Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Ben Smith co-founded Semafor after running BuzzFeed News, and Max Tani is one of the sharpest media reporters working today. Every Friday they sit down for about 30 minutes and pull apart the biggest media stories of the week with the kind of sourcing that only comes from being genuinely embedded in the industry. Smith has a knack for connecting dots between seemingly unrelated business moves, like explaining why a streaming deal actually tells you something about the future of local news. Tani brings the reporting muscle, often breaking news right on the show before it appears anywhere else. They've covered Rolling Stone's digital transformation, long-form podcasting economics, digital media profitability, and the business strategies behind major publishing decisions. With 87 episodes and a 4.5-star rating from 226 reviews, Mixed Signals has quickly become required listening for anyone who works in or cares about the media business. The tone is conversational but informed, never dumbed down and never pretentious. They assume you're paying attention to the news and reward that attention with actual insight rather than the surface-level takes you'd get from a Twitter thread. The show moves fast and doesn't waste time on long intros or tangents, which makes it an efficient way to stay current on an industry that changes constantly.