this is swisher's like 5th podcast. she had one at Vox and then they shuttered it and tried another one under a different title. she started one with NYT in 2020 that was sponsored by Salesforce. nancy pelosi was the first guest. she did one for hbo doing TV commentary.

what legacy media can't seem to grasp about podcasting is that the appeal is not the format. the appeal is that someone who lacks the connections and capital to have a platform under legacy media can start one up for like $400 and try to find an audience from a global pool.

if you want to listen to something on your commute or while you are in the shop that isn't part of the billionaire funded Right Wing Talk Radio or NPR Sphere, you can totally do that now, easily with podcasts. you can listen to a podcast about how aliens have taken over Domino's pizza. you can listen to a podcast about the people who believe aliens have taken over Domino's pizza! if you find 1,000 people paying $5/mo to listen to your premium episode, that means you're above the median salary. do a couple of weird, crappy sponsors, and you're buying a vitamix, a PS5, and a weight vest! not everybody can pull it off, but a SHITLOAD more people than have had an platform with editorial control under legacy media can now take a shot with complete creative control.

not enough bozos are going to tune into a Swisher pod to cover her $30k/mo salary draw with its anodyne lib tech takes, because there's already NPR for that. and a dedicated sponsor is going to eventually look at the analytics audience pool and realize they're getting more attention buying legacy media time and pop ups.