Weekly Roundup – August 5th, 2025

"Wondery CEO Jen Sargent is departing the company as it undergoes a broader restructuring and a push toward video.
The podcasting company, which was acquired by Amazon in 2021, will move its narrative podcast studio, which includes Dr. Death, American Scandal and Business Wars, to Audible, and will also see Wondery’s chief content officer Marshall Lewy joining Audible’s content team. The team responsible for Wondery’s creator-led, video-focused podcast shows such as New Heights and Armchair Expert will join Amazon’s Talent Services team, forming a new organization called Creator Services."

"Google is reportedly pitching advertisers to buy into ads in AI Mode. The folks over at AdAge have some slides from a Google presentation with the pitch. "Google is getting ready to roll out AI Mode ads widely by giving ad agencies and brands more information about how the new channel differs from traditional search and details about how paid AI search will work," AdAge wrote.

The slide is titled "Ads in AI Mode," and says, "Be part of our most powerful AI search experience, as customers explore their biggest questions with AI Mode.""

"We all need to stop getting mad about the fact that our favorite streaming series are now full of ads and focus on how awful those ads are.
Yes, it is infuriating that streaming platforms sold a product they could not reasonably hope to sustain. The promise that, for a small fee, viewers would be granted instant access to a vast array of TV series and movies that they could watch when and where they desired, all at once and without the irritant of commercial breaks, seemed too good to be true.
Which, of course, it was. Having lured millions of viewers away from cable and broadcast television, subscription services were first able to raise their rates and then, on top of that, introduce advertising. Far from freeing us from commercials, they now demand, just like cable, that we pay for the honor of watching them."

*At least they can agree on that!
"Eight-in-ten U.S. adults say that when it comes to important issues facing the country, Republican and Democratic voters not only disagree on plans and policies, but also cannot agree on basic facts.
Another 18% say voters in opposing parties can agree on basic facts, even if they disagree about policies, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March.
...
The survey asked all respondents who say Democratic and Republican voters cannot agree about basic facts whether two potential factors are reasons why. Among this group, 67% say a major reason is that partisan voters are interpreting the same information differently. And 53% say a major reason is that Republican and Democratic voters are getting different information altogether.
These two answers are not mutually exclusive. In fact, 40% of those who received this question say both are major factors.
Majorities of both Democrats (68%) and Republicans (66%) who say the two parties can’t agree on basic facts say a major reason is that they’re interpreting the same information differently."