Side Projects Podcast

Epizodes

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  Don’t Hate the Creator, Hate the Economy 18.08.2026 46min

  The creator economy has officially won, and periodic waves of influencer backlash have become a perennial feature of online discourse. Some recent examples include the “no influencers sign” in Nantucket, whether “hating influencers has become a socially acceptable way to hate women,” and talk of an influencer recession as the landscape becomes more crowded and competitive. To parse legit grievances from convenient moral cover for envy, we turned to the writer and strategist Ochuko who you might know from her newsletter “as seen on.” We discuss why waiting for the end of influencers is like waiting for the end of the Kardashians, where we’re at in the five stages of acceptance, capitalism, honor, meritocracy, and scrounging for scraps on TikTok Shop. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  How Do You Rebuild America’s Lost Sense of Community? 11.08.2026 42min

  Is it a fun new beverage? Fast food innovation? Celebrity wedding? A disdain for data centers? An underdog sports story? We’re living through a moment of seemingly calcified cynicism and alienation, but there are palpable signs that people are looking to involve themselves in something bigger than themselves that’s positive. As America celebrates its Semiquincentennial, we wanted to get a gut check (and an optimistic take) from someone who has a few ideas on positive connectivity and finding common purpose. Our guest this week is Scott Reich, author of One Day in September and The Power of Citizenship: JFK 60 Years Later. We talk about his push for mandatory civil service, why we need more local heroes, getting off the phone, tiny Cheez-It bags, and why you should visit a presidential library. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  How Sotheby's Conquered the Attention Economy 04.08.2026 34min

  Phyllis Kao is a senior auctioneer at Sotheby’s. You might’ve recently seen clips of her taking bids for a 67-million-year-old T-Rex named Gus, which sold for a whopping $50.1 million to an unnamed buyer. Being an auctioneer (auctioneering is not a verb) has always sat at the intersection of performance and expertise. And in the attention economy, Kao has displayed a knack for both in a way that’s helped the 18th century institution navigate the modern media ecosystem while also attracting a younger audience of bidders. We talk with Phyllis about how auctions have evolved with the rise of social media, her thoughts on celeb-backed auction houses like Pharrell’s JOOPITER, why there’s such high demand for brand archives in the age of AI, the lost art of expertise, and more. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  AI Won’t Get You Laid 28.07.2026 38min

  Brands have rightly diagnosed a desire for connection and romance, hosting “mixers,” posting personals, and even producing dating shows on social. But what role should they really be playing as matchmakers? We wanted to hear from someone with a real pulse on the dating scene and hit up Amy Rose Spiegel, a senior editor at The Cut and author of the publication's Personals newsletter to come on the pod. We talk about why she doesn’t buy into the stereotype that Gen Z aren’t having sex, dating narrative bias in media, why you should never use AI for dating, how romantasy has shifted the way some people are dating, and if people are tired of brands mediating their love life. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The FYP Halftime Show, Brought to You by FIFA 22.07.2026 24min

  Eli and Clara discuss the highs and lows of the World Cup, with an eye toward how brands leveraged big-name talent like Madonna, Messi, the Muppets, and David “the Coca-Cola of humans” Beckham. Plus: our thoughts on the FIFA Peace Prize, Hidden Valley Ranch, Erling Haaland’s vlog, and (unexpectedly) Kamala Harris. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Good Style Requires an Interesting Life 14.07.2026 49min

  Clara and Trey sat down with Jalil Johnson—fashion professional, writer, and creator of popular Substack ‘Consider Yourself Cultured’—to talk about the changing role of fashion in culture and the current obsession with taste. They discuss how social media incentivizes reference curation over developing a point of view, “buying the look” instead of learning the ropes, Covid-era style experimentation, the pleasures of delayed gratification via made-to-order clothing, and heat wave styling inspiration. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  “Advertising Is So Highly Hypnotic” 07.07.2026 33min

  Hypnotist and hypnosis instructor Désirée Eckert joins Eli and Clara to talk about the trance states we enter every day (scrolling on our phones for one) and why building our awareness of trance is a useful tool for seeing both how our attention is extracted and how we can reclaim it.We discuss the infinite scroll, quitting cigarettes, prescription drug commercials, The Twilight Zone, hate-reading IG comments, the Folgers jingle, and more examples of how hypnotic inductions and trance states appear in advertising and on our screens. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Is the Rick Rubin Polymarket Ad Good? 30.06.2026 32min

  As prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket stretch their tentacles across culture, their advertising has become ubiquitous. Ahead of the World Cup, Kalshi has inked partnerships with a slew of high-profile athletes and football personalities, like José Mourinho and Lionel Messi. Polymarket, for its part, was a marquee sponsor for the UFC 250 fight at the White House earlier this month. They’re also currently under investigation for deceptive marketing practices (something for another podcast). But more recently, a new Polymarket spot, directed by Gabriel Moses featuring Rick Rubin, Future, and Peso Pluma, has caught people’s attention. In this episode, we break down the spot, discussing the deliberate dissonance between the ad and the product, tastewashing, if these people are too hot to be gambling, why tech seems to be the only place where brand marketing is alive, and more. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Linking & Consensus Building on the Croisette 25.06.2026 25min

  For our second special edition pod, we spoke with Mark Stenberg, Senior Media Reporter at AdWeek, to compare notes on what people are talking about this year: AI FOBO, the proliferation of creators, and the increasingly blurry purpose of the festival itself. We get into why Cannes may be less about new ideas than consensus building, why public panels feel more PR-approved than ever, and data dissonance in the basement of the Palais.  IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Cannes Lions Is an Endless Times Square 24.06.2026 24min

  This is the first of two special edition podcasts this week, recorded on the ground at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity ™️. Today, we’re joined by breakfast aficionado and friend of the show, Ben Dietz. Ben is ½ of the Hip Replacement podcast alongside our friend Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick. Ben is a longtime Cannes attendee, so we pick his brain about how the festival has evolved for better (and worse) over the past decade, why the work matters less and less, Toucan Sam snorting a line of stars, a theory of brands as mammals, the queen of Cannes Sara Fischer, the Pope, Cannes vs. Cannes, and more. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The Limits of Gatekeeping Fandom 16.06.2026 22min

  An enduring theme of the Knicks’ historic finals run has been squabbling over who and what constitutes “a real fan,” exacerbated by astronomical ticket prices, the intrusion of Kalshi, and the Side Talkification of New York. But what, exactly, is the role of gatekeeping when you want these moments of mass enthusiasm? On the pod this week, we talk about New York after the Knicks’ win, why the gatekeeping discourse is almost as annoying as the kind of “GRWM to watch the Knicks at the White Horse Tavern”-type content, and avoiding a Jesse Plemmons in Civil War-style fandom litmus test.IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  What Is “Youth Culture” in a Gerontocracy? 09.06.2026 33min

  Youth is vanishing. In a material sense, birth rates are plummeting around the globe and older people are staying in positions of power across both the public and private sector for longer periods of time. It’s also vanishing in a cultural sense, too thanks to a steady stream of reboots, remakes, and de-aged celebrities, as studios and execs bet on proven hits vs. net-new creative.Against this ossified backdrop, just how much is youth actually leading culture? And are we even giving them a chance? To learn more, we spoke with Samuel Moyn, a Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University and the author of the upcoming book “Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth—and What to Do About it.” He breaks down why gerontocracy poses one of the biggest challenges to a thriving youth culture and, by proxy, to creative risk taking. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Why Every Brand Wants a Piece of Bravo 02.06.2026 47min

  Reality TV has shaped the fabric of American society, from the White House to Summer House (sorry, had to). And Bravo-lebrities are some of the hottest tickets in town: racking up brand deals and starting their own companies and media empires which succeed or fail by their on-screen reputations.To better understand the state of play on all things Bravo and brands, we invited Gibson Johns to join us in the studio. He’s a Bravo aficionado, freelance writer, and host of the ‘Gabbing with Gib’ podcast. We discuss the Skinnygirl theory of brand building, the Bravo wink, why even the Kardashians keep coming back to reality TV, the new franchises he is most bullish on, and of course… the Summer House Reunion!IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Would You Buy a Luxury Shampoo For Your Dog? 26.05.2026 44min

  Our resident cat owners Trey and Clara discussed the white space for luxury pet care with Alexandra Pauly. She’s the founder of Biche: a pet grooming brand bringing beauty industry standards to the category. We look at how pet care products fit within the larger trend towards “premiumized” household staples (ex. Graza and Fishwife) plus the ins and outs of developing a dog shampoo, DINKWADs, and the sorry state of dog etiquette in New York.  IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The Coolest Thing in Tech Is Nothing 19.05.2026 25min

  They’ve poached the CMO of Loewe, have a compelling social presence, and recently tapped Charli XCX as a shareholder and global ambassador. In doing so, Nothing, the nascent UK-based tech startup, seems to be aspiring to bring a measure of intrigue and cultural cachet to an industry otherwise highly deficient in cool: tech. On the pod this week, we go Marques Brownlee mode to discuss what the last cool moment in tech was, why Nothing’s strategy of carving a niche with young creatives is a smart play, Trey’s walkman, and more. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Football After Fans 12.05.2026 38min

  The World Cup is less than one month away. The lead up has been marred by craven opportunism, flagrant price gouging, and worst of them all—a Jelly Roll theme song. It’s the most potent symbol of where global football is headed—endlessly mediated, ultra-exclusive, and heavily commercialized—and what it’s leaving behind: the fans. Our guest this week is Thomas Gorton, the co-founder of unk Studio. We get his take on how to ensure brand collaborations feel generative to the culture rather than extractive, gamified upstart leagues like “Baller League,” how gambling has zapped the viewing experience, and the beauty of lower league football. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Why Does Palantir Want to Be a Lifestyle Brand? 05.05.2026 40min

  They’ve got Hollywood ambitions, buzzy merch drops, and swarms of loyal fans (and drones). Why is Palantir, a shadowy data analytics company that many view as emblematic of America’s slide into an unaccountable surveillance state, building a brand universe? This week, our guest is Daysia Tolentino. She’s a freelance writer covering internet culture, with bylines in GQ, Teen Vogue, Vulture, and NBC News. She also writes the Yap Year newsletter on Beehiiv. We ask her about Palantir chore coats, her interview in GQ with Eliano Younes, the Head of Strategic Engagement at Palantir, and why tech’s pursuit of “good taste” is in bad faith and won’t work. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  BREAKING: Your Favorite IG Reading Club Has IPO’d 28.04.2026 28min

  Eli, Clara, and Trey are back together again and talking about what the proliferation of reading clubs reveals about how brands and savvy entrepreneurs are trying to literally capitalize on the analog bandwagon. We cover $1,000 reading retreats, friendship as KPI, and what makes attempts to scale and/or market “analog” succeed or fall flat. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  What Does a Men’s Magazine Look Like in 2026? 21.04.2026 38min

  Lauren McCarthy is the Editor-in-Chief of NYLON and the newly-relaunched NYLON GUYS. We asked her about the opportunity she identified to speak to young men at a moment in which the culture around what it means to be a man is often controversial (and a bit American Psycho-coded). We also discuss nightlife coverage, where and how Nylon finds rising talent, and the value proposition of a magazine profile in the age of TikTok. IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Semafor's Max Tani Says People Are Still Reading News (Sometimes) 14.04.2026 40min

  Max Tani is the Media Editor at Semafor and co-host of the Mixed Signals podcast. He also writes the must-read Semafor Media newsletter every Sunday evening. Max is a longtime friend of the pod (and in real life) and we’re honored to have him on as our first guest. We wanted to get Max's take on some of the puzzling and contradictory phenomenons we're noticing in media. We discuss how long of a runway he gives the “dumb question” interview format, whether MrBeast is just a reskinned version of Home Makeover but with a creepier host, and why CNN’s fake podcast gamut was a misreading of why audiences don’t trust media.IG: @sideprojects__YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcastSubstack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.