The Grill Room

Ben Collins, C.E.O. of The Onion, joins Dylan to make sense of their acquisition of Infowars and the purpose driving it. Collins walks through the legal and financial complexity of redirecting money to Sandy Hook families owed damages by a bankrupt Alex Jones, including the unique $500,000 six-month licensing deal at the center of it. They also discuss The Onion’s successful pivot to user-supporte...

Julia Alexander and Dylan Byers weigh in on Jim Bankoff’s looming sale of Vox Media’s assets—including its podcast network and New York magazine—and the field of potential buyers circling the deal. They also discuss how A.I. is reshaping the business and audience dynamics of journalism, the return of Brian Williams on Netflix, the latest wave of industry layoffs, and much more. See all the ways bp...

Former NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim joins Dylan to assess the slow fade of linear TV news—and what legacy players like NBC, CBS, and CNN can do to stay relevant. Noah’s playbook: lean into tentpoles like NBC’s ‘Today’ and CBS’s ‘60 Minutes,’ invest in premium video content, adapt to the way people actually consume media now, and, perhaps most importantly, develop a point of view audiences can’t g...

The legendary Chris Lehane, now OpenAI’s chief policy guy, makes the case for the company’s surprising, nine-figure acquisition of TBPN, the daily tech and business talk show. Then TBPN president Dylan Abruscato swings by to untangle the logic—and ambiguity—of their new partnership, how OpenAI could help supercharge growth, and what it all means for future tech-media entanglements. See all the way...

Dylan and Julia reunite to scrutinize OpenAI’s baffling acquisition of TBPN—and the enduring notion that tech companies can fix media simply by owning it. They also weigh in on LinkedIn’s reported interest in Beehiiv, Versant’s grab for Vox Media’s podcast network, and the increasingly muddled media M&A landscape writ large. See all the ways bp is driving American energy forward at bp.com/Investin...

Gavin Purcell, co-founder of A.I. for Humans, joins Julia for a candid conversation about A.I.’s transformative—and destabilizing—impact on the creator economy, from lowering the barriers to entry for creators to questions about I.P., monetization, and control. They also weigh into the need for media companies to embrace the future of A.I. and invest in new technologies and talent. “See all the wa...

Former F.C.C. chairJessica Rosenworcel and former NPR chief Gary Knell join Dylan at the Common Sense Media Summit to discuss the precarious state of the agency under Brendan Carr. They scrutinize his aggressive posture toward broadcasters, the potential implications for the First Amendment, and the broader risks to democracy—while also exploring solutions to support local news, combat consolidati...

On the Draymond Green Show, no topic is off limits. In this episode Draymond welcomes Skip Bayless to discuss Michael Jordan, Stephen A Smith, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and they debate whether or not Draymond is really the dirtiest player of all time.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad...

Live from the Common Sense Media Summit in San Francisco, Attorneys General Rob Bonta and Raúl Torrez join Dylan to chart the jarring similarities between Big Tech and the tobacco industry. They discuss the ongoing lawsuits against companies like Meta and TikTok, the harmful effects of these platforms on children, the need for accountability and transparency, the challenge of regulating social med...

Julia and Dylan scrutinize CNN’s attempt to loosen the tie—turning Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper into something closer to podcast personalities in the mold of Pat McAfee and Joe Rogan. Naturally, the effort has invited ridicule—and raises a deeper question: does C.E.O. Mark Thompson’s vision align with what audiences actually want, and more importantly, what his audience needs? To learn more abo...

Tyler Denk, founder and C.E.O. of Beehiiv, joins Dylan to make the case for what makes his platform the best bet for independent creators—and why it’s not to be compared to Substack, as it so often is. He also weighs in on Substack’s $1.1 billion valuation, the realities of monetizing audiences, and the long game for the creator economy writ large. Plus, his thoughts on scaling the business and wh...

Julia and Dylan weigh into the increasingly uncanny world of generative A.I.—from the rise of A.I.-generated content flooding social media feeds to the technology’s influence on coverage of the war with Iran. They also discuss whether tech companies are sleepwalking toward a regulatory reckoning—and why the Oscars may soon look a lot like a sportsbook thanks to the rise of prediction markets. To l...

Julia and Dylan return to the scene of the Paramount–Warner Bros. car crash: what it means for streaming, who wins and loses in a CNN-CBS combination, whether Jeff Shell gets the axe, and how the whole enchilada comes together. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.c...

Sam Feist, the C.E.O. of C-SPAN and former 33-year veteran of CNN, joins Dylan to discuss the long-whispered possibility (now reality) of a marriage between CNN and CBS—a concept that has quietly floated around the industry for more than 40 years. Feist explains why the broadcast reach of CBS and CNN’s global reporting capabilities could be uniquely complementary, what the union might look like un...

Dylan and Julia consider the fate of CNN under Ellison rule: the looming $6 billion in “synergies” menacing the newsroom, how cost cutting could impact staff, the stark realities of operating a pricey 24/7 network, and the mounting speculation surrounding whether Bari Weiss will turn the whole thing into CBS+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc...

Dylan welcomes Puck superfriends Matt Belloni and Bill Cohan to discuss every angle of the Paramount-WBD leveraged buyout: the Ellisons’ exorbitant $79 billion debt, Zaslav’s true legacy, and whether Netflix dodged a bullet. Then they dig into the industry reactions to the deal and its dire implications for Hollywood. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.a...

Julia and Dylan dive into the new partnership between Polymarket and Substack, and debate whether live markets actually make journalism better. Then they turn to the latest turbulence at The Washington Post after its recent town hall, and address the existential question: Is there anything Jeff Bezos can realistically do to steady the ship? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practic...

Reed Duchscher, C.E.O. of Night Media, joins Dylan and Julia to discuss his management firm’s recent $70 million raise—and what it signals about the next phase of his company and the creator economy writ large. A former manager of MrBeast, Duchscher explains why we’re unlikely to see another YouTube star of that scale, weighs the tension between volume and scarcity, and weighs into the rise of pla...

Julia and Dylan assess the state of CBS—and the media industry writ large—in the Trump II era, from the fallout over Stephen Colbert’s interview with James Talarico to Anderson Cooper’s stunning exit from 60 Minutes. They also assess the early numbers from Peacock’s “Legendary February,” the steep implications of Paramount’s renewed pursuit of WBD, what a WBD-PSKY merger could mean for CNN, and mu...

John Ourand and Julia Alexander dive into the biggest sports media storylines of the moment, from the forthcoming NFL rights negotiations and their sweeping implications to NBCUniversal’s “Legendary February” and Peacock’s ongoing subscriber challenges. They also discuss the NFL’s growing international ambitions, the competitive drag of NBA tanking, the Olympics, and much more. To learn more about...

Julia and Dylan to take stock of the week in media: Spotify’s rosy earnings report, NBC’s “Legendary February,” Peacock’s subscriber headaches, the enduring A.I.-media reckoning, and more. Plus, Dylan weighs in on what the future holds for the embattled Washington Post after a turbulent few weeks of layoffs and leadership upheaval. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit:...

NBC Sports president Rick Cordella joins Dylan to discuss a pivotal month for the network, from the Super Bowl to the Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game. Cordella explains how live sports fuel subscriber growth for Peacock, often driving audiences to other programming, and reflects on the enduring value of broadcast television, the challenges of media fragmentation, the strategic importance...

The Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray joins Dylan for an exclusive, wide-ranging conversation about the sweeping layoffs that reduced the newsroom by 300 journalists and a third of the company overall. Murray defends the restructuring as necessary to meet changing audience behavior and address financial strain, while arguing that recent subscriber gains signal a viable path to growth in...

Julia and Dylan dig into the week’s most consequential media storylines: the mass layoffs at the Washington Post, Peacock’s pivotal month of sports programming, the ascension of Josh D’Amaro as Disney’s new C.E.O., and the growing question of whether ESPN will ultimately be spun off as Disney signals that its future lies beyond traditional television. To learn more about listener data and our priv...

Jason Zengerle joins Dylan for a deep dive into his new book, ‘Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind.’ Zengerle traces Carlson’s evolution from print journalist to cable news star—and eventually to media mogul—examining his strategic use of outrage, his close alignment with Trump, and how both have fueled his influence. They also explore the broa...