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Lauren McCarthy is the Editor-in-Chief of NYLON and the newly-relaunched NYLON GUYS. We asked her about the opportunity she identified to speak to young men at a moment in which the culture around what it means to be a man is often controversial (and a bit American Psycho-coded). We also discuss nightlife coverage, where and how Nylon finds rising talent, and the value proposition of a magazine profile in the age of TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Max Tani is the Media Editor at Semafor and co-host of the Mixed Signals podcast. He also writes the must-read Semafor Media newsletter every Sunday evening. Max is a longtime friend of the pod (and in real life) and we’re honored to have him on as our first guest. We wanted to get Max's take on some of the puzzling and contradictory phenomenons we're noticing in media. We discuss how long of a runway he gives the “dumb question” interview format, whether MrBeast is just a reskinned version of Home Makeover but with a creepier host, and why CNN’s fake podcast gamut was a misreading of why audiences don’t trust media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day One FM is now part of Side Projects: a strategy studio and creative outlet helping brands, marketers, and everyday people think critically about how advertising shapes the cultural landscape.  Eli and Clara share some context about what Side Projects is and what this transition will look like for the pod: what’s new (our theme song, a studio revamp, and YouTube Channel) and what’s staying the same (great conversations and your hosts Eli, Clara, and Trey).  To learn more about Side Projects, check out side-projects.co where you can subscribe to our newsletter and order our first print issue.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re going on a break for a few weeks! But before we do, we talk about how the most sauceless couple you know are doing Carolyn Bessette and JFK Jr. cosplay, the viral Interview magazine piece about the “Finest Boys in Finance,” and why fashion was better when it was about the clothes, not the business.   Recommended this week: JFK (Dir. Oliver Stone)Angel's Egg (Dir. Mamoru Oshii)The Play PodcastBenjamin Edgar on Navigating Cultural Tipping PointsThe Verge’s Nilay Patel Believes Gen Z Will Revolt Against the “Brand Deal” Economy“Trend Bipolarity” and How Brands Kneecapped Cool Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nilay Patel is the editor-in-chief of The Verge and host of Decoder with Nilay Patel. The Verge is “about technology and how it makes us feel,” and Nilay knows people don’t feel so hot right now. We speak with him about how founders have never been more transparent about the negative impacts of their product, how AI products are actually bad, the poison that is prediction markets on our information ecosystem, why Gen Z will ultimately turn on the brand deal economy, and the moment he realized everything is just fans.  Recommended this week: The Conquest of Cool by Thomas Frank Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We dive into Greg Ip’s article in the Wall Street Journal talking about how people aged 65 and older are healthier, wealthier, and, essentially, propping up the entire American economy. We also discuss if brands are going to shift their attention towards the “silver economy,” stretched adolescence, rotisserie chicken, books as cultural signals, and the death/end of the mass-market paperback.  Recommended this week: The Faltering by Tristan TaylorRonin (dir. John Frankenheimer)Canada - John Beltran and Placid Angels Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Michna is the founder of Jenkem Magazine. We talk with him about bringing an outside perspective to skateboarding, being a good beginner, why a combination of fear and shame keeps skateboarding alive, cold plunges with “Andy” Huberman, how Jenkem works with brands as a boutique agency, and why most things that turned out well also could’ve been terrible. Recommended this week: Be a beginnerGo to Amoeba and shop for records based on their album art Where to find Ian: @ian.michna@jenkemmag jenkemmag.comyoutube.com/@jenkemmag  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We begin with a very brief Super Bowl recap, where Eli was one lazy holding call away from a handful of benjamins. Then, we put some respect on some of the American athletes sweeping, skating, and skiing in Milano Cortina. Nothing cooler than being extremely good at one specific thing. And finally, Clara and Trey dive into a lively debate centered around Joshua Rothman’s latest piece in The New Yorker, “Is Good Taste a Trap?” Yes.  Recommended this week:  It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley (dir. Amy Berg)3 Women (dir. Robert Altman)The Culture Journalist Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahead of the Super Bowl, we caught up with Adweek’s Senior Media Reporter Mark Stenberg to help us contextualize the trends we’re seeing in this year’s crop of commercials and identify what you should look out for as you watch on Sunday.  We cover the rise of the multi-week attention ecosystem, why we’ll see more health-focused ads, and more. Plus, we get Mark’s thoughts on the integration of prediction markets into media platforms and whether he buys that people trust journalists less than funeral home directors.  Recommended this week:  Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry Where to find Mark: @markstenberg3On Background Adweek Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick writes The Trend Report™️ on Substack and co-hosts the HIP REPLACEMENT podcast alongside friend of the pod, Ben Dietz. We talk about Kyle’s early trend reports while at Nickelodeon, working in broadcast news, why America isn’t so bad actually, Barcelona internet vs. American internet, why advertisers often don’t talk to real people, how people are pouring themselves into “brand lore” instead of fighting for healthcare, “letting people just enjoy things,” and more. Recommended this week:  “GALA” – XG “Tati Quebra Barraco” – Montagem GuerreiraJeff Mills Live At The Liquid Room - Tokyo 1996 Where to find Kyle: @1234kyle5678Trend Report™️HIP REPLACEMENT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about Alex Honnold’s Taipei 101 climb on Netflix, the return of David Blaine-style spectacle, greasy poles, construction YouTube, and more.  Recommended this week:  The B1MPrehistoric Planet, Season 3Wigwam socks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Lindsay is the author of internet culture substack, “Embedded,” and host of Slate’s ICYMI podcast. She joins us to unpack social media’s cause of death in 2026, analog bags, how we got too addicted to stay addicted, brain rot as political resistance, and what happens when social platforms become places of entertainment instead of places to connect. Plus, stay tuned until the end for the reveal of Kate’s family secret.  Recommended this week:  Ancestry.com  Where to find Kate: @kathrynfionaEmbeddedICYMI podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back! To kick off the year, we’re talking about a new exposé in the Financial Times, which found that OnlyFans creators and influencers are now increasingly dominating requests for O-1B visas, a speciality visa reserved for “exceptional” creatives with “extraordinary ability or achievement.”  Recommended this week:  "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" - E.D. Hirsch Jr.https://nytv.live/ Persimmons Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Tum Town. Long time listeners will know that we often center our distaste for marketing slop and feral commercialism around a few brands, namely Crumbl, Blank Street, and MrBeast. So in our final episode of the year, we decided to actually try the stuff for ourselves and review it live. Stay until the end for a small crumb of analysis on brands trying to “tap into culture.” Here’s what we got:  Crumbl (6 pack): The Cookie That Stole Christmas, Chocolate Crumb Cookie ft. OREO®, Holiday Red Velvet Sandwich Cookie, Candy Cane Brownie Cookie, Peanut Butter Cup Cookie ft. REESE'S, Confetti Cake Cookie Blank Street: Iced Strawberry Shortcake Matcha, Iced Blueberry MatchaMrBeast: Feastables BarPrime: Ice Pop, Mystery flavor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about how Saudi Arabia has renewed Dakota Johnson’s faith in film and Clara eavesdropping on Gen Alpha sleepover semantics. We also dive into the broader implications of younger consumers’ preference for Buy Now, Pay Later, Gary Vee evangelizing livestream shopping, and how frictionless access to credit has allowed the creator economy and the trend ecosystem to rise at scale.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.