TikTok & Beyond: The Algorithm Question, The Future of Product

With the U.S. tech partnership for TikTok being finalized, what happens if source code is excluded (and more specifically, the For You Page algorithm), given China’s revised export controls? But more broadly — well beyond the specifics and politics of this deal — what does the success of TikTok tell us about “creativity network effects”, … Read more

“One Does Not Know Where an Insight Will Come From” | People I (Mostly) Admire: Kerwin Charles

The dean of Yale’s School of Management grew up in a small village in Guyana. During his unlikely journey, he has researched video-gaming habits, communicable disease, and why so many African-Americans haven’t had the kind of success he’s had. Steve Levitt talks to Charles about his parents’ encouragement, his love of Sports Illustrated, and how … Read more

The New Fan Club: Creators, Fans, and the Power of Markets (& Crypto)

Today’s episode, part two in our two-part series on the Creator Economy, focuses on the new potential revenue streams and fan-engagement models opened up by emerging decentralized technology. It’s a new type of fan club, driven by crypto networks and aiming to give creators more power in the commercial sphere. Zoran Basich of a16z talked … Read more

#465: Jamie Foxx on Workout Routines, Success Habits, and Untold Hollywood Stories (Repost)

Jamie Foxx (@iamjamiefoxx) is an Academy Award-winning actor, a Grammy Award-winning musician, and a famous standup and improv comedian. He is, without a doubt, the most consummate performer and entertainer I have ever met. In the 2.5 hours we spent together in his home studio, he blew my mind. We cover a TON in this wide-ranging episode, including many never-before-heard stories. … Read more

#112 – Why Buying Businesses Is Better Than Starting Them and The Mad Genius of Kanye West

Sam Parr (@theSamParr) and Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) shoot the wind on today’s pod. In today’s episode you’ll hear: Sam asks Shaan what he’s learned about working at a big company and what he can apply to a smaller company (0:30), Shaan asks Sam about a personnel shuffle at The Hustle (9:00), the guys talk about a … Read more

So You Want to Launch a Newsletter: Tips From Substack Writers

This episode, part one in a two-part series on the Creator Economy, explores the process and economics behind creating an independent newsletter. In this candid conversation, host Lauren Murrow talks with four Substack writers—an artist, a technologist, a journalist, and a clinical researcher-turned-psychedelics scholar—about how to find and foster an audience, the calculus behind going … Read more

The Matt Yglesias Show

Matt Yglesias is a co-founder and senior correspondent at Vox, my co-host on The Weeds podcast, and my oldest friend in journalism. Matt’s college blog was an inspiration for my own, and since then we’ve worked together, podcasted together, and even started Vox together. I’ve learned an enormous amount from him, both when we agree … Read more