Best Long Thread Media Podcasts (2025)

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Encore: Never Gonna Give You Up 43:55

Play Pause

43m ago43:55

43:55

Who gets credit for starting a meme? Usually... nobody — they're made too quickly and organically. In the case of one of the most famous bait-and-switch memes of all time, the "Rick Roll," we may be looking at something experts call convergent evolution. Did the Rick Roll originate with a piece of code on the message board 4Chan, or with a prank ca…

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Long Read | How social media algorithms decide who you are 23:42

13m ago23:42

23:42

This week, Prianka Srinivasan arms herself with a burner phone and a fake name, and sets out to learn how Instagram’s algorithm really works.By Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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

2d 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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Lost without you: 20 years of finding (losing?) our way with Google Maps 33:15

6d ago33:15

33:15

2025 marks 20 years of Google Maps — a tool that many of us would be, quite literally, lost without. We hear from New Orleanians who used Google Maps/Google Earth in its inaugural year to survey the damage to their homes following Hurricane Katrina. We also talk to the internet's Map Men, who ask whether "the best maps humanity has ever produced ar…

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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

9d 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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Masey Kaplan & Jen Simonic, Loose Ends Project (classic) 59:25

12d ago59:25

59:25

When Jen Simonic and Masey Kaplan’s friend lost her mother, she had the challenge of going through her mother’s things while grieving her loss. Among her posessions was something almost every crafter has at least one of: a work in progress. Jen and Masey had each finished projects for bereaved family members before, but neither of them could take o…

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The drone web: how consumer drones have covered Ukraine's battle lines with fiber optic cable 38:31

13d ago38:31

38:31

There's a lot of drone warfare footage on the internet from Ukraine and Russia. But over the last year, a surprising change has emerged, via photos from the battlefront posted online. It has become clear that a huge part of the drone war, from dropping grenades on soldiers in bunkers, to dropping explosives on infrastructure or airfields, is wired.…

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

16d 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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04 Before and After | Behind the sunscreen 35:10

19d ago35:10

35:10

When the founder of a skincare company discovers his zinc sunscreen product potentially isn't achieving the protection it's supposed to, it doesn't take long before he realises the problem is far bigger than he first thought.By Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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

21d 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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What's on the menu: Ruby Tandoh on how the internet and algorithms shape our appetites 28:38

20d ago28:38

28:38

The internet decides what's for dinner. Ruby Tandoh is the author of the new book, All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now. A stint on the Great British Bake Off when she was in college launched her into the world of cookbooks — increasingly irrelevant in a world where we're more likely to turn to Google for a recipe than turn to our bookshelv…

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236: The solution to your video content needs 42:40

22d ago42:40

42:40

School marketing and communications with Charlie Maughan, James Tindall and José Caceres In the final episode of SMC for 2025, Charlie is joined again by Senior Account Manager James Tindall and imageseven's Director of Design — José Caceres — to discuss a new video content solution created to help schools produce consistent, high-quality content –…

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

23d 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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Amy Oxford, Oxford Punch Needle 53:44

27d ago53:44

53:44

As a college student and weaver, Amy Oxford fell in love with the punch-needle method of rug hooking almost by accident, a surprising benefit from a babysitting gig. She followed her interest from doing piece work on existing designs to creating large commissioned rugs in her own business. In 1995, she started the Oxford Company to sell supplies an…

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03 Before and After | Under your skin 36:54

27d ago36:54

36:54

The injectable industry is booming, but behind the glossy ads and plump looks, some patients are discovering filler that doesn’t dissolve. This week reporter Gina McKeon reveals the hidden risks of chasing an Instagrammable face.By Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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Episodes we love: Sandwiches of History 35:42

27d ago35:42

35:42

In honor of the day-after-Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, we're revisiting our conversation with Barry Enderwick, the man behind the beloved and wildly popular "Sandwiches of History" social media accounts. Barry joined Ben and Amory to make a triple-decker sandwich from 1958, and to talk about his first cookbook, "Sandwiches of History the Cookboo…

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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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02 Before and After | For a couple extra inches 32:55

1M ago32:55

32:55

For young men struggling with body image, social media offers a radical solution: get taller by breaking your legs. As the cosmetic limb-lengthening industry booms worldwide, Emilia Terzon explores the secretive online communities obsessed with undergoing the procedure, and meets the doctors left to deal with what happens when it goes wrong.…

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Chiveman and a mountain of margarine 26:37

1M ago26:37

26:37

Endless Thread serves up two of Reddit's most absurd food sagas. First course: Chivegate, in which a Redditor vows to chop a cup of chives daily until the kitchen confidential subreddit declares perfection, only to be accused of fraud. Second course: A Reddit user desperately seeking advice on how to quietly move 13 two-thousand-pound pallets of ma…

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

1M 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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Jordana Munk Martin, Tatter 1:01:03

1M ago1:01:03

1:01:03

At an unexpected juncture in her life, artist Jordana Munk Martin turned to the legacy of her grandmother’s trove of textile books. Edith Wyle founded the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles in 1973, curating unconventional exhibits and instilling a love of art in her family. Her granddaughter found inspiration and comfort in the books, then o…

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01 Before and After | The cost of keeping your hair 37:00

1M ago37:00

37:00

Hair loss ads are everywhere. Telehealth clinics with thousands of five-star reviews promise fast consults and discreet delivery to your doorstep. But what happens when the treatment messes with your brain chemistry?By Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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Fryders and Alligator Alcatraz tours: When trolls get inventive 31:27

1M ago31:27

31:27

Ben and Amory share two stories about some out-of-the-box internet trolling. First, Amory tries to untangle a web of rumors surrounding an unusual dish from New Zealand. Then, Ben takes us aboard Terri's Tourz, an alleged Everglade tourist attraction claiming to offer the nation's first ever tours of the South Florida Detention Center known as Alli…

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

1M 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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Episodes we love: Lofi Girl 38:06

1M ago38:06

38:06

This November, we're playing some of our favorite episodes from the past alongside new stuff, so that newer listeners can experience our back catalogue. And LoFi Girl is one that holds up, big time! If you've ever searched for "chill beats for studying" or some other form of lean back, endless playlists without vocals and with a consistent vibe, yo…

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Introducing... Before and After 1:00

2M ago1:00

1:00

Before and After is a new series by Background Briefing that exposes how medical hype spreads online, who profits, and who pays.By Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Long Thread Media Podcasts

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The Long Thread Podcast

Long Thread Media

1
Endless Thread

WBUR

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Channels with Peter Kafka

Vox Media Podcast Network

1
Background Briefing

ABC

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SMC: School Marketing and Communications

imageseven

1
In Growth We Trust: Marketing | Growth | Startups

Yoann Pavy and Jake Mayell

1
Encore: Never Gonna Give You Up 43:55

1
Long Read | How social media algorithms decide who you are 23:42

1
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt’s Second Act: Less Budget, More Control 54:48

1
Lost without you: 20 years of finding (losing?) our way with Google Maps 33:15

1
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What’s Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros. 41:56

1
Masey Kaplan & Jen Simonic, Loose Ends Project (classic) 59:25

1
The drone web: how consumer drones have covered Ukraine's battle lines with fiber optic cable 38:31

1
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He’s a Must-Read Media Gossip. 46:51

1
04 Before and After | Behind the sunscreen 35:10

1
"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw 18:45

1
What's on the menu: Ruby Tandoh on how the internet and algorithms shape our appetites 28:38

1
236: The solution to your video content needs 42:40

1
PBS Lost a Billion Dollars. Now what? With CEO Paula Kerger 40:26

1
Amy Oxford, Oxford Punch Needle 53:44

1
03 Before and After | Under your skin 36:54

1
Episodes we love: Sandwiches of History 35:42

1
What Happens To Media When The Web Goes Away, with Tony Haile 39:09

1
02 Before and After | For a couple extra inches 32:55

1
Chiveman and a mountain of margarine 26:37

1
Kevin Reilly got to the top of the TV heap. Now he's in AI. 40:10

1
Jordana Munk Martin, Tatter 1:01:03

1
01 Before and After | The cost of keeping your hair 37:00

1
Fryders and Alligator Alcatraz tours: When trolls get inventive 31:27

1
What the Disney–YouTube Battle Tells Us About the End of Cable 52:39

1
Episodes we love: Lofi Girl 38:06

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Introducing... Before and After 1:00