Lots of people start media companies using money from rich people. Jason Koebler and his colleagues did it themselves, using a grand total of $4,000. That was back in the summer of 2023. Now 404 Media, the tech news + investigations site they started after leaving Vice Media, is a success story. Koebler tells us how they started, how it’s going, and what he’ ... Show More
Aug 6
Why the Algorithm is Making Comedy Boom, Again
The last time I talked to Jesse David Fox about the comedy boom it was… March 5, 2020. Since then, some things have changed. But in other ways it’s just the same: comedy - or at least, some kinds of comedy - seems almost custom-built for our current technological and cultural mom ... Show More
58m 53s
Feb 2025
When Traditional Advertising Is Dead
It’s no secret the media business, which has long relied on advertising revenue, is in crisis. It’s not a stretch to imagine that few if any of the major TV networks, newspapers and magazines - the old guard bedrocks of U.S. media - will survive into the next decade. BCG’s Neal Z ... Show More
33m 20s
Aug 2024
Disney is a Tech Company?
Streaming didn’t just change the way consumers watched movies and TV shows, it reconfigured how media giants operated, and how they saw themselves. If tech companies were disrupting old business models, perhaps Disney’s best move was to join the crowd. In our final episode, we lo ... Show More
36m 9s
Aug 2024
Sergey Brin: Googling billions
By founding Google, tech titan Sergey Brin helped shape the internet. He also got very, very rich, as his company Alphabet became one of the biggest in the world. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the story of the billionaire who partied on planes aft ... Show More
47m 27s
Oct 2024
Investor FOMO is back, and what's happening with WordPress and WP Engine?
Today on Equity, Devin, Margaux and Anthony Ha are rounding up the week's startup and venture news, kicking things off with a look at the $400 million raised by Lightmatter, and the importance of fast networking within the fast growing datacenter industry today — not just in year ... Show More
36m 39s
Mar 2025
China has some big ideas about smartphones
In this episode, what's old is new again, and what's new is... AI again. The Verge's Allison Johnson and Dominic Preston join David to discuss their experience at Mobile World Congress 2025, where they saw the latest devices from Xiaomi, Samsung, Realme, and others — and found th ... Show More
1h 18m