The Study Hall Podcast

Kate Wagner is the architecture critic at The Nation. She also runs the blog "McMansion Hell." In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Kate chats about the significance of McMansions, President Trump's tacky design choices, 1880s/1980s, gilded palaces, Saudi Arabia's failed future city, Iranian architecture, and gentrification.    Subscribe to "McMansion Hell":  https://mcmansionhell.com/   More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz    Music by KT The Terrible

Miles Klee, senior writer at Wired, chats about his reporting on Meta, social media addiction, AI, and  internet culture. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Klee discusses how he translates niche internet stories for a broader audience.   Works Cited: -https://www.wired.com/story/the-tesla-influencers-leaving-the-cult/ -https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-speaks-incel-now/ -https://www.wired.com/story/mark-zuckerberg-testifies-social-media-addiction-trial-meta/ Check out "Double Black Diamond" by Miles Klee and Mads Gobbo: https://asterismbooks.com/product/double-black-diamond-mads-gobbo-miles-klee More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz    Music by KT The Terrible  

Jamie Hood's writing has appeared in The Drift, Bookforum, The Nation, and numerous publications. She is the author of How To Be A Good Girl: A Miscellany and Trauma Plot: A Life. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Hood discusses the process of writing her memoir, the survivor narrative, personal essays in the post- #MeToo era, and the confessional form. More info about Trauma Plot: https://bookshop.org/p/books/trauma-plot-a-life-jamie-hood/50837adfe931ba99?ean=9780593686089&next=t   More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz.   Music by KT The Terrible

Cale Weissman is one of the worker-owners of Gourmet, a food magazine that has been recently revitalized. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Weissman chats about the return of Gourmet. He also discusses food content, restaurant coverage, worker-owned outlets, and aesthetically unappealing, albeit delicious, recipes.    More info about Gourmet: https://gourmetmagazine.net/ More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz  Music by KT The Terrible

Daisy Alioto, co-founder and CEO of Dirt and co-host of Tasteland, built a pop-culture newsletter into a media brand. She recounts Dirt’s origin, rethinks subscriptions with micropayments and AI agents, discusses the taste economy and curation, and shares practical tips on partnerships, community building, and running a small media business.

Daniel Kolitz, a journalist who reports on internet subcultures, talks about immersive, gonzo reporting and how he finds sprawling online stories. He describes gooning communities, entering Discords with transparency, and even trying participation firsthand. The conversation also touches on surveys, generational narratives, and why documenting fast-moving internet cultures matters.

Liam Scott's reporting has appeared in The Nation, Columbia Journalism Review, and numerous other outlets. He currently writes a newsletter for The Washington Post on press freedom. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Scott discusses his reporting on Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong-based publisher who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison. Apple Daily, Lai's newspaper, published content in favor of the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Scott, who profiled Lai's international defense team, contextualizes this case with Hong Kong's broader attack on press freedom.  Read Scott's profile in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/the-campaign-to-free-jimmy-lai/   Subscribe to the Press Freedom Desk newsletter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/press-freedom-partnership/   More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz    Music by KT The Terrible

Natan Last's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Drift, The New York Times, and Los Angeles Review of Books. He also writers the bimonthly crossword puzzles for The New Yorker. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Last chats about his new book "Across The Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of Crossword Puzzles."   More info about "Across The Universe": https://bookshop.org/p/books/across-the-universe-the-past-present-and-future-of-the-crossword-puzzle-natan-last/dfa29ea13fb78845   More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz    Music by KT The Terrible

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the former editor in chief of The Advocate. She is the of the Holding Space podcast. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Gilchrist talks about the evolution of queer media, her viral moment with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and campy pop culture.    Check out Holding Space: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holding-space-with-tracy-e-gilchrist/id1866733335 More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz   Music by KT The Terrible       

Tina Vásquez is a features editor at Prism. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Vásquez discusses her work reporting on immigration, ICE raids, and workers' rights. Vásquez also talks about how movement journalism can help restore the public's trust in media and offer more holistic coverage of topics like the immigration system. Sign up for Vásquez's movement journalism course: https://courses.outvoice.com/products/live_events/movementjournalism   More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz   Music by KT The Terrible