The Media Roundtable Podcast
Recent Episodes
Episode 3: The Crossroads – Identity Crisis & the Future
So… what is a podcast in 2025? As video takes over and platforms tighten their grip, the medium faces an identity crisis. In our final episode, we examine what’s at stake and where podcasting might go next. You’ll hear from industry leaders like Guy Raz, James Cridland, Dan Franks, and AJ Feliciano as they wrestle with the evolving definition of podcasting, the tension between independence and algorithms, and the future of audio-first storytelling. Because the word “podcast” might be up for debate—but its power is not.
For the most comprehensive picture of what podcasting means to consumers today, check out our accompanying white paper with Edison Research, “What is a Podcast?: Preserving its Essence, Structuring for Expansion,” featuring quantitative and qualitative data compiled from over 4,000 Americans.
Download the White Paper Here: https://oxfordroad.com/whats-a-podcast
And if you’re really invested in the future of podcasting, there’s something you can do today. Help us bring YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms to the table—not to regulate, but to collaborate. Sign our petition for a shared definition, an open measurement framework, and a future where podcasting remains open, inclusive, and built to last.
Add Your Name to the Petition Here: https://chng.it/6S5S7bPrjR
Episode 2: The Explosion – Mainstream & the Pod-demic
After Serial broke the sound barrier, podcasting went from niche to everywhere—fast.
In this episode, we follow the industry through its Hollywood makeover, the rise of podcast celebrities, and a pandemic-era boom that flooded the market with new voices.
Hear from insiders like Bryan Barletta, Pete Birsinger, and the Meiselas Brothers on how podcasting became a business, a brand builder–for D2C brands and podcasters’ personal brands alike–and a battleground for independence.
From million-dollar deals to the chaos of overproduction, this is the story of podcasting’s wildest decade.
For the most comprehensive picture of what podcasting means to consumers today, check out our accompanying white paper with Edison Research, “What is a Podcast?: Preserving its Essence, Structuring for Expansion,” featuring quantitative and qualitative data compiled from over 4,000 Americans.
Download the White Paper Here: https://oxfordroad.com/whats-a-podcast
And if you’re really invested in the future of podcasting, there’s something you can do today. Help us bring YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms to the table—not to regulate, but to collaborate. Sign our petition for a shared definition, an open measurement framework, and a future where podcasting remains open, inclusive, and built to last.
Add Your Name to the Petition Here: https://chng.it/6S5S7bPrjR
Episode 1: The Genesis – The Accidental Revolution
Podcasting didn’t start with a business plan—it started with rebels, weirdos, and accidental pioneers tinkering in garages.
In Episode 1 of What’s A Podcast?, we trace the medium’s origin story—from the earliest RSS hacks to the moment Steve Jobs brought podcasts to iTunes. Along the way, you’ll hear from Adam Carolla and Leo Laporte on bypassing traditional media, and Ira Glass on how public radio helped shape podcasting’s storytelling DNA. Featuring firsthand interviews with the people who built podcasting before it had a name—and who are still fighting to define what it is today.
For the most comprehensive picture of what podcasting means to consumers today, check out our accompanying white paper with Edison Research, “What is a Podcast?: Preserving its Essence, Structuring for Expansion,” featuring quantitative and qualitative data compiled from over 4,000 Americans.
Download the White Paper Here: https://oxfordroad.com/whats-a-podcast
And if you’re really invested in the future of podcasting, there’s something you can do today. Help us bring YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms to the table—not to regulate, but to collaborate. Sign our petition for a shared definition, an open measurement framework, and a future where podcasting remains open, inclusive, and built to last.
Add Your Name to the Petition Here: https://chng.it/6S5S7bPrjR
Listen, Follow, and subscribe to the media Roundtable
We’re here to support Advertisers, Marketers, and Media in their efforts to give preference in exposure and ad dollars toward content that exhibits the following values:
CLARITY • TRUTH • FAIRNESS • RESPECT • DE-ESCALATION • TOLERANCE
Why Did We Start The Media Roundtable..?
Why are there nutrition labels required for the food we eat, but not the media we consume? How do you find out if the show you’re sponsoring or listening to is saving lives or destroying democracy?
The Media Roundtable is back in session for a new season but with a fun new twist. We are sharpening our focus to conversations with podcasters and creators about the shows they make and the reasons WHY they make them. The Media Roundtable will “unbox” other podcasts in each episode, providing an in-depth analysis to help you decide what content is worth your time and dollars.
We live and work in world that is deeply divided, while institutions and information are getting harder to trust. Our goal is to reqard good actors with more attention and sponsor dollars so that we can feel good and do good through the shows we consume and support in the most entertaining way possible.
Clips From Season Four
Recent Press
New AI tool can help advertisers vet podcast hosts based on news they make outside of their shows
How the outrage industrial complex profits from stoking Americans' anger at each other
The Media Roundtable Looks To Rank Podcasts According To Bias
New Group Aims to Warn Advertisers About Podcast Perils, Hot Talk.
New initiative pushes brands to support civility in media
Dan Granger, Host of the Media Roundtable Podcast
Dan Granger is CEO and Founder of Los Angeles Audio Ad Agency, Oxford Road. Oxford Road helps fast-growth companies scale their efforts in Podcasts, Radio, and DRTV. By offering the combined capabilities of Media, Analytics, and Creative Development, Oxford Road guarantees superior performance for brands that qualify for their services. Oxford Road was one of Inc 500’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2017 and has supported the growth of over 12 Unicorn Companies (Private companies valued over $1Billion) to date. Through Oxford Road, Dan publishes a weekly newsletter, The Influencer, and is host of the Media Roundtable podcast. Dan is also the creator of Audiolytics™, a creative analytics process, proprietary to Oxford Road. Audiolytics™ offers a uniform system to create and score ads based on 71 weighted components to drive maximum performance in-market. His writing and thought leadership has been featured in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Digiday, Business Insider, The Drum, Ad Week, and The New York Post.
Interested in being a guest on the Media Roundtable?
Get in touch.