Hey, this is our monthly list of recommended podcast episodes that we think people in marketing should listen to.
This time, even though February is the shortest month of the year – between the GameStop/Robinhood thing, the Texas blackout, the Australia VS Google/Facebook war, Jeff Bezos’ announcement, Rush Limbaugh’s death, and the explosion of Clubhouse – these past 4 weeks could easily pass as a whole quarter.
The episodes below would help you get to the bottom of these topics and see how they can further inform you as marketers.
Australia vs Google and Facebook (and Facebook vs Apple, and more FB stuff)
1. Googliath (45 min)
Today, Explained, Feb 23
Australia just reined in Google. Dozens of other countries want in on the action. The latest season of Land of the Giants explains how two grad students turned a search engine into what might be the most powerful company in history.
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2. Facebook’s Showdown With Apple (20 mins)
The Journal, Feb 12
Apple is launching a new privacy feature that Facebook says could severely hurt its business by making it harder to target consumers with ads. WSJ’s Deepa Seetharaman explains why the dispute has been years in the making.
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3. The Supreme Court of Facebook (49 mins)
The New Yorker Radio Hour, Feb 12
Facebook is at the center of the hottest controversies over freedom of speech, and its opaque, unaccountable decisions have angered people across the political spectrum. Mark Zuckerberg’s answer to this mess is to outsource: Facebook recently created and endowed a permanent body it calls the Oversight Board—like a Supreme Court whose decisions will be binding for the company. And Facebook immediately referred to the board a crucial question: whether to reinstate Donald Trump on the platform, after he was banned for inciting the January 6th riot at the Capitol. In this collaboration between the New Yorker Radio Hour and Radiolab, the producer Simon Adler explores the creation of the Oversight Board with Kate Klonick, whose reporting appears in The New Yorker. What they learn calls into question whether Zuckerberg’s fundamentally American-style view of free speech can be exported around the world without resulting in sometimes dire consequences.
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4. Facebook’s Supreme Court (44 mins)
Radiolab, Feb 12
Since its inception, the perennial thorn in Facebook’s side has been content moderation. That is, deciding what you and I are allowed to post on the site and what we’re not. Missteps by Facebook in this area have fueled everything from a genocide in Myanmar to viral disinformation surrounding politics and the coronavirus. However, just this past year, conceding their failings, Facebook shifted its approach. They erected an independent body of twenty jurors that will make the final call on many of Facebook’s thorniest decisions. This body has been called: Facebook’s Supreme Court.
So today, in collaboration with the New Yorker magazine and the New Yorker Radio Hour, we explore how this body came to be, what power it really has and how the consequences of its decisions will be nothing short of life or death.
This episode was reported and produced by Simon Adler.
Rush Limbaugh’s Death (and lessons on audience building)
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5. Rush Limbaugh’s legacy (30 mins)
Today, Explained, Feb 19
Author Nicole Hemmer explains how Limbaugh helped pave the way for Fox News, OAN, and Newsmax.
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6. The Legacy of Rush Limbaugh (33 mins)
The Daily, Feb 22
The conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh died last week. He was 70.
For decades, he broadcast mistrust and grievance into the homes of millions. Mr. Limbaugh helped create an entire ecosystem of right-wing media and changed the course of American conservatism.
Today, we look back on Rush Limbaugh’s career and how he came to have an outsize influence on Republican politics.
Guest: Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times and The Times Magazine.
From Bezos and Onward
7. Amazon After Bezos (17 mins)
The Journal, Feb 4
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced yesterday that he plans to step down as CEO. WSJ’s Bradley Olson explains how Bezos’s relentless drive grew Amazon into a goliath and what the next CEO will mean for America’s biggest online retailer.
Twitter’s New Toys
8. Twitter subscription service, Tesla invests in Bitcoin, and Friend of Pivot Acting FCC Chairwoman JessicaRosenworcel (63 mins)
Pivot, Feb 9
Kara and Scott talk about Tesla investing $1.5billion in Bitcoin and what that means for the future of cryptocurrencies. They also discuss Twitter mulling a new subscription product. Meanwhile, Apple’s talks with Hyundai/KIA to build an autonomous vehicle broke down. Then in Friend of Pivot, Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel talks about the importance of expanding broadband during the pandemic.
Clubhouse is in Da House (for iPhone users only)
9. SevenMinutes On WhyClubHouse is Worth Your Time(7 mins)
The GaryVee Audio Experience, Feb 6
In today’s episode, I talk about ClubHouse, now, many of you will know about this app but in the scheme of 300m+ Americans and 7.5B on earth very few do. The audio resurgence that I’ve been talking about for years continues and clubhouse has become a very popular place for many to have conversations around many topics and is an app for many of you to keep an eye on. Have you used Clubhouse yet? What do you think of the app and its potential? Let me know!
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10. The Clubhouse Craze (12 mins)
The Founder’s Journal, Feb 15
Today I share four timeless lessons from the app that everyone’s talking about: Clubhouse.
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