People vs Algorithms
People vs Algorithms

People vs Algorithms

Troy Young, Brian Morrissey, Alex Schleifer

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Episodes

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Uncovering patterns of change in media, culture, and technology, each week media veterans Brian Morrissey, Alex Schleifer and Troy Young break down stuff that matters. Get our newsletters: https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com/ https://www.therebooting.com/ www.peoplevsalgorithms.com

Recent Episodes

Monkey Business
MAY 8, 2026
Monkey Business
<p>While some of this is cover for overhiring during the ZIRP era, there's clearly a move to cut the "coordination tax" that exists within companies. And what starts in tech always moves downstream. <strong><em>Plus:</em></strong> Ted Turner and the end of the media mogul archetype, James Murdoch's move to buy Vox Media's podcast network and New York magazine, and how to tell fake fakes from real fakes at the souk.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@peoplevsalgorithms">Watch us on YouTube</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com/">Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://therebooting.com/">Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://humancomputer.io/">Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer</a></p><p>* Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://www.threads.com/@alexoid">Alex</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/bmorrissey">Brian</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/troyyoung">Troy</a> on Twitter</p><p></p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>* 00:00 Open</p><p>* 00:18 Welcome</p><p>* 02:02 Brian in Marrakesh</p><p>* 04:43 PVA Vibe-Coding: RingRing & Field Notes</p><p>* 09:18 AI Is A Job Killer</p><p>* 16:48 AI Native Orgs and Jevons</p><p>* 26:34 Permanent Underclass Fears</p><p>* 31:23 The Last of the Moguls</p><p>* 35:32 Murdoch Buys Vox</p><p>* 40:49 AI Private Equity</p><p>* 42:24 GameStop Targets eBay</p><p>* 48:14 Met Gala Tech Takeover</p><p>* 50:33 Tech Villains</p><p>* 52:40 Good Product</p><p>* 01:01:39 Credits</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.peoplevsalgorithms.com</a>
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62 MIN
The Clipping Economy
MAY 1, 2026
The Clipping Economy
<p>This week we dig into how the clip has become the unit of cultural currency and whether it's creating a mass delusion about what people actually want and what is popular. <strong><em>Also:</em></strong> a Waymo hostage situation, a vibe-coded group-texting platform, Apple vs. the interface doomers, Uber's super app survival play, Ben Sasse's deathbed honesty about young people's anxiety, and what the rise of Graham Platner says about the need to be a legible character.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@peoplevsalgorithms">Watch us on YouTube</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com/">Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://therebooting.com/">Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://humancomputer.io/">Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer</a></p><p>* Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://www.threads.com/@alexoid">Alex</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/bmorrissey">Brian</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/troyyoung">Troy</a> on Twitter</p><p></p><p>Chapters:</p><p>* 00:00 Open</p><p>* 01:05 Welcome</p><p>* 04:31 Vibe Coding Field Notes</p><p>* 07:55 Fan Feedback</p><p>* 11:56 AI Power Games Trial</p><p>* 20:51 Next Interface</p><p>* 29:06 Can a New AI Phone Win</p><p>* 33:28 Why Super Apps Fail</p><p>* 38:10 Media’s Next Chapter</p><p>* 41:43 AI Replacing Media Work</p><p>* 44:51 Clipping And Fake Popularity</p><p>* 51:20 Gen Z Nostalgia Anxiety</p><p>* 54:23 Politics As Characters</p><p>* 59:08 Good Product</p><p>* 01:05:00 Credits</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.peoplevsalgorithms.com</a>
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65 MIN
Spooning the Gravy
APR 24, 2026
Spooning the Gravy
<p>Troy’s vibe coding project has moved into high gear, as institutional and personal memory becomes the point of leverage with media’s ultimate goal shifting to how to get the right people in the saloon. Claude Design and GPT-Image 2 reinforce the same message: You’re either high-end craftsman or you’re orchestrating AI systems, like it or not. Plus: Tim Cook hands over the CEO reigns after Apple’s boring decade, why media is about artists, suits and engineers, the dismal fate of much of Vox’s publishing assets, the emptiness of cloned media assets and why there’s leverage in coming out of the kitchen to spoon the gravy, no matter how much you’ve accomplished.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@peoplevsalgorithms">Watch us on YouTube</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com/">Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://therebooting.com/">Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://humancomputer.io/">Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer</a></p><p>* Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://www.threads.com/@alexoid">Alex</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/bmorrissey">Brian</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/troyyoung">Troy</a> on Twitter</p><p></p><p>Chapters:</p><p>* 00:00 Open</p><p>* 00:52 Building on Top of LLMs</p><p>* 03:41 Welcome</p><p>* 04:31 Vibe Coding Costs</p><p>* 09:00 Memory as Moat</p><p>* 13:38 Wiki Maintenance Problem</p><p>* 16:41 Workers Training Replacements</p><p>* 18:13 McClatchy Content Scaling</p><p>* 25:25 Community as Real Value</p><p>* 32:43 Monitoring the Situation Review</p><p>* 35:20 Are Designers Cooked</p><p>* 37:58 Dotcom Agency Flashback</p><p>* 40:19 AI Kills The Agency Model</p><p>* 42:36 Displacement And Value Stack</p><p>* 45:38 Farm To Table Humans</p><p>* 47:13 Apple’s Boring Decade</p><p>* 51:47 Nvidia Chips And China</p><p>* 55:40 Event Format And Layers</p><p>* 57:29 Vox Sale And Media M&A</p><p>* 01:01:27 Media Notes And Widgets</p><p>* 01:06:59 Collectibles As Asset Class</p><p>* 01:09:12 Good Product</p><p>* 01:14:43 Outro</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.peoplevsalgorithms.com</a>
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75 MIN
Humans in the Loop
APR 17, 2026
Humans in the Loop
<p>Troy unveils his vibe-coded media system that produces a daily briefing based on his entire media diet, underpinned with a memory layer that acts as a second brain of PvA thinking. This would turn media from a game of speed to one of accumulated worldview. We also unpack the rise of fakes, from the clip economy to Allbirds pivot to AI; handicap the Pope vs Trump battle; and get a report from an international journalism festival in Italy.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@peoplevsalgorithms">Watch us on YouTube</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com/">Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://therebooting.com/">Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://humancomputer.io/">Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer</a></p><p>* Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://www.threads.com/@alexoid">Alex</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/bmorrissey">Brian</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/troyyoung">Troy</a> on Twitter</p><p></p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>* 00:00 Open</p><p>* 00:34 Welcome</p><p>* 02:48 Troy The Vibe-Coder</p><p>* 11:54 Takeaways Process And Limits</p><p>* 17:52 AI Slop And Meme Warfare</p><p>* 25:37 Clips Economy</p><p>* 32:32 Allbirds AI Pivot</p><p>* 37:37 Anthropic vs OpenAI Chart</p><p>* 47:02 Journalism Hierarchy</p><p>* 49:30 LinkedIn Is a Sad Place</p><p>* 54:01 Vibe Coding and API Economy</p><p>* 57:56 World Economy Summit</p><p>* 59:48 Good Product</p><p>* 01:05:34 Outro</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.peoplevsalgorithms.com</a>
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66 MIN
The Great Media Reorientation
APR 10, 2026
The Great Media Reorientation
<p>B2B is a refuge; see the Acquired ad rates. The Boston Globe's TikTok star Emily Sweeney proves a Dorchester accent is leverage when the internet has flattened everything. The next newsroom brawl will be over AI use. Political figures now have to be expert content creators. Even geopolitics aren't immune: Iran is beating the U.S. with its AI Lego video trolling. In tech, Sam Altman lies a lot and might be a sociopath, but it could be these are required traits in his field. Vibe coding Big Hot Take has turned Troy into an AImaxxer who believes company structure will change. Finally, a hypothesis that the true emblem of American wealth is getting a boat.</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@peoplevsalgorithms">Watch us on YouTube</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com/">Troy Young’s People vs Algorithms newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://therebooting.com/">Brian Morrissey’s The Rebooting newsletter</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://humancomputer.io/">Alex Schleifer’s Human Computer</a></p><p>* Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://www.threads.com/@alexoid">Alex</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/bmorrissey">Brian</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/troyyoung">Troy</a> on Twitter</p><p></p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>* 00:00 Open</p><p>* 00:41 Welcome</p><p>* 03:10 Media Business Reset</p><p>* 07:05 B2B And Niche Wins</p><p>* 10:30 Altman Narrative Wars</p><p>* 13:18 CEO Archetypes Debate</p><p>* 18:31 OpenAI IPO Reality</p><p>* 20:58 Mythos Model Hype</p><p>* 24:04 Building Hot Takes</p><p>* 31:15 Vibe Coding Impacts</p><p>* 36:48 Politics As Creators</p><p>* 39:04 Trolling As Statecraft</p><p>* 40:34 Boston Globe TikTok Accent</p><p>* 44:13 Artists Versus Engineers</p><p>* 46:43 Midas Touch Deal Breakdown</p><p>* 51:27 Copycat Creator Acquisitions</p><p>* 56:23 NYT Reporting And AI Newsrooms</p><p>* 01:02:23 Clipping Economy Explained</p><p>* 01:07:42 Boats As Status Symbol</p><p>* 01:10:48 Good Product</p><p>* 01:12:57 Outro</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.peoplevsalgorithms.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.peoplevsalgorithms.com</a>
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73 MIN