From Bring Up the Bodies, here is Hilary Mantel's description of Thomas Cromwell's advice for working with King Henry VIII, and I genuinely think Harvard Business Review should reprint it every year as an article called "How to Manage the Unmanageable CEO"
It's been really lovely reading all the tributes to Dan. Many people have asked if they can contribute to support his wife and son. You can do so here: everloved.com/life-of/dan-...
Defector's @jaspercwang.bsky.social on why it's ok for business owners to choose integrity over survival. With host @greenwell.bsky.social. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
"Did you really not like your boss?" asks Defector's @jaspercwang.bsky.social. What if you were all each other's bosses? With host @greenwell.bsky.social on The Kicker. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
TOO LONG HAVE I BEEN FORCED TO SPEAK A VARNISHED TRUTH. (Thank you to @greenwell.bsky.social for having me on, and for the @columjournreview.bsky.social audio editor for helping me sound not insane.)
I’ve been listening to the Lonely Island rewatch pod, where they’re revisiting each one of their SNL Digital Shorts, and it’s remarkable how many of them hold up just fine. I often think about Andy Samberg’s anti-roast at the James Franco roast, their comedic sensibility just almost never skews mean
An enormous honor to be a Normal Gossip guest, and in Malala's season! (I did NOT threaten to withhold anyone's paycheck unless they put me on. Stop telling people I threatened to withhold paychecks.)
I wrote about the chair company, the wider Tim Robinson project and how the men are just going through it, especially in comedy
defector.com/tim-robinson...
ICYMI, Normal Gossip is BACK with new episodes! If you're traveling for Thanksgiving, it's the perfect opportunity to catch up on the new season. Today's episode is a cozy holiday whodunnit:
hey thanks for flagging!
hey, since I'm here right now - does anyone have a hiring platform / applicant tracking system they really like? Just went to reactivate Recruitee to start the summer internship process, and it turns out they don't offer monthly subs anymore, and I refuse to pay $5k/year
blogged my first bylined blog for defector dot com
Spent the entire World Series feeling completely ambivalent between these two teams but after that 9th inning I’m somehow going to be completely gutted if the Jays lose
the subject line on Eventbrite's weekly product marketing email accidentally encapsulates This Moment perfectly
I waited until the end of the bottom of the tenth (Raleigh IBB and Julio ground out) to leave a bar in deep Brooklyn, did a 90 minute commute to uptown Manhattan, and am now seated in my apartment for the top of the 15th.
a person at Treasury gave Defector a rundown of how this process—which appears to be against the law—was expedited in order to avoid public scrutiny
defector.com/treasury-dep...
The moment I start Remembering Some Yankees Middle Relievers is the moment you learn exactly the seasons I was ~13 years old.
before you ask, FYI defector will never be in the business of M&A for nationals sickos newsletters
If your org (small media co or vendor) might be interested in working with our program, go ahead and fill out the forms at the bottom of this page defector.com/shared-servi...
Generally bad practice to sign yourself up for a second job but some things are worth the effort. Grateful to Press Forward for seeing the vision, and very excited to work with Start.coop to get this program up and running
@defector.com's WNBA comedy show is TONIGHT at Littlefield in Brooklyn! We've still got ~15 seated tickets left and plenty of standing room ones. defector.com/wnbashow, use code LETSGOLIBS
i'll be reading and analyzing all of these responses! i'd love to present your ideas to the rest of the staff. we're especially interested in hearing:
1. about how and where you find stuff to read online; &
2. from people who don't (yet!) subscribe to the site.
Go to defector.com/wnbashow and use code LETSGOLIBS for 10% off. Here are some photos from the last show - special shout outs to @joshgondelman.bsky.social for breaking out a very special custom shirt, and to Amber Singletary for explaining just how hard it was to guard A'ja Wilson in college
We had such a good time with TEN MINUTE QUARTERS in May that @defector.com is running it back for the All-Star break. On July 15 we'll be joined by Devon Walker (SNL), Julia Shiplett (Overcompensating), Grace Johnson (Don't Tell), and Joey Dardano (Wild 'n Out) www.eventbrite.com/e/defector-m...
PoopBaloon, I apologize that I did not see your question before. Yes, we have representation at United Talent Agency
I would disagree that "most pods" get 50-50 or less (though I'm assuming you pay for production/editing/mixing; if Vox pays for all that, then 50-50 starting point makes sense), but for sure IP is critical - we've left money on the table to own IP outright, and i list it above as top noncash factor
In the end: the Pivot pods stayed put; Vox didn't have to guarantee any $; Swisher got a lengthy profile. Read the profile, or not, but don't get worked up over that big $ number (which is an estimate from the cohost, but btw doesn't seem THAT wild to me, depending on ad load and pub frequency)
There are a LOT of other terms that get negotiated that could turn you off from a new network (off the top of my head, things that haven't worked for us: treatment of IP, requirement that we approve 95%+ of sponsors, too rigid/rapid release schedule, limiting where people can listen to the pod)
