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Channels with Peter Kafka

Channels with Peter Kafka

Written by: Vox Media Podcast Network
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 Media and tech aren’t just intersecting — they’re fully intertwined. And to understand how those worlds work, and what they mean for you, veteran journalist Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers - and gets them to spell it out in plain, BS-free English. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.© 2019 Vox Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved Art Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Why Henry Blodget is Building Another Media Company

    Why Henry Blodget is Building Another Media Company
    Aug 27 2025
    Henry Blodget can’t help himself. The Business Insider founder is starting another media business, knowing full well how difficult the industry can be. You can watch him build it in real time: Regenerator on Substack, and Solutions on TikTok, YouTube and everywhere you hear your favorite podcasts. Henry — who hired me to work at Business Insider in 2007, back when it was called Silicon Alley Insider — sat down for a chat about what’s changed in media and the internet over the years, and what hasn’t. We also took time to talk about the AI boom, whether it’s a bubble, and why bubbles can be useful. It’s a blast from the past and a look at the future, all in one chat. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    58 mins
  • ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro on streaming, the NFL and sports betting

    ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro on streaming, the NFL and sports betting
    Aug 20 2025
    The media industry has been waiting for ESPN to cut the cord for a decade. Now it’s finally happening: This week the sports TV giant will let you start streaming — without a cable TV subscription — for $30 a month. Why now? ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro is quite frank about it: Along with his boss — Disney CEO Bob Iger — he wanted to make as much money from the cable TV business as he could before it dwindled away. And even now, Pitaro says he hopes the new service brings in customers who don’t have cable — as opposed to getting ones who do still pay for cable to trade down. That illustrates the issue facing all of the big TV players these days: They know the future is a digital one, where they’ll have to work much harder to win and keep customers. So they’re hanging on to the old TV model as long as they can. At the same time they’re trying to build a profitable streaming future. That tension is the main thrust of this conversation I had with Pitaro this week in Disney’s new Manhattan headquarters. We also had time to get into his recent deal with the NFL, his ongoing commitment to sports betting — and whether ESPN is still committed to diversity in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    48 mins
  • A Busy - and Expensive - Summer for AI, with NYT's Mike Isaac

    A Busy - and Expensive - Summer for AI, with NYT's Mike Isaac
    Aug 13 2025
    What makes a particular engineer worth $250 million to Mark Zuckerberg? What does Trump 2.0 mean — and not mean — to people building large language models? I didn’t know the answers to these questions either. So I got the New York Times’ Mike Isaac, who covers this stuff for a living, to walk me through some of the biggest questions in AI right now — which means we’re also getting at some of the biggest questions in tech. Warning: This is a pants-free episode. Probably still Safe For Work, though. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    52 mins
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