It’s a new week, so we have some fresh, new stories that’ll blow your minds. Case in point: the advocacy group Catholic Answers rolled out an AI chatbot called “Father Justin” to help answer questions about the faith. One problem: the chatbot eventually believed that it actually was a real priest living in Assisi, Italy, that offered to take people’s confession. The chatbot has since lost its title of “Father.”

In other news… YouTube makes video podcasts a hit, the NBA prepares for a media rights battle, and Drake deletes his latest diss track.

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• YouTube – Clipped

• X (Twitter) – Letterboxd

• Google – Nicole Kidman

• Reddit – Kevin Hart

• TikTok – “Play That Funky Music” - Wild Cherry 

• Spotify – “All I Want Is You” - The Decemberists

.ENTERTAINMENT.

YouTube’s success incentivizes podcasters to get in front of the camera

The Future. Video podcasts are blowing up in popularity among Gen Zers, especially on YouTube. That’s forced creators of what’s typically been a cheaper-to-produce form of media to spend more getting camera-ready. But with the ability to charge more for advertising — and YouTube potentially showing more ads — the podcasting industry may soon see supercharged revenue growth.

Audio for your eyes
YouTube is revolutionizing podcasts… by popularizing vodcasts (video podcasts).

• Edison Research found that 16 of the top 30 podcasts last year offered their shows as videos — up from only seven of the top 30 in 2021.

• Many new, high-profile shows, like Power User and What Now? with Trevor Noah, debuted video versions of their podcasts right from the get-go.

• That shift happened as YouTube became the top place for podcast consumption, per NYT, with the platform now holding 28% of the market share.

• And YouTube is making sure it keeps the crown, rolling out a ton of new features that help creators share podcasts and listeners discover new shows.

Long-running interview podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience and Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend have been racking up millions of views with video podcasts for years. Joe Rogan even went non-exclusive with Spotify, presumably because his YouTube viewership is so high.

A part of that popularity, as many creators are now discovering, is that audiences like to see people’s body language during interviews. Sometimes, it’s the awkward shift before answering a question that’s the most interesting.

57.2% of you voted Yes in Friday’s poll: Are you a fan of Disney theme parks?

“If you’re not, you have no soul.”

“I grew up by Disneyland and have very fond memories.”

“They have definitely become outdated. Now that my children are into their teens, we have migrated to the Universal parks. They are more updated and better for us.”

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT WISHEW.

The world’s greatest “wish-granting machine” is finally here

No, it’s not a genie in a bottle, or even some fairy godmother…

Introducing Wishew, the world’s first “wish-granting” social media app (launching today for World Wish Day)!

Wishew connects dreamers across the globe to support each other’s wishes through donations, friendship, and community support. 
(It’s like if a crowdfunding platform and your fave social media app had a baby.)

Share personal stories, make new friends, and yes, even fund your dreams. Are you ready to spread positivity and change the world, one wish at a time?

Download Wishew now and join the movement.

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Drake has removed the diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle” from streaming and social media platforms after Tupac Shakur’s estate sent a cease-and-desist letter for using a deepfake of the late rapper. [Read More]

• Bob Bakish is expected to step down as the CEO of Paramount Global as early as today amid Skydance’s in-the-works takeover of the entertainment conglomerate. [Read More]

• Universal Music Group is releasing a new Johnny Cash album of unreleased, original tracks after the estate brought in popular acts like Vince Gill and The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach to help finish songs. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• Michelin Guide, the organization behind the famous Michelin Stars for restaurants, awarded its first hotel-focused Michelin “Keys” in the US. [Read More]

• The EU has designated Shein as a “very large online platform,” meaning that it’ll be subject to stricter regulations under the Digital Services Act. [Read More]

• Stripe will allow merchants to accept stablecoins like USDC as a form of payment. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• AI figureheads, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Google’s Sundar Pichai, are joining a federal AI advisory board to consult on how the tech can be used in American infrastructure. [Read More]

• A federal investigation into Tesla by the NHTSA found that the automaker’s Full Self-Driving and Autopilot features “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task,” which led to several fatal collisions. [Read More]

• Boeing is set to launch its first human astronauts aboard its Starliner spacecraft on May 6th. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• ByteDance would reportedly rather shut down TikTok in the US than sell the platform if its legal fight against a ban fails. [Read More]

• Snap’s stock shot up 21% after the company reported surprising revenue, user, and engagement growth. [Read More]

• Chad Wild Clay and Vy Qwaint, the minds behind the Spy Ninjas YouTube channel, built a Spy Ninjas-branded adventure park in Las Vegas — the first of its kind based on YouTube IP. [Read More]

.SPORTS.

NBA media rights turn into a streaming showdown

The Future. The rights to show NBA games after the 2024-2025 season is entering the playoff season, with Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Amazon, and YouTube all duking it out. Ironically, these companies are set to bid on fewer games (as the league spreads them across more platforms)… but the price for the rights may still reach record highs as they become the clincher for streaming growth.

The steaming score
The competition for the NBA’s media rights is heating up.

• Disney’s ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT currently hold the deals (which they pay $1.6 billion and $1.2 billion per year for, respectively), and they’ll be fighting tooth and nail to keep as many games as they can.

• That’s because both companies are looking to shore up content for their new, sports-focused streaming platforms (and a new super-app) and give them bargaining power for pay-TV distributors like Charter and Spectrum.

• But Amazon and YouTube are also in the mix, hoping to carve out a streaming package of games, similar to how both companies have done with the NFL… setting the stage for a full takeover down the line.

But don’t rule out NBCUniversal, which could be the dark horse as it looks to bring games to NBC Sports and Peacock. If the Olympics score record viewership, it could become a favorite player.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT QUARTZ DAILY BRIEF.

Stay cool with the global economy

If you ask us, it’s totally worth keeping an eye on the industries that define the zeitgeist and the economy.

The Quartz Daily Brief makes that easy.

Their no-cost newsletter delivers an interesting analysis of all the forces that influence the global economy. And it’s not a drag to read.

See why half a million business professionals trust it — sign up here.

• Read: Vulture dives into the enormous undertaking of organizing the “Netflix Is A Joke” comedy festival, which features 400 comics across three dozen venues in LA over the course of 12 days.

• Listen: Deadline chats with Jimmy Fallon to toast to 10 years of making The Tonight Show.

• Watch: With a little help from a drone, WSJ examines how an iPhone can survive falling from a plane but break when you drop it from your hands.

Reid interviews Reid AI — welcome to The Twilight Zone.

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Today we get into the potential super-merger between Paramount and Sony, how Gen Z might just be the "tool belt generation", and new legislation in Colorado that's preventing tech companies from selling your brain data.