The Monday Media Diet with Laura Mayer

On audio, The Big Picture, and Consumer Reports

Laura Mayer (LM) was introduced to us by Reilly Brennan who burned down the Internet with his leaf blower edition. She’s a podcast pro, about to launch a new one. Also, she gives a nice plug to friends of WITI, Chris and Jason from How Long Gone. We’re pleased to have her on the page today. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Laura Mayer. I’m a longtime podcast producer and executive (yes, that is a thing). I’ve been around Big Podcasting for awhile, developing or producing shows like the first season of Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, The Dream, The Just Enough Family, and Bad Blood: The Final Chapter, to name a few. I went out to work for myself in February. 

This is to say: I’ve produced many podcasts and exactly one human child, Joanna, pictured above.

A lot of my friends (and a few of my enemies) got rich, rich, rich over the last few years via podcasting. I managed to somehow miss that particular opportunity. But! I’m making my own luck with my new podcast Shameless Acquisition Target (tagline: The Show That Sells Itself). This summer I’m going to try to create as much value as possible from the podcast – we’re talking selling the RSS feed, film and tv rights, book deals, maybe my life rights. Then, at the end of the show, I’m going to try to sell it all! And you’ll get to hear every last second of it. Along the way, you’ll learn how to navigate an increasingly confusing podcast (and general entertainment) landscape.

Describe your media diet. 

I listen to a lot of podcasts. My non-work listening tends to skew chat. My favorite show right now is Normal Gossip. It’s everything I want to listen to at all times, forever.

During the initial COVID lockdown I came across this show called How Long Gone. I am not their target demographic. The hosts would, in fact, find me … so extremely lame. It’s hosted by Jason Stewart and Chris Black. It’s an interview show. But the real connective tissue is the friendship between Jason and Chris, their respective fitness journeys (I’m a very amateur, but extremely devoted, weight lifter – I’ve been learning the Olympic Lifts for four years now and I am still very bad, but I train three days a week without fail), and their polar opposite views on water (Chris is pro, Jason is con). I had their merch, a Nalgene, with me when I gave birth to my kid.  

I read a lot of Substacks. “She’s a Beast: A Swole Woman’s Newsletter” is an important one for me given my aforementioned weightlifting situation.

I am on Twitter a bit. I really like it when people tweet jokes.

What’s the last great book you read?

“The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies” by Ben Fritz. I initially picked it up as research for my podcast. I very quickly became obsessed with it. The way Fritz lays out the changes in the business models and the resultant creative choices in television and film over the last 20+ years really covered all of my areas of interest. 

What are you reading now?

“Just By Looking at Him” by Ryan O’Connell. I’ve been following his writing for years. When I’m working on an audio script – either as an editor or, now newly, as a host – I find it helpful to read fiction with a strong narrative voice. I’ve listened to Ryan on various podcasts for years now so I have that kind of parasocial appreciation of his voice that is adding an extra level of enjoyment to the book.  

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

Okay, so my reading device is an iPad mini. I love the damn iPad mini. I love that it’s so small. I love that it asks for so little. I love that it gives me so much.

This is to say, I’m ashamed to say I haven’t bought a physical magazine since before Covid. 

I still maintain a ritual I’ve had since middle school as it relates to magazines (I technically have a degree in “Magazine Journalism” - a Bachelor of Science! So I am an EXPERT): That’s taking a Benadryl (my drug of choice) and reading the latest issue of Vanity Fair from “cover-to-cover.” Or, as far away from one cover as I can get given the Benadryl. 

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Consumer Reports! 

It’s a very useful magazine. I’m sure people read it – it’s thick with ads – so perhaps this isn’t the best response. But, I don’t hear people talking about Consumer Reports a lot on TikTok or whatever, that’s for sure. 

My husband and I have one main goal as parents: to try to keep the kid alive. Having a child has been an exercise in buying stuff. Consumer Reports allows us to stay up to date on any recalls (or other consumer reports) that are relevant (or deeply irrelevant) to our lives.

Right after we had the kid, a little over a year ago, my husband opened up Consumer Reports and saw that our dresser had been recalled due to it being a tipping hazard. He HATED that dresser anyway. But, it gave him a good excuse to get a refund for it.

Also, “The Farmer’s Almanac.” On Christmas my dad sent my daughter a copy with the note: “Every baby needs a Farmer’s Almanac for their first Christmas.” Can’t argue with the truth.

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

The way for me to really turn my brain off is by playing repetitive, time management games. Your Diners Dash, your Overcookeds etc. A few months ago, right after the baby started sleeping at night, I downloaded this game called “Delicious World.” Note: this game is not good. But it does allow me to gin up, and then zap out, a huge amount of anxious energy as I serve croissants to crowds of increasingly angry videogame customers. 

Plane or train?

Train for getting work done. Plane for getting scared and having anxious access to the Hudson News. 

What is one place everyone should visit? 

I have gone basically nowhere in my life, physically. I went to a very good, very … um, family-run…zoo in Indiana once. I got very close to some kind of huge cat. I was too young to realize that that family-run zoo shouldn’t have had a panther or whatever it was. Being face to face with a panther as a kid seems like something everyone should do?

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into. 

You may remember the pregnant giraffe named April who went viral in 2017? If not, it’s pretty much what it sounds like. The giraffe was named April, she was pregnant, and she lived at a zoo called Animal Adventure Park. They put her on a livestream starting in February, saying she was supposed to give birth at any moment. I watched that live cam for hours and hours. The communications director of the zoo – whose name I forgot but whose effect I will always remember – did a series of talks about how “the media” was to blame for the idea that the zoo had deliberately misled the public about April giving birth in February. I used to call him the Sean Spicer of Giraffes. April gave birth to her calf in … April.

This isn’t the rabbit hole. 

The rabbit hole is: When the giraffe was born the advertisement in the lower right of the screen switched from “Toys R Us” to “Babies R Us.” I recently spent several hours trying to understand the various ads they sold on that livestream, how they measured the CPM, and whether I should try to book whoever sold those ads on my podcast. (LM)

WITI x McKinsey:

An ongoing partnership where we highlight interesting McKinsey research, writing, and data.

Saying no could advance your career. When was the last time you were asked to take on non promotable work? Handling tasks or assignments that help your organization but not your career can have a profound effect on women’s jobs and lives. In a new Author Talks interview, Lise Vesterlund explains why women so often agree to it—and how they can say no.

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Laura (LM)

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