Best Alex Heaps Podcasts (2026)

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Inside Bari Weiss’s Rise: LA, Sun Valley, and the Mogul Network 40:04

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13h ago40:04

40:04

How, exactly, did Bari Weiss become the head of CBS News? We know that David Ellison, who bought Paramount last year, hired her — and bought The Free Press, the publication she started a few years earlier. But how did she get on Ellison’s radar? And why are so many media moguls, like Ellison, huge fans? New York magazine’s Charlotte Klein knows. Sh…

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Craig Finn on Friendship, Fans and The Hold Steady’s Second Life 48:49

7d ago48:49

48:49

Craig Finn makes music — as the head of the Hold Steady, and on his solo records — about grown-up lives and bad decisions. Back in 2017, we talked about his life as a working rock musician — and how touring actually works, how the band found a second life, and why fans and friendship matter more than old ideas of rock stardom. Learn more about your…

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Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt’s Second Act: Less Budget, More Control 54:48

15d ago54:48

54:48

PJ Vogt helped invent modern narrative podcasting with “Reply All.” Now he’s running “Search Engine” with a much smaller team and a lot more control. We talk through what he gave up this time around, what he gained, and how he actually makes the show each week. I loved this conversation when we recorded it earlier this year. And I think it’s just a…

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"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What’s Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros. 41:56

22d ago41:56

41:56

The backstory here is that weeks ago, Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw agreed to join me for my 2025/2026 look back/look ahead episode. And then things got way more compelling, because Paramount and Netflix got into a truly unprecedented fight over the future of Warner Bros Discovery. So that’s what we’re talking about here, including: *Why this truly is a t…

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Wrapping up San Diego FC's first season with Mikey Varas and Tyler Heaps 1:10:10

27d ago1:10:10

1:10:10

In the final episode of the 2025 season, Head Coach Mikey Varas and Sporting Director Tyler Heaps join Kaila, Marvell, and Sal to reflect on SDFC's inaugural season. They share heartfelt anecdotes, statistics, record-breaking performances, and future plans for the upcoming seasons.By San Diego FC

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Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He’s a Must-Read Media Gossip. 46:51

29d ago46:51

46:51

I chat with lots of media reporters. Lachlan Cartwright is a different beast: An Aussie who started out working for Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids in London and New York, and then on to the National Enquirer — yes, that National Enquirer — back when it was catching and killing stories on behalf on Donald Trump. Now Cartwright runs Breaker, a must-read N…

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"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw 18:45

1M ago18:45

18:45

In 2013, Netflix wanted to become HBO. Now Netflix is going to buy HBO along with the Warner Bros. Studio, in a blockbuster $83 billion deal. Wowza. Here to talk me through this is Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw, who has been deep in the deal talks for weeks. Discussed in this one: *How did Netflix maneuver its way into a deal everyone thought Paramount wo…

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PBS Lost a Billion Dollars. Now what? With CEO Paula Kerger 40:26

1M ago40:26

40:26

The last time I interviewed PBS CEO Paula Kerger was 2019: Donald Trump was President, and Republicans were trying to defund public media — as they had been trying to do for decades. That didn’t happen then, but this year it did, and now Kerger is trying to fill a $1 billion funding hole. So far, she says, PBS and its member stations have held up o…

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What Happens To Media When The Web Goes Away, with Tony Haile 39:09

1M ago39:09

39:09

We built the modern media business for the web — for people who visited websites, read articles, and saw ads. What happens when no one does that anymore? That’s been one of the big themes of conversations we’ve been having on Channels with this year — with people who run big and small media properties, and with people who are trying to build media …

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Kevin Reilly got to the top of the TV heap. Now he's in AI. 40:10

2M ago40:10

40:10

If you watched something on TV that you liked in the past few decades, there’s a good chance Kevin Reilly was involved: at various times he’s held top jobs at FX, Fox, NBC, Turner and HBO Max. But that run ended in 2020, and now Reilly is running Kartel, an AI company that… well, I’m still not entirely sure what it does. (To be fair, as Reilly note…

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What the Disney–YouTube Battle Tells Us About the End of Cable 52:39

2M ago52:39

52:39

It’s not unusual for a big TV network and a big TV distributor to fight about money. But the Disney-YouTube fight is unusual -- at the bare minimum, because it has stretched out for so long. CNBC’s Alex Sherman lives and breathes this stuff, so I asked him to walk me through it, and make some prognostications about when it might get settled (spoile…

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The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell on Why Republicans Won the Attention War 45:25

2M ago45:25

45:25

In some ways, the Bulwark feels like other small publishers in 2025: it’s found growth and profit by pushing itself out on any platform it can find. But that wasn’t the plan when the company started in 2018. Back then, it was a non-profit cofounded by Republicans who couldn’t stand their party’s embrace of Donald Trump, and wanted a place to organi…

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The Man Who Fixed The New York Times Wants to Fix CNN 52:17

2M ago52:17

52:17

Would you pay $7 a month to stream CNN? Because CNN CEO Mark Thompson would like you to do that. I know, I know, I’m skeptical, too. But Thompson has been here before: At his last job, as CEO of the New York Times, he helped shepherd that company’s subscription business, which had a gazillion naysayers at the start. And now the Times’ business mode…

1
Tyler Heaps and MLS analyst Dax McCarty on SDFC's record-breaking inaugural season 56:04

3M ago56:04

56:04

Former MLS midfielder and current MLS analyst for Apple TV Dax McCarty joins his former teammates to share his thoughts on San Diego FC's inaugural season and provides his playoff predictions with Sal, Marvell, and Kaila. Sporting Director Tyler Heaps reflects on the Club's journey to the number one seed in the Western Conference while diving into …

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The End of Mass Media—and What Comes Next 56:54

3M ago56:54

56:54

We spend a lot of time on this show talking to people who run media companies. We also spend a lot of time talking to media reporters. So here’s our one-man Venn diagram: Brian Morrissey runs The Rebooting, where he podcasts, writes and hosts events, all geared at making people in the media business smarter about the media business. If you want to …

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Mikey Varas reflects on our inaugural regular season, Manny Machado shares what he thinks makes SDFC special 1:02:56

3M ago1:02:56

1:02:56

Head coach Mikey Varas joins Marvell, Sal, and Kaila ahead of Decision Day to share insight into his coaching philosophy and what being a part of San Diego FC's inaugural season has meant to him. Founding Partner and Padres All-Star third baseman Manny Machado tells behind-the-scenes stories about being a part of the launch of SDFC.…

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The PR Guy Who Says the AI Boom Is a Bust 54:36

3M ago54:36

54:36

The AI story is changing fast. A few months ago, it was all promise and inevitability. Now even AI boosters are asking if the numbers make sense. Ed Zitron got there early. He runs a PR firm for a living, which means he’s supposed to help people sell their stories. But he’s become best known for tearing tech’s biggest stories apart. And he’s been p…

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Playoffs on deck with DJ Dynamiq 51:17

3M ago51:17

51:17

DJ Dynamiq, San Diego FC's official in-match DJ, talks about opening for Bad Bunny and what it means to be a part of building the matchday experience in SDFC's inaugural season. Marvell, Sal, and Kaila recap the club's historic 4-2 win over the Houston Dynamo and provide an update to the playoff picture and the importance of Decision Day.…

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Why the Guardian Doesn't Need a Billionaire to Thrive 39:00

3M ago39:00

39:00

In lots of ways Guardian Media Group is facing the same problems as every other news publisher: A tricky ad environment, platform problems, looming AI threats. One big difference: The Guardian also has a $1.5 billion trust backing the non-profit, which seems way, way better than being owned by a run-of-the-mill billionaire who might want to meddle …

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Almost Everyone is Taking Money from OpenAI. Why is Ziff Davis suing them? 34:22

3M ago34:22

34:22

In the future, digital publishers could get run over by AI. In the present, they are deeply concerned about Google, and the prospect that the search giant is going to choke off their last reliable traffic stream. That may explain why lots of publishers are making deals with OpenAI now -- and doing a lot of grousing about Google. Ziff Davis CEO Vive…

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A deep dive into Goalkeeping with Pablo Sisniega and Jason Grubb 1:07:44

3M ago1:07:44

1:07:44

Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega shares the story of how he first became a goalkeeper and why this is the most fun he's had playing the position. Assistant coach Jason Grubb discusses the unique role goalkeeping has in the Right to Dream style of play and shares his insight on how the position will continue to evolve. Marvell, Kaila and Sal break down pot…

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The Future of Late Night TV, Jimmy Kimmel, and The First Amendment 26:53

4M ago26:53

26:53

When’s the last time you stayed up to watch a late night TV monologue? Months? Years? Decades? I’m not sure, either. But I stayed up Tuesday night to watch Jimmy Kimmel’s return. James Poniewozik, who covers TV for the New York Times, just caught up with it the next day on YouTube. Which underscores one of the odder parts of the Trump v. Kimmel fig…

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Alejandro Alvarado on experiencing a full circle moment with SDFC 1:07:48

4M ago1:07:48

1:07:48

Midfielder Alejandro Alvarado Jr. shares an update on his recovery journey and how making his MLS debut in San Diego FC's first-ever match was a full circle moment for him. Assistant coach Frank Hjortebjerg joins Sal, Marvell and Kaila to preview San Jose and recap recent results vs Minnesota, Atlanta and Xolos in the Inaugural Baja Cup.…

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I tried Zuckerberg's $800 Ray-Bans. Are they the future? With Alex Heath 45:00

4M ago45:00

45:00

A year ago I got try a pair of $10,000 computer goggles from Meta. The tech was super-impressive, but you couldn’t buy them them. You still can’t. Now Mark Zuckerberg is trying a similar idea. But this time around the the tech is scaled-down, lighter and way cheaper: the new version costs $800, and you’ll be able to buy them in a couple days. Why w…

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How TBPN Made a Tech News Splash 39:10

4M ago39:10

39:10

John Coogan knows what you’re thinking: the world does not need another tech podcast. And the world does not need another podcast featuring two dudes talking. Yet Coogan and Jordi Hays have started another tech podcast, featuring the two of them talking and… it’s a hit. In the span of a year, TBPN has become the place where tech execs go to chop up…

1
Hirving Lozano shares what it means to represent Mexico on the national stage and in San Diego 1:03:27

4M ago1:03:27

1:03:27

CBS Sports Golazo host and reporter Claudia Pagán joins Sal, Marvell and Kaila to provide her view of San Diego FC's inaugural season. Hirving Lozano joins Claudia to share memories of growing up with C.F. Pachuca and what it means to him to be a part of San Diego FC. Assistant Coach Kelvin Jones recaps the 2-1 victory over LAFC and previews this S…

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Patch’s AI Experiment: Thousands of Newsletters, Zero Humans 39:07

4M ago39:07

39:07

Everyone agrees that the decline/disapperance of local news is a big problem. No one agrees about the best way to solve it. So let’s check in on a new AI push from Patch, the people who have been trying to do local news, online, at scale, for more than two decades. Last spring, Patch CEO Warren St. John announced that he was running local newslette…

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Ep. 203: Classic Bimbofication with Demi Lardner 52:27

4M ago52:27

52:27

We are coming to Melbourne to do a one night only live show! You can buy tickets at the link, including tickets to livestream it from anywhere in the world. This week on the show, Demi Larnder joins us to talk about dick tattoos, custom pornos, and a gentlemen who cheated on his wife. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

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Oliver Darcy Thinks the Media Doesn’t Get It. So He Built Status 53:40

4M ago53:40

53:40

One thing about the internet is that it lets you build really, really fast. A little more than a year ago, Oliver Darcy was an unemployed former CNN media reporter. Today he’s the proprietor of Status, his must-read media newsletter. In our conversation, we spend a little bit of time talking through the mechanics of his two-man operation, and how h…

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Why Henry Blodget is Building Another Media Company 57:56

4M ago57:56

57:56

Henry Blodget can’t help himself. The Business Insider founder is starting another media business, knowing full well how difficult the industry can be. You can watch him build it in real time: Regenerator on Substack, and Solutions on TikTok, YouTube and everywhere you hear your favorite podcasts. Henry — who hired me to work at Business Insider in…

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Ian Pilcher on his pathway from college to the MLS 45:56

4M ago45:56

45:56

Defender Ian Pilcher shares his journey of getting drafted by San Diego FC, growing up in a family of athletes, and he reveals the team's best table tennis player. Assistant coach Frank Hjortebjerg joins Sal, Marvell and Kaila to recap Portland and preview LAFC.By San Diego FC

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ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro on streaming, the NFL and sports betting 48:14

5M ago48:14

48:14

The media industry has been waiting for ESPN to cut the cord for a decade. Now it’s finally happening: This week the sports TV giant will let you start streaming — without a cable TV subscription — for $30 a month. Why now? ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro is quite frank about it: Along with his boss — Disney CEO Bob Iger — he wanted to make as much money fr…

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Marcus Ingvartsen on his electric return to the pitch 52:18

5M ago52:18

52:18

Marcus Ingvartsen details his recovery and electric return to the pitch in a 2-1 win over San Jose. He also shares his journey from FC Nordsjælland to San Diego and his current business ventures. Assistant Coach Kelvin Jones joins Sal, Marvell, and Kaila to preview Portland and recap San Diego FC's sixth-straight road victory, extending its own MLS…

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A Busy - and Expensive - Summer for AI, with NYT's Mike Isaac 51:42

5M ago51:42

51:42

What makes a particular engineer worth $250 million to Mark Zuckerberg? What does Trump 2.0 mean — and not mean — to people building large language models? I didn’t know the answers to these questions either. So I got the New York Times’ Mike Isaac, who covers this stuff for a living, to walk me through some of the biggest questions in AI right now…

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Ranking matchday fits with Alex Mighten 59:51

5M ago59:51

59:51

Alex Mighten talks fashion, compares the MLS to the EPL, and answers some fan (and teammate-submitted) questions. Assistant Coach Kelvin Jones joins Sal, Marvell, and Kaila to preview San Jose and recap resent results versus Nashville, Leagues Cup, and Sporting Kansas City.By San Diego FC

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Why the Algorithm is Making Comedy Boom, Again 58:53

5M ago58:53

58:53

The last time I talked to Jesse David Fox about the comedy boom it was… March 5, 2020. Since then, some things have changed. But in other ways it’s just the same: comedy - or at least, some kinds of comedy - seems almost custom-built for our current technological and cultural moment, and it’s easier than ever to get this stuff on your devices whene…

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What is TV’s endgame? 47:28

5M ago47:28

47:28

A decade ago, Disney CEO Bob Iger freaked out the media industry by acknowledging something many of us saw coming — his previously unassailable TV business was starting to erode. But even with a 10-year warning, today’s moguls seem unable to cope with 2025’s reality: The pay TV business is permanently eroding, and there’s nothing in its place that’…

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Why Trump is defunding NPR and PBS - and suing Rupert Murdoch 35:59

6M ago35:59

35:59

Reporting on the place you work is not fun. But it is an occupational hazard for media reporters — particularly for NPR’s David Folkenflik. That’s because National Public Radio — along with Public Broadcasting Service, its TV counterpart — is quite frequently the target of attacks from critics on the right, who would like the federal government to …

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Crashing press conferences with Manu Duah and Willy 53:52

6M ago53:52

53:52

Manu Duah and Willy join the pod together to talk about debuts, Right to Dream, and crashing press conferences. Assistant Coach Frank Hjortebjerg joins Sal and Kaila to recap Chicago, Toronto, and Vancouver, and to look ahead to Nashville and Leagues Cup.By San Diego FC

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Inside the Rise and Fall of Condé Nast with Michael Grynbaum 47:38

6M ago47:38

47:38

Here's one way New York Times reporter Michael Grynbaum described Condé Nast to me in this week’s chat: “A real exporter of American cultural influence in the late 20th century.” And here’s another one: "A kind of enchanted land” but also a “lost world." And here’s one way I’d describe it: it’s hard to imagine in 2025, but just a few decades ago, m…

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Inside the NYT - and Everywhere Else - with Semafor's Max Tani 48:09

6M ago48:09

48:09

You’re probably a normal person, so you didn’t spend your holiday weekend talking to people at the New York Times about a local politics story that some people didn’t like. But that’s Max Tani’s job: He’s Semafor’s media reporter, which means he’s supposed to burrow into the paper of record — as well as other important media institutions — and tell…

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Building the Human Performance Team at San Diego FC with Luke Jenkinson 48:38

6M ago48:38

48:38

San Diego FC's Head of Human Performance, Luke Jenkinson, joins the podcast to share stories of planning the first preseason for an expansion franchise and building the support staff for the first team and the Right To Dream Academy. Assistant Coach Kelvin Jones joins Sal and Kaila to recap Houston and preview Chicago.…

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Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker on the problem with tech - and people 43:47

6M ago43:47

43:47

"Black Mirror" creator Charlie Brooker knows that everyone thinks his show is about tech-fueled dystopias. But he says it's really about humans, not their tools. I loved this chat back when we recorded it in 2023, when Brooker was promoting the sixth season of his Netflix show. Now there's a new season - and Brooker's vision of the world is as rele…

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From Dallas, to Finland, to San Diego: Onni Valakari shares his journey to the MLS 1:04:03

6M ago1:04:03

1:04:03

Midfielder Onni Valakari reflects on his childhood memories of the MLS, scoring the first home goal for San Diego FC, and his favorite Finnish foods. Assistant Coach Frank Hjortebjerg joins Kaila, Sal, and Marvell to recap the recent matches vs Vancouver and Dallas and preview Houston.By San Diego FC

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Ep. 202: There is No Law Against Feeding Someone Dog Food in the State of New South Wales with Alex Lee 1:03:38

6M ago1:03:38

1:03:38

Alex Lee joins tells us about her new podcast Baby Shoes that you should go download. We also try to break the sound barrier (despite the hypocrisy of the ABC), there's a man who's fed dog food to a group of teens, and a viking tries to sell his hair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

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How to become a Substack Star with Emily Sundberg 47:07

7M ago47:07

47:07

What's the best way to describe what Emily Sundberg does? Substacker? Influencer? Journalist? Brand-builder? Let's go with "yes". And she does a much better job of describing herself in our conversation, where we talk about how she went from being a laid-off marketer at Meta to a one-woman business with a devoted following and a revenue line that’s…

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Why did Apple ice out the most famous Apple blogger? 1:04:48

7M ago1:04:48

1:04:48

If you want smart, nuanced insight into Apple’s products and would-be products, you turn to John Gruber, who’s been blogging about this stuff for more than two decades at his Daring Fireball site. So in March, when Gruber announced that Something is Rotten in the State of Cupertino — focusing on Apple’s botched plans to imbue its ailing Siri servic…

1
Recapping Minnesota and the first half of the season with Marvell and Sal 1:01:47

7M ago1:01:47

1:01:47

Marvell Wynne and Sal Zizzo recap the match vs Minnesota United as well as the first half of the MLS season for San Diego FC. They also share their own pathway to the pros and stories from the pitch.By San Diego FC

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On the hunt for media optimism, with Semafor’s Ben Smith and The Rebooting’s Brian Morrissey 28:22

7M ago28:22

28:22

Here’s one where we try to do two things at once: Have a convo about green shoots in media with two smart guys who know media really well — Semafor’s Ben Smith and The Rebooting’s Brian Morrissey. Try to find new audiences for our respective podcasts, by cutting up that conversation into 3 parts, and distributing those parts to our respective feeds…

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Scott Frank on Netflix, the future of Hollywood, and Dept. Q 43:42

7M ago43:42

43:42

Scott Frank used to write great movies, like “Out of Sight.” Now he’s a Netflix guy, and a super successful one: he made “Godless,” a horses-and-everything Western for the streamer, then had a pandemic-era phenomenon with “The Queen’s Gambit.” Now he’s back with “Dept. Q”, his take on the British mystery genre. You can find that one on Netflix’s to…