00:00:49.980If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.
00:00:55.400Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.
00:01:04.060Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.
00:01:14.080Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:19.460I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive
00:01:26.780what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files.
00:01:32.380Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled,
00:01:38.200and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive.
00:01:43.380Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:52.340We want to make sure people are at the root of all of this.
00:02:00.500There Are No Girls on the Internet is a production of iHeartRadio and Unbossed Creative.
00:02:08.620I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet.
00:02:13.380Happy New Year. So I wanted to start 2026 off on a hopeful note. I know that we often focus
00:02:20.820on how technologies like AI are undermining human creative labor. Those concerns are very real,
00:02:26.980and we will definitely keep talking about them in 2026. But this episode is about something
00:02:32.280encouraging, a case where human creators are actually being centered and valued in an
00:02:37.880increasingly automated industry. Because one of the questions I get asked a lot as a podcaster is,
00:02:44.100aren't you worried that AI will one day replace you? The truth is, there actually are already
00:02:50.620AI-generated podcasts and podcast hosts. And AI could actually replace my voice already.
00:02:57.920But would anyone actually want to listen? Great questions. Hi. This is Bridget's AI-generated
00:03:04.980vocal clone, generated by her podcast recording software. Listeners are really clear that even
00:03:10.720though AI-generated voices like this one exist and are abundant and cheap and easy to create,
00:03:16.420no one is tuning in to listen. Because humans want to engage with and build trust with creative work
00:03:21.900they know is produced by other humans. Okay, so I won't lie, that vocal clone does sound a little
00:03:28.180bit like me, I guess, but it also sounds weird as hell, right? And it's no wonder that iHeart is
00:03:34.340keeping AI-generated voices like that one off their platform. So what does all this mean for
00:03:39.940the future of creative work going forward? To get into all of that, I turn to Will Pearson,
00:03:45.840because without his support, this very human podcast might never have existed. Will has been
00:03:51.320making cool stuff on the internet since back before we really knew what any of that meant.
00:03:56.320And today, he runs podcasts for iHeart and was one of the people behind this decision to only
00:04:01.560feature human podcasters on the network, not AI. Will, people might not have heard you on Tangody
00:04:10.540before, but you're kind of like, to quote swingers, like the guy behind the guy behind the guy of
00:04:16.060iHeart's podcast is how I would put it. That may be fair. I'm happy to see you, Bridget. It's been
00:04:23.180a minute. Great to be on. It has. It has. When people ask me what it's like working at iHeart,
00:04:28.900I always say that one of the things I love about it is that the people who are making a lot of the decisions are also creatives themselves.
00:04:36.180You have been hosting podcasts for a really long time.
00:04:56.000I really only had like two different jobs. But in college with a classmate of mine, we started a magazine and then a small media company called Mental Floss and grew it and ran it for about 10 years before we before we sold it.
00:05:11.240And then we were working for for that company that had acquired Mental Floss for a few years.
00:05:17.880And toward the end of that time, someone reached out to us from Stuff Media or more publicly known as How Stuff Works with some of the best podcasts in the world.
00:05:28.100You know, shows like Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Stuff Mom Never Told You.
00:05:33.840You might have heard of that show, Bridget.
00:05:38.920And there was sort of a shared spirit behind what was happening at HowStuffWorks and what we'd been doing at Mental Floss with this whole idea of people like to feel smart.
00:06:34.700the two of us that started Mental Floss together, and we had the opportunity to join the team.
00:06:41.700And, you know, as you mentioned, first in the form of hosting a podcast, we have a podcast called
00:06:47.160Part-Time Genius, but also in jumping in and the ability to help sort of strategize and figure out
00:06:54.200how to grow what we were doing and how stuff works. And we had the good fortune of working
00:06:57.860with some of the best shows in the business. They were just independent shows at that point.
00:07:02.600and then about um a year or so after that in 2018 iheart media had come along obviously the biggest
00:07:10.680player in radio in the u.s but at that point wasn't in podcasting but wanted to figure out
00:07:16.300how to grow what they were doing and um and somehow they found us qualified to um to be a
00:07:22.740part of that then it was it was a lot of fun i love building and i love building things um with
00:07:28.640sort of a small business mentality at first, and then sort of scaling from there. And so we've had
00:07:34.600the really good fortune of being part of the podcast division here at iHeart for the past
00:07:40.500seven years, I guess now. And it's just been a blast to be able to grow this.
00:07:45.400So I'm so glad that you mentioned Mental Floss. This is a show about the internet and technology
00:07:49.700for people who are a bit younger than me, they might not remember, like Mental Floss has been
00:07:55.220around since like the the very early aughts right and so when you think about the early days of
00:08:01.280where you would go to feel cool they're smart on the internet mental floss was one of the big
00:08:06.080players and so that's one piece that i i want to highlight but also so many people and things that
00:08:13.200we think of as just ubiquitous online today like hank green right like i follow him on social media
00:08:18.820he's like like got his start early days mental floss and so it's just interesting to me how
00:08:25.460you all were really sort of building the architecture of what would become
00:08:30.120you know how we just understand media and interesting content being online today even in
00:08:35.6202025 oh that's nice of you to say that and it was you know it's with with any whether it's a
00:08:42.380success story or just story of building a business there's always this combination of of course hard
00:08:48.360work and, you know, having the skills to try to build a thing. But then there's also just a lot
00:08:53.560of luck with timing and the kinds of things that happen in the world around you. Because we started
00:08:59.140Mental Floss as a print magazine in 2001, right after we graduated from college, we had first
00:09:05.760started as a campus publication. And then as you pointed out, in the years after that, of course,
00:09:12.540the internet really blew up. Then social media comes along in a more meaningful way. YouTube
00:09:17.240YouTube comes along in a more meaningful way. And you're really at the beginning stages of all of these game changing, communication changing medium and platform. And it was so exciting to be able to take this concept of helping people learn, but in a really entertaining way, and to be able to see what that felt like in social media and video and, you know, other medium that we could explore.
00:09:42.180And and you're right to see to to have the good fortune to work with creators like Hank and John Green that helped write some of our early books that hosted and co-created our YouTube channel.
00:09:54.100There were just a lot of creators coming up around that same time that were interested in exploring these spaces.
00:10:00.400And it was it was a blast to get to do it all together.
00:10:03.160Do you think that we're living in a time where folks can still do that, where folks can just start a publication just because they're interested in something and watch it turn into like a real meaningful thing?
00:10:14.400Sometimes I worry that if you didn't start your cool project, you know, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, now it's just going to get kind of lost in the sauce.
00:10:59.760It takes a lot of, you know, for creators, the creators that know how to market to the audiences that want to consume their content are definitely going to have that leg up.
00:11:13.760And that was the thing that we learned very early on with Mental Floss.
00:11:16.720And I think those same rules apply today.
00:11:18.940We couldn't just create a thing and put it out in the world and hope that people discovered it.
00:11:23.700We had to create the thing and then we had to go around to as many like minded, you know, people and audiences and publications and websites and social media platforms and try to get what we were doing in front of them.
00:11:37.420It was as much a part of the job as anything that we were doing.
00:11:41.560So it was, you know, it took a lot to do that.
00:11:45.260Of course, it's still a concern sometimes, you know, in a world where so many people are trying to create content, which I actually think is a very good thing. You know, everybody deserves the chance to try to create if they want to create. But it's a crowded space across podcasting, across any other form of content creation.
00:12:06.340I still do believe that the creators that are making content that's really, really good have the opportunity to break through. I do think one of our realizations early on with Mental Floss was the marketing side of things was as time consuming and needed as much effort and consideration as the content creation.
00:12:29.660And I think the creators that we see that learn that very early on and understand it's not just going to be the big marketing firms and the big companies that are going to do the marketing for them, that it requires a ton of hustle.
00:12:46.600There's a show that we have called The Psychology of Your 20s, which is this fantastic show that sort of came out of the, it really is, came out of the pandemic.
00:13:12.180And she really worked hard to get it in front of as many people as she could.
00:13:16.100And, you know, you fast forward a few years later, we ended up bringing it on to our network so that we can help amplify that and get it in front of even more listeners and now viewers.
00:13:26.700But yeah, I do believe that it is still possible for independent creators and, you know, sort of young creators to be able to cut through with show concepts.
00:13:39.940There is truly nothing that fills my cup like doing creative work.
00:13:45.440And honestly, it's something I think I'm pretty good at.
00:13:47.700But what they don't tell you is that if you want to be a full time creative, the job is not just creating things.
00:13:53.420It's also contracts, taxes, juggling deadlines, communicating with stakeholders, selling your ideas to people who aren't creatives, people who don't always share your vision, let's just say.
00:14:04.920It's also figuring out how to market your work so people actually find it, all while still trying to make the thing that you set out to make in the first place.
00:14:14.780And honestly, these are the parts of the job that I've never really had much of a brain for.
00:14:19.760But Will is someone who knows this dance very well.
00:14:23.420Is it hard to balance sort of the creative like I'm someone who makes the thing side of your brain with the I am a decision maker part of your brain like marketing that I sometimes find it hard to be both.
00:14:39.020And I can only imagine what that would be for someone in a position like yourself.
00:14:42.980It can be. I mean, I think really what happens from time to time is sometimes there are show concepts or pitches that we see that I fall in love with.
00:14:53.420And I might know at a gut level, those shows are never going to be huge just because maybe they're just super niche topics or for whatever reason.
00:15:03.000But one of the things that I love about our, you know, our network here and one of the advantages in working of a network of this size is we have the opportunity to balance that out a little bit.
00:15:14.780For every Jay Shetty and Las Culturistas and Chelsea Handler and, you know, The Breakfast Club and all of the other huge shows that we may have, we also have the opportunity to create content and shows for a more niche audience where that's relevant.
00:19:14.840late last year iheart the company that publishes this very podcast announced what they're calling
00:19:22.560their guaranteed human initiative it's a company-wide policy committing to only airing
00:19:27.880music and content that's performed and created by real people not ai that means no ai generated
00:19:35.460podcast hosts no ai musicians on iheart radio stations and that network djs will actually
00:19:42.120announce that they're guaranteed humans. Now, iHeart will use AI behind the scenes for things
00:19:47.220like analytics and scheduling, but not for the voices and creative work that audiences hear.
00:19:53.000And this move came directly in response to what audiences were saying.
00:19:57.240We want human authentic connection, not AI-generated content in our media.
00:20:03.020Now, yes, obviously, I will admit that I am biased as a human who hosts a podcast,
00:20:08.340But this announcement made me deeply happy.
00:20:11.920I don't want to be super clear that nobody at iHeart asked me to do an episode about this initiative.
00:20:16.820I just personally really like it because I think that standing up for human creativity is so important, especially right now.
00:20:24.520My producer, Mike, and I actually talked about this announcement when it first came out.
00:20:30.020Is not going to try to replace us with robots?
00:20:33.380Yes. And when people ask me, aren't you worried about AI taking your job as a podcaster? Honestly, I think that the more AI garbage that's out there and flooding the space, the more of a premium there's going to be on actual human connection and actual human art and content.
00:20:53.720And so I am like, oh, that can only bode well for people, for humans who are still invested and interested in telling actual human stories through human voices.
00:21:05.480And so, yeah, thank you for everyone listening for continuing to be part of like the human revolution.
00:21:13.980We are putting a flag in the ground for the human, the human podcasters.
00:21:19.280so this is what you've really given me a great segue into sort of what why i wanted to talk to
00:21:28.020you on the show is the iheart announcement about guaranteed human so listeners may be hearing
00:21:33.440the this is this podcast is guaranteed human before the show which they know i am a guaranteed
00:21:39.760human yeah you know i feel as we've been having these conversations about ai ai generated content
00:21:45.240This is really, to me, iHeart doubling down on human creators, right?
00:21:49.600If more and more of our content becomes AI generated, I think it's a risk of exactly what you just described happening, where all the content kind of sounds the same.
00:22:00.120You can sort of tune it out because it's all sort of the same.
00:22:02.340by doubling down on human creators human voices perspectives people who like have a a meaningful
00:22:10.500connection to the the reason why they want to tell you something you know yeah i i think it's really
00:22:15.860i i guess it just feels like a very exciting moment in podcasting i the reason why i'm drawn
00:22:23.060to this medium is that i'm a nerd i want to hear other nerds nerd out on something i want to hear
00:22:29.020someone, obsess over something and be like, damn, that actually like, who knew this topic0.75
00:22:34.340was so interesting? You get that from humans. Yes, yes, exactly. And that was, you know,0.99
00:22:41.020beyond this being a thing that we felt like was the right business decision. It's also
00:22:47.620overwhelmingly what audiences are looking for. When you think about the medium, especially in
00:22:53.600audio, of podcasting, of radio, why people listen to podcasts and the nature and the experience of
00:23:02.700listening will just stick with podcasts. Sometimes that word, you know, intimacy is overused a little
00:23:08.460bit just in terms of explaining that, you know, experience of listening to a podcast. But it's
00:23:12.760really true. Like it is when you're listening to podcasts, unlike when you're watching a TV show,
00:23:18.740unlike when you're consuming many other forms of content you're usually on your own you're usually
00:23:24.280you know exercising cooking doing you know in a commute whatever it may be and it's just you
00:23:30.840and the podcast host or host and that's an incredibly intimate experience and when people
00:23:36.520talk about the parasocial relationships that occur between a listener and their favorite podcaster or
00:23:43.380radio host. And so that's really why people listen. We find that time and again, you know,
00:23:49.360you can have great guests after great guests after great guests, but if the host isn't right,
00:23:55.180the listeners won't come back. And so they're here for the host. And so as we started exploring
00:24:01.400the tools available to us now and the tools that are emerging within AI technology,
00:24:08.140we saw a lot of promise just in terms of,
00:24:11.580oh, here are ways that may make production easier.
00:24:14.300Here are things that may make some part
00:24:18.500But at the end of the day, through survey after survey,
00:24:21.440whether it's ones we've done with listeners,
00:24:23.660whether it's third party surveys that have been done,
00:24:27.160you see more than 90% of listeners are saying,
00:24:31.180I want to make sure that the person I'm listening to
00:24:34.080or the people that I'm listening to are real people.
00:24:37.000I want to have that connection. I have no interest in listening to something that is not just created by AI, but voiced by AI. And so it was sort of a no brainer for us. Now, I'll say when we rolled this out, we didn't really know what the reception would be. I mean, we didn't think it would be negative, but we didn't really know exactly how people would respond.
00:24:58.040And to your point now, when you listen to an iHeart podcast or a lot, you know, on radio as well, you'll hear this is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.
00:25:08.900And we just started doing that a couple of weeks ago.
00:25:11.540And I know we communicated about this, but the number of listeners that we heard from almost immediately was pretty overwhelming in a very positive way.
00:25:21.860And the other thing that we started seeing was creators like yourself also reaching out.
00:25:26.760And across the board and saying, this is incredible. How can I do more to get this message out? And so now what we're starting to roll out across our shows, we have a big roster of shows, so it'll take some time to do this, is having each of the creators actually be the ones to voice that tagline, that messaging of guaranteed human.
00:25:48.180And so now, you know, pretty soon here when you're listening to Jay Shetty, Chelsea Handler, Stuff You Should Know, and, you know, I'm hoping there are no girls on the internet, you'll actually hear the talent themselves saying that.
00:29:07.080here and there is probably not going to be the best version of itself.
00:29:11.300And so I love that, you know, the work that you're doing, the work that Ed's doing to
00:29:15.840really cause us to stop every once in a while and think through these things.
00:29:19.640And also to acknowledge, you know, the world of AI and the technology there will be life
00:29:26.140changing, can be game changing for this world if we do it right.
00:29:30.660And I think there are moments like this that really do cause us to step back and say, okay,
00:29:35.960yes we have access to these tools why do we want to use these tools like what is our real goal here
00:29:42.400what are we actually trying to achieve and hopefully if it's in the service of making
00:29:48.320lives better making the world better that will channel the way that we use these tools rather
00:29:53.440than just saying the whole goal is just to make everything for companies cheaper and faster and
00:29:58.480all of that because then you just end up in a world that's making really bad stuff and um and
00:30:04.220And so I hope that this is just one example of many, many, many, many, many things happening across the corporate world, the tech world that that I hope causes to step back and really ask those questions before we continue to dive too much deeper into all of this.
00:30:20.120yes and and i don't know if this is something that you can speak to or not but iheart is really you
00:30:26.440know i made we're a major player we're like leading the way and i can't imagine that iheart
00:30:31.480would have made a decision like this if they did not think it was also going to be like good for
00:30:35.720business and i just something about like all of the the like warm fuzzy stuff that gets my head
00:30:41.800tingling as a creator that you said i totally agree with but also affirming human creators in
00:30:47.760this moment can be good for business too. More after a quick break.
00:32:01.760I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months.
00:32:05.300I survived, and I've spent my life exploring
00:32:07.980how other people survive what should have destroyed them.
00:32:11.560I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files.0.70
00:32:15.200I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything.
00:32:23.840Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable.
00:32:28.060I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me.
00:32:32.620I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming.
00:32:40.040They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.
00:32:43.860But these aren't stories about what's taken from them.
00:32:47.520They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive.
00:32:51.100Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:32:59.560If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.
00:33:05.440This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters,
00:33:11.660pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the
00:33:16.240same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books,
00:33:21.660the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having.
00:33:25.080I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.
00:33:28.660From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments,
00:33:33.520nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling
00:33:39.660characters and that is a trojan horse whether you're looking for literary deep dives smart
00:33:44.920pop culture conversations or a community of readers who love to think a little too much
00:33:49.680you're in the right place listen to pro society on the iheart radio app
00:33:54.300apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts see you between the pages
00:33:59.060let's get right back into it i have a whole talk that i give about the importance of centering
00:34:11.340humans in creative work i've delivered it to many different audiences over the last few years
00:34:16.060and usually folks will assume that i'm going to affirm all the warm fuzzy squishy reasons
00:34:21.520for why it's important to amplify humans in creative work that creativity is all about
00:34:26.500humans connecting with other humans. And that is all true. I do feel that way. But it's not just
00:34:33.020about feelings. There is solid data demonstrating that business types should also want to center
00:34:39.020humans in creative work because doing so is good for business. Yeah, no, that's the I mean,
00:34:45.020that's the whole point of you. You have these opportunities and I think they happen way more
00:34:50.920than people want to, or sometimes think that when you really can find the intersection of
00:34:56.860what is it that people actually want? What is it that actually can provide a very positive
00:35:02.120service for people and be the thing that's very good for business? This is definitely one of those
00:35:07.860cases. You know, if, if the overwhelming majority of people were like, I really want AI content for
00:35:13.700some reason, then that would be a conversation we would have and a thing that we would explore,
00:35:17.860But it's just not. And it's actually been kind of fun to see. And I have two teenage kids. It's actually really fun to see that generation that I think five years ago, it would have been easy to assume, oh, these are all kids that just were born with and have grown up with an incredible amount of technology at their fingertips.
00:35:38.800all they're going to want to see and hear is AI content.
00:35:42.520They're the most vocally opposed to all things AI from our experience
00:36:13.760whether it's, you know, whatever it may be,
00:36:15.900knowing that these are things really created by people
00:36:18.380is important to this younger generation,
00:36:21.600which I find to be encouraging, for sure.
00:36:23.940Oh, this has been my experience as well.
00:36:27.240And I actually have a theory that we're going to see,
00:36:29.280especially younger people, shifting more toward like,
00:36:32.080because they value authenticity, right?
00:36:34.300They really value like genuine connection. They can. Let me tell you, as a parent to teens, I'm sure, you know, they can sniff it out when somebody is not being authentic and they will roast you.
00:36:43.780Yes. Yes. They I can. It has been my experience with young people as well.
00:36:48.820Yeah, absolutely. And so that part is encouraging. So, you know, it's going to be really interesting to watch over the next three or four years to see, you know, there was just this mad rush over the past few years to get these tools and things out in the world.
00:37:02.640and and I I actually think there is a movement here to try to help us slow that down a little
00:37:09.020bit and just make sure we're really thinking through what are we trying to do and and maybe
00:37:13.000I'm being overly optimistic but but I actually think this is this is an encouraging moment that
00:37:18.680we're seeing here and voices that are stepping up to say collectively we want to make sure people
00:37:24.900are at the root of all of this so definitely you know as we wrap up I I one of my favorite things
00:37:31.560about both being a podcast creator and a listener of podcasts is those moments in a podcast where
00:37:37.660you could never plan for it. You could never write it in. AI could never replicate it because
00:37:41.560they're so dang human. Is this a thing that you feel like? Have you experienced moments like that
00:37:47.560on shows where you're like, hey, I could never do that? Oh, 100 percent. And actually, I think
00:37:52.800part of what it is, and I'm going to use the word flaw and imperfection, and I don't even know if
00:38:00.420those are the right words, but they're still part of what makes us human. It's sort of like when,
00:38:05.560to back up a little bit, when we used to listen to podcasts at the beginning and then editors came
00:38:09.980along and would try to clean up things too much and remove the ums and ahs and stutters and
00:38:15.480restarts and those kinds of things. And then you realize that that started feeling less human to
00:38:20.880people. So that was sort of the early version of what this felt like. I think this is kind of the
00:38:26.280same thing it's those moments of slip-ups it's those moments of again being human that cause us
00:38:31.880to connect to somebody if we just hopped on and we were talking about this topic and it sounded
00:38:36.860like we were reading from an encyclopedia people may get their information dip in and dip out but
00:38:41.820there's no real connection to the people there so yeah i i completely agree and then when it comes
00:38:47.600to humor i mean frankly this is just going to be a very interesting experiment and evolution of ai
00:39:17.200to know what it feels like to be human,
00:39:19.580I think is very difficult to replicate that.
00:39:22.540So I'm encouraged by what we're hearing. I love that you're talking about this so much. I think it's incredibly important for us to be regularly talking about this to to do what we can to try to get it right.
00:39:33.500You know, the reason I wanted to talk to you and sort of highlight this decision is that, you know, we talk about technology on this podcast and there is certainly a lot to be bummed out about.
00:39:44.240And then also the podcasting space and just medium where generally can be tough.
00:39:48.400We're often I'm often talking about things that are tough.
00:39:50.660And so having an announcement that made me genuinely happy and proud to be with a network that gets it, I was like, oh, we should spotlight this.
00:39:57.460But I guess my final question for you is like, given all that, when you think of the future of tech and the audio landscape, are you are you hopeful? Are you happy about what's on the horizon? Are you hopeful about what you think we'll see and hear next?
00:40:15.200I think sort of back to one of your earlier questions, what we always have to grapple with and think through is how do we make sure that that those that are creating really good stuff are able to get that in front of audiences?
00:40:31.080Sometimes that's smaller audiences, but that really want and need what they're what they're hearing.
00:40:36.860That part of it, that evolution is what I'm very interested in.
00:40:40.440How does the world of search change to help audio content?
00:40:45.680You know, as we've seen with whether it's websites or social or other things, these
00:40:49.880are the challenges that I think we have to think through.
00:40:52.260You know, we have the very good fortune at iHeart of having the kind of megaphone that
00:40:55.900we do, but I still want to be able to root for the independent creator that's just doing
00:41:00.140it all alone and has just started something in their garage and is putting it out in the
00:41:03.840world to know that there is a path to be able to get their show, their content.
00:41:10.440content in front of other people. Those are the kinds of questions I think as an industry we're
00:41:14.680going to have to be asking is how do we improve all methods of discovery to make sure people can
00:41:21.400find the really good stuff out there. But, you know, like any medium and any form of communication,
00:41:27.200there are ways to do it. It will all evolve. I'm optimistic about it.
00:41:32.180It makes me so happy to hear this. You know, I think it's important to note that this
00:41:37.360This isn't just about podcasts. I mean, this is about all forms of art and expression that are out there. Part of what I was really pleased to see, you know, I have no decision-making ability when it comes to like the radio and music side of the business, but our friends over on the radio and music side of the business here at iHeart were also 100% aligned with this thinking.
00:42:00.060And so you're seeing more and more music created that is not only AI created, but AI voiced as well. And from that, you're even seeing a few of these shows. You've seen headlines about shows hitting the charts and the country music category and the hip hop category.
00:42:15.740And I love that iHeart on that side of the business as well also made that decision to say, look, if they want to create that, fine.
00:42:22.840They should have the right to create that.