Podcasts about publishers

Main Street Meets the SuperCrowd: Why This Conversation MattersJen Risley, the powerhouse editor behind the Main Street Journal, joined me once again for our monthly livestream—an ongoing collaboration we've come to call Main Street Meets the SuperCrowd. These conversations are quickly becoming a cornerstone of community-building for our shared audience—readers who are hungry for smart, actionable ideas to strengthen local economies, invest with impact, and think more holistically about systems change.If you missed the livestream, let me offer a few highlights that made this session both thought-provoking and energizing.A Meeting of Minds, Not EchoesJen and I began by acknowledging how similar our respective platforms are in terms of mission and audience. But this isn't an echo chamber. Superpowers for Good and Main Street Journal approach the same problems from different angles, drawing on unique voices, frameworks, and solutions. That makes our collaboration not just refreshing, but necessary. As Jen put it, we're both “scurrying and collecting” a deep basket of ideas and stories from the grassroots—ensuring that the best thinking doesn't go unnoticed.Trade Policy Meets Local ImpactOne of the focal points of our conversation was an essay by Michael Shuman, the Publisher of the Main Street Journal, advocating for governors to consider using “negative tariffs” as a response to federal trade policy. Michael, a lawyer and economist, doesn't just write for impact—he writes with it. His provocative suggestion: states could effectively subsidize imports that benefit local economies, pushing back against protectionist tariffs that often do more harm than good.It's a bold concept, and while it drew criticism from at least one reader, we found the idea worth exploring. The critique—that tariffs protect American jobs—misses the macroeconomic reality Michael articulates so well: we simply don't manufacture like we used to. We're not bringing back a 1950s economy, no matter how much we may long for it. What we can bring back is strong worker representation, living wages, and economic dynamism—and those don't have to come from factories alone.In fact, we discussed how strong unions, not just strong industries, were the real drivers of middle-class prosperity in the postwar era. What if we had a powerful union of fast-food workers today? Imagine how that might reshape not just wages, but career pathways in the service economy.Rethinking Nonprofits: A Heated but Needed ConversationWe pivoted to another popular topic in Jen's world—a recent post arguing that nonprofits are, in many cases, the least effective vehicle for systemic social change. That headline alone sparked strong reactions, particularly among those with nonprofit roots (Jen included). But the conversation went beyond provocation.We examined the idea that nonprofits, for all their mission-driven focus, are structurally hampered by the need to chase grants and donors. This often means they spend more time fundraising than delivering on their mission. As Jen rightly pointed out, that dynamic saps not just time and energy but also local economic value.Michael's past reporting, including a 2005 Nation cover story co-authored with Marian Fuller, argues that even progressive nonprofits could do more by rethinking their business models. And we're seeing that today—especially with entities like OpenAI, which began as a nonprofit but now operates as a public benefit corporation (PBC), a structure that allows it to serve a mission while generating revenue and attracting capital.I pushed back just slightly—out of respect for the enormous good nonprofits have done. Since the time Michael and I were born, global poverty has dropped from over 50% to roughly 10%. That's not magic. That's decades of nonprofit work on health, education, and development. But when it comes to economic development—whether in Nairobi or Nebraska—it's hard to deny that mission-driven businesses may have more horsepower than nonprofits constrained by annual fundraising cycles.Return on Integrity: Why We Invest LocalWe wrapped up by talking about a post I wrote recently: “25 Reasons to Invest Through Regulated Crowdfunding for Social Change.” Jen highlighted two that especially resonated with her. First, the power of recirculating dollars within a local economy. When a dollar is spent at a locally owned business, it circulates far more than a dollar sent to a national chain or an online platform. That's not just economics—it's a theory of change.Second, Jen was struck by how regulated crowdfunding creates fertile ground for first-time investors. She herself started with a small investment—just $96—in The Super Crowd, Inc. That entry point matters. It lowers the barriers for ordinary people to participate in building the future they want to see. When investing is local, transparent, and accessible, it ceases to be the domain of Wall Street insiders and becomes a tool for anyone with $100 and a dream.She also reminded us of a phrase I like to use: return on integrity. Impact investing isn't just about profit—it's about aligning your values with your money. It's about sleeping better at night because you're helping your neighbor launch a food truck or keep a childcare center open.A Better Future with Better ToolsOne other update I shared: we've launched a new due diligence tool for paid subscribers. Jen tested it out and found it easier and faster than our earlier prompt-based tool. While it doesn't replace the full depth of a long-form analysis, it provides a meaningful synthesis of a company's Form C—highlighting deal terms, risks, and key facts that too often go overlooked. This is especially important for newcomers who may be investing in a local business for the first time.As I said during the livestream, we're continuing to refine this tool. The goal is to build something that delivers the insight of a 20-hour research process in just 5 to 10 minutes—and makes it either free or radically affordable. That's how we grow the movement.Join the MovementThat word—movement—kept surfacing throughout our conversation. This isn't just a monthly chat. It's not just two newsletters. It's part of a broader, rising effort to put capital in the hands of people building our communities—people often excluded from traditional finance.So if you haven't yet subscribed to both publications, I'll make this pitch one more time: do it. Superpowers for Good is just $5.95/month or less with an annual plan. Main Street Journal offers insights you won't find anywhere else. For the price of one streaming service, you can subscribe to both and get a stream of ideas that actually build the future.Until next month, keep investing with your values, keep amplifying local voices, and keep believing in the power of the crowd. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at www.superpowers4good.com/subscribe

Advertising on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and various social media sites can be exceptional exposure for your books and possibly lead to more sales, but which platforms are better for garnering sales as compared to visibility, and what types of images and copy work best for each site? Also, how long is the ideal time to run an ad? Ingram Content Group's Senior Manager, Consumer Products & Services Development Erin Cox visits “Inside Independent Publishing (with IBPA)” to answer these questions and more!PARTICIPANTSErin Cox has almost two decades of marketing and development experience, primarily in the book industry. She previously worked with Simon & Schuster and Macmillan, was the director of development for World Book Night U.S., and has a master's degree in publishing from New York University. When Erin relocated to Nashville a few years ago, she experienced the other end of the marketing process while working at Parnassus Books. Since then, she's joined Ingram Content Group to help launch a consumer marketing services program for publishers.Independent Book Publishers Association is the largest trade association for independent publishers in the United States. As the IBPA Director of Membership & Member Services, Christopher Locke assists the 3,900 members as they travel along their publishing journeys. Major projects include managing the member benefits to curate the most advantageous services for independent publishers and author publishers; managing the Innovative Voices Program that supports publishers from marginalized communities; and hosting the IBPA podcast, “Inside Independent Publishing (with IBPA).” He's also passionate about indie publishing, because he's an author publisher himself, having published two novels so far in his YA trilogy, The Enlightenment Adventures.LINKSLearn more about the many benefits of becoming a member of Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) here: https://www.ibpa-online.org/Learn more about how to get a discount on Google, Facebook, and Instagram advertising through the Ingram ID IBPA member benefit at https://www.ibpa-online.org/page/ingramidFollow IBPA on:Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/IBPAonlineX – https://twitter.com/ibpaInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/ibpalovesindies/

“You can't cut your way to growth. But you can grow revenue—with very little effort—by letting voice go to work for you.” — Ray Pasquale, CEO, Unified Office In this in-depth conversation with Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, Unified Office CEO Ray Pasquale returns to share a powerful message: voice communications is not a relic—it's the future of business. And Unified Office is making sure that future includes the tools and intelligence small and midsize businesses (SMBs) need to thrive. At the heart of the discussion is EngageIQ, Unified Office's AI-driven analytics and coaching solution originally designed for the fast-paced world of Domino's franchises and now deployed across car dealerships, dental practices, and hospitality. With EngageIQ, businesses can surface real-time insights from voice conversations, train large and distributed teams, and even assess customer sentiment—at scale. Unified Office is now pushing this innovation further with a no-code, drag-and-drop AI services platform, allowing customers to build intelligent call flows, IVRs, and analytics processes without software engineers. “If you can use an iPad, you can deploy enterprise-grade AI with us,” says Pasquale. Importantly, Ray highlights a turning tide: customers and companies alike are rediscovering the power of connected, real-time voice in moments that matter—from resolving a canceled flight to servicing an HVAC emergency. Unified Office's patented voice platform offers PSTN-quality reliability delivered over an over-the-top (OTT) transmission network, designed to restore the quality and value that voice lost during decades of commoditization. Pasquale sees the voice layer as a business's most underutilized asset—and AI as the key to unlocking its potential. By enabling rich, human-centric communications and proactive analytics, Unified Office is helping SMBs reclaim their brand, community connection, and customer loyalty in a digital-first world. Learn more at: https://unifiedoffice.com

Roger Kimball Shares His Thoughts on Iran. Roger Kimball is Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books. He writes regular columns for American Greatness, The Epoch Times, and The Spectator,See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals head to New York to start the podcast and break down Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary. What do the Rascals think the win means […]

24:40- Scott Brown, Former U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa and Former Senator from New Hampshire, joins Joe Piscopo to announce his bid for United States Senator in New Hampshire where he will be running for that role in 2026. Topic: His 2026 bid for Senate in New Hampshire 38:06- Tom Allon, Publisher of City & State, joins Joe Piscopo to discuss the New York City Mayoral Primary Election results and the future of the Mayoral Democratic Party and the future for Andrew Cuomo. Topic: Primary results 53:02- Col. Jack Jacobs, a retired colonel in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the Vietnam War, joins Joe Piscopo to discuss the latest buzz surrounding the Israel-Iran conflict and the United States' position in that. Topic: Israel-Iran conflict 1:01:20- Jesse Arm, Executive Director of external affairs & chief of staff at the Manhattan Institute, joins Joe Piscopo to give his thoughts about the New York City Mayoral race as of the day after the end of the Primary Election. Topic: Mayoral race 1:12:17- Thomas Homan, Border Czar for the Trump administration, joins Joe Piscopo to discuss the latest going on in Iran and the current word going on around the Trump Administration about it. Topic: Iranian sleeper cells 1:24:18 - Liz Peek, Fox News contributor, columnist for Fox News and The Hill, and former partner of major Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company, joins Joe Piscopo to discuss what President Trump is doing with Iran and the left's rooting against Trump's success, calling it “pathetic”. Topic: "Trump's Iran strikes clean up Biden's mess in one big way" (Fox News op ed) 1:32:36- Rabbi Maury Kelman, Calls into the Joe Piscopo Show, who is a Rabbi in Jerusalem and originally from the Jersey Shore, where he served as a Rabbi in Bradley Beach for 9 years. 1:48:18- Gregg Jarrett, Legal and political analyst for Fox News Channel and the author of "The Trial Of The Century", joins Joe Piscopo to discuss the latest impeachment threat against President Trump. Topic: Impeachment threat against Trump 2:10:00- Michael Goodwin, Chief Political Columnist for the New York Post, joins Joe Piscopo to discuss the New York City Primary Election results and what is to come for the election in November. Topic: New York Mayoral ResultsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals head to New York to start the podcast and break down Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary. What do the Rascals think the win means […]

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals head to New York to start the podcast and break down Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary. What do the Rascals think the win means […]

Steve Grove, the current CEO and Publisher of the Minnesota Star Tribune and the former head of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, a Northfield High School graduate, discusses his new book, “How I Found Myself in the Midwest.” Grove will be hosting a reading from the book on tonight, 6:15pm – 8:30pm at […]

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals head to New York to start the podcast and break down Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary. What do the Rascals think the win means […]

50:06- Gen. Jack Keane, a retired 4-star general, the chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst Topic: Ceasefire collapse between the U.S. and Iran 1:01:18- Jesse Arm, executive director of external affairs & chief of staff at the Manhattan Institute Topic: "For a change, Primary Day won’t decide NYC’s next mayor" (New York Post op ed) 1:12:25- John Solomon, award-winning investigative journalist, founder of "Just The News," and the host of “Just the News, No Noise” on the Real America’s Voice network Topic: Ceasefire broken, SCOTUS allowing the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants to countries they aren't from, other news of the day 1:27:17- Morgan Wright, Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Government and Former Senior Advisor US State Dept Antiterrorism Assistance Program Topic: Risk of a cyberattack by Iran 1:33:55- Dr. Eric Kaplan, New York City’s first board certified Functional Neurologist practicing in New York and New Jersey, founder of Kaplan Brain & Body, and the host of "Boost Your Brain Power with Dr. Eric Kaplan,” airing Saturdays at 8 a.m. on AM 970 The Answer Topic: Alzheimer's Awareness Month 1:48:01- Art Del Cueto, Vice-President of the National Border Patrol Council Topic: Possible terror threat because of the Biden administration allowing over 700 Iranian illegal migrants into the U.S. 2:02:06- Daniel Hoffman, Ret. CIA Senior Clandestine Services Officer and a Fox News Contributor Topic: Intel on Iran 2:13:33- Tom Allon, Publisher of City & State Topic: Primary elections in New York todaySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about the heatwave enveloping the Chicago area, his thoughts on the NYC primary election, if he favors ranked-choice voting, JB Pritzker likely announcing another run for Illinois governor, and the possibility of former mayor Rahm Emanuel considering a run for president.

With a long view on the fastener industry and numerous careers to reflect on, Distributor's Link Magazine publisher Mr. Leo Coar recounts the launch of his flagship businesses and shares thoughts on a range of topics. From the shift away from domestic manufacturing and rise of the master importers, to the early days of the fastener shows, to the impact of AI tech on fastener distribution, a true legend of the industry tells it like it was, and the way he sees it in the days ahead. Run time: 47:31

A special episode of Burning Bright, featuring an outgoing interview with founding editor Kendra Kopelke.Support the show

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about the heatwave enveloping the Chicago area, his thoughts on the NYC primary election, if he favors ranked-choice voting, JB Pritzker likely announcing another run for Illinois governor, and the possibility of former mayor Rahm Emanuel considering a run for president.

Title: Georg Benda Track: Georg Benda: harpsichord concerto in F Minor. 3. Allegro Molto Artist: Francesco Corti performs with Il Pomo d'Oro. Publisher: ℗ 2025 Outhere Music France

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about the heatwave enveloping the Chicago area, his thoughts on the NYC primary election, if he favors ranked-choice voting, JB Pritzker likely announcing another run for Illinois governor, and the possibility of former mayor Rahm Emanuel considering a run for president.

Thank you so much for listening to the Bob Harden Show, celebrating nearly 14 years broadcasting on the internet. On Monday's show, we discuss current global events, including U.S military action against Iran's nuclear program and developments in Israel and Iran with Marc Schulman, Founder and Publisher of HistoryCentral.com. We visit with Senior Editor for the American Institute for Economic Research Jon Miltimore about a recent Supreme Court case in which environmentalists lost their “perfect tool.” We also visit with author Jim McTague about how the truth is compromised during times of war. We have terrific guests for tomorrow's show, including Boo Mortenson, and Linda Harden. Access this or past shows at your convenience on my web site, social media platforms or podcast platforms.

Wes Bryan talks Win10 – Win 11 Update, What's the difference between a laser printer and a LaserJet printer? My Start Menu is broken? Data Breach question, Win 11 error disk checking, What is happening with Publisher?

Tom welcomes back Justin Huhn for a in-depth discussion about the Uranium market and the potential risks if there's a nuclear weapon exchange in the conflict between Israel and Iran. They discusses how nuclear powers handle enrichment and how the Uranium fuel cycle operates. Justin sees potential for growth in the Uranium market due to an increase in SMR demand and global efforts towards sustainable energy sources. He also warns against a possible overbought situation in the short term but emphasizes the importance of watching the physical market dynamics and Sprott's activities to spot potential buying opportunities. Timestamps:00:00:00 - Introduction00:00:41 - Iran Conflict Concerns00:04:32 - Enrichment & Grades00:08:40 - Plutonium Details00:09:36 - Market Reaction & Risks00:13:16 - Uranium Supply & Demand00:22:10 - Project Approvals & Risk00:26:37 - Sprott Deal & Canacord00:34:08 - Sprott SPUT Holdings00:38:55 - Banks & Sentiment Shifts00:44:07 - Investor Hangover00:52:30 - Concluding Thoughts00:56:12 - Wrap Up Guest Links:Website: https://www.uraniuminsider.comNewsletter: https://www.uraniuminsider.com/newsletterX: https://x.com/UraniumInsider Justin is the Founder and Publisher of the Uranium Insider Pro Newsletter. Through the combination of rigorous fundamental analysis and Justin's thorough understanding of technical analysis, determinations are made for select companies to be included on Uranium Insider Pro's "Focus List," as well as the most opportune times for entry or exit. Justin is frequently asked to offer his commentary on various media forums, including Crux Investor, Smith Weekly, Palisades Gold Radio, Mining Stock Education, and Mining Stock Daily. He also regularly participates in the post-earnings commentary that is broadcast immediately after industry majors release quarterly earnings.

https://www.nfbpublishing.com/ Listen to us live on mytuner-radio, onlineradiobox, fmradiofree.com and streema.com (the simpleradio app)https://onlineradiobox.com/search?cs=us.pbnnetwork1&q=podcast%20business%20news%20network&c=ushttps://mytuner-radio.com/search/?q=business+news+networkhttps://www.fmradiofree.com/search?q=professional+podcast+networkhttps://streema.com/radios/search/?q=podcast+business+news+network

Learn more about Caleb at: Caleb DeLon | LinkedIn Show Notes timestamps:

Europe's top diplomats are racing to Geneva for emergency talks with Iran today, hoping to stop Trump from bringing the U.S. into full-blown war. And Cloudflare's CEO warns that publishers are getting gutted by AI bots that scrape their content without paying. He says it's only going to get worse.Featured Guests: Oliver Libby, managing partner and co-founder, H/L Ventures | Ben Narasin, founder and general partner, Tenacity VCDOWNLOAD PUBLIC: ⁠Public.com/venture⁠Invest in everything—stocks, options, bonds, crypto. You can even earn some of the highest yields in the industry—like the 7% or higher yield you can lock in with a Bond Account. Public is a FINRA-registered, SIPC-insured platform that takes your investments as seriously as you do. Fund your account in five minutes or less at ⁠public.com/venture⁠ and get up to $10,000 when you transfer your old portfolio.All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1890144), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC.A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. The 7%+ yield is the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across all ten bonds in the Bond Account, before fees, as of 5/15/2025. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our ⁠Fee Schedule⁠. *⁠Terms and Conditions⁠ apply.

THE GOING WAS VERY, VERY GOOD—I'm a writer and the former deputy editor of Vanity Fair. Now if you know anything about me, which statistically you don't, unless—shameless plug—you read my memoir, Dilettante, about my time at Vanity Fair and the golden age of the magazine business. Which, statistically, you didn't.The only reason I have a career at all is because of today's guest on Print Is Dead (Long Live Print). He hired me in the mid-nineties to be his assistant. Or as he likes to say, “rescued me off the scrap heap” and then, like gum on the bottom of his shoe, he could never seem to get rid of me.I'm talking of course about Graydon Carter, former editor of Vanity Fair, Spy, The New York Observer, and now co-editor and co-founder of Air Mail.He's here to talk about his memoir When the Going was Good—a title that, with signature understatement, suggests things were once better than they are now, which feels correct. But his book isn't just about magazines. It's about a time when media was glamorous and powerful and vital. When New York was still New York. When the world he had a hand in shaping still existed.It's not nostalgia, it's a public service, because Graydon didn't just edit and create magazines. He built worlds. He predicted the cultural weather. He made journalism feel essential, and more importantly, cool. I was lucky enough to work for him at Vanity Fair for almost 25 years, back when magazines mattered, when people still returned phone calls, and parties had seating charts instead of hashtags, when the media wasn't just people making videos about sandwiches, and when style wasn't a “brand CoLab,” and when you could still smoke indoors without a visit from HR.You know what? Hold on one second. “Hey! You kids get off my lawn!”Sorry. Graydon began as my boss, but quickly became a mentor, then a friend, and it's a friendship that continues to this day. So enjoy this conversation with Graydon Carter as he looks back on the chaos, the glamour, and the thrill of a better time. Back when, yes, the going was very, very good.—This episode is made possible by our friends at Commercial Type and Freeport Press. A production of Magazeum LLC ©2021–2025

Episode 554 - Sarah M. Eden - Crafting deep characters and heartfelt romances set against rich historical backdrops Sarah M. Eden is a USA Today best-selling author of more than seventy witty and charming historical novels, which have sold over one million copies worldwide. Her works include 2020's Foreword Reviews INDIE Awards Gold Winner for Romance, Forget Me Not, and 2020 Holt Medallion finalist, Healing Hearts. She is a three-time “Best of State” Gold Medal winner for fiction and a three-time Whitney Award winner. Combining her obsession with history and her affinity for tender love stories, Sarah loves crafting deep characters and heartfelt romances set against rich historical backdrops. She holds a bachelor's degree in research and happily spends hours perusing the reference shelves of her local library. https://www.sarahmeden.com/Support the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca

Richie O'Leary, Publisher for Rutgers Rivals, joined Jake & Ben to talk Ace Bailey and what he knows about the polarizing Draft Prospect. 

Hour 2 of Jake & Ben on June 20, 2025 Richie O'Leary, Publisher for Rutgers Rivals, joined Jake & Ben to talk Ace Bailey and what he knows about the polarizing Draft Prospect.  Jaxson Dart & Tommy DeVito said they want to go on "Love Island." Should we expect these guys to be friends?  Chuck, host of the "Chucking Darts" NBA & Draft podcast, joined to preview the NBA Draft. 

Jake & Ben Full Show from June 20, 2025 Hour 1 Mark Walter has purchased the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 Billion Dollars.  Top 3 Stories of the Day: Indiana is not dead yet, they force a Game 7. Also, BYU fans mark your calendars for June 24th. More on the Lakers record-breaking sale.  We are so tired to the Anonymous "Sources" Hour 2  Richie O'Leary, Publisher for Rutgers Rivals, joined Jake & Ben to talk Ace Bailey and what he knows about the polarizing Draft Prospect.  Jaxson Dart & Tommy DeVito said they want to go on "Love Island." Should we expect these guys to be friends?  Chuck, host of the "Chucking Darts" NBA & Draft podcast, joined to preview the NBA Draft. 

Pete Fiutak, Publisher of College Football News.com joins the show to talk about Texas A&M heading into the fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With websites covering topics like entertainment (ScreenRant), gaming (Polygon) and automotive (CarBuzz), Valnet caters to users across a wide array of interests.But according to Ji Heon Kim, Valnet's head of monetization, Valnet realized it could create more value for its users by encouraging them to subscribe or authenticate themselves.Maybe a “mass scale” of users wouldn't sign up for their websites, but perhaps 10% would. And, as Kim puts it, that “10% would still be valuable, and we can do a lot with that 10%.”“We created more value to [those] users, more exclusive content and high-quality content,” Kim says. “All of that became an initiative on the content side for us to deliver a premium model and give users an incentive to sign up.”Kim further talked with The Current Podcast about balancing advertiser value, user experience and performance, which he says are “always affecting each other.” Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.Damian Fowler (00:00):I'm Damian Fowler, and welcome to The Current Podcast. Today we're talking to one of the biggest digital publishers. You might not know by name, but you've definitely read their stuff. I'm talking about Net. The company behind Screen Rant, the Gamer, Kaleida make use of, and a bunch of other sites that rack up hundreds of millions of sessions every month. Joining me today is Ji Kim Valnet's, head of monetization. Ji'S been leading the charge on everything from supply path optimization to first party data to figuring out how to drive real revenue without compromising the reader experience. We'll get into some of the big shifts they've made in their tech stack and how they're bringing newly acquired brands like Polygon into their ecosystem and what other publishers can learn from their approach.Ji Kim (00:52):At Valnet, I'd like to think of us as a publishing powerhouse. We started very small. Our motto is humble and hungry. We like to remind ourselves that it's always good to keep a humble mindset. I've been at NET for 10 years and we've grown tremendously. We've went through a lot ups and downs, but even as we grow, we like to think that we're small and agile and the publications we range from automotive, gaming, technology, entertainment, but entertainment has always been our flagship, but we've been kind of branching outside of that and trying to expand more and more. And then we have some lifestyle brands as well as sports.Damian Fowler (01:35):Let's talk about a moment that changed the game for Net. Can you walk us through your, I guess we're going to talk about supply path optimization at first anyway, which is a hot topic around these parts and what work you did around supply path optimization, like cutting resellers and boosting direct inventory. Could you talk us through that a little?Ji Kim (01:57):It's an ongoing process. It's certainly, I think most people agree that SPO is not an easy thing to achieve. You can commit to it one shot, but that's much harder to do considering that there will be a revenue impact. So for us, we tried both ways. We took a few sites and we took the direct approach and we saw a pretty decent stability, and then some other sites did not, and then we have to kind of revert back to it. SPO, it was always a topic that was talked about but not well enforced. And tradedesk took a big initiative to push publishers towards it. And then we started working closely with Jounce Media as well, with Chris Kane started kind of talking through some of the ideas, how should we go about it? How do we retain the value and still achieve removing the resale alliance and keep our inventory as clean as possible?(02:51):But initially our outlook of SPO was about making our inventory as clean and transparent as possible. Net considers ourselves as a premium publisher and we want to make sure that the advertisers see that as well. So we were heading in that direction. But ultimately, I think the biggest challenge with SPO was it's impossible to do an AB test because you have one A TXT file and you can't test one setup with the resell alliance, one setup without. So that's been pretty challenging to understand where's the value going, where is it coming from? And even with the Resell Alliance, when you talk to the SSPs with Resell Alliance, they'll go, oh, these are PP deals. These are not just rebroadcasting and all this stuff. So trying to understand the granularity and all that details of what each resale align means was very difficult. But ultimately we know we have to go in that direction, but we know it's not going to happen overnight, so we're kind of just taking a step at a time.Damian Fowler (03:51):That's great. What would you say was the kind of catalyst or moment that sparked that shift?Ji Kim (03:57):We always talked about advertiser value. It is important to yield as much value as possible and get the performance that we need. We always think that advertiser value is important, and when we think about that, it's like you go through stages. You go, okay, viewability needs to be important. Let's get viewability up to above standard, above average, make sure our CTR is good, but it's high quality clicks. It's not just users just clicking on stuff. Then you go through the lines and eventually you get to SPOs. Make sure that advertisers know what inventory they're getting access to, what they're buying, and make sure that they're getting insights. The transparency is there. Then we've increased the value of our inventory.Damian Fowler (04:46):Yeah, I mean that's the key, right, obviously. And speaking of that, having made these changes, are you in a position to be able to see the kind of impact that they've had from a revenueJi Kim (04:58):Perspective? Honestly, I don't think I can everything, especially with these kinds of stuff, what I've learned is it doesn't change overnight. Let's say we remove all the reseller lines yesterday. Today, likely the performance is going to drop initially and maybe things recover over time, but there's so many moving parts that it's hard to associate the value towards SPO, and that's a lot of things that we do in this industry. But I think that's when we like to look at it as, you know what? Ultimately we are improving the quality of our inventory, so we will get rewarded at some point. And that's how you move forward. But with SPO, I think the other side is that it's not just about removing reseller lines. You also have to market yourself and tell the advertisers that, Hey, we have gone in this direction. We have removed the reseller lines. All of our inventory is direct. It's clean. And that part is also hard to do. We haven't spent a lot of time or resources into marketing ourselves, and that's why we talked about, people may not know net, but they know our brands. It's the same thing. It's like we are now making a big push to let people know who Val net is, and that's going to go in hand in hand with this stuff.Damian Fowler (06:21):In terms of that messaging around the surgery as it were you're doing on the supply path, does that land well with advertisers?Ji Kim (06:32):I think it's always positively looked at when you tell them, it's like everybody, it is never negative, but I don't know if actually if it's meaningful for them because at scale, they're buying at scale. So yeah, we're a big publisher, but they're also buying at multiple publishers. Maybe only small portion of their budgets come to us. So it's positive, but I don't know if it's all that meaningful to them. At least that's what I've felt.Damian Fowler (07:04):So in addition to the SPO, what other tweaks or changes are you as head of monetization looking at to basically bring in those ad dollars and keep readers satisfied, I suppose?Ji Kim (07:17):Yeah, so there's three things. So we looked at the advertiser value, but then there's the user experience and then the performance side. So always those three things, there's constantly affecting each other. Ad density is probably one of the biggest part of advertiser value and performance and user experience. So we are constantly trying to reduce our density, and we look at this metric impressions per session and request per session. So we look at that and injections our injections based on content length, a paragraph breaks and all that stuff. So we'll try to work with the content team to create optimal breaks. I'll have a little sit down session with the content team. The leads say, okay, this is how the admin injection works, and how you break out your content really does impact, because we won't break a paragraph in half to inject an ad. So there needs to be natural breaks for the ads to inject. So if you have massive paragraphs, we're going to have less ad injections, which is fine if the content works like that, but they also need to think about how all this stuff works.Damian Fowler (08:26):That's really interesting. I mean, I think that sweet spot between not being the Vegas strip, but also ads have to populate at the right time to have value.Ji Kim (08:35):For net, we've focused mostly on open market programmatic spend. We have a small direct initiative. This is something that we've been trying to grow, but when you don't have huge direct sales initiative and direct spend coming in, you kind of need the density because the CPMs that you get from open market is much lower. So we want to try to move away from that as much as possible. I don't think found that will ever be a publisher where we drive like 50% of the revenue from direct sales, but we want to grow it to maybe 15, 20%. And once we do that, we can yield higher CPMs, which allows us to reduce the density, which would be better for advertiser value, better for user experience, and we'll still get the performance that we need to kind of go forward.Damian Fowler (09:24):So it's a balance.Ji Kim (09:25):Yeah. Yeah. I think if we can drive higher CPMs, we would love to reduce density, but it's always the constant battle between the two of, okay, well we reduced density. Oh, we went too far. Okay, we got to bring it back a little bit.Damian Fowler (09:38):How difficult is it to kind of innovate in ad tech? This is a broader question, I guess given how fast things are changing, especially on the programmatic front,Ji Kim (09:47):It's been very, very difficult. Rapidly changing environment is definitely one of them, and you have to adapt quickly. For example, the video definition of having instream outstream, and then now there's a third definition of accompanying that stuff. When it happened, the enforcement happened quickly, so we had to adapt quickly, and that's difficult. But innovating is, I think, much more difficult than just adapting to the new policies and new rules. So many different ways to innovate pre, for example, you have the open source code, you build that, but there's so many customizations that you can do and even a single customization, you interpret how you should approach that topic and how you should build your tech. So you kind of have to talk to your developers and walk through. And our biggest challenge I would say was bridging the gap between developers and ad ops. I was like, because I am an ad ops guy, I understand programmatic landscape very well, but our developers do not. And I'm not a developer, I'm not a technical guy. Obviously through 10 years I've learned a lot of stuff, but still, if I needed to build something, I'm not going to be able to tell them exactly how to build it. So you need somebody in the middle that understands both sides,(11:03):And that was the most difficult part. And eventually we did find resources that they were able to bridge that gap and were able to build stuff. But ultimately, there's just so many different ways to build your product and you want to make sure that product that you build or tech stack that you build is going to keep that balance that you need between the user experience, the performance, and the density, everything that pertains to page speed as well. If you build it to be too slow, everything gets affected as well, and that's harder to tell. So yeah.Damian Fowler (11:37):So how have some of these technical changes influenced your broad and monetization philosophy?Ji Kim (11:43):Yeah, so I guess one of the things, if we talk about authentication, we talk about cookie deprecation and why authentication became so important to majority of the publishers. And I remember our thought process around authentication was pretty pessimistic, I would say. But eventually we said know what? We can create content or value for the users that's going to want them to sign up and want them to get authenticated. And we said we got to start somewhere. Ultimately, maybe we've become a little bit more realistic about what critical mass of a value would be if we're at, if we're expecting 50% of users will log in, that's not going to happen, but 10% is still very meaningful. So it was about our philosophy was changing, about our expectations changing and still understanding that 10% could be very valuable and we can do a lot with that 10%. So we created more value to the users are more exclusive content, high quality content, high quality videos. All of that stuff became an initiative on the content side for us to deliver the premium model and to give users the incentive to authenticate a sign up on.Damian Fowler (13:03):That's really interesting. I think one of the things that also I'm hearing is that you kind of have different audiences, but you're getting to understand your audiences. I mean, this strategy gives you more insight into who's coming.Ji Kim (13:15):Yeah. We also created what we call threads. They can talk about the article, talk about topics that we're discussing, and that really improved our engagement.Damian Fowler (13:30):As you look to the future, how do you think about, as it were, locking in some of these changes and this value that you see from this audience?Ji Kim (13:40):So I want to go back a little bit about innovating and how difficult it is. So I went through the stages of, okay, what am I focusing on to optimize to yield more value? And initially it was demand. Okay, we want to work with as many high quality as P as possible, but then you do work with all of them. There are going to be going to be one or two that come here and there, but generally speaking, they're not going to create incremental value. They'll just take a piece of pie that was taken by somebody else, not meaningful value. Then you work on ad tech innovation, all that stuff, and that we'll continuously work on that, but that also has lots of limitations, and you eventually reach a plateau point of say, you're not going to find a lot low hanging fruits. So now we come to premium inventory, which we need to learn our users, we need to learn who they are so we can offer these users to our advertisers to grow our PMP programmatic direct, as well as your conventional IO based direct deals that's going to yield as higher CPMs.Damian Fowler (14:53):Yeah, I mean, talk of premium inventories is characteristic of the moment we are in when it comes to programmatic sales for publishers.Ji Kim (15:02):Yeah.Damian Fowler (15:04):Let's draw back and look at the big picture and some of the kind of industry context. I guess think I'm correct in saying Valnet reach has more than 400 million sessions a month across its network. That's correct. And how do you think about that, that kind of scale when every property has its own audience profile and publishing rhythm?Ji Kim (15:30):Yeah, it's sometimes a bit overwhelming how much reach our sites have, but I always try to look at it as our advantage, and this is the opportunity that hasn't been tapped into, is that okay, we're 95% of our inventory is sold in the open market, and we have so much data that we could collect and leverage in order to drive higher value. And it's just looking at it, it's overwhelming, but you start to see the real value that hasn't been tapped into, and that's exciting, but it's also very, very difficult to manage all that information, manage that data, and use it properly. So yeah, I mean it excites me, but also I know how challenging it can be to create value through that. So we're taking one step at a time, even first party data collection. I wouldn't say we're crazy sophisticated, but we're keeping it a level that we know how to manage and understanding it well first and then starting to kind of grow a step-by-step.Damian Fowler (16:45):Yeah, I mean, I suppose the whole back and forth about third party cookies may have provided a spark. I know it lit a fire under the industry. Speaking of first party data, so that is a focus for you?Ji Kim (16:56):Yes, yes. But I believe when it was really a huge focus for the industry was when Google had first announced that they're going to deprecate third party cookies, and we had the initial moment of, oh, you know what? We also need to look into this, but we didn't want to panic. Our outlook was, I'm sure everybody went through the initial panic. We did too, but we didn't want to stay in that moment. And we said, okay, what's realistically going to happen for publishers like us? How much first party data can we collect and really sell because we don't have a huge direct sales initiative? And at that point we had none. And you can't grow direct sales overnight. It's a highly competitive environment, and you're entering that new market. You have to build relationships, you have to have crazy amount of salespeople that are constantly going out there representing balance inventory.(17:55):And we weren't set up for that, and we weren't willing to just fully invest everything into growing that at the time. So we said, well, maybe first party data isn't as important. Collecting first part data isn't as important as just understanding how to go about direct sales. So that's what we worked on. We've hired salespeople, we enter that space. I was very naive about how direct sales worked, and now we have a better understanding. We have good salespeople that understand our values as well. We don't want to just go out and sell anything and everything. We want to understand the creative types that we're also selling isn't going to impact user experience horribly and negatively. The high impact guys, the site scans when they're done, right, it's great user experience, but it could also go the other way. So we wanted to build a baseline first, and that's what we did the last few years. And now we can go after the first party data in a more sustainable way for us.Damian Fowler (18:56):Let's talk about your acquisition of Polygon from Vox Media. Speaking of inventory that expands the real estate, how does that property fit into what you're doing?Ji Kim (19:07):So Polygon, obviously, we go through a lot of due diligences. We look at different opportunities, and Polygon was an easy one to go through because we knew Polygon has great content, it has a great foundation of creating high quality content. But the difference was that Fox has a lot of direct sales. I can't remember the exact number, but it could have been 75%, 80% of their revenue was generated, direct sold inventory, and then 20% was open market. And for us, it would've been the other way around, flipped around even less. Maybe 95% open market, 5% directive. Initially when we acquired it would've been a hundred percent open market, but that's also why it excite us because it's a premium inventory that doesn't get seen in the open market. Open market buyers don't see the bid requests coming from that website as much. So we're super happy, but we knew this was a high quality inventory, high quality website, and we knew that there was a very small chance that it was going to go poorly.Damian Fowler (20:20):Interesting. When you buy a property like that, you're actually buying an audience to a certain extent.Ji Kim (20:25):Yeah, absolutely.Damian Fowler (20:27):Do you think about audiences as discreet to the publications or do you see crossover?Ji Kim (20:34):Crossover? Yeah, lots of crossover.Damian Fowler (20:37):Yeah. Alright. So I guess the big question here is for other publishers looking to upgrade this strategy that we're talking about, especially in this very complex environment, which is something you clearly understand very deeply, what's one piece of advice that you might offer?Ji Kim (20:54):I think you have to think about realistically what you should go after, what opportunities you should go after. So many things that come up right now, I think the big thing is curated media. And on our end, a lot of the SSPs and DSPs are doing the work for us. They going out and curating our inventory for us, and that's fine. But if you were to go after that and trying to grow it, but you don't really have the resources, it's easy to just kind of see everybody, what everyone else is doing, like, oh, I want a piece of that too, but it's not going to yield the value. Same value if you don't have the right resources in place if you're not focused on that opportunity. So my advice would be to understand which opportunities realistically are you able to get and have the right resources who are going to be passionate about that. Take accountability. That's huge, the accountability part. And that's not something you can just kind of force people. You have to believe that this person that's taking on this project can be really passionate and sink their teeth into it. If you got that, then go after those things. But it's too hard to go after every single opportunity there is. Even if seemingly it seems like a low hanging fruit. Nothing is really that simple in this industry.Damian Fowler (22:15):That's for sure. So finally, we're going to wrap this up with some what we call hot seat questions. So what's one thing you're obsessed with figuring out right now?Ji Kim (22:27):How to yield more value? No, no, no. I'll give a better answer than that right now. For me, it's how to grow direct sales sustainably and scale it in a way that we don't get too bloated. Because through acquisitions, one of the most valuable things that I get is insight. I get to see under the hood of a lot of publishers, small to medium to large, how they operate, what is their strategy and direct sales. I've learned some of the big publishers do it extremely well. It's a well-oiled machine, it's not bloated. They generate a ton of revenue, but some have a huge cost, and that's what we were afraid of. And right now it's very hard to do. So you need the right sales team, you need the right operational guys, you need account representation, you need reporting guide and all this stuff. And right now I am trying to find a way to scale it, but without having massive costs, just kind of take over and then expect this to yield value in the next year or two. I want that line to kind of grow together. And that's not an easy thing to do, obviously. And I'm looking for the right resources. I'm looking to build relationships with agencies with limited guys, just hustle through it and offer them our inventory, charm them, whatever it may take. But yeah, that's what I'm currently obsessed.Damian Fowler (24:01):Okay. What's still missing in the ad tech stack that you wish someone would build?Ji Kim (24:07):I don't know if this would fall under their ad tech stack, but I think we could really benefit from a bit more standardization around, it could be reporting and creatives. Maybe I'm speaking out of line because I'm on the inventory side, so I don't know everything that goes on the buy side and the creative side. But what I see is that there's so many different creatives that just either break the page, the creative's broken, it's too heavy, it slows down the page, and it's hard to target those and remove those. It can come through so many different channels. So if there is a bit more standardization around what kind of creatives are acceptable, I'm sure there is some or a standard already, but it needs to be honed in a bit more maybe.Damian Fowler (25:00):What's one thing advertisers misunderstand about monetizing Publish it inventory today?Ji Kim (25:08):So I thought about this and something that it's more of my frustration around advertisers perspective. I understand it, but a bit more frustration because it's hard to create context around it, which is brand safety. I understand the brand side. I advertise side on why they wouldn't want to associate their brand with certain content, but brand safety is police by keyword list and it's very restrictive. And some of the,Damian Fowler (25:37):It's one toolJi Kim (25:38):And it's like, okay, and we have gaming sites that will, a lot of gaming, natural will talk about shooting, but some of the game developers won't want to associate with those articles. And it's like, hang on, hang on. Now you bet you guys also have games that are first person shooter or whatnot. You don't want to associate with those type of articles. There's a bit of a mismatch, and I think it's just hard to manage that. So they go with a broader approach and I get it, but I think it's just there needs to be more about understanding the context of certain articles. And it's like the word shooting can be anything, everything. Right?Damian Fowler (26:22):Yeah, I like that. I've been hearing more about a shift from brand safety to brand suitability, which brings in the concept of context. What's something unexpected you've learned from reader data or behavior recently?Ji Kim (26:39):So I wouldn't say it's recent, but it's something that's surprises me how the smallest change that I, from my perspective is like, is that really going to do anything? But at our scale, the numbers changed so drastically. Recently we were playing around with the video size because our outstream unit will float once the user are scrolling and the size of that unit. Obviously we want to give advertiser value, so we want to make it as big as possible. But then user experience wise, it could be very bothersome because as they're trying to read, there's a video playing. So we want to keep mindful of that. And we're constantly testing the size of that unit and we decreased by 10% and 10%. While it's significant, if you look at the actual size of the unit to the naked eye, you really wouldn't be able to tell what the difference is. But the CTR of that video unit changed drastically. It was cut in half, actually. And that's the thing is like, okay, users are really sensitive to these things. And to me it's not, maybe I'm looking at it too often, but that's always, that boggles my mind and it always catches me by surprise when I see the numbers is like, wow, I did not expect that. I did not expect users to behave this way.Damian Fowler (28:00):That's amazing. The details really matter.Ji Kim (28:02):Yeah, Big time. Damian Fowler (28:03):And that's it for this edition of The Current Podcast. We'll be back next week. The Current Podcast is produced by Molten Hart. A theme is by Love and Caliber, and our associate producer is Sydney Cairns. And remember,Ji Kim (28:21):I like to think of us as a publishing powerhouse. We started very small. Our motto is humble and hungry. We like to remind ourselves that it's always good to keep a humble mindset.Damian Fowler (28:34):I'm Damian, and we'll see you next time.

An opinion editor at the San Diego Union-Tribune speaks to KPBS about her abrupt firing this week. And UCSD researchers are using their shake lab to test a new type of steel. Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis is back to talk about the city's new budget. Then, organizers of last weekend's “No Kings” protest say even more people than the 60,000 that were initially estimated marched in San Diego. Finally, hear how the World Beat Cultural Center is honoring Juneteenth.

Original Post

A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of The New York Times, joins Richard Edelman at Cannes Lions for a conversation on the role of journalism in rebuilding trust. They discuss the global rise of misinformation, the decline of local news, and why independent reporting remains essential to democracy. A.G. reflects on how The Times is adapting to new … Continue reading "The New York Times' A.G. Sulzberger on the New Playbook for Modern Journalism"

We tried a new thing! Marketing Manager Abby (hi) recently did a presentation for some of our store and library customers, featuring some of our new titles, old favorites, and insights on what The People are buying these days. Elly also joined us for a few minutes to run through our fun new buying portal for stores.It was a good time. We might even do it again!************Thank you for watching the People's Guide to Publishing vlogcast!  We post new episodes every Thursday about publishing, authors, and the book industry. You can also listen via your preferred podcast app, or by visiting linktree.com/microcosmGet the book: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3663Get the workbook: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/10031More from Microcosm: http://microcosmpublishing.comMore by Joe Biel: http://joebiel.netMore by Elly Blue: http://takingthelane.comSubscribe to our monthly email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gIXT6vFind us on social media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/microcosmpublishingBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/microcosm.bsky.socialInstagram: http://instagram.com/microcosm_pub************

We sat down with the HCIC (Head Chick in Charge) of Honey Blossom Press, and *whew*—it was way more than an interview. Keisha Mennefee came with the gems, the EXCLUSIVES, and the unapologetic realness. So grab your Note-Books, Blankets, and Booze, because we're diving deep into Black history, Black joy, and of course, all things Black love.Guest @honeyblossompress on IG Follow the hosts: @krissygcu on IG@booksandsoul1 on IGFollow the podcast @getcaughtuppodcast on IG, TikTok & YouTubeSubscribe anchor.fm/getcaughtupDonationsCash App $UP2016

The publishing industry is facing significant challenges. We just went through a major zeitgeist shift, and reader preferences radically changed. AI also showed up in a big way, so it should be no surprise that several traditional publishers are struggling to adapt.What happens to you and your book if your publisher goes bankrupt? How will you know if your publisher is headed that way?In ​this week's episode​, we uncover eight warning signs your publisher might be on the brink and what you can do now to protect your rights, royalties, and your book's future.Tune in to learn:• The #1 red flag that predicts publisher collapse• What you can do to ensure your book doesn't end up in publishing purgatory• How you can sustain your readership and career through a publisher bankruptcyWhether you're with a small press or a major house, ​listen in​ or ​read the blog version​ to learn the signs of publisher bankruptcy. If you're on alert, you can avoid some major hindrances to your career.https://www.patreon.com/posts/june-is-patron-130533769 Support the show

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals kick off today’s podcast talking about some Illinois politicians being denied entry to ICE facilities this week. What are these types of actions designed to accomplish? The ‘No Kings’ protests across […]

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals kick off today’s podcast talking about some Illinois politicians being denied entry to ICE facilities this week. What are these types of actions designed to accomplish? The ‘No Kings’ protests across […]

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals kick off today’s podcast talking about some Illinois politicians being denied entry to ICE facilities this week. What are these types of actions designed to accomplish? The ‘No Kings’ protests across […]

Episode 553 - Jim Carlough - The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership - A Roadmap To SuccessJim Carlough Launches Leadership Book for Modern ProfessionalsJim Carlough, an experienced leader and first-time author, has officially released his debut book, designed to revolutionize how individuals approach leadership. This new publication provides a fresh perspective on leading teams and driving professional success through actionable strategies and clear guidance.In an era of constant workplace evolution, effective leadership has never been more crucial. Carlough's book addresses these demands head-on by offering solutions tailored to the challenges of today's complex professional environment. It serves as a blueprint for leaders to build trust, foster collaboration, and achieve outstanding results.Transforming Leadership with Actionable InsightsUnlike many books on leadership, Carlough's debut work emphasizes practicality over theory. Each chapter presents readers with clear strategies that can be applied immediately to improve team dynamics and overall performance.The book focuses on the following key areas:Building a Culture of Trust and Accountability: Carlough stresses the importance of creating environments where team members feel valued and empowered to contribute their best.Effective Goal Setting and Motivation: Learn how to align team objectives with organizational goals and inspire individuals to surpass expectations.Adapting Leadership Styles: The book teaches leaders to customize their approaches to suit the needs of diverse teams and situations.Why This Book Is Essential NowThe workplace has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, driven by remote work, technological advancements, and shifting employee expectations. Leadership is now about more than achieving short-term goals—it requires creating sustainable success while navigating unprecedented challenges.Jim Carlough's book addresses these realities, equipping leaders with tools to adapt and thrive. By focusing on actionable insights, the book helps readers overcome common leadership pitfalls and deliver lasting results.Empowering Leaders to Drive ResultsOne of the standout features of Carlough's book is its emphasis on measurable impact. By blending proven techniques with adaptable strategies, the author ensures that leaders can translate knowledge into real-world results.The book is designed for a wide audience, including:Aspiring leaders looking to build their skills.Established professionals seeking to refine their leadership style.Organizations aiming to develop stronger teams and more cohesive cultures.About Jim CarloughJim Carlough is a seasoned professional with years of experience in leadership and team development. His career is marked by a commitment to helping individuals and organizations achieve their full potential through effective strategies and forward-thinking approaches. Carlough's insights, drawn from years of hands-on experience, form the backbone of his writing, making his debut book a must-read for professionals across industries.https://www.jimcarlough.com/Support the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca

EPISODE SUMMARY: Deborah Parenti is a broadcasting trailblazer who currently oversees some of the industry's most respected brands and events, including Radio Ink, Radio + Television Business Report, Forecast, and the Hispanic Radio Conference. She shares stories of how she broke through barriers throughout her career, culminating in her induction into the Radio Hall of Fame.On this episode of Chachi Loves Everybody, Chachi talks to Deborah Parenti about:Falling in love with radio as a child growing up in Dayton, OhioMoving to LA to help syndicate Wolfman JackHow she overcame her shyness and learned to put herself out there and go for itThe value of marketing and research in radio and the importance of knowing where statistics come fromOvercoming gender discrimination and how she was held back by some and supported by many othersBecoming the first female GM in Dayton, and how she climbed up the sales ladderWhat makes for a strong company culture and good teams, and the importance of communityMoving to Philadelphia and the challenges of being a leader in a larger marketPutting together the Hispanic Radio Conference and Forecast, then publishing RadioInkHer advice for future radio professionalsAnd more!ABOUT THIS EPISODE'S GUEST: Radio Ink President and Publisher Deborah Parenti is a distinguished executive in the radio industry, having held roles in marketing and research and sales prior to several management positions. Later in her career, she assumed the Publisher role of Radio Ink and Radio + Television Business Report, two influential industry publications. Deborah's career including years of success in both Dayton, OH, and Louisville, KY, working with WING-AM and WWSN-FM and WDJX -FM. She became the first female General Manager in Dayton, overseeing WMMX-FM's success with both ratings and revenue. She went on to become the VP/GM of American Radio Systems group of stations in Dayton, one of the first managers of a consolidated group of radio stations in a single market. In 1997, she joined Broadcast Group in Philadelphia to become VP/GM of WXTU-FM, a premier country-formatted station.A decade later, Deborah Parenti joined Streamline Publishing in 2007. Her accomplishments are many, including leading Radio Ink's editorial and management staff to recognize radio industry leadership in management, sales and programming in a variety of formats and management genres. The expanse and influence of the set of publications has allowed the industry a forum for conversations at multiple annual meetings organized by the publication to further the industry's evolution of new programming, new technology and more.Deborah's efforts and industry impact have been recognized by the Broadcast Foundation of America and the Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame, among others. In 2023, Deborah Parenti was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.ABOUT THE PODCAST: Chachi Loves Everybody is brought to you by Benztown and hosted by the President of Benztown, Dave “Chachi” Denes. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the myths and legends of the radio industry.PEOPLE MENTIONED:Ray SparWolfman JackChris ForgyGlenn BellMichael J. FoxJim BennettMaddie ShriverPierre BouvardBill BurtonSteve DodgeEric RhodesAlan GrayBill CampbellChris SheebleBrad FuhrSteve DodgeDave PerlmanTom StonerGlen BellAvis EckelGarth BrooksTrisha YearwoodMike McVayPat PaxtonFrank SinatraSteve LawrencePiolinShoboyEd KrampfJim CarnegieAdam JacobsonABOUT BENZTOWN: Benztown is a leading international audio imaging, production library, voiceover, programming, podcasting, and jingle production company with over 3,000 affiliations on six different continents. Benztown provides audio brands and radio stations of all formats with end-to-end imaging and production, making high-quality sound and world-class audio branding a reality for radio stations of all market sizes and budgets. Benztown was named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 by Inc. magazine for five consecutive years as one of America's Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies. With studios in Los Angeles, New York, London and Stuttgart, Benztown offers the highest quality audio imaging work parts for 23 libraries across 14 music and spoken word formats including AC, Hot AC, CHR, Country, Hip Hop and R&B, Rhythmic, Classic Hits, Rock, News/Talk, Sports, and JACK. Benztown provides custom VO and imaging across all formats, including commercial VO and copywriting in partnership with Yamanair Creative. Benztown Radio Networks produces, markets, and distributes high-quality programming and services to radio stations around the world, including: The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown, The Daily Dees Show, The Todd-N-Tyler Radio Empire, Hot Mix, Sunday Night Slow Jams with R Dub!, Flashback, Top 10 Now, AudioLogger, Audio Architecture, Radio Merch Shop, The Rooster Show Prep, AmeriCountry, and Benztown Swag Bank. Benztown + McVay Media Podcast Networks produces and markets premium podcasts including: The Making of: A National Geographic Podcast, Run It Again, Hot Chicken and Cage-Free Conversation with Byron Kennedy, and Edelman Financial Engines' Everyday Wealth.Web: benztown.comFacebook: facebook.com/benztownradioTwitter: @benztownradioLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/benztownInstagram: instagram.com/benztownradio Enjoyed this episode of Chachi Loves Everybody? Let us know by leaving a review!

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals kick off today’s podcast talking about some Illinois politicians being denied entry to ICE facilities this week. What are these types of actions designed to accomplish? The ‘No Kings’ protests across […]

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.  Brad is first joined by Charlie Cook, Founder of 'the Cook Political Report,' to talk about ten years of Trump in politics.  This includes how he completely changed the Republican party's identity, and what might happen to the GOP once Trump is no longer President. Then, Kim Scott, Publisher of 'Dem List,' previews the NYC Mayoral primary election. She also details the upcoming Governors' races in Virginia and New Jersey, which tend to be a bellwether for the following year's midterm elections in Congress. Kim Scott's 'Demlist' is a free national daily political column, calendar and resource site for Democrats and allies - a unique, central source that connects people to the who, what and where of Democratic events, issues and activism. You can find out more about them at DemList.com and follow them on BlueSky at the handle @demlist.bsky.social‬. Brad writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.'  He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles. You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His handle on BlueSky is @bradbannon.bsky.social.  

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about the sentencing of former Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan, his thoughts on Saturday’s ‘No Kings’ protests across the country, why he thinks waving a flag of another country at a protest sends the wrong message, the controversy surrounding Nezza singing the […]

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.  Brad is first joined by Charlie Cook, Founder of 'the Cook Political Report,' to talk about ten years of Trump in politics.  This includes how he completely changed the Republican party's identity, and what might happen to the GOP once Trump is no longer President. Then, Kim Scott, Publisher of 'Dem List,' previews the NYC Mayoral primary election. She also details the upcoming Governors' races in Virginia and New Jersey, which tend to be a bellwether for the following year's midterm elections in Congress. Kim Scott's 'Demlist' is a free national daily political column, calendar and resource site for Democrats and allies - a unique, central source that connects people to the who, what and where of Democratic events, issues and activism. You can find out more about them at DemList.com and follow them on BlueSky at the handle @demlist.bsky.social. Brad writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.'  He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles. You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His handle on BlueSky is @bradbannon.bsky.social.

Welcoming summer's arrival, featuring poems by Mary Jo Balestreri, Margaret Hoehn, Kirby Olson and Sarah Yerkes.Support the show

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about the sentencing of former Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan, his thoughts on Saturday’s ‘No Kings’ protests across the country, why he thinks waving a flag of another country at a protest sends the wrong message, the controversy surrounding Nezza singing the […]

We embark on the first part of a series begun in 2024 by Jack Eidt who joined the artistic residency of Osceola Refetoff, a Canadian-American visual artist and photojournalist, in Antofagasta, Chile. Supported by SACO Cultural Corporation, this residency places a spotlight on the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, and its rich yet troubled history with mining. We delve into the environmental and social impacts of mining in this region, the historical context of Latin American exploitation, and the legacy of colonialism and neoliberal policies. Featuring poignant quotes from local authors and music that reflects Chile's cultural heritage, this episode is a profound exploration of eco-justice, history, and art. This episode sheds light on the difficult working conditions, pollution, and migratory phenomena that have shaped the Atacama's legacy. **Historical Context and Colonial Legacy** We journey through the historical context of mining in the Atacama, from the nitrate boom of the 19th century to the present-day lithium rush. The episode explores the economic motivations and political maneuverings that have led to the region's exploitation, including the devastating impact of colonialism and neoliberal policies. **Interview with Don Victor Loyola** One of the highlights of the episode is an interview with Don Victor Loyola, a former miner who has worked at the municipal museum in Maria Elena. **Indigenous Presence and Geoglyphs** The Atacama Desert is also home to a rich indigenous history, evidenced by the thousands of geoglyphs that dot the landscape. These ancient works of art, created by the region's early inhabitants, offer a glimpse into the spiritual and practical lives of the people who once thrived in this harsh environment. The episode explores the significance of these geoglyphs and their role in the transportation networks that connected ancient South American civilizations. Music Featured Violeta Parra “Gracias a la Vida.” Victor Jara “The Right to Live in Peace.” Illapu “Raza Brava” For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio Resources/Articles: Victor Loyola has a thirty year history working in the mining industry in the Atacama Desert of Chile and recently worked in tourism at the Municipal Museum in Maria Elena, Chile. Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 229

It's been nearly three years since the Dobbs decision, which the Supreme Court used to strip women of the right to control our own bodies. In that decision—and frequently presented across the ideological spectrum as an alternative to abortion—adoption has been at the forefront of the discussion. But is adoption as benevolent and empowering as it is presented to be?Our guest today argues that it is not—and she's got compelling evidence to back that up. Dr. Gretchen Sisson is a researcher at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Her book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly and much more acclaim.

Stephen Aryan is an award winning fantasy author. He has written two trilogies, the Age of Darkness, and the Age of Dread, plus a prequel novella, Of Gods and Men, set in the world of Mordana. He has also written the Quest for Heroes duology, The Coward and The Warrior. The Coward received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly. The Nightingale and the Falcon is a Persian-inspired historical fantasy trilogy which includes The Judas Blossom, The Blood Dimmed Tide and The Sorrow of the Sea. Stephen's Website Stephen's YouTube Channel Stephen's Instagram