People vs Algorithms

This week, we dig into the latest front into the so-called hit piece. Last week, Business Insider published a pair of stories that dug into the academic record of Neri Oxman, a former MIT professor. Oxman happens to be the wife of Bill Ackman, a powerful activist investor who has been on a campaign against the leaders of top universities, including Harvard's Claudine Gay, who resigned a week ago a...

The New Year is maybe the perfect holiday. It’s celebrated by just about every culture and creed. And in a time of great division, we sorta come together around the idea of a new year meaning a new start. And we probably need that. This week, we look at reasons for hope, what lies ahead for AI, the coming legal and regulatory battles with Big Tech, and why it's probably safer to be an electrician....

Troy and Brian go over some of the lessons of 2023 and look ahead to 2024, starting with the end of the long era of dominance of the search engine results page and the dawn of a new SERP and promise of a new syndication paradigm that's reminiscent of the portal era. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  A...

Troy and Alex kept the conversation going after the recording of last episode. After sharing a "transcendental" experience with Chat GPT, Alex explained why he doesn't want a Cybertruck and Troy is compelled to play GTA 6. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This is...

In news, we discuss Google's antitrust loss, the miracle of Cheddar selling for $200 million, 5-Hour Energy Guy cleaning house at SI and zombie cable TV. Next, it's onto 2024 storylines, including AI's coming specialization, and platforms and publishers breaking up. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  A...

We live in an age of cults, narratives and fleeting fame. Centralization is giving way to a fragmented culture and media landscape that is open, chaotic and not for the faint of heart. This week, we explore the fault lines of the Information Space. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and ...

The website might be dying. How will this affect media and advertising? We cover this and other hot topics in today’s episode. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonu...

The OpenAI drama exposed fault lines in the very unique culture of Silicon Valley, highlighting the imperfect methods used to serve as a check on the growing power of the tech industry.  Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like...

AI agents will accelerate the interface shift and change the economics of software, media and beyond. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peo...

The power of brands has eroded, particularly media brands. The path forward for legacy media brands is uncertain but almost assuredly both less glamorous and less lucrative -- and that's with the understanding that media companies usually had bigger brands than they had businesses. The arrival of AI is likely to accelerate that decline. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey'...

9-5 Girl on TikTok sparked a debate over the outdated ideas of the 9-5 work day, which was stared by Henry Ford for the Industrial Era. Time and again, new generations have reacted against conventions and ended up pushing for change. We consider how this will accelerate change in work, politics and more. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex S...

While many people pretend that “the media” are still gatekeepers to information, those days are past. The information space is a free for all in which the news industry is only a part, and arguably not even the most important part. From podcasts to newsletters to TikToks to tweets, the decentralized information space is already here and its evolution will have far reaching implications well beyond...

On a crossover episode of The Rebooting Show and People vs Algorithms, Alex and Brian discuss zero-interest rate phenomena and how they distorted by the tech industry and media industry -- all while giving us subsidized and unlicensed taxis and hotels along with some really silly stuff like all those scooters and the 15-minute delivery services that never made economic sense. With the new mantra o...

“Deliver something nobody else is delivering,” advises Milk Street’s Christopher Kimball. The media veteran, who created Cooks Country and America’s Test Kitchen, joins the show to discuss why media needs to go back to basics to build lasting brands or be left behind as digital flotsam in an algorithmic feed. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter A...

You don't have to be an engineer or be a developer to be a product person, although it helps. This week, we discuss how Elon Musk makes products, why non-technical people gravitate to product management and where media products go wrong. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on T...

Bustle Digital Group's Bryan Goldberg joins to discuss why the scale era wasn't as great as it was portrayed. The future of digital media will be about brands that can hold cultural heft and use it well beyond the page to escape the yoke of algorithms. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  ...

Most of the challenges facing media come down to misaligned incentives. Publishers face a bad set of options to serve the competing interests of advertisers and the audience while keeping the lights on. The horror show of UK news sites is a sign of things to come. Publishers and platforms have long had misaligned incentives, as games studios are belatedly finding out, while companies are strugglin...

This week, we discuss the rebundling, with a focus on the future of pay TV and why tech companies will inevitably be the rebundlers with media companies the rebundled. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this wit...

One person's "fire-breathing dragon" is another person's a*****e. The zero-interest rate era is in the rearview mirror, and businesses will be under more pressure to do more with less. Between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, there is a celebration of behavior that might easily be described as assholish. This week, we contemplate where the line exists, particularly in an ambitious work environment. Plu...

The foundations of mass media continue to erode, from the declining relevance of presidential debates to the uncertain future of TV in a streaming era to publishing brands becoming distribution channels for energy supplements. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This...

In this Brian-free episode Troy and Alex discuss the tension between media and tech, what changed and why. Plus: weird billionaire takes, the next internet, and a new browser. Debating the Future of AI: A Conversation with Marc Andreessen The Value of News Content to Google is Way More Than You Think Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schle...

This week Troy, Brian and Alex talk about their summer media habits when on vacation or just trying to unplug. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visi...

Maybe publishing stinks as a scaled business, and it won't ever be otherwise. The most promising models I see tend to focus on elite audiences of business or political decision makers, lifestyle segments that lend themselves to commercial transactions or front operations for other more lucrative businesses in completely different categories. That will require a refactoring of publishing organizati...

This week: Media cannot escape being aggregated; Elon Musk's superapp fever dream; Hollywood's dead-cat bounce with Barbieheimer; and publishers look to events to exit a tough digital ad market. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities Follow  Alex ,  Brian  and  Troy  on Twitter This is a public episode. If you wou...

Every business deals with disruption and challenges, but the media business is somewhat unique in having such profound upheavals to its distribution paradigms. Music faced it first. Publishing went next. And now we’re seeing entertainment, whether TV or film, face the same turbulence as distribution shifts to streaming and the economics change profoundly. Plus: what’s cool, why corporate values ar...