Channels with Peter Kafka cover art

Channels with Peter Kafka

Channels with Peter Kafka

By: Vox Media Podcast Network
Listen for free

Media and tech aren’t just intersecting — they’re fully intertwined. And to understand how those worlds work, and what they mean for you, veteran journalist Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers - and gets them to spell it out in plain, BS-free English. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.© 2019 Vox Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved Art Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Brian Stelter on the 60 Minutes Mess; Nilay Patel on Apple’s AI Problem

    Brian Stelter on the 60 Minutes Mess; Nilay Patel on Apple’s AI Problem
    Jun 10 2026
    Brian Stelter and Nilay Patel are both covering big, powerful institutions that are undergoing real change, whether they like it or not. Stelter, CNN’s chief media analyst, joins me to talk about the mess at CBS News and 60 Minutes: What is Bari Weiss’s rationale for trying to remake Paramount’s news operations? And does owner David Ellison care about the very inevitable stumbles that have followed since she showed up? We talk about Scott Pelley’s public exit interview, what 60 Minutes might look like next fall, and why this has morphed from a media industry story to one normal people seem to care about. Also discussed: The fact that Stelter could end up working for Weiss in the near future. Then Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge, joins from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where Apple tried to convince everyone that it has an AI plan — and why that plan is different and better than the one it promised in 2024 and never delivered. A new Siri — if it works as advertised — sounds great. But what’s really important for Apple's AI strategy, Patel argues, is prepping for a future where the iPhone gets displaced by… something. Also discussed: The fact that Vox Media, the company that owns both The Verge and the podcast network you’re listening to right now, are about to split up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 6 mins
  • How Dhar Mann Turned After-School Specials Into A Billion-View Business

    How Dhar Mann Turned After-School Specials Into A Billion-View Business
    Jun 3 2026
    Dhar Mann’s videos look simple, because they are simple: Someone acts badly, someone learns a lesson, everyone gets a moral by the end. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy these, but it helps.The business behind them is complex. Mann has built a scripted-video studio that turns out TV-length episodes in weeks, generating billions of views a month. Now he tells me he’s expanding beyond YouTube and Facebook into places like Samsung TVs and Fox-backed microdramas, and he thinks the assembly line he’s built will work, there, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
  • Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour Explains Why Boring Data Is a Great Media Business

    Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour Explains Why Boring Data Is a Great Media Business
    May 27 2026
    I think of Dow Jones as The Wall Street Journal, because that’s the part I know — and the part I used to work near/around/inside. But Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour has built a much bigger business around the Journal: risk and compliance, energy data, Factiva, AI deals, and other stuff that sounds boring until you realize how much money companies will pay for it. So I asked Latour to explain why Dow Jones is doing well while so many other media companies are struggling, howEmma Tucker, the Wall Street Journal's editor-in-chief, is changing the Journal, what he’s trying to do with AI, and what it’s like to run a Murdoch-owned newsroom that covers Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    47 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet