — quietly

48:00 – GPT-5, Sora 2, synthetic actors, and the next guild war

52:00 – Will The Ankler sell? What’s next for niche media

55:00 – Is subscription fatigue here?

56:30 – Can the California Post succeed?

01:00:00 – Closing thoughts

#JaniceMin #Netflix #Hollywood #MediaIndustry #WarnerBros

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Tina Brown — legendary editor of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Talk, and The Daily Beast — joins Lachlan Cartwright for one of the sharpest, funniest, and most revealing conversations ever on The Breaker Pod.

Brown reflects on four decades of shaping culture, breaking talent, reinventing media brands, and surviving the chaos of both legacy institutions and modern digital empires. She talks about the myth of celebrity power, the collapse of magazines, the rise of Substack, the limits of tech moguls, Anna Wintour’s misunderstood persona, Harvey Weinstein, Tucker Carlson, Meghan Markle, and why the Epstein story simply will not die.

This is a masterclass in storytelling, leadership, cultural intuition, and the business of media — delivered by someone who defined it.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to The Breaker Pod from Il Tolo East

00:22 – Introducing Tina Brown and her cultural impact

01:10 – Tina Brown on being “feral” and instinct-driven

01:18 – Editing Vanity Fair and the stars she never landed

02:00 – Melania Trump covers and the infamous Talk magazine shoots

03:00 – Olivia Nuzzi, Ryan Lizza, and media reputations

04:30 – The most misunderstood power players in media

05:24 – Anna Wintour and the reality behind the persona

06:26 – Who will succeed Anna Wintour and what Condé Nast needs

06:58 – Media projects Tina Brown never understood

07:21 – Which institutions still command fear

08:07 – Emma Tucker vs. Will Lewis: reviving the Wall Street Journal

08:53 – What made magazines magical — and what broke them

10:26 – The art of editing and the seduction of magazines

12:00 – Highbrow/lowbrow mix and the pleasure principle

13:36 – Tina’s biggest career flameout: the Talk magazine era with Harvey Weinstein

14:22 – What Harvey was really like as a media partner

16:03 – Assignments, gossip columnists, and chaos at Talk

16:45 – Advice for legacy media and why great content still wins

17:43 – Tech moguls as media owners and why it never works

20:00 – The LA Times, arrogance, and the collapse of newsrooms

21:49 – Celebrity culture, influencers, and the myth of overnight fame

23:32 – Meghan, Harry, and the realities of royal machinery

25:45 – The biggest underreported tension inside the monarchy

26:53 – Epstein, the Epstein class, and why the story is “sticky”

29:27 – Michael Wolff, The Daily Beast, and selective media outrage

30:33 – Reinvention as the key to a long career

31:07 – Live journalism and the rise of investigative summits

32:55 – The chilling effect and legal threats shaping journalism

33:50 – Identifying talent: what Tina looks for in a writer

35:25 – Investigative reporters and the curmudgeon gene

36:27 – Tucker Carlson, humiliation, and what changed him

37:45 – Is Substack the future of Tina Brown?

39:00 – The joy of stats, engagement, and independence

40:00 – Who should succeed David Remnick at The New Yorker

41:01 – Gossip, media games, and global reach

42:00 – What Tina would blow up first if handed a legacy title in 2026

43:26 – Young talent and the future of investigative journalism

45:00 – Closing and farewell

#TinaBrown #MediaIndustry #Journalism #CelebrityCulture #EpsteinFiles

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War correspondent and NewsNation White House reporter Robert Sherman joins Lachlan Cartwright for a remarkable conversation about covering Ukraine, Israel, and Washington — and what he learned about the world, journalism, and himself along the way.

At just 25, Sherman was parachuted into Ukraine just days after the Russian invasion. He shares what he witnessed on the ground, how quickly modern warfare is evolving, and why drone technology is rewriting the battlefield. Sherman also reflects on humility, fear, responsibility, and the emotional toll of reporting from conflict zones.

The conversation then shifts to his work at the White House — what it’s like covering Donald Trump, how fast the news cycle moves, why access is changing, and how conflict reporting has shaped the questions he asks in the briefing room.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to The Breaker Pod at Tucci’s

01:10 – Robert Sherman on his new book and lessons from Ukraine

02:20 – Being 25 in his first war zone

03:10 – Getting buzzed by fighter jets on Day One

04:05 – Learning humility in conflict reporting

05:00 – What drew him into war coverage

06:00 – The state of play in Ukraine today

07:20 – Inside a Ukrainian frontline drone lab

08:55 – The tech revolution changing warfare

10:30 – How Sherman mentally prepares for danger

12:00 – Why he reports with iPhones in war zones

13:25 – Covering the White House after the battlefield

15:00 – Trump’s promises on Ukraine

16:10 – The speed of the modern news cycle

17:00 – How access to the White House has changed

18:00 – How war shaped the way he interviews voters

19:25 – What Americans really care about

21:00 – Road trips, diners, and the real country

22:05 – What it’s like to fly on Air Force One

23:45 – How Fox shaped him — and why he left

25:20 – NewsNation’s mission: news, not noise

27:00 – The rise of independent journalism

28:00 – Views on cable news, Substack, and YouTube

29:20 – How conflict reporting affects mental health

31:00 – Why he’s still an optimist about America

32:10 – The audience’s appetite for foreign news

34:00 – American troops abroad and the connection at home

35:15 – Regions Sherman wants to cover next: Russia and Iran

36:20 – Final thoughts and farewell

#RobertSherman #UkraineWar #Journalism #NewsNation #WhiteHouse

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Vanessa Grigoriadis — one of the most distinctive magazine writers of her generation — joins Lachlan Cartwright for a sharp, funny, and revealing look at how celebrity, journalism, podcasting, and culture have transformed over the past two decades.

From Rolling Stone and New York Magazine to Campsite Media, Vanessa traces how the magazine industry became a “Titanic,” how she helped pioneer the boom in narrative podcasts, and why serialized audio storytelling is now collapsing under its own economics. She breaks down the making of her new limited-series on NXIVM’s Allison Mack, why it was so hard to sell, and the surprising place it finally landed.

The conversation also dives into the weirdness of modern media — TikTok fame, AI-generated podcasts, the Rogan effect, the death of the celebrity profile, the resurgence of Epstein reporting, and the ethics of interviewing powerful people. This is one of the most wide-ranging and brutally honest media conversations on The Breaker Pod to date.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to The Breaker Pod at Seahorse, Union Square

01:10 – Vanessa Grigoriadis on leaving magazines for podcasting

02:10 – Selling spoken features in 2019 and the podcast gold rush

03:20 – Limited-series podcasts and the crash of the bubble

04:00 – The Allison Mack project and how the deal finally sold

05:15 – Why serialized storytelling is struggling

06:20 – The Rogan phenomenon and first-mover advantage

07:10 – Crime Junkie, Call Her Daddy, and the new audio power players

08:20 – Why making money in podcasting is brutally hard

09:10 – Merch, live events, Substack: the new media ecosystem

10:30 – Shopping the NXIVM project and why Americans didn’t bite

12:00 – Why Canadians bought the show

13:10 – Journalism vs. documentary and why tape gathering is dying

14:00 – AI podcasts and the 175,000-episode flood

16:00 – The future of YouTube creators and longform conversation

17:10 – How Vanessa chooses profile subjects

18:00 – Early magazine days: Carl Lagerfeld, Paris Hilton, and access

19:20 – Celebrity culture in the TikTok era

20:10 – The death of the real celebrity profile

22:00 – The red-rope era of journalism

23:15 – Will print die? Why magazines still matter

24:50 – Epstein reporting and the story that won’t die

26:40 – Public records, Florida law, and early Epstein coverage

28:10 – Why the Epstein story resurges every election cycle

29:30 – Best interview, worst interview, and the one that got away

31:40 – Lies, tape recorders, and protecting credibility

33:10 – How public personas diverge from reality

34:40 – Regrets, write-arounds, and the ethics of profiling

36:00 – Final thoughts and closing

#VanessaGrigoriadis #jeffreyepstein #MediaIndustry #Epstein #EpsteinFiles

Media firebrand Piers Morgan joins Lachlan Cartwright on The Breaker Pod for an unfiltered conversation about the collapse of woke culture, the future of journalism, and why he believes common sense is finally fighting back.

From his feuds with Meghan & Harry to his friendship with Donald Trump, Morgan shares candid insights into celebrity hypocrisy, legacy media’s decline, and how YouTube is changing everything.

⏱ Chapters

🎙 About the Episode

From Fleet Street to Fox to YouTube, he explains why free debate still matters — and why he’s not done stirring things up yet.

📺 Watch the full conversation for unfiltered insights into power, politics, and the fight for free speech.

👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for new episodes of The Breaker Pod every week.

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#piersmorgan #trump #harryandmeghan #wokeism #media 

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Alex Heath, tech journalist and founder of Sources, joins Lachlan Cartwright at Super Burrito in Greenwich Village to talk about breaking away from legacy media, the rise of AI, and how technology and journalism are colliding in 2025.

Heath reveals what really happened inside OpenAI, why Substack is changing the rules of reporting, and how creators like him are reshaping the future of independent media. From Sam Altman to Zuckerberg to the Ellisons, this conversation dives deep into power, disruption, and the future of truth online.

⏱ Chapters

🎙 About the Episode

Vicki Ward — bestselling author, investigative journalist, and founder of Vicki Ward Investigates — joins Lachlan Cartwright at Delmonico’s in New York City to talk about the powerful people she’s covered and the future of journalism.

From her groundbreaking Epstein reporting to her work on Jared Kushner, Leon Black, and the world of Manhattan power, Ward reflects on decades of exposing influence, abuse, and secrecy. She also shares what it means to go independent in an age where truth and storytelling matter more than ever.

⏱ Chapters

🎙 About the Episode

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🎙️ New episodes weekly — exposing power, decoding media, and asking better questions.

#epsteinfiles #epstein #mangione #kohberger #truecrimestories 

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Jeff Fager, legendary producer and former chairman of CBS News, joins Lachlan Cartwright at Junior’s Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan for an intimate look inside the newsroom that defined American journalism.

Fager reflects on his decades leading 60 Minutes — from navigating presidential pressure and corporate interference to mentoring the next generation of journalists. He also weighs in on Barry Weiss’s arrival at CBS, the challenge of maintaining editorial independence, and how broadcast journalism can adapt to a world ruled by YouTube, AI, and influencers.

This is a conversation about integrity, leadership, and why good storytelling will always matter.

⏱ Chapters

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#JeffFager

CNBC’s Alex Sherman joins Lachlan Cartwright at Planet Hollywood for an insider’s look at the biggest stories shaking Hollywood, Wall Street, and the media world.

⏱ Chapters