WHCD, the Media, and Covering Trump (with Ben Smith)

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Society & Culture, Politics, Government

4.8 • 32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ben Smith, the former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News and co-founder of Semafor, joins Preet to discuss today’s media industry, covering the news, and his latest venture.Then, Preet answers listener questions on preemptive pardons, paternity leave for the Vice President, and…his favorite potatoes.In the bonus for Insiders, Preet and Smith discuss the decline of thoughtfulness, parent-child competition, and the trouble with wanting to be liked.Join the Insider community for access to bonus content from Stay Tuned and weekly episodes of the Insider podcast hosted by Preet and Joyce Vance. Head to cafe.com/insider to sign up. Thank you for supporting our work.Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website.You can now watch this episode! Head to CAFE’s Youtube channel and subscribe.Shop Stay Tuned merch and featured books by our guests in our Amazon storefront.Have a question for Preet? Ask @PreetBharara on BlueSky, or Twitter with the hashtag #AskPreet. Email us at staytuned@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail.Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, welcome to stay tuned.
0:05.8	I'm Preet Bharara.
0:08.6	I mean, I do think that he's gone, I mean, obviously over the long arc of it from being seen as a joke and kind of an entertaining side show figure running for president to obviously being the most consequential political figure of our lifetimes and this enormously important
0:21.4	historical figure, whether you like it or not.
0:30.1	Welcome to stay tuned. I'm Preet Bharara. My guest this week is Ben Smith. He's a longtime journalist,
0:42.5	the former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, and the co-founder of News Platform Semaphore.
0:47.9	He joins me to discuss today's media industry covering the news and his latest venture.
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1:55.5	Where does the media stand today on questions of objectivity,
1:59.5	AI news gathering,
	...

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