This week on the Media Roundtable, we’re sitting down with Lex Friedman (not to be confused with Lex Fridman), one of podcasting’s original builders and a leader who’s shaped the business of podcasting since Day 1.

Before launching his own consulting business, Lex played a part in nearly every major chapter of the industry, including Chief Business Development at Midroll, Chief Revenue Officer at ART19, Head of Podcast Partnerships at Amazon, and Head of Podcast Strategy at Wondery. Along the way, he’s helped define how ads get sold, how shows get funded, and how podcasting itself gets defined.

In this episode, Lex opens up on what made podcast ads such a “win-win-win” from the start, why early pitches were simply “talk radio…on demand,” and how a listenership of “completionists” continue to set podcasts apart. He even drops an acoustic guitar analogy to explain why the word podcast isn’t going anywhere, no matter how the platforms try to rebrand it.

"Stop apologizing for podcasting being what it is—because it’s clearly working."

—Lex Friedman

The conversation covers: Ad Load Tipping Points, Completionist Behavior, Consolidation and Mega-Deals, and more.

Let’s go.

Watch the conversation on Youtube: https://youtu.be/HjDmqUiBSQg

This week’s archival pull from What’s a Podcast? The Extended Interviews features one of the voices that helped build the podcast industry as we know it: Guy Raz.

Dan Granger (CEO, Oxford Road) sits down with the creator of How I Built This to talk about how we built this—i.e. how podcasting went from media exile to mainstream power player—and what’s worth protecting as the lines between audio, video, and algorithm blur.

“[As a listener], you’re giving me your time—and your time is more valuable than money.”

—Guy Raz

The team is talking: The Podcast Intimacy Advantage, Video as an Add-On, Goodbye to Gatekeepers, and more.

Let’s dive in.

This week on “What’s a Podcast? - The Extended Interviews,” Evan Shapiro (renowned Media Universe Cartographer) brings his latest industry map to share with Dan Granger (CEO, Oxford Road & Veritone One) how and why podcasts should expand into other mediums.

At IFC, Evan pioneered the podcast-to-TV pipeline (Comedy Bang Bang, WTF with Marc Maron). Now he navigates uncharted media waters with his show The Media Odyssey. He’s a perfect guide for this podcast voyage.

The team is talking: In Creators We Trust, Podcasting’s New Identity, Audience Connection, and more. Let’s dig in.

“[Podcasting] was the first form of the creator economy.”

• Evan Shapiro (renowned Media Universe Cartographer)