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Ahead of the Super Bowl, we caught up with Adweek’s Senior Media Reporter Mark Stenberg to help us contextualize the trends we’re seeing in this year’s crop of commercials and identify what you should look out for as you watch on Sunday. We cover the rise of the multi-week attention ecosystem, why we’ll see more health-focused ads, and more. Plus, we get Mark’s thoughts on the integration of prediction markets into media platforms and whether he buys that people trust journalists less than funeral home directors. Recommended this week: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick writes The Trend Report™️ on Substack and co-hosts the HIP REPLACEMENT podcast alongside friend of the pod, Ben Dietz. We talk about Kyle’s early trend reports while at Nickelodeon, working in broadcast news, why America isn’t so bad actually, Barcelona internet vs. American internet, why advertisers often don’t talk to real people, how people are pouring themselves into “brand lore” instead of fighting for healthcare, “letting people just enjoy things,” and more.Recommended this week: “GALA” – XG “Tati Quebra Barraco” – Montagem GuerreiraJeff Mills Live At The Liquid Room - Tokyo 1996

Kate Lindsay is the author of internet culture substack, “Embedded,” and host of Slate’s ICYMI podcast. She joins us to unpack social media’s cause of death in 2026, analog bags, how we got too addicted to stay addicted, brain rot as political resistance, and what happens when social platforms become places of entertainment instead of places to connect. Plus, stay tuned until the end for the reveal of Kate’s family secret. Recommended this week: Ancestry.com Where to find Kate:Embedded on substackICYMI podcast@kathrynfiona on Instagram 

Welcome back! To kick off the year, we’re talking about a new exposé in the Financial Times, which found that OnlyFans creators and influencers are now increasingly dominating requests for O-1B visas, a speciality visa reserved for “exceptional” creatives with “extraordinary ability or achievement.” Recommended this week: "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" - E.D. Hirsch Jr.https://nytv.live/ Persimmons

Welcome to Tum Town. Long time listeners will know that we often center our distaste for marketing slop and feral commercialism around a few brands, namely Crumbl, Blank Street, and MrBeast. So in our final episode of the year, we decided to actually try the stuff for ourselves and review it live. Stay until the end for a small crumb of analysis on brands trying to “tap into culture.”Here’s what we got: Crumbl (6 pack): The Cookie That Stole Christmas, Chocolate Crumb Cookie ft. OREO®, Holiday Red Velvet Sandwich Cookie, Candy Cane Brownie Cookie, Peanut Butter Cup Cookie ft. REESE'S, Confetti Cake Cookie Blank Street: Iced Strawberry Shortcake Matcha, Iced Blueberry MatchaMrBeast: Feastables BarPrime: Ice Pop, Mystery flavor

We talk about how Saudi Arabia has renewed Dakota Johnson’s faith in film and Clara eavesdropping on Gen Alpha sleepover semantics. We also dive into the broader implications of younger consumers’ preference for Buy Now, Pay Later, Gary Vee evangelizing livestream shopping, and how frictionless access to credit has allowed the creator economy and the trend ecosystem to rise at scale. 

Amy Francombe is a contributing editor at Vogue Business and writer of the amy_coded newsletter on Substack. We talk about why news is out and gossip is in, moving from a post-truth society to a post-meaning one, how unplugging became luxury’s most valuable currency, entertainment vs. conversion, why engagement metrics are junk, whether or not it cheapens a brand to have TikTokers sitting front row at fashion week, restoring fashion brands to a level of cultural leadership, and more.

We talk about Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s desire to “go back to an era where we didn’t wear our pajamas to the airport,” real bread lines at Meadow Lane, only doing charity if it’s a good content opportunity, and being “ghosted” by brands.