In this episode of the podcast, hosts Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee discuss various topics related to the podcasting industry. 1. **Podcast Hall of Fame Updates:** – Rob Greenlee talks about his recent work with the Podcast Hall of Fame, including updating the website and setting up a new board of governors to make the organization more inclusive. He mentions plans to have a more formalized nomination and voting process, aiming to expand recognition globally, although he acknowledges the challenges due to the shorter history of podcasting in international markets. 2. **Media Industry Observations:** – The hosts discuss recent changes in the media, explicitly mentioning layoffs at iHeart and the overall shrinking job market in traditional media sectors like radio. They speculate these changes might be preemptive measures by companies bracing for an economic downturn. 3. **Spotify’s Video Podcast Offerings:** -Discussion surfaces about Spotify’s push into video podcasting, including its strategy to offer ad-free video podcast viewing for premium subscribers in several countries and how it plans to compensate hosts based on viewership milestones. 4. **Buying Podcast Ads:** Quoting Rocky Thomas from SoundStack at the ASI Radio and Audio Conference, the challenges of buying podcast ads are addressed. It was noted that although there are numerous advertising options in podcasting, the process remains cumbersome, which could be streamlined by aligning podcast ad buying terminologies more closely with those used in radio advertising. 5. **Live Audience Interaction:** Throughout the podcast, Todd and Rob take comments from a live-streaming audience, answering questions and acknowledging listeners tuning into the broadcast. 6. **Future Planning:** They discuss plans for the Podcast Hall of Fame, suggesting possibilities like hosting multiple induction ceremonies yearly to handle backlogs and increase recognition frequency. Todd also suggested a new podcast series featuring interviews with Hall of Fame inductees. Throughout the episode, Todd and Rob blend their in-depth discussion of technical and industry topics with listener interactions and personal anecdotes from their extensive experience in podcasting, creating an informative yet conversational atmosphere.