Meet the media insider who makes Succession feel real

Channels with Peter Kafka

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Tv & Film, Business News, News

4.4 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Succession — the HBO drama about a Murdoch-ish family of media moguls — feels authentic thanks, in part, to consultant Merissa Marr. Marr covered the Murdochs and other media titans for years at The Wall Street Journal, and she’s worked with the creative team behind Succession since the beginning. Vox’s Peter Kafka talks to Marr about Succession’s obsession with getting tiny details about Big Media just right; which non-Murdoch moguls influence the show’s depiction of the Roy clan; what happens when art and reality clash — and, of course, some Elon Matsson talk. Featuring: Merissa Marr (@mermarr), media journalist and TV consultant Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In today's fast-changing digital world, proving your company is trustworthy isn't just important for growth, it's essential.
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0:20.3	So whether you're a startup tackling your first
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0:31.8	quicker, easier and more scalable. The results? According to a recent IDC study, Vanta customers slash over
0:40.4	$500,000 a year in costs and are three times more productive. Establishing trust isn't optional.
0:48.7	Vanta makes it automatic. Visit vanta.com slash Voxpod to sign up for a free demo today that's v a mta.com
0:59.2	slash voxpod this is recode media of peter kofka that is me And we've got just one episode left in Succession.
1:12.6	That's the great HBO series. Why am I telling you this? Of course, you know what it is.
1:16.0	It started in 2018. I have never done a Succession episode that I can think of.
1:20.8	So let's fix that with the help of Marissa Marr, a longtime media business reporter who's been
1:25.4	consulting on the show from the very beginning. She's tasked with making the Waystar Royko of it all authentic and believable. Welcome, Marissa. Hello, thank you for having me. Thank you for joining us. I have wanted to talk to you about this since the very first episode when I saw your name of the credits, because I know you. You're a longtime Wall Street Journal reporter or an editor.
1:45.6	You wrote one of my favorite stories of all time.
1:48.3	Boss Zilla, it's about Scott Rudin.
1:50.1	Everyone should go look that one up.
1:51.5	It's from 2005 or 2006.
1:53.8	Okay, so I've given a bit of your bio.
1:56.3	Can you explain what you were doing prior to working on Succession
2:00.3	and how you got this gig?
2:02.7	I was a media reporter and bureau chief at the Wall Street Journal. I was based in Los Angeles and in New York.
2:11.6	I joined the newspaper pre-Murdock and left it post-Murdock.
2:16.5	Rupert Murdoch is the owner of the Wall Street Journal.
	...

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