The Grill Room

Julia and Dylan chew over the reports that Barry Diller is interested in buying CNN, and whether a new owner would solve the network’s digital dilemma (probably not). Then they assess the broader, largely self-inflicted crises facing Bari Weiss at CBS News, Will Lewis at The Washington Post, and Mark Thompson at CNN. They also break down Netflix’s latest Engagement Report and the streamer’s increa...

Former Barstool Sports C.E.O. and Food52 chief executive Erika Ayers Badan joins Dylan to reflect on navigating bankruptcy at Food52, a onetime $300 million company that ultimately collapsed under roughly $25 million in debt. She breaks down what went wrong, the dangers of undisciplined growth, and why diversified revenue streams matter now more than ever. She also discusses what kind of buyers mi...

Julia and Dylan break down the week’s biggest media storylines, from Netflix’s earnings and Ted Sarandos’s candid take on the state of television to Neal Mohan’s annual letter outlining YouTube’s present—and A.I.-shaped future. The duo weigh into the ever-growing challenge of capturing attention in an increasingly oversaturated and fragmented media ecosystem—and the curious case of Mediaite’s perp...

Semafor co-founders Justin Smith and Ben Smith join Dylan to discuss their recent $30 million financing at a staggering $330 million post-money valuation—and to address some industry player-hating. They justify the math behind the valuation, break down the economics of a media company with a significant events business (while rejecting the idea that Semafor is events-first), and walk through their...

Dylan and Julia dig into the mess surrounding a potential corporate sponsorship of CBS News’ “Whiskey Fridays” with Tony Dokoupil, after an Evening News set featuring a Jack Daniel’s logo leaked online. The controversy also sparked a bigger debate about whether corporate sponsorships lack journalistic integrity—or actually offer a viable lifeline to a news industry in perpetual decline. To learn m...

Jim VandeHei, the co-founder and C.E.O. of Axios, is back with hot takes on the industry’s biggest challenges: the media’s trust deficit, the imperative to serve hyper-targeted audiences, and how A.I. is writing journalism’s next chapter. Jim predicts a potential golden age for quality reporting—provided publishers actually embrace A.I.—and delivers a characteristically blunt assessment of The Was...

Julia and Dylan survey a volatile week in media: Tony Dokoupil’s rocky debut at CBS Evening News and the broader questions it raises about Bari Weiss’s leadership, Semafor’s eyebrow-raising $330 million valuation, the flood of A.I.-generated content overtaking Instagram and X, and plenty more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-poli...

Matt Belloni joins Dylan and Julia to chart the latest updates surrounding the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war between Netflix and Paramount—and what each side stands to gain or lose. Then they dive into Hollywood’s accelerating A.I. anxiety in light of Disney’s pact with Sora 2, the upcoming film slate for 2026, YouTube's rights deal with the Oscars, and more. Plus: Matt explains his choices f...

Dylan and Julia forecast the media chaos to come, mapping out the storylines likely to dominate the year ahead—from the ongoing Warner Bros. Discovery drama to Disney’s Sora experiment, Instagram Reels invading connected TV, and the likely disruption of the ad market. They also predict CNN’s uncertain future, the waning influencer economy, the A.I. forces quietly rearranging everything, and much m...

Jim Steyer, the founder and C.E.O. of Common Sense Media, joins Dylan for a fascinating end-of-year conversation about which tech companies and social media platforms are getting it right (and wrong) when it comes to child safety. They also chat about his legendary class at Stanford and forthcoming podcast, his brother Tom’s gubernatorial bid in California, and much more. Learn more about Starbuck...

Julia and Dylan reunite to survey the stories that defined media in 2025, starting with the recent uproar over Bari Weiss pulling a ’60 Minutes’ segment critical of the Trump administration. Then they dig into the impact of David Ellison’s bid for Warner Bros., Trump’s omnipresent influence on the media ecosystem, the mounting pressures on legacy outlets, and much more. Learn more about Starbucks...

The one and only Katie Couric joins Dylan for a wide-ranging look back—and forward—at her career, from her stints at the Today show, CBS, and Yahoo to building her own media empire. She digs into the collapse of monoculture, the rise of a creator-driven media landscape, why authenticity matters now more than ever, maintaining journalistic integrity in an era of relentless political pressure—and mu...

Orchestra C.E.O. Jonathan Rosen and Jon Kelly join Dylan live from New York to walk through new survey data capturing the media industry’s state of mind. They dig into the rise of subscription-based models, the FAST explosion, the creeping influence of A.I., and much more. Plus, cameo insights from Semafor’s Ben Smith and Feed Me’s Emily Sundberg who offer their own read on where the business is b...

Andrew Ross Sorkin, founder of The New York Times’ DealBook and co-host of CNBC’s Squawk Box, joins Dylan for a candid conversation about the ins and outs of his media business. He walks through a typical day in his life, explains why he’s prioritizing quality over quantity (and skipping the media-empire chase), and breaks down his approach to high-stakes interviews. They also dig into the DealBoo...

Dylan and Julia reunite to chew over Disney’s new deal with OpenAI, which will pump more than 200 Disney characters into Sora so fans can generate their own content with the company’s most valuable I.P. They also check in on the WBD sweepstakes: how Paramount and Netflix stack up, what each company’s contingency plans looks like, the regulatory headaches ahead, and much more. Learn more about Star...

Yahoo C.E.O. Jim Lanzone joins Dylan and Julia for a tour of the company’s Apollo era, four years after the private equity behemoth bought the business for just $5 billion—nearly $120 billion shy of its peak valuation. Lanzone breaks down Yahoo’s growth strategy: the metrics that actually matter, how the company monetizes at scale, and what the endgame looks like. They also dig into Yahoo’s A.I. a...

It’s been 20 years since How I Met Your Mother premiered, and just over 10 years since the finale. Josh Radnor, who played “Ted” for nine seasons teams up with series co-creator Craig Thomas for this episode-by-episode rewatch podcast. For the superfans, HWMYM (listen to the trailer to learn how it’s pronounced) will get into all the secrets, theories, and pineapples, but we'll also use HIMYM – an...

Julia and Dylan revisit the endlessly looping Nuzzi-Lizza saga, questioning whether we’re still covering journalism or merely documenting a public breakup. They dissect the collateral damage of the drama: Substack’s structural vulnerabilities, Vanity Fair’s brand calculus, and the reputational fallout for both combatants. Plus, they swap their Spotify Wrapped revelations and discuss how Spotify tu...

Makena Kelly, senior writer at Wired, joins Julia to wade into the Venn diagram of politics, internet culture, and technology. They discuss Elon Musk’s curious cameo in the Trump administration, the rise of influencer gatherings over traditional press, and how online fandoms can turbocharge campaigns like Zohran Mamdani’s. They also explore how creators are reshaping political media and the tightr...

Julia and Dylan serve up the latest media dish: the blurred lines between journalists and influencers; how A.I. is transforming Apple and Google; the Substackification of legacy media; and, of course, the Nuzzi-Lizza-R.F.K. scandal that won’t die. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit http...

Brian Morrissey and Troy Young, hosts of People vs Algorithms, join Dylan to discuss the media culture war between “information entrepreneurs” like Olivia Nuzzi and Michael Wolff and old-school journalists such as Kara Swisher. Then they dig into the blurring lines between journalism and content creation writ large, the rise of performative reporting, and whether traditional media can keep up in t...

Alison Roman, the internet’s favorite culinary truth-teller, rejoins Dylan to dish on her ongoing evolution as an independent creator in the chaotic attention economy. She discusses her new book, the existential importance of keeping it authentic, and why she broke up with Substack. She also previews her next acts—and, of course, what she’s cooking for Thanksgiving. To learn more about listener da...

Julia and Dylan discuss Olivia Nuzzi’s Vanity Fair “American Canto” excerpt and New York Times profile, and the increasingly tangled relationship between celebrity culture and legacy media brands trying to retain and grow audiences. They also discuss the fate of The Telegraph, and why Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale can’t seem to get their hands around the storied Tory broadsheet. To learn more ab...

Julia and Dylan break down the week’s buzziest media flashpoints: prediction markets muscling their way into politics, punctuated by the $420 million frenzy over New York’s mayoral election; the BBC tiptoeing toward a legal cage match with Trump while clinging to its nonpartisan halo; Jim Bankoff’s plan to spin off the Vox Media Podcast Network; Bob Iger’s flirtation with A.I.-fueled user-generate...

Ian Krietzberg joins Dylan to size up A.I.’s takeover of the media business—how it’s rewiring audiences, destabilizing trust, and threatening to drown the news in algorithmic sludge—while arguing that exclusive content and credibility are the key to survival. And though A.I. might yet change the world, Ian warns that energy costs and bad data could short-circuit the revolution before it starts. To...