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This week we dig into how much of the economy is built on friction, and what happens when AI agents start removing it. Also: why students are so gloomy about AI, Vanity Fair’s New Establishment list and who gets to confer legitimacy on tech, a vibe-coded Adobe replacement, the race for the new home page, and Troy comes around on Kia. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 01:25 Vanity Fair and Tech Legitimacy * 07:46 Students Fear the AI Future * 27:28 Software Moats and Copycat Culture * 34:28 Friction Economy Disrupted * 41:37 One Agent New Homepage * 49:28 Distillation China * 54:48 Good Product This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Brian, Troy and Alex debate who will control the interface to your life, whether convenience will steamroll privacy concerns, and how the winner gets to collect a toll on everything you buy. Plus: Silicon Valley’s makeover of government, what comes next for Condé Nast, and why other industries are about to find out what being a publisher feels like. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 00:48 Meet Linda the AI * 04:53 America.gov Launch * 15:55 Agents Negotiate Calls * 20:21 Personal Agents Arms Race * 36:28 Interface Shift and Business Models * 57:18 Publishers and Condé Shakeup * 01:07:49 Good Product * 01:09:53 Field Notes Corner This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Brian and Troy dig into Muse, Meta’s push to make AI assistants mainstream, and why the next big platform battle is over the interface itself. They also look at what this shift means for publishers, commerce and media companies that increasingly risk becoming commodity suppliers to someone else’s agent. Later, Breaker's Lachlan Cartwright joins to sell $60 hats and talk CNN, CBS News, Puck, RedBird and what consolidation looks like when the old media business is being forced to adapt to a very different distribution system. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 01:24 Boston Globe Viral Win * 05:01 Field Notes Media Lab Build * 09:28 Muse and Agentic Future * 29:20 People Become Data Providers * 45:05 Go Big Media Merger * 51:42 Redbird Buys Puck * 01:10:39 Good Product * 01:19:09 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Brian and Troy map the whole cast: who's the wizard, who's the arms dealer, who's the schoolyard bully, and who gets stuck playing the citizens of King's Landing who never asked for dragons. Plus: whether the frontier is worth being on, what happens the first time someone dies, Macklemore getting bounced off the Ed Sheeran tour, the rip-off economy, and a spirited defense of yogurt. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 02:45 AI Characters and Shifting Alliances * 28:48 Public Trust and the China Question * 33:55 Frontier Labs Go Political * 39:44 When AI Breaks Things * 45:42 Field Notes Mixtapes * 49:46 Quick Hits * 01:08:33 Good Product * 01:11:54 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

They debate warnings from Anthropic researchers that AI could kill humanity, whether anyone can credibly calibrate those risks and whether a visible catastrophe will be required before governments act. They also examine Meta’s Muse and the shift from chatbots and specialized agents toward personal assistants that could swallow large parts of the app economy. Meanwhile, AI may not be causing mass unemployment, but it is weakening entry-level white-collar work and the apprenticeship system young people need to get started. Underlying it all is the disappearance of cognitive struggle as phones and AI make it easier to avoid concentration, boredom and difficult thinking. Plus: the iPhone Fold, the analog revival, Ivan Lendl’s Mitteleuropa wisdom, podcast mixtapes and Troy’s missing car. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 01:47 9/11 Anniversary Reflections * 08:13 US Open Late Nights * 12:06 iPhone Fold and AI Assistants * 37:56 Safetyism And Risk Culture * 42:59 China Race And Trust Gap * 50:00 Practical Risks And Prep * 01:02:11 Analog Revival And Community * 01:10:35 Good Product * 01:14:24 Episode Wrap This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

We look ahead to the release of GTA 6 while tackling the implications of the doomsday sci-fi AI narrative, the use of social cost to coerce behaviors, and how giant sports events like the US Open are now more brand activation and corporate hospitality platforms. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 12:00 GTA VI * 20:47 Meta Layoffs * 33:07 Hugging Face Agent Swarm * 40:03 AI China Race * 47:42 Social Costs And AI * 01:09:04 Good Product * 01:16:58 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Dolly Parton owned a very American narrative of being born poor but making something out of nothing through talent and hard work. In contrast, tech tried to control its narrative and instead stoked backlash to their grand project of AI. Plus: A celebration of nerding out, from the Stick Guy to Emma Camp to David Senra. And a conversation with the WSJ computational journalist John West about why the successor to the open web is small private groups. * Buy John West’s new book - The Internet Will Die and So Will You * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 00:00 Internet Impermanence * 02:44 Dolly Parton Legacy * 10:04 AI Narrative Crisis * 29:35 Fine Line of Authorship * 38:13 Celebration of Nerding Out * 44:17 Carney is an Interesting Character * 50:23 AI Newsrooms And APIs * 56:08 Flock Cameras And Privacy Backlash * 01:03:38 John West On AI And The Dying Web * 01:17:38 Importance of Forgetting * 01:27:30 What is a Computational Journalist? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

What replaced it is an algorithmic entertainment machine where everyone is selling something, AI makes authenticity harder to trust, and the platforms increasingly have little to do with your actual social network. Brian, Troy and Alex argue over what comes next, why belief may be scarcer than attention, and whether we need more arguments. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 01:12 AI Fakes and Social Trust * 15:38 The Case for Arguments * 28:30 Flock Cameras And AI Surveillance * 33:26 Taboola Takes Over NBC Ads This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Suno makes real songs harder to tell from fake. Launch videos are coming across as fake — and the engagement is fake. Drawing the line between creative tool and robot authorship is fuzzy. We debate people’s right to know what AI made and the role of regulation. Plus: Bobby Fingers as AI antidote, Meta’s open source push, the Great GDP Debate, media’s exit from the attention economy, and the brand problem Democrats face from Woke 1. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 00:00 Open * 00:31 Welcome * 04:38 Field Notes Update * 06:16 Anthropic Watermarking * 09:40 Provenance Problem * 22:42 Meta Back in AI * 35:28 NVIDIA Compute Futures * 37:17 Media Survival Playbook * 40:19 Bobby Fingers Craft Era * 47:27 GDP Beyond the Numbers * 50:52 Woke 1.0 Aftermath * 01:01:00 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

They take risks, they’re fueled by rejection, they know the power of relationships, they’re competitive and they will do shots. The best sellers follow the way of Catalan fishermen: To get the fish, you gotta get your ass wet. Plus: Why the NYT and WSJ hit escape velocity, AI’s new oddball character, and the folly of trying to out-YouTube YouTube. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter * Join our community - PvA Field Notes Chapters: * 00:00 Open * 00:36 Welcome * 02:11 Linda’s Character Flaws * 05:54 Spencer Vs Galloway * 11:50 Netflix Offsite Drama * 13:25 Salespeople Vs Marketers * 15:36 AI’s New Main Character * 26:36 Rubbers Mystery * 29:29 Biohacking Identity Shift * 36:06 NYT WSJ Escape Velocity * 43:29 Creator Models Beyond Personality * 48:53 YouTube Is Untouchable * 51:04 Hearst Buys A&E * 56:00 Good Product * 01:00:54 TRB Audience Summit 9/17 * 01:02:17 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

This week we unpack Silicon Valley’s latest AI power struggle, asking whether the battle over open models is really about competition or about taking down Anthropic. We also explore why the internet feels increasingly broken, how content marketing quietly won, and what happens when every company becomes a media company. Good Product this week is a healthy ego. We discuss how it affects leadership, mental health, ambition, insecurity, and what it means to build a healthier relationship with success. Plus: AI agents in communities, the future of branding, and one very chaotic recording session from Sicily. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter Chapters: * 00:00 Open * 00:35 Welcome * 02:16 Anonymous Feedback Sparks * 08:38 Open vs Closed AI Drama * 12:03 Who Benefits From Open Weights * 17:28 Power Plays and Regulators * 21:10 Meet Linda the Agent * 25:35 Content Marketing Wins * 32:47 Paywalls Ruin the Web * 37:27 Platforms and New Moats * 41:29 AI Flood and Filtering * 47:53 Good Product * 56:45 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Publishers see the writing on the wall for traffic-based models and are instead looking to experiential gatherings that bring together communities. We discuss why events are becoming media’s new moat, the tensions that come with building them, and what happens when AI agents begin acting on their own. Plus: the hypocrisy of closed AI models, Coca-Cola’s Marlboro moment, and why the collapse of the media career ladder is forcing a generation of experienced executives to become free agents. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter Chapters: * 00:00 Open * 00:29 Welcome * 04:08 What Makes Events Great * 15:58 Media Turns To Community * 29:25 OpenAI Agent Breakout * 37:17 Coke Rebrand * 43:23 Zaslav Buys Summer Camp * 46:58 Gen X Career Compression * 58:21 Guardian Model and Substack Anti AI * 01:01:58 Why Video Aggregation Fails * 01:04:00 Publishers vs Google Threats * 01:07:06 Good Product * 01:15:41 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

AI should eliminate the need for human content aggregation, yet it's still going strong, as seen by the influential subscriber base of News Items and popularity of aggregation-heavy newsletters like Feed Me. Plus: Argentina's heel turn, Taco Bell's messy brand crisis and a drop-by from CEO Whisperer and self-proclaimed King of Quickbooks CJ Gustafson of Mostly Metrics to discuss tokenomics and building Mostly Metrics into a $5m business. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter Chapters: * 00:00 Open * 00:58 Welcome * 01:41 Field Notes Community * 05:38 Media Feuds and Characters * 13:18 World Cup * 21:01 Affiliate Cookie Stuffing * 29:43 Standing Out in Marketing * 38:06 Future of Aggregation * 51:18 Good Product * 57:47 Overtime with CJ Gustafson * 01:02:33 Tokenomics For CFOs * 01:09:04 Measuring AI ROI * 01:16:13 What CFOs Actually Do * 01:18:53 Mostly Metrics Business Model * 01:24:34 A Good Business Pays Well * 01:28:30 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

This week, we discuss why the AI safety narrative is shifting from doomerism to the risk of AI eliminating both companies’ and individuals’ alphas, or what makes them unique and confers on them an advantage over the rest of the crowd. For companies, that means assessing whether to trust big AI companies with their proprietary data, and for individuals it means not outsourcing critical thought to a robot everyone else has. Plus: Why Xbox hit a wall, publishers pivot again to video, and the World Cup’s heroes and villains. On PvA OT, Hearst Newspapers chief product & strategy officer Bridget Williams discusses how to make local news a utility. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter Chapters: * 00:00 Open * 01:03 PvA Notes Update * 07:20 World Cup Fever * 21:43 Drones, Cruises & Boats * 27:36 AI Safety and Stolen Alpha * 40:07 Can Policy Beat the Market * 45:41 Why Xbox Is Struggling * 49:56 Publishers Pivot to Netflix * 56:56 Local News as Utility with Bridget Williams * 01:01:28 AI Tools and Experiments * 01:11:13 Free vs Paid News Strategy * 01:16:17 Good Product * 01:18:26 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

We dig into the tangled collision of journalism and the creatory economy. Emily Sundberg’s Zuckerberg interview, Brian’s christening as the Matt Belloni-of-advertising, and why guys like Scott Galloway and Gary Vaynerchuk get a pass to cash in while "real journalists" get side-eyed for it. We also unpack AI's creeping presence in music and writing — can you love an AI song, what happens to "providence" when anyone can fake authenticity, and why lo-fi, bathtub-recorded music is having a moment as a rebellion against it. Along the way: the AI spending bubble, token bills gone wild, the Comcast/Versant breakup, the great AC debate, and a working theory that once you're successful enough, you inevitably become Coldplay. * Watch us on YouTube * Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter * Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter * Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer * Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter Chapters: * 00:00 Open * 00:56 PvA Travel Log * 26:37 AI Costs and Dumb Pipes * 42:39 Comcast Spins Off NBCU * 48:12 Hollywood Meets Homelessness * 52:44 Personality Media Fatigue * 01:03:31 Fake Podcast Aesthetics * 01:05:19 Good Product * 01:10:00 Credits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.peoplevsalgorithms.com