Mixed Signals from Semafor Media
Every Friday media reporter Max Tani and Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith pull back the curtain on the most important stories about media, revealing why you see and hear what you see and hear. Mixed Signals from Semafor Media is supported by Think with Google.
Episodes
March 27, 2026 • 42 mins
Former Sony Entertainment CEO and current Snap Inc. Chairman Michael Lynton joins Mixed Signals to revisit the decision that led to one of the most consequential hacks in history: approving The Interview, the Seth Rogen–James Franco comedy that provoked a cyberattack from North Korea. Max and Ben ask why he broke his own greenlight process, and how he managed the fallout as private emails were leaked and careers were upended. They ...
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March 20, 2026 • 32 mins
Douglas Scott Wreden and Aiden McCaig of the Lemonade Stand podcast join Ben and Max to explain how they turned gaming audiences into a loyal following for business, tech, and politics—and what it says about the future of media.
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March 19, 2026 • 33 secs
Introducing The CEO Signal, a new show from SEMAFOR hosted by Penny Pritzker and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson.
In each episode, they sit down with global CEOs to discuss the moments of judgment that define leadership — how they interpret the forces shaping their industries, weigh difficult choices, and make decisions when the stakes are high.
The CEO Signal builds on the SEMAFOR's CEO Signal newsletter, the briefing read by many of ...
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March 13, 2026 • 47 mins
Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg joins Mixed Signals on the one-year anniversary of the scoop known as "Signalgate" — when he was accidentally added to a top-secret Trump administration group chat. Max and Ben ask if anything actually changed after the scandal, how Donald Trump reacted to the story, and why the president invited Goldberg to the Oval Office afterwards. Goldberg also talks about falling out with Benjamin Net...
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Twitch streamer Hasan Piker joins Mixed Signals for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to be the internet’s most prominent leftist streamer. Max and Ben ask him about the scale of his audience, the grind of broadcasting seven days a week, and whether constant livestreaming changes the way he thinks. Piker also talks about collaborating with Democratic politicians like Zoran Mamdani, and dialing back his rhetoric as he ...
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March 3, 2026 • 1 min
A note from Ben Smith: If you're listening to Mixed Signals' coverage of the radical changes to the world of media, I think you'll really enjoy Semafor's newest show, Compound Interest from Semafor Business, that casts a light on how pressure from technology and from Wall Street is radically shifting virtually every business.
On Compound Interest, our brilliant colleagues Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami are talking to people at the ...
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February 27, 2026 • 35 mins
Former BBC News boss Deborah Turness joins Mixed Signals for her first public interview since resigning amid a controversy over an editorial mishap involving a Donald Trump speech. She talks about whether the BBC is truly impartial, how she handled newsroom blind spots around rising populist movements like the UK's Reform party, and why she believes public media can survive a polarized age. The interview was recorded at Semafor’s T...
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February 20, 2026 • 48 mins
Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer join Mixed Signals to talk about their leap from the Situation Room to the podcast studio. They explain why they started The Long Game, what they learned about media while running US foreign policy, and how the war in Ukraine became as much an information battle as a military one. The conversation ranges from Gaza and Al Jazeera to AI-gene...
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February 13, 2026 • 60 mins
Gus Wenner, chairman of Rolling Stone and son of the magazine’s legendary founder, has spent years balancing the brand’s print heritage with its digital transformation. On this week’s Mixed Signals, Ben and Max talk with Wenner about his new holding company, Wenner Media Ventures, and why he thinks algorithms disrespect audiences. They also discuss the venture’s investment in the hit video series Track Star, his defense of Rolling...
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February 6, 2026 • 53 mins
When now-President Donald Trump decided to put on an apron and serve customers at a McDonald’s drive-thru on the 2024 campaign trail, it put Tariq Hassan, then McDonald’s chief marketer, in a tight spot. On this week’s Mixed Signals, Ben and Max sit down with the former Golden Arches CMO to discuss the Trump episode, why he thinks ad makers should engage with journalists, and what goes into a good celebrity Super Bowl ad.
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January 30, 2026 • 53 mins
A year into Hollywood’s heralded vibe shift, as major production companies in the US have increasingly catered to broader or more conservative tastes, a gay Canadian hockey romance was not an obvious choice to become a hit. On this week’s Mixed Signals, Ben and Max bring on Bell Media CEO Sean Cohan to unpack the success of Heated Rivalry and explain how it became an overnight cultural sensation. Cohan also talks about Bell’s strat...
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January 23, 2026 • 52 mins
Stephen Dubner has spent 20 years proving that things aren't what they seem—and now he's not so sure that's always true. The co-creator of Freakonomics and host of one of podcasting's most enduring shows joins Ben and Max to talk about why he never sold to Spotify, how The New York Times shifted from telling readers things to telling them what to think, and his new self-funded TV experiment that's "like laundering podcast money." A...
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January 16, 2026 • 52 mins
Sarah Rogers, the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy, joins Mixed Signals for a wide-ranging conversation about free speech, tech regulation, and why she’s been rattling the patience of some European governments. Max and Ben press her on confronting Europe over X, the Digital Services Act, and online speech — including accusations that she’s carrying water for Elon Musk and the far right. Rogers traces her world...
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January 15, 2026 • 39 mins
Semafor CEO Justin Smith joins Mixed Signals for a candid discussion about why the digital media company raised $30 million late last year, and how it reached profitability in just three years.
Max asks Justin and Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith about the company’s $330 valuation, the company’s planned investment in the Gulf and East Asia, and what it takes to build a modern media company in 2026.
Justin and Ben reflect on less...
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January 9, 2026 • 54 mins
Media veteran Ryan Lizza joins Mixed Signals for a raw, sprawling conversation about why he chose to publish an eight-part (and counting) Substack series responding to the most personal and public crisis of his career. Max and Ben press him on whether this was ever just a breakup story, why he believes the real scandal involves RFK Jr. and journalistic failures, and how Substack gave him the only viable way to tell the story in the...
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January 2, 2026 • 44 mins
Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary joins Mixed Signals to talk about his buzzy turn as a ruthless tycoon in Marty Supreme — and how it felt playing a fictionalized version of himself. Max and Ben dig into what lessons he took from working with Josh Safdie and Timothee Chalamet, why Mark Cuban isn’t on Shark Tank anymore, and why he believes movie theaters aren’t going anywhere. They also talk about O’Leary’s media omnipresence, how his def...
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December 30, 2025 • 38 mins
What happens when TikTokers replace TV hosts and interviewers, and presidential candidates start begging to be on their shows?
Brian Reed sits down in a Brooklyn wine shop with four of the internet’s biggest creators: Caleb Simpson, who gets people on the street to take him up to their apartments; Julian Shapiro-Barnum who interviews kids on Recess Therapy; Anania Williams of the LGBTQ quiz show Gaydar; and Jack Coyne, host of th...
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December 26, 2025 • 35 mins
The Ankler’s Janice Min and FeedMe founder Emily Sundberg join Mixed Signals for a candid roundtable lookback at a disorienting year in media. They sound off on everything from YouTube’s domination, to the Charlie Kirk saga, and the increasingly niche areas of coverage for newsletters. Max and Ben also ask about Substack’s evolution, creator economics, and what media moments might be top of mind for 2026.
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December 19, 2025 • 44 mins
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri joins Mixed Signals to talk about what Instagram actually is in 2025, and what it isn't. Max and Ben ask about the platform’s new move onto TV screens, the dominance of Reels and DMs, and whether “everything is becoming television.” Mosseri also explains how the company is competing with TikTok and YouTube, and whether "AI slop" is a legitimate concern for social media feeds.
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December 12, 2025 • 42 mins
Comedy veteran and longtime Conan O’Brien sidekick Andy Richter joins Mixed Signals for an existentially funny conversation about surviving three decades in entertainment. Max and Ben ask Andy about how he became late night’s most adaptable performer, whether he ever worried about becoming “the next Ed McMahon,” and why acting work has become so elusive in Hollywood. Andy also talks about the decline of late night as a cultural for...
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