Pulitzer Prize–winning editor David Remnick joins Lachlan Cartwright for a wide-ranging conversation on The Breaker Pod about Trump’s pressure on the press, billionaire media ownership, the weakening of legacy institutions, and how journalism survives its most dangerous era.

Remnick reflects on running The New Yorker through a century milestone, the collapse of print advertising, adapting to the internet and AI, the chilling effect of political intimidation, and why talent — not tech — still determines whether journalism endures.

They also discuss Bezos and the Washington Post, the Harvey Weinstein investigation, Trump’s attacks on the media, the role of ownership, and what the next generation of journalism must protect at all costs.

⏱ CHAPTERS

00:00 – Trump, Bezos, and billionaire pressure

01:25 – The New Yorker at 100

02:55 – Ad collapse and reader loyalty

05:35 – Why paywalls finally worked

07:00 – AI, archives, and audio

09:00 – Washington Post fallout

12:00 – Editing, longevity, and succession

17:50 – Weinstein investigation inside The New Yorker

22:10 – Trump, aging, and media scrutiny

27:40 – Free speech and intimidation

30:05 – Ownership, courage, and standing tall

33:25 – The future of journalism

#DavidRemnick #Journalism #MediaIndustry #FreePress #DonaldTrump

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Hollywood is reeling after Netflix’s bombshell plan to buy Warner Bros. — and Janice Min joins Lachlan Cartwright to explain exactly why the town is in full-blown panic.

From mass layoffs to collapsing leverage, shrinking marketplaces, shrinking salaries, and the death of bidding wars, Min breaks down how the merger could reshape Los Angeles, destroy thousands of jobs, and tilt all power toward tech giants. She also dives into HBO’s future, Disney’s succession mess, David Zaslav’s payday, the collapse of the trades, AI disruption, Substack’s rise, and why she built The Ankler as Hollywood’s inside-the-room voice.

This is one of the most definitive conversations yet about the future of entertainment, streaming, journalism, and power.

⏱ CHAPTERS

00:00 – Welcome to The Breaker Pod at Fish Cheeks

00:22 – Introducing Janice Min and her media legacy

01:00 – Netflix shocks Hollywood with plan to buy Warner Bros.

01:25 – Why the entire town went into meltdown

02:10 – The history of consolidation and why it always means job losses

03:00 – LA’s unemployment crisis and what comes next

03:50 – Shrinking marketplaces and the death of bidding wars

04:40 – Pay cuts, leverage collapse, and Sarandos spin

05:30 – Why Netflix triggers Hollywood more than anyone

07:00 – The Albanian Army metaphor and what it means now

09:20 – How Netflix + Warner Bros. upends every studio’s strategy

11:00 – Does the deal get approved? The Trump factor

13:00 – David Zaslav’s windfall and Warner Bros. whiplash

15:00 – Is HBO still the crown jewel?

17:00 – Anxiety, layoffs, fires, and Xanax in Hollywood

18:30 – The Ankler’s origin story

21:00 – Why the trades failed and The Ankler thrived

22:00 – Why chasing scale destroyed journalism

25:00 – Leo DiCaprio, Danny DeVito, and what US Weekly was like

27:00 – Managing Jan Wenner and the old magazine wars

33:00 – Jimmy Finkelstein, Trump, and The Hollywood Reporter

36:00 – Why the Harvey Weinstein story was impossible to land

38:00 – The Quibi chapter and lessons from failure

40:00 – Disney succession in a post-Netflix-Warner world

44:00 – Is Disney becoming a luxury brand?

46:00 – AI arrives in Hollywood — quietly

48:00 – GPT-5, Sora 2, synthetic actors, and the next guild war

52:00 – Will The Ankler sell? What’s next for niche media

55:00 – Is subscription fatigue here?

56:30 – Can the California Post succeed?

01:00:00 – Closing thoughts

#JaniceMin #Netflix #Hollywood #MediaIndustry #WarnerBros

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Tina Brown — legendary editor of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Talk, and The Daily Beast — joins Lachlan Cartwright for one of the sharpest, funniest, and most revealing conversations ever on The Breaker Pod.

Brown reflects on four decades of shaping culture, breaking talent, reinventing media brands, and surviving the chaos of both legacy institutions and modern digital empires. She talks about the myth of celebrity power, the collapse of magazines, the rise of Substack, the limits of tech moguls, Anna Wintour’s misunderstood persona, Harvey Weinstein, Tucker Carlson, Meghan Markle, and why the Epstein story simply will not die.

This is a masterclass in storytelling, leadership, cultural intuition, and the business of media — delivered by someone who defined it.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to The Breaker Pod from Il Tolo East

00:22 – Introducing Tina Brown and her cultural impact

01:10 – Tina Brown on being “feral” and instinct-driven

01:18 – Editing Vanity Fair and the stars she never landed

02:00 – Melania Trump covers and the infamous Talk magazine shoots

03:00 – Olivia Nuzzi, Ryan Lizza, and media reputations

04:30 – The most misunderstood power players in media

05:24 – Anna Wintour and the reality behind the persona

06:26 – Who will succeed Anna Wintour and what Condé Nast needs

06:58 – Media projects Tina Brown never understood

07:21 – Which institutions still command fear

08:07 – Emma Tucker vs. Will Lewis: reviving the Wall Street Journal

08:53 – What made magazines magical — and what broke them

10:26 – The art of editing and the seduction of magazines

12:00 – Highbrow/lowbrow mix and the pleasure principle

13:36 – Tina’s biggest career flameout: the Talk magazine era with Harvey Weinstein

14:22 – What Harvey was really like as a media partner

16:03 – Assignments, gossip columnists, and chaos at Talk

16:45 – Advice for legacy media and why great content still wins

17:43 – Tech moguls as media owners and why it never works

20:00 – The LA Times, arrogance, and the collapse of newsrooms

21:49 – Celebrity culture, influencers, and the myth of overnight fame

23:32 – Meghan, Harry, and the realities of royal machinery

25:45 – The biggest underreported tension inside the monarchy

26:53 – Epstein, the Epstein class, and why the story is “sticky”

29:27 – Michael Wolff, The Daily Beast, and selective media outrage

30:33 – Reinvention as the key to a long career

31:07 – Live journalism and the rise of investigative summits

32:55 – The chilling effect and legal threats shaping journalism

33:50 – Identifying talent: what Tina looks for in a writer

35:25 – Investigative reporters and the curmudgeon gene

36:27 – Tucker Carlson, humiliation, and what changed him

37:45 – Is Substack the future of Tina Brown?

39:00 – The joy of stats, engagement, and independence

40:00 – Who should succeed David Remnick at The New Yorker

41:01 – Gossip, media games, and global reach

42:00 – What Tina would blow up first if handed a legacy title in 2026

43:26 – Young talent and the future of investigative journalism

45:00 – Closing and farewell

#TinaBrown #MediaIndustry #Journalism #CelebrityCulture #EpsteinFiles

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🎙️ New episodes weekly — exposing power, decoding media, and asking better questions.

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