The Truth About Podcast Ads, Life After the Military, and Scott’s London Tips

Summary

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

Episode: The Truth About Podcast Ads, Life After the Military, and Scott’s London Tips

Date: October 17, 2025
Host: Scott Galloway
Podcast Network: Vox Media Podcast Network

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Overview

This episode of The Prof G Pod features a classic “Office Hours” segment, where Scott Galloway responds to listener questions on business, life, and career. The questions cover innovation and effectiveness in podcast advertising, finding purpose after military service, and travel recommendations for London. Galloway brings his usual frankness, humor, and insight to each topic, blending practical advice with his trademark irreverence.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Truth About Podcast Ads

Question: Why aren’t podcast ads more personalized, and where is the real innovation in podcast advertising?
(Starts at 01:33)

• Podcast Ad Revenue vs. Traditional Media

  • Galloway asserts that podcast advertising is "growing faster than any ad supported medium."
  • He compares the demographics and responsiveness of podcast audiences to traditional cable news viewers.

• Demographic Breakdown

  • “The average CNN viewer is a 62-64 year old white female... She’s not spending money on stupid shit... She’s past her mating years.” (02:35)
  • “The average podcast listener... is a 34 year old kind of ethnically ambiguous male. That dude is stupid. What do I mean by stupid? He’s in the midst of his mating years and will spend money on irrational high margin things that signal his value as a mate.” (02:56)

• Host-Read Ads as Innovation

  • Galloway credits the "host readover" — i.e., the show’s host personally voicing the ads — as the key innovation.
  • He argues this is more authentic, intimate, and trustworthy, increasing ad impact:

    “If you’re used to my voice and you’re here, it means you sort of trust me, sort of like me. And so when I tell you that I love Amex, I love Apple products... The brand loves that because it gives them... It’s just much more authentic, more real, more impactful.” (04:50–05:23)

• Targeting and Technological Limitations

  • There is some regional targeting, but Galloway admits, “Is there room for improvement in targeting? Absolutely.” (07:18)
  • He believes TV is catching up on ad insertion, but podcasting's strength is “intimacy and authenticity.”

• Effectiveness Compared to TV

  • “If you add up the audio downloads and the views on YouTube of this podcast, it’ll be about 200,000. The average CNN show, I think, is 160 or 180 [thousand]. So we’re actually getting the same reach now as CNN with a more attractive audience, with a more intimate format where they’re actually listening and tuning in. Which means $47 CPMs versus 15.” (06:28–07:15)

• Memorable Quote:

  “People are actually listening to our ads. It’s our audience and increasingly it’s our reach.” (06:28)

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2. Life After the Military: Rebuilding Purpose and Community

Question: What advice do you have for finding purpose and community after transitioning from military to civilian life?
(Starts at 07:32)

• The Challenge of Finding Mission

  • Galloway empathizes deeply, acknowledging the profound sense of purpose that comes with military service and the difficulty of replicating that feeling in the private sector.

• Personal Reflection

  • “It sounds passé or cliché when people say thank you for your service, but I really do mean thank you.” (08:46)
  • Shares his regret of not serving and a story about his father encouraging him to consider Annapolis.

• On Purpose and Mission

  • “I would imagine that waking up and being responsible for defending your country and learning how to use weapons... I don’t know how you’re going to get that working at the headquarters of Chick Fil A.” (09:28)
  • Notes that many veterans struggle to recapture a sense of mission and community outside the military.

• Finding Community Beyond Work

  • Galloway suggests that purpose and community can be found outside of work — in church, volunteering, coaching, or sports leagues:

    “There are a lot of people who get that reward, that community compensation from other parts of their life—church, sports league, nonprofit work, friends...trying to mimic the community you got from your day job while serving, trying to mimic that in the private sector is going to be a real challenge.” (11:22–11:54)

• Practical Advice

  • Don’t quit before securing another job.
  • Prefer in-person work environments for a stronger community bond.

    “I think community is largely a function of proximity...the office is a feature, not a bug.” (12:04)

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3. Scott’s London Travel Tips

Question: What are your recommendations for a first solo trip to London—neighborhoods, places to eat and drink, and getting off the beaten path?
(Starts at 15:40)

• Premier League Is a Must

  • “First thing...you’ve got to go see a Premier League game. It doesn’t matter what team, it doesn’t matter where you sit...It’s just so much emotion, it’s so much fun.” (16:16)
  • “Begin and end at a Premier League game.” (18:33)

• Hotel Recommendations

  • Suggests Ferndale hotels for mid-range prices.
  • High-end options: Connaught, Rosewood, Langham.

• Bars and Private Clubs

  • Connaught Bar for late-night drinks.
  • If you can get in: Hot Memories Clubs, Maison Estelle.

• Country Escapes

  • "Soho Farmhouse...a super cool take on the Cotswolds, and Maison Manor." (16:55)

• Museums and Art

  • Tate Modern, Royal Academy of the Arts, British War Museum (“If you’re into war, I love the British War Museum. I think that’s fantastic.” (17:24))

• Favorite Restaurants

  • Gymkhana, Sketch, Grangers/Granger & Co, Hyde.

• Best Neighborhoods to Explore

  • “Shoreditch is kind of edgy. Mayfair is kind of luxe...Hampstead is more sort of under the radar.” (17:45)
  • Favorite high street: Marlowe High Street.
  • “If it’s nice, I would definitely take a walk in Regent’s Park and just marvel at the Rose Garden and grab some coffee and just kind of let the day go by.” (18:08)

• Logistics Tips

  • “Absolutely take the Paddington Express into town from London’s Heathrow Airport.”
  • Take the Tube for most transit, but try a London black cab at least once:

    “The cabbies themselves are just hilarious.” (19:02)

• Overall Sentiment

  • “London...is one of the great tourist cities in the world. Despite all the shitposting, I actually think New York and London are both in sort of golden ages. Just great places to hang out.” (19:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On podcast ads:
  “The innovation is host readovers...the audience is much more appealing, and the format...make[s] the ads more resonant.” (07:18)

• On life after the military:
  “I think trying to mimic the community you got from your day job while serving, trying to mimic that in the private sector is going to be a real challenge.” (11:54)

• On London:
  “If you want to understand UK culture, Premier League football is arguably our best export... It’s just so much emotion, it’s so much fun.” (16:16)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Podcast Ad Innovation: 01:33–07:26
• Finding Purpose After Military Service: 07:32–12:23
• London Travel Tips: 15:40–19:10

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Summary Table

| Segment | Start Time | Key Points | |:------------------------------:|:----------:|:---------------------------------------------------------------:| | Podcast Advertising Innovation | 01:33 | Host-read ads, audience intimacy, weaknesses in personalization | | Military to Civilian Transition| 07:32 | Loss of purpose, advice to broaden sense of community | | London Recommendations | 15:40 | Soccer, hotels, neighborhoods, walking, logistics |

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Closing Thoughts

Scott delivers a candid exploration of the marketing evolution in podcasting, offers heartfelt guidance to military veterans in transition, and provides a whirlwind guide to the London social scene. As always, his advice fuses humor, cultural observation, and practical wisdom — making this episode especially accessible to listeners seeking both insight and entertainment.

Transcript

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[Scott Galloway]

Welcome to Office Hours with Prop G. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question for next time, you can send a voice recording to office hours of propgmedia.com again that's officehoursovgmedia.com or post your question to the Scott Galloway subreddit and we just might feature it in our next episode. First question Our first question comes from user impressivedetail 407 on Reddit. They say Scott, regarding advertising revenue growth, you often document the valuable and elusive audiences reached via podcasts. But where is the innovation and personalization in podcast advertising? I Fast forward past 99% of audio ads while consuming about 15 hours of podcast programming per week. Why is a 90 plus year old radio ad model with hosts reading sponsorship, blurbs and branded content being attached like a parasite to the shows we love? Okay, so I believe that podcast revenue.

Or advertising is growing faster than any ad supported medium. The average CNN viewer is a 6264.

Year old white female.

She is smart. She already knows who she's voting for.

She's not spending money on stupid shit.

Like $8 Frappuccinos or Panerai watches or Van Cleef and Arpels. She's past her mating years. She's not trying to impress anybody. She's not gonna buy $1,200 Manolo Blahniks.

Right?

Right. The average podcast listener, if you were to distill down to one person, is a 34 year old kind of ethnically ambiguous male. That dude is stupid. What do I mean by stupid? He's in the midst of his mating years and will spend money on irrational high margin things that signal his value as a mate. A cool new Audi, a Panerai watch, James purse T shirts that cost 80 bucks when it's $3 a cotton. Because he is still trying to express himself to potential mate impressive friends. He's coming into his prime income earning years. He's enjoying spending money also. He's up for grabs politically. People that age mostly, especially males, mostly vote based on who they think is going to be best for them economically. And on that issue, it flips back and forth between Democrats and Republicans. So what's happening? Money is coming out of the Cable News Network and it's going into podcasts. And there's still very few places you can reach a young man with advertising because most young men are on Spotify and, and Netflix and avoiding advertising altogether. Now, in terms of the technology, you're right, people can skip through ads and a lot do. But the difference, or the innovation, if you will, with podcasting versus traditional advertising is Fareed Zakaria or Thomas Friedman on CNN and the New York Times respectively. They refuse to read ads and their host institutions, CNN and the New York Times think it is journalistic malpractice for the journalist to read an ad. It's unseemly. It's not. Whatever. The reality is, if you're used to my voice and you're here, it means you sort of trust me, sort of like me. And so when I tell you that I love Amex, I love Apple products, I love Vuori, I love that everyone.

In my company uses Adobe products for all of our creative work.

I mean, it's just that I wear on. I mean, I can go through the list of things that I do, right? That I, you know, all my cars.

My whole life since I got some money were either Range Rovers or Mercedes or BMWs.

God, I sound like a douchebag. Anyways, you know, the airlines, I fly everything. If I can speak to it credibly.

If I can say no, I Actually do love Warby Parker glasses, which is what I'm wearing now. Right.

Then the brand loves that because it gives them. It's just much more authentic, it's much.

More real, it's much more impactful.

So the innovation is host readovers.

I don't know if the targeting.

I think the targeting is probably a little bit better. You just get different ads in different regions. So I think the ad insertion is.

Probably a little bit better.

Although I bet TVs now doing that. What I think the real innovation is is one, the host read over. And two, the ads and the content are more impactful because it's more intimate. What do I mean? When the TV's on, oftentimes it's in the background.

You start seeing an ad for, you know, a pharmaceutical to get rid of your toe fungus.

You literally just screen it out. If I'm in your ears and you're listening to my voice right now, you.

Feel as if we have a relationship.

And you feel as if we're friends and there's more trust. So. And then the seamless handover to the host read over.

The barriers don't come up as quickly. There's just more trust, there's more penetration.

The beach is already softened.

Your wet matter is already sort of.

Open to listening about, you know, what kind of products I like, what kind of supplements I take, et cetera. That I. That I like T Mobile or whatever it is. Right. Or that I like Mint Mobile.

Right.

I'm trying to think of the advertisers that I've used. My point is there is innovation there. And more importantly, people are actually listening to our ads. It's our audience and increasingly it's our reach. So if you add up the audio downloads and the views on YouTube of this podcast, it'll be about 200,000. The average CNN show, I think it's 160 or 180. So we're actually getting the same reach now as CNN with a more attractive audience, with a more intimate format where they're actually listening and tuning in. Which means $47 CPMs versus 15. Is there room for improvement in targeting? Absolutely. But right now the innovation around podcasting is simple. People are actually tuning in. They will listen to the ads. The audience is much more appealing, and the format of host read overs and it being a much more intimate format, make the ads more resonant.

Thanks for the question.

I think this stuff is super interesting. Thank you. Question two. Alex from dc.

[Alex from DC]

Hey, Prof. G. My name's Alex and I'm located in the D.C. area. I love what you do, and thank you so much for the podcast that you and the entire crew put together. They're incredibly insightful and have helped mold my personal and professional experiences and perspectives. So my question to you. I'm paramilitary and recently got out. When I was in the military, I didn't love the bureaucracy of it, but I love the people that I was surrounded with. The old adage is, you love the clowns, but you hate the circus. There I felt like there was a deep sense of community and that there was a goal behind everything that I was doing. If I wasn't doing the mission actively, then I was helping mold the young Marines that I worked with into better Marines and better people transitioning into the private sector. I found it very difficult to have that same sense of mission and purpose. Maybe it's because I don't really love where I work, but what advice would you have for somebody that misses the identity and the community that they want to be involved with? How can I be more involved in work and how can I build a better sense of community? So when I come into work, I feel like I belong here. Anyways, thank you so much for your time, and I hope that this question is insightful.

[Scott Galloway]

So it sounds passe or cliche when people say thank you for your service, but I really do mean thank you for your service. One of my big regrets is not serving. My father took me to Annapolis. He wanted me to go in the Navy, mostly such that he wouldn't have to pay for my schooling. And it was one of those moments where I realized we're different than anyone else. I didn't have the grades to get in. And then someone said, you needed to get a letter from your senator. And I'm like, I don't even know who the senators are in California. And I just felt like an imposter there with my dad. I was never going to get into Annapolis, but other ways to serve. But I think young men such as yourself that have served and young women for the rest of your life, you know, your life kind of had purpose.

Anyway.

I don't have an easy answer for your question. I would imagine that waking up and being responsible for defending your country and learning how to use weapons and learning how to train young men and women such that they felt like they could depend on each other for their safety and their lives and the history and the community, I don't know how you're going to get that working at the headquarters of Chick Fil A. I think A lot of our veterans really struggle with how to find that sense of purpose and mission. And. And I think one of the reasons that the military continues to attract some of our most talented, our best and our brightest, is not because of the money. The money's okay. It's not good, and it's definitely not great. But because you do get that community, you do get that sense of pride, of serving the agency of something better. Now, the question is, do you have to find that community at work or can you find other communities? Whether it's a church group where you get to have an influence on young people, whether it's staying involved in the military somehow, whether it's getting involved in a situation or things where you can help young men, whether it's being a coach, whatever it is you have. It sounds like some of your skills were from helping others and having a sense of community. And I'm not sure. I don't know the situation. It'd be great if you get that from work, but if you don't, it doesn't mean that there aren't other places to establish community. So without knowing much about your work, if you hate it and there's no sense of community there, then I would suggest looking for another job at some point. Don't leave until you have another job, because it's easier to find a job when you have one. But I don't know if I have any real insight around how to get that reward you get from community at your work. Not knowing anything about your work or the specifics there. What I would say is that I think there are a lot of people who get that reward, that community, that community compensation from other parts of their life. Their church, their sports league, nonprofit work, working with young people, helping others and then friends and the community around whatever it is, your temple, your riding club, your sports league. But I think trying to mimic the community you got from your day job while serving, trying to mimic that in the private sector is going to be a real challenge. So I do think that being in person is a much better way to. I think the office is a future, not a bug. So I don't know if you're working remotely, but maybe trying to find a.

Job where you get to be in person. I think community is largely a function of proximity. So that's one thing. Are you in the office enough? But I appreciate the question. We'll be right back after a quick break.

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[Scott Galloway]

Foreign.

Welcome back.

We're on to our final question, which.

Is From Reddit user Do Confection98 Jesus, where did they get these names? And Do Confection98 says hi Scott, I'm making my first solo trip to London in three weeks. You've dropped many tips about great spots to eat and drink in New York City, but I don't recall any London suggestions. I'm planning to catch a match, probably Chelsea, and spending the rest of my three day adventure eating and drinking all the best the town has to offer. What area of London will be lively but not too touristy and full of college kids? Best neighborhoods to spend an afternoon getting lost while walking the streets. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

All right, welcome to London. So first thing you've got to get, you've got to go see a Premier League game. It doesn't matter what team, it doesn't matter where you sit. It's just if you want to understand UK culture, Premier League football is arguably our best export and. Or listen to me like I'm a Brit. You just see it's just so much emotion, it's so much fun and it really doesn't matter the team but plan but just get tickets. In terms of hotels, there's just some. The Ferndale hotels do an amazing job at a decent price point. Go online. Go on. I used when I was more budget conscious, I used to use hotels tonight if you have the money, then definitely try. I mean like the Connaught or the Rosewood. The new Rosewood is just absolutely spectacular, sort of. The people absolutely love the Langham. There's some beautiful hotels here, but they're very expensive. Try late night the Connaught Bar if you have. If there's any way you can get an inn at either the kind of the Hot Memories Clubs or Maison Estelle 5 Hereford. I don't know if you're connected enough to get into places like that, but they're very kind of classic. If you have time, go out to the countryside and you don't have to be a member. But stay at Soho Farmhouse, which I just think is spectacular. Sort of this super cool take on the Cotswolds. Also Maison Manor. And you don't have to be a member to book a room out there, but if you have enough time to go spend a couple days in the Cotswold, it really is beautiful. I think the Tate Modern is incredible. The Royal Academy of the Arts is beautiful. I'm not into museums and I think they're great. If you're into war, I love the British War Museum. I think that's fantastic. Restaurants I'd go to Gymkhana, maybe Sketch. I love Grangers or Granger and Company. I think they do a great job. Again, for dinner. Hyde. The neighborhoods shortage is kind of edgy. Mayfair is kind of luxe. And I would say that Hampstead is more sort of under the radar, if you will. But I also think just walking. My favorite high street, because I live close to it, is Marlowe High Street. Just walking up and down there in terms of kind of high end retail. I love Selfridges. If it's nice, I would definitely take a walk in Regent's park and just marvel at the Rose Garden and grab some coffee and just kind of let the day go by. But I would begin and end at a Premier League game. I just think they're incredible. Some logistical tips when you're coming in. Absolutely. Take the Paddington Express into town from London's Heathrow Airport. But I just think walking around any number of these neighborhoods. London. I feel very safe in London. Take the Tube, except for once, take a London black cab, because the cabbies themselves are just hilarious. But welcome to London. It is one of the great tourist cities in the world. And I think it's. Despite all the shitposting about it, I actually think New York and London are both in sort of golden ages. I think that they're just great places to hang out. Anyways, welcome to the United Kingdom. And if you can go Gunners, root for Arsenal. That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehoursoffectymedia.com Again, that's office hourspropertymedia.com or if you prefer to ask on Reddit, just post your question on the Scott Gallery subreddit and we just might feature it in an upcoming episode. This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez. Our assistant producer is Laura Gennar. Drew Burroughs is our technical director. Thank you for listening to the propg pod from propgmed Media.

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