Piers Morgan spoke on a panel recently at The Podcast Show in London titled “How TV Titans and Star Creators are Growing their Business in the New Video-First Age.” The panel was moderated by Kaya Yurieff and included Max Cutler of PAVE Studios, but it was really the Piers Morgan show. He pretty much hijacked the panel and talked bout his YouTube show and the media company he was building around it. Still, he was quite entertaining, and he offered a snapshot of what’s been going on in his corner of the creator economy.
The podcast industry is evolving, as is pretty much everything in the entertainment business. We’ve been hearing about “convergence” for decades but now we’re seeing an acceleration. We’re seeing podcasts turn into YouTube channels and vice versa. We’re seeing YouTubers streaming on channels like Netflix. All of the lines between delivery platforms are blurring. This creates huge opportunities for many, but it’s also unsettling for those who like to stay in their comfort zone.
We’re also seeing monetization strategies evolve as well, with podcasters and YouTubers embracing a wide variety of revenue sources beyond just traditional advertising. These types of 360 deals work particularly well with celebrity podcaster and creators.
A recent article in the New York Times explains this in the context of the New Heights podcast from Jason and Travis Kelce. Podcasts can essentially “become an entire lifestyle brand — complete with merchandise, live events, shoppable content, and dedicated fan hubs.” This approach marks a significant evolution. Instead of just selling ad slots, Amazon is helping creators monetize their personal brands across multiple touchpoints — social media, live events, product lines, and more. Other big names like Dax Shepard, Keke Palmer, and LeBron James are also part of the roster.
And it’s not just Amazon. The article doesn’t address this, but niche content creators, including those in the B2B space, can also leverage their audience across multiple platforms, particularly newsletters and memberships.
This article focuses more on creators in the entertainment space:
Fans will show up for — and spend money on — anything and anyone connected to their favorite shows. This logic is aligned more with product placement, sponsored content or celebrity endorsements (or a hybrid of all three) than with traditional podcast advertising. Under every rock is a monetization opportunity.
Not every celebrity can pull this off. We saw a rush of celebrities try to launch podcasts during and after Covid, and many of them failed. Few have the personality to thrive with this type of content. But those who do can make a killing, and we’re now seeing companies expand the types of revenue opportunities available to these creators.
On December 17, 2025, the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) board of directors unanimously rejected a $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance (a combined entity led by David Ellison). Instead of accepting this all-cash offer of $30 per share, the board reaffirmed its commitment to a competing merger agreement with Netflix, valued at approximately $82.7 billion (or $27.75 per share).
You may not remember him, but Will Rogers was both a beloved cowboy and a humorist. Once, he said, “Everything changes. People are now taking their comedians more seriously and their politicians as jokes.” Ironically, this comment was made back in the early part of the 20th century. That was when the comedic period in America was at its highest. However, it does seem to be true more now than ever.
Ever since the Princess Leia bikini scene in Star Wars, the idea of a bikini constructed with metal has been forged into the minds of men and women everywhere. What woman doesn’t want to be the princess, wearing the type of exotic clothing that is going to make men from all over the universe take notice?
Judging from the forward-thinking and borderline futuristic beachwear options featured at Fashion Rio, the five-day seaside fashion showcase, we might be closer to the trends of Tatooine than anyone previously thought.
Forging a Fashion Success?
Fashion designer Triya is largely responsible for championing the metal bikini in 2013, which looks like the undergarment of a female knight that has been crafted specifically for the body of the model, and their body alone. And yet, somehow, it is not all together unattractive—at least on the runway.
The media certainly seems to be responding, with an Associated Press article appearing on many major news outlets, and subsequent fashion blogs.
But the main question on most people’s minds is whether or not this is a viable fashion trend that will continue to evolve for years to come, or if this is an ill-conceived idea from a recent game of D&D.
Metal is So Hot Right Now…Literally
Putting aside the ubiquitous fashion question of whether or not this would even be comfortable, other questions of logistics immediately jump to the forefront when considering wearing a plate of metal, no matter how stylish or fitted, to a beach. This is a place that is filled with sand and salt water that is invariably going to find its way into every little nook and cranny of your body.
Is the bikini going to rust or tarnish? It is going to become unbearably hot baking in the midday sun like a station wagon seat buckle? If these are the questions you were asking yourself before you even got to the above paragraph, fear not, because there are some metal options that (un)fortunately do not have the type of mass that is going to drag you down underwater, or stop a bullet.
Off the Runway Alloys
Among the bandeau tops found at Fashion Rio were a collection of more practical items that were still forged in the great furnace of style. For instance a fringed metal swim skirt, a metal mesh upper body wrap, and a few more selections made from more traditional fabrics but accented with metal embellishments stand out as options for those women who do not want to look like they are about to be involved in a jousting match. There are even bathing suits that simply look like metal, despite being made from another material.
As is the case with most haute couture, some adjustments must be made before all of these fashion ideas are modeled into real life. However, given the amount of publicity metal swimwear has received, it’s easy to predict an alloyed trend at the beach this summer.
Simon is a writer and content specialist who is addicted to being on the front page of anything. A graduate of Dalhousie University, he specializes in using the em dash too often. Currently, Simon rests his typing hands in Vancouver, Canada. Check out a recent example of his work here.
