Anu Lingala is a trend strategist and founder of the must-read Substack, WHAT’S ANU. We get a crash course in trend forecasting methodology, and then move on to who killed cool, the collapse of the irony/sincerity cycle, why people are trying to escape being seen by brands, Anu’s new theory on “trend bipolarity,” why we need to return to the basics of brand strategy, Anthony Bourdain, shareholder value, the Grimace shake, Peter Thiel, and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel-Yaw Miller is an award-winning journalist and writer of the newsletter, SportsVerse. We talk to him about whether or not streamers and influencers are welcome disruptors or interlopers, not watching upstart sports leagues out of principle, what makes Stone Island a “smart collaborator” brand, depth vs. breadth, Loewe and On’s partnership with stone skipping GOAT Kurt Steiner, and NIL. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everything is an ad and no one is paying attention. Trey and Eli discuss if it’s possible to cut through in an era of calcified apathy, ad blockers, toilet TV, and “brandspeak” afflicted gen pop. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We—and the rest of New York—have a few thoughts on the sprawling, million dollar subway campaign for “Friend,” the AI-powered companion pendant that listens to whatever you’re doing and offers a running commentary on your interactions. It’s yet to ship a single product. Plus, Meta’s new “Vibes,” Palantir tote bags, ChatGPT and Claude’s new marketing pushes, and we ask “why do some brands have so much disdain for the consumer?”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christina Loff is the Head of Lifestyle on the partnerships team at Substack. She also writes her own newsletter called The Dry Down Diaries. We talk to her about recruiting new writers to the platform, not being held to an algorithm, leaning into “founder-led” brand stories (but not every brand should be, or needs to be on the platform), bathhouse readings, and the importance of downloading the app.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We delve into Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick’s apt and unrestrained diatribe on the “era of ad-based psychosis” in his newsletter The Trend Report, and what happens when we leave people with nothing other than products, branding, or a community manager in the comments section to bind their entire identity to. On the brighter side, stay to hear about a hamster riding a motorcycle, Owen Cooper and the return of earnest, Jane Eyre, Benghazi, and Clara’s time in The Pitt.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Derrick Gee has established himself as one of the internet’s most authoritative voices and purveyors of taste in music, amassing almost two million followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. His Sydney home/studio (shoes off, please) is also the backdrop for his show “Solid Air,” where he’s welcomed Lorde, beabadoobee, MJ Lenderman, Jamie xx, and more. We discuss the road to becoming a Professional Music Fan, being “selfishly slow,” why he’s sympathetic to good A&Rs, how Gen Z is more open to selling out, and more. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we discuss AI’s increasingly complex role in advertising, from the way it's used to churn out social feed filler, to how consumers react when they find out the “authentic” campaign they loved was never real in the first place. We talk about the Oasis concert over the weekend—bucket hats and pre-rolls included—J.Crew’s faux-vintage lookbook, and Skechers’ sketchy subway ads. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we’re joined by our Day One colleague, Jordan Stone. We start off with a quick examination of the global elites’ music tastes, recently uncovered via the ‘Panama Playlists,’ and then move on to debate what we have to gain, or lose, when we have a more critical, curatorial lens to the ad world and culture at large.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Belly buttons, Morse code, Miami Dolphins colorways… We’re talking Taylor Swift’s Showgirl Era™. But beneath the bright orange or purple glitter and brand commenting chaos, the creator economy is still grinding away — and not in a good way. We break down why it feels like a “race to the bottom for human dignity,” per ZINE’s Matt Klein, how brands are fracking culture for quick hits, and what a more sustainable Creator Economy 2.0 might look like. (Spoiler: the future is scaling up to be micro.)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan Frommer is the founder of The New Consumer: a publication which draws upon his expertise as a business and tech journalist to examine how and why people spend their time and money. He joins us to talk through some of the takeaways from his recent 2025 Mid-Year Report. We cover Gen Z’s uneasiness on AI, why people would rather meet their favorite podcaster in the wild than an A-list movie star, and “the humanization of pets” (do you cook for your dog or cat?), as well as how he brings rigor and depth to the crowded, noisy field of consumer insights.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss snack jail (aka CVS’s shopping-proof shelves) and Crumbl’s Moonbeam Ice Cream Cookie, inspired by the Benson Boone song “Mystical, Magical.” Plus, the Cannes Lions have been marred in controversy over the past few weeks, following several exposés around wonky data and AI-filled case study videos.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we’re talking about how Blank Street Coffee built a $500 million dollar empire, “Lower East Side Dimes Boy” matcha personas, fellas…, the founder of an Erewhon-adjacent grocery store in Tribeca is letting his “fans” stock the shelves, and betting markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are letting you bet on the end of the world. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.