But physiotherapists still use accountants, dentists are in great shape and our own vibe coding experiments run into snags. Plus: The return of Travis Kalanick and the Mount Rushmore of tech titans, Google Stitch, who lost BuzzFeed, The Trade Desk’s woes, the Oscars as reflective of the end of the old Hollywood model, why The Economist is catnip for billionaires, and why mass layoffs and rapid rehiring are the new corporate norm.

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* Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter

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Chapters:

* 00:00 Open

* 00:57 Welcome

* 01:18 Who’s Cooked

* 04:28 First Principle Thinkers

* 15:02 PvA Claude Projects

* 27:11 Finest Act of Self Mythologizing

* 31:06 PvA Mount Rushmore Lineup

* 37:15 The Economist Deal

* 43:17 Buzzfeed End is Near

* 48:48 Trade Desk Failures

* 54:21 Oscars

* 01:03:05 Good Product

* 01:22:32 Outro

YouTube became a $550 billion juggernaut by building the infrastructure: the algorithm, the ad stack, the creator revenue share, the living room app. It spent more on content than almost anyone else without producing it. Meanwhile, legacy media companies that bet everything on premium content are pivoting to events, harvesting their websites for ad yield, and watching their audiences migrate to platforms they don't control. X tells the same story: a product that isn't even particularly good has become the most influential information network in the world because of the raw, unmediated network it sits on top of. On an individual level, those who can build personal systems are establishing leverage. The lesson: Power is durable power doesn't come from what you make, it comes from the system you build around it.

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Chapters:

* 00:00 Open

* 00:26 Cool Things

* 03:52 Welcome

* 11:44 AI Writing and Newsrooms

* 15:27 Epstein Grammar Power Flex

* 21:11 Wealth Shifts to Older Audiences

* 25:19 Iran War and X as Truth Feed

* 32:35 Barry Diller Eyes CNN

* 38:27 YouTube Becomes Media King

* 50:30 Everything Is Cooked

* 01:04:00 Takeaways

* 01:05:51 Good Product

* 01:08:21 Outro

Block’s 40% employee purge says more about Jack Dorsey’s CEO skills than AI. David Zaslav gets only a PE golf clap for making Warner Bros shareholders money. McDonald’s CEO becomes a symbol of out-of-touch financializers. But hope is on the way as Cal AI’s teenage founders bootstrapped their way to riches.

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Chapters:

* 00:00 Open

* 00:47 Welcome

* 01:45 Human Computer’s Ballgame

* 06:46 AI & Game Dev

* 08:51 Anthropic Pentagon Clash

* 14:04 AI Narrative Wars

* 17:37 War News Fragmentation

* 28:43 Layoffs & AI Excuses

* 32:36 Holding CEO’s Accountable

* 44:29 Cal AI Exit

* 48:09 SXSW Nostalgia

* 53:53 Good Product

* 58:12 Outro

Data shows widespread trepidation over the AI, whether it’s datacenter construction or possible job displacement, yet little public discussion has taken place. We discuss how that’s changing as AI becomes a political issue. Meanwhile, another reckoning is happening with a return of cancel culture in a new and improved version; the open web faces its own reckoning as grotesque user experiences lead it into a doom loop; and private capital faces a squeeze that will hurt M&A.

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Chapters:

* 00:50 Irish Hospitality

* 04:37 Intro

* 07:30 AI & The State of the Union

* 24:21 Cancel Culture

* 35:19 Death of the Open Web

* 42:43 Private Capital

* 50:38 Money Making Opportunity

* 01:00:30 Good Product

* 01:06:26 Outro

They unpack the "orality thesis" and what the shift from written to spoken culture means for how we think, communicate, and vote. On the media side, they map out what's actually working right now: audience-first elite brands, B2B trojan horses like Hearst, expert creator newsletters, and the relentless pull of performance marketing, and AI-generated monkey content on YouTube. Plus: a report from the Swiss Alps.

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Chapters:

* 00:39 Welcome

* 05:13 Orality Thesis

* 08:42 Writing vs Talking

* 12:07 Doom-Maxing

* 22:58 Leadership Crisis

* 33:16 The Best and Worst of Media

* 52:06 Synthetic YouTube Content

* 56:36 Good Product

* 01:03:41 Outro

The age of AI is off to a shambolic start. Anthropic and OpenAI ran Super Bowl ads that fell flat. The gap is widening between the AI-pilled true believers and the Normals, as AI becomes yet another existential anxiety. Plus: Alex breaks down the design systems deployed by Trump vs Mamdani, and Troy says The Washington Post has a product problem.

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* Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer

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Chapters:

* 00:27 Welcome

* 07:46 Billionaires Flock to Miami

* 11:21 AI Anxiety

* 31:08 Design & Government

* 35:36 Mamdani Design Language

* 37:43 A Very Difficult Job: Running the WaPo

* 56:37 Good Product

* 59:55 Outro

Meanwhile, brands are facing reputational crises from their ties to the government as Scott Galloway calls for a boycott of companies who sell their products to ICE. Jeff Bezos’ well-earned reputation as a business genius is at risk as his 13-year tenure owning The Washington Post turns into an unmitigated disaster. Meanwhile, Anthropic wants to develop a high-minded reputation by dinging OpenAI for the crime of running advertising. Finally, media might be in its death throes, but there’s always a need for a B2B conference that brings together the buy and sell side of the avocado market.

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Chapters:

* 00:20 Welcome

* 05:09 Reputational Cost

* 22:36 Company Reputation

* 30:56 Bezos & WP Disaster

* 41:55 Bringing Together The Buy & Sell Side

* 48:24 AI & Ads

* 56:31 Good Product

* 01:01:21 Outro

Today’s mind control comes in the form of black-box algorithmic recommendation systems, autonomous robotics and agentic AI systems. The trust gap has arrived for algorithms, as seen by the backlash against TikTok's new ownership. Maybe we're hard wired to distrust men in masks. Plus: CBS News tries to “podcast-ify” a legacy network, the Atlantic’s successful pivot to subscriptions and talent, the Washington Post’s execution problems and identity crisis, Yahoo’s attempt to reassert itself through AI search, and the growing realization that community is the last media moat.

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* Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer

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Chapters:

* 00:35 Welcome

* 04:11 Mind Control

* 13:39 Clawdbot/Moltbot

* 17:54 Elon Reframing Tesla

* 23:46 Minnesota Obscenity

* 36:06 Algorithms and Social Media

* 42:17 Hardcore Media Topics

* 59:14 Local News and Nonprofit Models

* 01:06:33 Good Product

* 01:12:05 Outro

This week, like old Italian men with their hands clasped behind their backs at construction sites, we are monitoring various situations: Snowmageddon 2026, OpenAI’s inevitable embrace of advertising, Claude Code’s escape from the nerdery, why publishers are embracing prediction markets, the Davos divide between the Mark Carney and Donald Trump styles of communication, and the latest reminder that nothing ever really dies in media, it just mutates.

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* Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter

* Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter

* Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer

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Chapters:

* 00:00 Open

* 00:46 Welcome

* 05:30 OpenAI Getting Into Ads

* 26:29 Claude Code’s Escape From The Nerdery

* 40:16 Prediction Markets

* 50:29 Quick Hits

* 01:15:40 Good Product

* 01:17:14 Outro

After two decades of scale chasing, feed optimization, and platform dependence, the industry is rediscovering older mechanics that actually work: events, newsletters, sponsorships, classifieds, and direct audience relationships. Plus: The difficulty of changing legacy media organizations; micro-dramas as modern media format; and field notes from CES, the Affiliate Summit and an Ojai turtle sanctuary.

* Watch us on YouTube

* Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter

* Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter

* Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer

* Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Chapters:

* 00:00 Open

* 00:34 Welcome

* 03:44 CES 2026

* 10:40 Semaphore and Media Business Models

* 15:18 CBS News and Media Transformation

* 29:48 Creating New Products from Great Talent

* 32:48 Retro Media

* 42:35 Affiliate Summit

* 52:54 Good Product

* 59:17 Outro