Channels with Peter Kafka

(Originally Aired 1/21/26) Football isn’t just the biggest show on TV — at this point, it’s basically the only reason some TV networks exist. So it’s a very worthy subject for Chuck Klosterman, the provocative and prolific writer, to tackle in his new book, which is called… Football.The big Channels idea here is to talk about football’s dominance in American media and culture, and What That Means — and how that might end, one day. And we most definitely get into that.But when you have Chuck Klosterman in studio, you talk about as much as you can. So in this this one, we also get into:

Why football is a “completely mediated,” made-for-tv-even-if-accidentally experience — and why “the only seat” is basically your couch

How video games helped rewire the way fans understand (and even play) football

How gambling created a “fake game” that sits on top of the real one

Why the concussion panic faded even though the hits didn’t

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Barry Diller is 84, still running the company formerly known as IAC , and still making big bets. This summer, he tried to buy MGM Resorts in an $18 billion deal — then walked away.I sat down with Diller live at Business Insider’s Long Play event to talk about why he wanted MGM, what changed, and how he decides when to trust his instincts. We also talk about whether AI can upend Expedia and People Inc. — and why he’s comfortable knowing that he doesn’t really know what the AI era will bring us.Plus: Diller on Netflix, Paramount, YouTube, and why he has no interest in talking about his legacy.
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AI is already doing much more than most of us realize. So what happens when it starts doing more of your work—and when it starts deciding what work you should hand over?

I talk to Wharton professor Ethan Mollick, whose new book is Co-Existence, about the real AI update: why today’s models are radically more capable than the chatbots people remember; how to think about your job and your kids’ careers; why AI may break the system that trains young workers; and why agents that can cancel subscriptions, read your email, and take action on your behalf are both useful and unnerving.
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It feels like 2022 all over again: Netflix has hit a wall, and is scrambling to respond. That means layoffs, a purge of its top content people and… what else?

Then Derek Thompson — one of the guys Barack Obama reportedly reads to keep on top of tech — gives me his blunt summary of Substack economics: “Dimes for analysis, dollars for facts, and Benjamins for facts about AI.” We talk about why the US is building data centers but not houses, why podcasts are turning into TV, and why the screens that fill our free time may also be making us more antisocial.
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Most of us stopped watching traditional TV a long time ago. Political campaigns, meanwhile, still spend most of their ad money there.Rob Flaherty has been trying to change that from inside Democratic politics. He’s been the digital guy for Hilary Clinton, and then Joe Biden, and then Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign. (Here’s his post-mortem of that one.) Now he runs a political shop of his own.

We talk about why campaigns are still built around TV ads; why campaign consultants have financial incentives to keep buying them; and what it takes to reach voters who live on TikTok, YouTube, podcasts, group chats, and algorithmic feeds instead.

We also talk about the difference between paying creators and earning their attention, why some candidates can make social media work without becoming AOC or Zohran Mamdani, and why the next real wave of political innovation may come from the 2028 primaries.
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