Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro spent years together in the buttoned-up, professional audio journalism world of NPR co-hosting All Things Considered. Now, they’re reuniting at CNN for something very different — podcasting. The two join Max and Ben to talk about how their new show Engagement Party is really just a continuation of their off-mic dynamic from their NPR days, how they’ve both dealt with the pivots and shifts that come with a career in modern media, and whether the growing crop of amateur podcasters (us included…) can learn something from the audio pros that came before them.

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A note from Ben:

We'll be back on Friday with our regularly scheduled episode of Mixed Signals, but I wanted to drop into your feed this week with an interview I think you'll like from another Semafor show — Compound Interest, Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami's great new show about how business is changing in both subtle and seismic ways.

I sat down with Liz to guest host this week's episode — a conversation with Joe Weisenthal of Bloomberg's Odd Lots — to examine how the business of business media has evolved. We also talk about why X is still the place to be for finance and tech watchers, why he thinks Substack’s drive to monetize expert amateurism has made it worse, and why he’s optimistic that the age of AI may actually be good for journalism … or at least podcasts.

Subscribe to get Compound Interest from Semafor Business, or watch it on YouTube.

Chef and Cove owner Flynn McGarry joins Mixed Signals to talk about what it's like to navigate food media. He was first profiled as a teenaged chef prodigy and has since become a restaurant owner trying to figure out what actually drives people through the door in 2026. Max and Ben ask Flynn how early media attention shaped his sense of himself, how he missed years of TV development deals (including one with White Lotus creator Mike White), and how he learned what kinds of social media content drives traffic at his restaurants.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

The brothers behind Angel Studios, the faith-and-values-based studio behind increasingly popular blockbusters, join Mixed Signals to explain how their two-million-member Guild subverts the traditional greenlighting process. Max and Ben ask the Harmon brothers whether Angel Studios is a niche media company or something with genuine mainstream scale.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltaniIf you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

YouTube creator and Newpress co-founder Johnny Harris joins Mixed Signals to break down how he went from selling his own plasma to running a YouTube channel with over 7 million subscribers. Max and Ben ask Johnny about how he built a sustainable business explaining difficult topics without chasing the outrage that drives so much attention online, and why millions of people are obsessed with longform video explainers.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]