The first three months of 2026 revealed where the creator economy is actually headed. We broke down the three trends that defined the quarter: the livestreaming explosion and the clipping economy turning fame into an assembly line, AI video hitting mainstream audiences and getting banned at the same time, and the gamification of literally everything — from war to the Oscars. Plus, why the backlash to all of it might be the most important trend of all.

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For years, platforms have operated under one assumption:

They aren’t responsible for what happens on their apps.

This case challenges that.

A jury found YouTube and Meta negligent not for the content on their platforms, but for how those platforms are designed.

In this episode, we explore the case, the legal shift it represents, and why it may mark the beginning of a new era for the internet...one where attention comes with responsibility.

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This episode isn’t about AI tools.

It’s about what happens when content makes itself.

Adam (levy.eth) built a fully automated, AI-generated podcast about the Epstein Files. No hosts. No studio. No production team. It became the #1 podcast in the UK, beating ABC News, the BBC, and Audible — and he was doing about 5% of the work.

In this episode, Samir sits down with Adam to break down exactly how he built it, what it cost, and what the numbers look like on the other side. But the conversation quickly becomes something bigger — a real-time reckoning with what AI means for the creator economy, for the people who've spent years building audiences by hand, and for what it means to make something worth making at all.

They get into:

• How Distill became the foundation for a fully autonomous podcast network

• Why daily content is the stickiest product in media — and how AI is the only thing that can truly do it

• The economics that are breaking open: $1 per episode, profitable at 20 listeners

• What the five-minute mark tells us about where audiences are headed

• Why AI won't kill creative careers — but will force creators to be radically more honest

This is one of the most important conversations we've had on the show. And it's only getting more relevant by the day.

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The creator economy is projected to reach $43 billion in ad spend this year. But a recent survey found that nearly half of creators make less than $10,000 a year. So where is all the money actually going?

In this episode, Colin and Samir break down the economics behind the creator economy — and why so much of the money is concentrating at the top. As major brands shift billions of dollars toward creators, they’re increasingly partnering with a small number of highly organized creators who can deliver large, multi-platform campaigns.

We explore:

• Why the creator economy is becoming winner-take-most

• How Fortune 500 brands are reshaping creator partnerships

• Why creators with teams and infrastructure are landing the biggest deals

• What smaller creators need to do to compete for brand dollars

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Breaking down the success of Markiplier's indie-horror film "Iron Lung" and what it means for creators and Hollywood.

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In this episode, we dive into the "Abundance Era," a major shift where the supply of content has far outpaced human demand. We explore the rise of "AI slop" flooding our feeds, from 2 billion-view monkey channels to unhinged AI VTubers making $400,000 a month.

As AI becomes indistinguishable from human creators, we discuss the looming threat to authenticity and the individual creator. We break down real-world examples, including digital twins of MrBeast and Snoop Dogg, and a "lawyer" channel rivaling Legal Eagle. To help you survive this wave, we outline two paths: the McDonald's-style "Scale" model and the Rolex-style "Scarcity" model. We discuss why building deep connections and IRL experiences may be the only way to defend your brand against infinite slop.

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Netflix just signed a major talent deal with Jordan Matter and his daughter, Salish, it's the next big step in the YouTube to Netflix Pipeline.

In this episode, we break down what this deal actually is (and what it isn’t). Why Netflix didn’t ask for a pilot. Why Salish, not a show, was the bet. And what it means when a streaming platform starts backing creators the way Hollywood used to back talent.

Jordan takes us inside how the channel started as a photography vlog, why it exploded once Salish became the focus, and how they built one of the most durable family franchises on YouTube. We also talk about the mechanics: long-form retention, audience trust, why showing up every week still matters, and why YouTube remains the foundation, even after signing a Netflix deal.

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In this episode, we sit down with Jordi Hayes and John Coogan, the hosts of TBPN, a daily, live technology and business show that’s quietly become one of the most premium properties in modern media.

TBN runs three hours live every weekday across YouTube, Twitch, and RSS, blending the format of legacy TV with the energy of creator-led streaming. In just over a year, the show has built a loyal audience, hosted over 1,000 guests (including Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, and Satya Nadella), and sold out every ad slot for the year ahead.

In the conversation, John and Jordi break down their “anti-scale” philosophy: why they’re intentionally staying niche, how they’ve built an influential audience of tech and business decision-makers, and why they believe the future of media belongs to great shows. We also go deep on their unique advertising strategy, which includes ultra-short host reads and season-long deals.

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James Pumphrey and Jesse Wood helped build Donut Media into one of the most influential YouTube brands of the last decade. Then they walked away and started over.

In this episode, they join us to break down what they learned building inside a YouTube incubator, what changes when a channel becomes a company, and what they’re applying now as the co-founders of Speeed.

We dive into the structure of great YouTube channels, the importance of writing and formats, why entertainment has to come before everything else, and the nine principles they use to evaluate whether a YouTube media business actually works.

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We recorded this episode from Big Sky, Montana at the annual Spotter Creator Summit - four days with some of the top creators in the world talking about where this industry is actually headed.

And one idea kept coming up over and over again:
We’ve officially entered the era of abundance.

There is more good content, more creators, and more competition for attention than ever before. Streamers are courting creators. AI is accelerating production. And brands have more options than they know what to do with.

So the real question going into 2026 isn’t “How do I grow?”
It’s: How do I become memorable?

In this episode, we break down what we’re hearing directly from creators, platforms, and brands—including insights from Issa Rae, conversations happening inside the summit, and Adam Mosseri’s New Year’s post about authenticity and AI.

We talk about:

• Why “just making good videos” isn’t enough anymore

• How creators need to start telling the story of the story

• What’s changing in brand deals (and why short-form and long-form are diverging)

• Why streamers are suddenly paying closer attention to creators

• How AI changes the meaning of authenticity

• And what it takes to make something that can’t be summarized

This episode is about the next phase of the creator economy—and the shift from chasing views to building something people actually remember.

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In this episode, we break down our 2026 creator economy predictions and debate what we’re in and out on. From video podcasts and AI-generated content to creators working with streamers, the rise of IRL events, and how attention is changing online.

We talk about why loyalty to creators is breaking, why summarization and AI tools are reshaping how people consume content, and why entertainment and perspective now matter more than information alone. Plus, our biggest predictions for how platforms like YouTube and Netflix will evolve in the next year and what it all means for creators building long-term careers.

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