People vs Algorithms

Troy and Brian react to OpenAI buying TBPN: It pays to have viewpoints and approaches that are preferred by the powerful. FeedMe's Emily Sundberg joins as a guest this week. We discuss why new media like TBPN is beating legacy media not by distribution hacks or aesthetics but in energy. Legacy media relies on structural energy that’s dissipated while new media is built on earned energy, which is more organic, relatable and even fun. Plus: Puck vs Vanity Fair, Troy's vibe coding addiction, and why venture capital isn't cool.

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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

* 00:28 OpenAI Buys TBPN

* 08:13 Welcome

* 10:11 Vibe Code Corner: PVA Hot Take

* 17:17 Agents and Future Org Charts

* 22:08 Emily Vibe Coded Side Apps

* 25:18 Future of Media Trends

* 33:11 Feed Me Business Overview

* 37:39 Events Merch and Energy Thesis

* 43:32 Scaling Feed Me carefully

* 47:34 Why TBPN works

* 53:01 Defining new media

* 56:43 Vanity Fair vs Puck

* 01:01:20 Aspirational media and detachment

* 01:06:15 Events business reality

* 01:09:37 Cool or Not Cool Corner

* 01:15:05 Good Product

* 01:17:25 Outro

OpenAI is pivoting to the enterprise, Kentucky farmers are modern folk heroes by not selling their land for a datacenter, and Meta and YouTube get the Big Tobacco treatment. Plus: Troy gives a progress report on his vibe coded Personal Intelligence Media Platform, AB’s take on Vox Media’s podcast business and MarketBeat’s profitable fin-pub hustle, and Wired’s reinvention as a Big Tech critic.

* 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

* 00:44 Reptile Rescue

* 03:08 Welcome

* 04:39 PVA Mixer

* 06:17 PageMaker nostalgia

* 09:12 Building PIMP

* 20:52 AI slop and media value

* 33:21 UI Design on Trial

* 36:47 Tucker vs The Economist

* 38:29 Vox Podcast Sale

* 45:11 LinkedIn and Social CRM

* 47:26 Wired Subscriptions and Tech Scrutiny

* 49:53 Atlantic Cruise Events

* 51:52 Zombie Franchises and Propaganda Ads

* 55:02 Reality TV Loses to UGC

* 57:15 MarketBeat Subscription Arbitrage

* 01:03:28 Good Product

* 01:06:07 Outro

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.

* 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

* 00:57 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.

* 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

* 00:26 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.

* 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

* 00:47 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.

* 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:

* 00:50 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.

* 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:

* 00:39 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.

* 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:

* 00:27 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.

* 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:

* 00:20 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.

* 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:

* 00:35 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