Gawker Media founder Nick Denton joins the show to discuss how narratives and memes run the world, and why it’s better to trade on them than run the old media playbook of the attention economy.

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We dig into the idea of taste—how it’s formed, how it signals identity, and where it fits in media and business today. We also unpack how taste once defined media gatekeepers, how it’s now being democratized (or commodified), and why developing taste is less about money and more about intentionality. We are then joined by sociologist and brand strategist Ana Andjelic to debate the merits of European taste vs American taste. Plus: Anonymous Banker has a cameo on how to get a “taste premium” in M&A.

• PvA What We Learned About Taste in Miami
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The media industry, like politics, has been stuck in a scarcity mindset—managing decline instead of building for the future. In this episode, we dig into The Abundance Agenda, the new book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, and explore what a pro-growth strategy could look like for media. Plus, TheSkimm exits to Ziff Davis, the rise of AI-driven advertising, and Anonymous Banker joins to explain why second-tier comedians might be the next big media arbitrage opportunity.

• Why Can't AI Make Its Own Discoveries? — With Yann LeCun
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• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Human Computer
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