Podcast
Ankler Agenda
Hosted by TheAnkler.com · EN
"Ankler Agenda" breaks down the headlines, trends and creativity shaping the evolution of Hollywood, the creator economy and entertainment.
The show is hosted by Elaine Low, author of Ankler Media’s popular “Series Business” Substack newsletter, who is joined weekly by her colleagues Sean McNulty (“The Wakeup”) and Natalie Jarvey (“Like & Subscribe”) -- in addition to Richard Rushfield, the Ankler himself. Episodes will also be available every Thursday on YouTube.
55episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
White Smoke Over Space Mountain: Disney Crowns Josh D’Amaro
Feb 500:31:47Tap to summarizeDisney finally did it: Bob Iger has a successor. Parks chief Josh D’Amaro is taking the throne, with runner-up Dana Walden annexing more territory at the Mouse House (and earning a higher base salary than her new boss). Everyone in TV and film knows Walden, but who is D’Amaro? And what does this new era of Disney actually look like? Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty read between the lines and lay out the challenges facing D’Amaro on Day One. Then, Lesley Goldberg joins to share her reporting on Walden’s new remit, while theme park journalist Carlye Wisel discusses D’Amaro’s impact on the parks business. Plus, Matthew Frank is back with a look at the prediction markets ahead of perhaps the biggest sports betting day of the year: the Super Bowl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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BONUS EP: 'MeidasTouch' CEO Ben Meiselas on Building an Anti-Trump Pod Empire in the Age of 'Fascism'
Feb 300:35:07Tap to summarize'MeidasTouch' podcaster and progressive media exec Ben Meiselas joins Like & Subscribe's Natalie Jarvey for a fiery discussion of the risks and new rules for American journalists as they report in U.S. cities “that look and feel like Fallujah” and work to cover "a regime that is hell-bent on retribution and instilling fear." Meiselas also reveals his close ties with Don Lemon, now facing federal charges in connection with his coverage of a Minnesota anti-ICE protest, and why he sees the "weaponization" of the U.S. Department of Justice faltering. As Meiselas’ podcast sees explosive growth, he argues that legacy news has lost the plot and audiences — "people who feel, who are struggling, who are being left behind" — and shares the strategy to keep building his independent media empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Disney’s CEO Race: Down to the Buzzer
Jan 2900:31:19Tap to summarizeDisney CEO Bob Iger is ready to abdicate the throne. Again. Six years after Iger first stepped down as CEO, and 38 months after he regained control of Disney following Bob Chapek’s disastrous two-year stretch, the succession planning committee is expected to announce the winner in “early 2026,” aka now. (Cue the Succession theme.) But even as the frontrunners have remained the same — it’s still a presumed two-horse race between Disney Parks head Josh D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden — the world has rapidly changed. Disney has to contend with AI, a behemoth rival in a merged Netflix-Warner Bros., and a charged political environment. Which of these heavyweights lands the TKO? Would co-CEOs, à la Netflix, make sense? Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty break it all down ahead of Disney’s next earnings call. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What ‘Heated Rivalry’ Reveals About Minting Stars
Jan 2200:36:44Tap to summarizeMeryl, Leo, Scarlett, Zendaya — every generation produces its breakout stars. But minting the next one has never been harder amid the collapse of monoculture and the rise of social media. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey predict the top stars of 2026, share behind-the-scenes insights from the casting directors of Heated Rivalry on how they found Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie and that pivotal chemistry test, and explain how Snap is building a path to success for creators. Plus: The latest on the WBD-Netflix merger saga (now with all-cash!), and Matthew Frank’s update on his Netflix earnings call and talk-show bets on the prediction markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Hollywood’s DEI Cave-in; Post-Fires Leave L.A. Debate
Feb 14, 202500:37:30Tap to summarizeAs President Trump seeks to banish diversity, equity and inclusion, Disney buried its initiative this week, and Amazon continues to “evolve” its own. Sean McNulty, Elaine Low, Richard Rushfield and contributor Nicole LaPorte dive into whether Hollywood was ever committed to the cause — as Nicole says, “the erosion of DEI here has been going on for a quite a while” — and how to tell a real pronouncement from a fake one. Plus: How the L.A. wildfires have fueled a real estate frenzy while TV workers debate whether to flee the city altogether. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Inside #StayinLA; Two Minutes with Bob Iger; SpinCo Woe
Feb 7, 202500:40:28Tap to summarizeDisney started its latest earnings call with an uncharacteristically terse Bob Iger avoiding a trio of unpleasant topics: linear TV, declining Disney+ subscriber totals and Donald Trump. What wasn’t said spoke volumes, but a few messages rang clear: film keeps churning out hits, ESPN has good/less good news, and the streaming division is firmly in the black. Meanwhile, SEC filings paint a bleak start to the future SpinCo, and a look inside the do-or-die #StayinLA movement. Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield break it all down.For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler or apply to The Ladder, a new members-only hub for early career entertainment professionals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →A Dire Sundance, Indie Peril & the Creator Incursion
Jan 31, 202500:40:28Tap to summarizeJust two deals and Sundance is almost over? Ouch. Richard Rushfield, on the ground at the fest, gives his report on indie malaise and how to fix it. Plus: Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard on Peacock and NBCU’s troubling Q4, and Netflix’s showy 2025 slate, while Natalie Jarvey, author of the new Like & Subscribe newsletter, on why Hollywood absolutely should “work with” the creators upending entertainment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →'Creators Should Be in Charge': Sean Evans, Rhett & Link
Jan 29, 202500:33:48Tap to summarizeNatalie Jarvey, author of Like & Subscribe, Ankler Media's new newsletter about the creator economy, speaks with YouTube stars Sean Evans, host of Hot Ones, and Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal — aka Rhett & Link, hosts of Good Mythical Morning. With 40 million subscribers between them, these digital innovators unpack the opportunities — creative, collaborative and financial — that come with betting on themselves. "If we can be even a small part of the story of another creator taking back something that they initiated and then taking the reins and leading, that’s the type of story that we love and we want to champion," says Neal. "We believe creators should be in charge." The trio also map out the next moves for their brands. Boneless Hot Ones, anyone? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →The New Showbiz: Hollywood, Creators, & Brands
Jan 28, 202500:45:02Tap to summarizeThe entertainment industry for years turned its nose up at brand-backed film and TV, but in a disrupted Hollywood scrambling for new business models and fresh voices, the tide is turning. Natalie Jarvey, the writer of Like & Subscribe, Ankler Media's new standalone newsletter about the creator economy, moderates a discussion with four top stakeholders — Oscar-winning producer Dan Cogan (“Icarus”), Adobe Chief Brand Officer Heather Freeland, creator Jordan Howlett and UTA Entertainment Marketing Co-Head Julian Jacobs — about how marketers, filmmakers and creators are collaborating on innovative and meaningful storytelling. “Everybody loves a good story, and brands are aligning with that in a lot of interesting ways,” says Howlett, who as Jordan the Stallion boasts nearly 14 million followers on TikTok. Adds Jacobs, “The rule book is being unwritten and written as we speak.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Hollywood’s New Trick to Screw Writers
Jan 24, 202500:36:30Tap to summarizeWho loves doing free work? No one. Who loves getting free work? The studios. “If-come” deals — where a writer develops a show under contract but only sees money if the show sells — are on the rise post-Writers Guild strike and have led to a new “involuntary servitude,” even among big-name scribes. Ashley Cullins joins Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield to outline what’s happening and who’s fighting back. Plus: Katey Rich breaks down Oscar nominations, and Elaine shares the state of the unscripted market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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