Lauren and Josh are finally back in the studio together, just in time for MrBeast to claim his business should be valued at $5 billion. Elsewhere, Alex Cooper dumps Alix Earle as the latter leaves Unwell, YouTube takes over the podcast crown, and Crime Junkie cashes in (though with over $40 million of annual profit...why?). All that, plus Reels might go standalone. Lots to cover!

Here's more detail on what we discussed today:

• YouTube Star MrBeast Is Raising Money at a $5 Billion Valuation
• MrBeast Admits He Lost A Lot Of Money On 'Beast Games': "I Lost Tens Of Millions Of Dollars On That Show. I'm An Idiot."
• YouTube's podcasts now reach one billion users per month - Tubefilter
• YouTube's next anti-ad blocker move? Introduce cheaper Premium - Tubefilter
• Instagram May Launch Reels as Separate App, Increasing Pressure on TikTok — The Information
• Alix Earle’s ‘Hot Mess’ Podcast Dropped by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network (EXCLUSIVE)
• Alix splits from Alex: Earle dropped from Cooper's Unwell Network - Tubefilter
• 'Crime Junkie' Host Ashley Flowers Raises $40 Million to Build Podcasting Empire - Bloomberg
• The most popular podcaster not named Joe Rogan is building a $250 million true crime network - Tubefilter

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