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James is back from Europe; and we chat about why podcast ad spend is rising. Plus...

• Libsyn RSS namespace for ad slot availability and why it feels odd in public feeds 
• Goalhanger’s newsletter strategy as a membership product and audience data hub 
• smart TV growth for podcast consumption and why smart speakers still fail discovery 
• Canadian in car listening data plus listener resistance to AI hosts 
• AI agents clipping shows, MCP servers, and how micropayments could change access 
• blocking scrapers with WAF rules and the limits of user agent based controls 
• Spotify audiobooks expansion and the attention competition inside major apps 
• human written certification for books and the wider provenance problem 
• bot driven streaming fraud as a warning for future podcast monetisation 
• app and hosting updates including transcripts, video tools, and evolving person tags 

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Sam and James talk about a new podcast interview with Inception Point AI; and Sam discusses with Dave Jones of Podcast Index about the future of podcasting.

• Patreon removing per creation memberships and what that breaks for seasonal creators
• Reddit RSS shutdown, public API restrictions, and the economics of selling data to AI companies
• Real-world costs of AI scrapers, bot traffic, and why caching is essential
• How Podping replaces constant polling with near real-time feed update pings
• Why the new Podping peer-to-peer gossip mesh reduces single points of failure
• How podping.cloud publishing works today and why token signup must become scalable
• The origin story of the Podcast Index and the case for an open directory
• A decentralised future where the index database can be rebuilt from distributed updates
• Why the Podcasting 2.0 namespace exists and how new RSS tags get adopted
• Live tag friction, host responsibilities, and what would make live podcasting simpler
• Micropayments reality check, regulation hurdles, and why stablecoins may be next
• The risk of over-marketing features versus letting builders discover and succeed organically

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Sam and James look at Podcast Week, and the highs (and lows) of the week in NYC. Plus, Sam catches up with SupaPass, to learn more about the membership platform.

If your podcast app supports it, we're in video this week.

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There's a really good reason why this show is just one minute thirty seconds long. Listen to find out!

We'll catch you next week. And Happy Birthday, Sam Sethi

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We talk with the founders of Everywhere about building a sales and monetisation layer for creators whose audiences now span podcasts, YouTube, social, and live. We also scan the week’s podcast industry moves, from AI production tools and shifting download trends to Apple updates, app features, awards, and upcoming events. 

• Why Everywhere forms and what it tries to fix for creators and brands 
• How cross-platform campaigns work without drowning audiences in sponsors 
• The difference between a media agency and a creator sales house 
• Revenue model basics, revenue share and incentives for creator monetisation 
• Measurement problems across platforms, APIs, dashboards and “real” performance 
• Spotify skip button concerns and why platform agnostic strategy matters 
• Linnet AI production studio and what an end-to-end workflow could change 
• Podtrac ranker drops, podcast inactivity stats and what they do and do not mean 
• Hosting and ad tech moves, DAI access, contextual targeting and video ads 
• Pocket Casts updates, Apple web player improvements and other tooling news 
• Awards, events, and community notes including Podcast Movement plans 

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James is in Jakarta - Sam is in the UK. Below, what's in the show (courtesy of Buzzsprout's AI feature); we use chapters to let you skip to wherever you want.

We talk with Acast CEO Greg Glenday and Backyard Ventures CEO Matt Cisneros about why the acquisition is about culture and building faster, not just inventory, and how Acast plans to stay focused while the industry shifts under its feet. We also unpack YouTube shopping, inflated play metrics, RSS distribution friction, and what Podcast Day Asia reveals about where monetization and video are heading globally. 
• creator-first service as a growth strategy for podcasts, YouTube, newsletters and social 
• why Acast says focus and stopping projects drives profitability 
• video podcasting as an evolution, keeping distribution open and platform-agnostic 
• creator feedback loops using research, surveys and performance data 
• Spotify ad skipping backlash, what it means for creators and advertisers 
• new platform entrants, MG deals and why the long tail matters 
• newsletters as monetizable inventory, including the Kit partnership and Acast Austin 
• AI usage lines, transparency and rejecting synthetic hosts for companionship media 
• YouTube Amazon affiliate shopping, storefront links and RSS tag ideas 
• YouTube play metric changes, AMP Accords tension and measurement trust 
• field notes from Podcast Day Asia Jakarta, localization and payment realities 
• Buzzsprout one-click directory submissions, support fallout and RSS education 
• industry moves across hosting, programmatic radio ads, events and tooling 
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James and Sam look into this week's podcasting news, including the show pulled by YouTube.

• YouTube removing a top podcast with no warning, then reinstating it 
• The risk of building a show on third-party platforms and automated enforcement 
• Why we think a podcast needs an RSS feed to be a podcast 
• YouTube reportedly paying creators to avoid Netflix and the coercion angle 
• Newsletters as the best real estate in podcasting and why platforms are piling in 
• Acast partnering with Kit versus all-in-one creator platforms like Beehive 
• Spotify Megaphone issues affecting ad campaigns and DAI reliability 
• Podbean analytics filters mistakenly wiping Apple Podcasts downloads 
• The whack-a-mole problem of bots, crawlers, and imperfect measurement 
• Podcast 2.0 building blocks gaining traction: person tags and location tags 
• Podcast Radar as a map-based discovery tool and why rich location data matters 
• Threads experimenting with transcript-synced audio posts 
• Listener mail on Megaphone support and hosting fit 

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James is joined this week by Liam Heffernan from Mercury Podcasts, while Sam gets wet walking around Ireland.

We weigh how platform decisions around ads, metrics, and video can quietly reshape podcast monetization, especially for smaller independent creators. We also zoom out to what these changes mean for trust in reporting, discoverability, and the future of open podcasting.

• Mercury Podcasts’ mission to support independent shows ready to level up
• Independent Podcasters Day and why indies need their own space
• Spotify ad skipping tests and the knock on effects for programmatic revenue
• Listener tolerance for unskippable ads and the risk of audience platform switching
• YouTube’s “views” versus “engaged views” and why measurement transparency matters
• Video podcast growth claims from Apple Podcasts and Buzzsprout plus what the numbers might miss
• Discoverability pressure on audio only creators as platforms push video
• Inception Point AI rebrand to Liquify AI and what the pivot signals
• Megaphone back end changes, ad delivery quirks, and competitive separation rules
• Podcast ad spend growth in Australia and Ireland plus notable industry job moves
• Awards, events, and why more regional podcast conferences matter
• Practical AI use in production workflows and where automation goes too far

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We speak with Ben and Alberto from RSS.com on their new video podcast plan. Plus, Acast is buying Backyard Ventures: why?

• RSS.com MAX plan for Apple HLS video and 70% revenue share 
• PAID meaning programmatic ads inserted dynamically 
• Interstitial ad markers on Apple versus baked ads for other apps 
• Alternate enclosure as a Podcasting 2.0 path to keep RSS open 
• Apple’s ad serving fee question and the limits of contract transparency 
• Why Apple may prefer an API workflow for video safety controls 
• YouTube raising monetisation thresholds and what that signals to creators 
• Spotify’s ad skip experiment and the risks of relying on one platform 
• Acast buying Backyard Ventures as a scale and inventory play in the US 
• Apple Podcasts play counts critique and why some analysts say ignore them 
• Magellan AI reporting ad revenue growth alongside rising ad load 
• Disney Plus, Hulu, and Twitch as new distribution surfaces for podcasts 
• Overcast and iOS updates plus the expanding HLS support lists 
• AI slop reporting ideas and watermarking attempts 
• Browser based transcription and summary tools as cheaper hosting features 
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We talk with Spotify’s first Equal Podcast Ambassador, Morgan Absher, about building Two Hot Takes into a video-first community and what real industry support for women creators should look like. Then we dig into Spotify’s financials and a controversial “Skip Ahead” test that could change how podcast ads are heard, measured, and trusted; and learn more about Buzzsprout's enhanced video offering

• Spotify Equal expands from music into podcasting with a focus on women creators
• Morgan Absher’s accidental start during the pandemic and how Two Hot Takes scales fast
• Why video podcasting drives connection for reaction formats and community-led shows
• The chart gap for women-led podcasts and the role of confidence and imposter syndrome
• Events and awards that increase visibility and help creators get booked and partnered
• Spotify Q2 numbers plus the push toward premium revenue per user
• Spotify’s “Skip Ahead” button and why it feels different from manual skipping
• The download metric problem versus measuring ad plays and completion
• Platform control trends across Spotify, YouTube, and Netflix style walled gardens
• Video distribution updates across Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify plus hosting pricing shifts
• EU AI Act disclosure rules and why an RSS AI tag alone may not satisfy lawyers
• Transcripts becoming mainstream as the SiriusXM case nears settlement

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We chat with Andy Maxwell from EarMax Media about the new podcast-first ad agency, and Giles Gear from Cheerful Earful about the funniest podcast festival in the world.

Also: we challenge the idea that creators are being “ripped off” and dig into what actually drives revenue in podcasting: sales, relevance, and trust. We also pull apart the AMP Accords, Apple’s confusing analytics, and the rising costs and trade-offs of video podcasting.
• creator monetisation realities versus entitlement narratives
• whether apps “owe” creators for RSS consumption
• why listeners pay to remove ads and what that says about relevance
• AMP Accords goals and the practical limits of cross-platform data sharing
• Apple Podcasts analytics inconsistencies and why they erode trust
• the “video threshold” and when video pays for itself
• short-form video as a discovery strategy without full show video
• RSS.chat as a possible foundation for cross app comments
• micro.blog, POSSE syndication, and momentum for alternate enclosure
• specialist podcast media buying with Earmax and what brands actually want
• concerns about misinformation when fact checks stay on-screen only

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