This Week's Influencer: “Be Brave or Be Boring” The Anxious Achiever Warns Brands; Why Just 0.7% of Pods Make It; Dear Media Expands; and More…

Everyone experiences anxiety on some level, so why do creators and brands steer clear of the topic? Morra Aarons-Mele, a.k.a. “The Anxious Achiever,” is here to explain why addressing tough topics can be a win for audiences, creators, and marketers alike.

This week on The Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) welcomes Morra Aarons-Mele, host of The Anxious Achiever podcast, as well as an author, Harvard professor, presidential campaign strategist, and totally-not-anxious person. Together, they examine the challenges of building a business around an identity, and discuss why brands should align with creators who are brave enough to talk about difficult topics.

“Don’t start a podcast to become rich. But if you have a specific thing that you want to chew over and [want to] get access to people, do it. I can’t normally call up the Surgeon General and be like, ‘Hey, you want to talk about loneliness?’ But with a podcast, I can.” – Morra Aarons-Mele (Founder, MHL Partners; Host, The Anxious Achiever)

Tough Topics Have Loyal Audiences – The conversations that are hardest to have in public build the strongest communities online. Morra and Dan note the value in Morra self-identifying with her brand name, The Anxious Achiever, which helps her build trust with audience members. Morra’s followers deepen their connection by buying her books, signing up for her newsletter, or attending one of her live events. That kind of 360-degree engagement is valuable for advertisers, not only because it’s so rare, but because it’s so meaningful. If a topic and show are the right fit for your brand, there’s a great deal to be made: You get to support a positive creator, and they get to align with a meaningful brand. It’s a win for all.

The Right Creators Want To Build – Anxious creators shouldn’t measure their worth in dollars. Morra says the best podcasters jump into the medium because they want to have a healthy discourse, not because they want a cash grab. Those who are in it for impact are going to have a better product, because they care about their audience members, and will ultimately win their trust. Marketers would be wise to look for people like Morra, who appreciates the foundation upon which podcasting was built, and who believes it’s a medium for all: “You don’t have to be rich and famous and powerful and elite to be heard. I think that’s the really beautiful side of what we do that often gets lost. And that is so powerful.”

Anxiety Over Ads Is Understandable – In a medium that constantly changes, reliable metrics matter more than ever. Morra notes that Unilever is now shifting all of its advertising budget to user-generated content. She and Dan also discuss the fact that ads are getting longer, sometimes stretching out to a few minutes. These are both major changes in the podcasting landscape, and Morra says measurement hasn’t kept up. Her access to audience data and ad performance is uneven across platforms, which is another reason why the industry needs a universal, consistent measurement metric. (We recently did an entire Media Roundtable episode on this very topic.) Without an industry standard, we can’t assess the current state of podcasting or adapt to future changes. Until then, find creators or agencies that work with an objective measurement tool.

Anxious for more insights, you Achiever? Check out the full episode of Media Roundtable.

The Classifieds

This Suite Podcast Gives You Penthouse Access to a Beloved Child Star’s Life

Network: Daylight Media / Episodic Downloads: 75k

The group chat is a sacred vessel, full of random bits of humor and history. Actor Dylan Sprouse is bringing his eponymous chat with fellow host Brendan Columbus to life in Wildmen with Dylan Sprouse, a new podcast from Daylight Media. The twosome have been friends since college, and though Sprouse had a very different childhood, he and Columbus have more in common than you’d think.

With the upcoming birth of Sprouse’s first child, this new series provides an inside look at a watershed moment in his life. And while nostalgia will drive a lot of the engagement for the show’s first episode, which debuts July 14th, fans will stick around, thanks to the show’s top-tier slate of guests, as well as the duo’s natural chemistry. Advertisers who want to reach pop culture-obsessed millennials are highly recommended to test. Your wildest dreams await if you click the link below for more information.

Get The Deal

You’re Invited to the World’s Most Inclusive Boardroom Chat

Network: Impressions.fm / Episodic Downloads: 300k

Michelle Toh has lived a busy life as a business and tech reporter for such outlets as CNN, FORTUNE, and The New York Times. Her weekly entrepreneurship-focused podcast, Behind the Business with Michelle Toh, is now in its second season, and the show finds Toh sitting down with a cadre of impressive guests: Airbnb co-founder and current CSO Nathan Blecharczyk, IM8 CEO Danny Yeung, and Factor CEO Adam Park.

What sets Toh’s show apart from other podcasts is her central belief that business is always personal, and that stories about world-changing figures include gems of knowledge everyone can use. Toh approaches these interviews through a journalistic lens, aiming to provide insights for her audience without resorting to ego-boosting or PR talking points. Behind the Business has attracted a strong audience of self-starting women who are seasoned in their roles, but who are seeking guidance as they scale up their careers. Get behind this podcast’s continued success by clicking below.

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In Case You Missed It

Be Prepared For a Wave of Political Radio Ads This Fall

The Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing political parties to coordinate unlimited spending with federal candidates could complicate local broadcast inventory management heading into fall elections. Because coordinated party-candidate buys may now qualify for the lowest unit rate, political dollars could buy more TV and radio inventory than they did when more spending flowed through higher-priced outside groups. This is mostly a local TV issue, but radio is not immune. If political dollars can stretch further under the lowest unit rate, competitive markets could see tighter inventory and more schedule disruption. Marketers planning local radio in September or October should lock inventory earlier and pressure-test availability market by market.

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Podcasts = Easy to Launch, Hard to Sustain

New podcast launches continued to slow in the first half of 2026, with Podchaser reporting 153,767 new shows worldwide, down 14% from the prior year. The data suggests the post-pandemic boom has normalized rather than signaling a category decline. Survival remains difficult, though: Nearly 42% of new shows had already stopped publishing by the end of June, and only 0.7% reached a Podchaser Power Score of 50 or higher, reinforcing how hard it is for new shows to build meaningful audience scale. But fewer launches do not mean podcasting is shrinking: More than 150,000 shows in six months is still a plethora of new supply. Starting a podcast is easy; building one with a durable audience and advertiser value is not. For marketers, the opportunity is still in proven shows with consistent publishing, demonstrated audience behavior, and host trust.

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Dear Media Is Not Just a Podcast Network Anymore

Dear Media is expanding beyond podcasting into live events, creator-led brand experiences, and potentially consumer products, positioning its shows as the foundation for a broader lifestyle business. The network has used sold-out live shows and brand partnerships with companies like Threads and Pinterest to deepen audience connection beyond the podcast feed. Founder and CEO Michael Bosstick framed the company’s future as a holding company across media, entertainment, live events, technology, and CPG, with podcasting serving as the springboard rather than the endpoint. For strong creator-led brands, these host-audience relationships can now extend well beyond the ad read. That creates more ways for advertisers to participate, but also raises the bar on fit. Marketers need to know whether they are adding value to the creator’s ecosystem or competing with it.

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#SaveTheLiveReads

Your Honor, This Silk Blouse From Quince is Criminally Good

Barb McQuade and the crew of the hit legal show #SistersInLaw earn this week’s #STLR with a Quince read that feels like a genuine conversation between friends. The standout moment arrives when Barb raves about Quince’s washable silk blouse, turning a simple product feature into a relatable real-life story, one that can be appreciated by anybody who’s ever worried about ruining a favorite shirt. She also discusses purchases for both herself and her husband, making for an endorsement that feels authentic from start to finish. This is lifestyle marketing at its best: Practical, personal, and effortlessly persuasive.

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