Julia Black is a tech and business correspondent at Vanity Fair and freelance writer whose work has also been published in the New York Times, MIT Technology Review, WIRED, The Verge, and others.

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Julia Black

Website

Twitter/X

LinkedIn

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Timestamps

00:00 Resy anxiety

07:35 The reality of modern genetic testing

12:38 Substack on TV

17:50 Evolving opinions and journalistic integrity

23:48 TikTok takeover conspiracies

28:32 The shifting politics of big tech

39:00 Symbolism in politics and ideology

47:44 Holding on to what's meaningful

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Bre Morell, one half of the duo, crushed.

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crushed

Tour dates

Listen

Instagram

Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Judging a book by its cover

09:29 Brits in an Oasis

14:46 Entering eBay flow state

19:46 Late 90s musical influences

28:11 Nostalgic corners of the internet

33:00 Video game musical influences

38:33 Driving in Texas

41:37 Touring the country as a vegan

44:28 To make timeless music, be genreless

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by the GM and co-founder of Boys Club, Natasha Hoskins.

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Boys Club

Website

Podcast

Instagram

Twitter/X

Natasha Hoksins

LinkedIn

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Timestamps

00:00 The asperges defense

05:38 Into the archives

07:55 Boys Club extended universe

12:23 Golden Globes Polymarket collab

17:15 The Boys Club network

20:27 Twitter muted words reveal

29:17 Trump to Tom Brady chlamydia domino effect

35:50 Traitors in the Industry

41:43 Hooked on Reels

44:12 New year, new LinkedIn strategy

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Dena Yago, an artist, writer, and founding member of the trend forecasting group K-HOLE. Dena is currently working at Cosmos, a visual discovery and inspiration platform for creatives.

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Dena Yago

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Twitter/X

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Timestamps

00:00 Smoking Christmas gift

4:44 No smoke without fire

10:00 GQ editor-in-chief predictions

12:40 Name that trend

16:26 Parallel thinking and Darwinism

19:45 The Cosmos secret sauce

25:25 Why books still matter in fast media

32:19 Irony is dead, long live cringe

42:25 The rise of the Cosmos girl

49:04 AI and curation

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

Daisy and Francis bring 2025 to a close by looking back on their defining media of the year and looking ahead to the world of tech and media in 2026.

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Timestamps

00:00 A New England Christmas

04:09 Invisible labor of the holiday season

08:15 Dirt Books

14:13 Songs and albums 2025

18:23 Is 2026 the year of the techlash

22:37 The creator economy in 2026

29:32 Dirt reader's top books of 2025

31:44 Daisy's viral tweet of 2024-2025

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by writer and editor, Daniel Spielberger. Daniel is also the executive editor of Study Hall and the host of the Study Hall Podcast. Read the Farmer's Almanac article we discuss here.

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Daniel Spielberger

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Timestamps

00:00 $45 well spent, $5 poorly spent

07:36 Surprise proposal and tweets going viral

11:09 Influencer culture in media

17:50 We need storytellers

24:39 Daniel Docs

28:09 Study Hall

33:08 Too much media about media

44:32 Olivia Nuzzi did it all for nothing

53:43 Grown men shouldn't have birthday parties

58:29 Worst movie of 2025

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Jamie Wilkinson, co-founder of Know Your Meme, VHX, and most recently, Glif.

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Jamie Wilkinson

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Timestamps

00:00 Coke and Wall St

03:26 Memes are a business of their own

11:30 The evolution of memes

17:03 Relationships with social media by generation

26:45 Software sub-cultures of consuming and creating

34:37 The intention of creation

38:45 Creating for yourself

45:02 The state of vibecoding

50:40 The art and value of software creation

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Ochuko Akpovbovbo, creator and writer of the culture and marketing newsletter as seen on.

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Ochuko Akpovbovbo

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Timestamps

00:00 Naturist, not nudist

05:38 Resident of nowhere

10:07 Books of 2025

14:20 Nuremberg is boring

17:00 Writer vs. Substacker

27:22 An aversion to defining

34:30 Avoiding the parasocial

42:21 For business reasons, I need to be perceived

52:32 Influencers shaping brand narratives

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by technologist and artist, Zane Kind. Zane is the co-founder and CEO of Silk, a blogging platform for creative research,moodboarding, and subculture.

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Zane Kind

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Timestamps

00:00 Notebook vandalism and clone hype

08:57 Building the zoomer Facebook

17:06 The slow scale business model

19:28 Defining taste

23:38 Scaling without killing subculture

30:07 Where are the Silkers?

36:51 Celebrity is changing

47:09 Creation starts with consumption

49:02 Rapid-fire hot-potatoes

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

This week on Tasteland we're joined by Ethan Sawyer, a field producer at CBC and curator of the newsletter Human Pursuits, a newsletter for navigating modern existence with help from need-to-know names in media and culture.

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Ethan Sawyer

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Timestamps

00:00 beats to write/edit to

04:08 Writer's block is not real

07:57 Nights in the Gardens of Brooklyn

11:46 An analysis of social climbers

18:40 Olivia Nuzzi did it all for love

24:23 The art of guest selection

32:15 Francis tells a bad joke

32:57 Music for work and focus

37:46 Music is so good

43:16 Defining slop

54:46 Introducing the "content economy"

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Our intro song, Night Life, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.