There’s something strange happening these days in the podcast world — in particular, the way companies that deal in money have been using podcasting as not just an entertainment medium, but a unique kind of hybrid of marketing, thought leadership, and networking. Guest host David Pierce and Vulture podcast critic Nick Quah break it all down.

Links:

How Venture Capitalists Use Podcasts to Lure in Founders | Vanity Fair

Your Next Podcast Interview Might Be a Meeting In Disguise | Bloomberg

Elliott launches podcast in attack ploy aimed at Southwest | Axios

How podcasts became the new battleground state | Vulture

In the “Podcast Election,” Trump talked to vastly more people | Edison Research

Podcasts become politician magnets | Axios

Founders of podcast ‘Acquired’ are raising an investment fund | GeekWire

Podcaster-turned-VC Harry Stebbings raises $400m for third fund | Sifted

Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

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