The Snarketing Podcast

Hosted by Matt Wurst, Valerie Vespa

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Episodes

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-US

About the show

The marketing and advertising ecosystem is ripe for disruption. But co-hosts Valerie Vespa and Matt Wurst aren't going to do that. Instead, these longtime industry veterans will highlight some of the fun, interesting, weird, and ridiculous things happening in the space. Presented by PointSymmetry, the podcast welcomes special guests -- a veritable "who's who" of celebrated executives, creatives, leaders & friends -- whose combination of snark and smarts makes every episode a must-listen. Or at least a should-listen.

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60 recent

October 27, 2026Episode 7850 min

Ep 78: Larry Linietsky - iHeartMedia Advisor

Larry Linietsky, Advisor at iHeartMedia and former global head of audio ads for the Amazon DSP, on audio advertising, broadcast programmatic radio, measurement, and why audio is still the most undervalued medium in marketing. Larry has spent 30 years in music, radio and audio tech, and he’s worked just about every seat. Universal Music Group during the Napster years. The launch team behind the iHeartRadio app. Head of digital at Cumulus and Westwood One. Nearly five years building audio advertising inside Amazon’s DSP, connecting Spotify, iHeart, SiriusXM, Global and more. Now, eight days into his return to iHeartMedia after 11 years away, he’s on a mission to make AM/FM radio targetable, addressable and measurable. Val and Matt dig into the Sound Gap, Larry’s name for the distance between how much time people spend with audio and how little ad money follows it. He walks through what Amazon’s data shows when audio runs before video, why radio local sellers are the street fighters of media, and why advertising has become the modern patron of music. Plus: a 35-year friendship that started with a cappella, a High Times softball hat, Billy Joel on 8-track, and a lightning round that ends with a band made up of urologists. The Snarketing Podcast. For marketers, by marketers, talking to marketers, with just a touch of snark.

October 20, 2026Episode 7348 min

Ep 77: Dan Page - TikTok's Global Head of Media and Licensing Partnerships

Dan Page, Global Head of Media and Licensing Partnerships at TikTok, joins Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa to talk Out of Phone, TikTok Radio, and the TikTok Podcast Network on Episode 77 of the Snarketing Podcast. Dan shares the Musical.ly video that got him the comment "get off our platform, dad," why he kept posting anyway, and how that decision led him to TikTok. The conversation covers TikTok's push onto two billion screens outside of mobile, the iHeartMedia partnership behind TikTok Radio, what creators actually sign up for with the TikTok Podcast Network, and why Dan thinks LinkedIn is underrated for creators chasing brand deals. Matt and Val also get Dan's take on podcasts as a content factory, the future of authentication across streaming platforms, and whether TikTok will ever crack TV. For marketers, by marketers, talking to marketers, with just a touch of snark.

October 13, 2026Episode 43 min

Snark Snack 4: Advertising Week Recap (...with a little help from our friends)

Five former Snarketing Podcast guests share their best takes from Advertising Week New York 2026, covering the creator economy, AI in marketing, and what the industry still isn’t saying out loud. Hosts Valerie Vespa and Matt Wurst hand the mic to friends of the show for this special Snark Snack reprise. Tom Morrissy of Noble People points out the irony of debating the future of marketing inside a post-apocalyptic shell of a once-thriving mall. Lucy Markowitz of Vistar pushes back on the idea that anyone can be a creator, because influence requires an audience that actually cares. Justin Hochberg of Dhar Mann Studios argues that follower counts stop mattering past a certain point and that brand position is what sets creators apart. Justin Johnson of Paxos explains why AI will disrupt creators without displacing them. Jaclyn Ruelle, formerly of Papa John’s, asks who is actually teaching marketers how to use AI. Snark Snacks are short minisodes from The Snarketing Podcast, conversations with marketing, media, adtech, and creator economy leaders who say what they actually think.

October 6, 2026Episode 7652 min

Ep 76: Craig Allen - Founder at CALLEN

Craig Allen, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at CALLEN and co-writer of Old Spice's "Smell Like a Man, Man," joins the Snarketing Podcast to talk agency life, AI in advertising, creators, and a mustard brand. After five years at TBWA\Chiat\Day and a decade at Wieden+Kennedy, Craig went home to Austin and launched CALLEN, an independent agency and creative entrepreneurial lab that works for clients and builds its own brands. Dan Wieden told him to put his own name on the door. Accountability, apparently, works better than a clever name. Craig tells co-hosts Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa how a three-day deadline and a single continuous take shaped one of the most quoted Super Bowl campaigns of the century, and why six months to overthink a spot can be its own trap. He explains the difference between getting bored and burning out, and why he feels most creative when he's terrified. Then there's Bijan Mustardson, the gourmet mustard named for NFL running back Bijan Robinson. Craig shares what building a real consumer product taught a room full of ad people about distribution, retail, and the gap between a great idea and a real one. The conversation also covers whether Cannes Lions awards still matter for independent agencies, how project work turns into long-term client relationships, why advertising needs to be fun again, how agencies and creators can work together without brands surrendering their voice, why clients now want proof that work isn't AI, and Craig's honest career advice for young creatives choosing between a big agency and a small shop. Plus a lightning round featuring Old Spice vs. Bijan, Altoids, Skittles, and the most Texas thing about running CALLEN. Hosted by Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa. For marketers, by marketers, with just a touch of snark.

September 22, 2026Episode 7553 min

Ep 75: Dan Clancy - CEO at Twitch

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy joins Snarketing to break down live streaming, the creator economy, and why social media has become antisocial. Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa talk with the NASA scientist turned AI PhD turned Twitch chief about his no-plan career path, Twitch's community-centered approach to entertainment, the end of creator exclusivity deals, brand safety and content moderation on a live platform, AI tools for creators, and why he still livestreams himself every week. Plus: his daughter Savannah, his Coca-Cola habit, and the story behind Twitch's biggest streamer, Kai Cenat. Episode 75 of the Snarketing Podcast, for marketers, by marketers, with just a touch of snark.

September 13, 2026Episode 34 min

Snark Snack 3: iPhone Launch Social Roast and Big Week for the IAB

iPhone Duo jokes as a real-time marketing event... and an IAB forecast bump, all in Snark Snack # 3. Matt and Val break down whether brands newsjacking Apple's foldable launch counts as clever or just fast, then turn to IAB Creator Week and what's really behind the raised ad spend numbers. Short, unscripted, two I's in one episode.

September 1, 2026Episode 7448 min

Ep 74: Adam Puchalsky - President, Blink49 Brand Studio

Branded content isn't a side hustle anymore, it's becoming the main event. Adam Puchalsky, President of Blink49 Brand Studio, joins Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa to break down how brands, creators, and Hollywood are colliding, and why he thinks brands will eventually stand on stage accepting Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys. Adam walks through his path from agency life (JWT, BBDO, UM, Wavemaker) to running Kevin Hart's brand partnerships at Hartbeat, to building Blink49's brand studio from scratch since January 2025. The conversation covers why he calls most branded content "unwatchable garbage," the rise of micro-dramas and why China is already watching more of them than movies, the real story behind "Murder at the Mansion" (yes, an Uber Eats driver solves a murder), and why 2026 is the year of singles and doubles instead of home runs. Marketers, agencies, and anyone trying to understand where entertainment funding is actually headed need to hear this one. For marketers, by marketers, with just a touch of snark.

August 20, 2026Episode 23 min

Snark Snack 2: Bread Baking and Instagram-Making

Snark Snack # 2 isn't the first pancake, but it does start with pancakes and ends with real questions: Do SMBs have to be creators... And are creators becoming production companies? Matt's neighbor is a shoe designer moonlighting as a sourdough baker with his own Instagram following, and it kicks off a genuine back and forth about what it actually takes to run a creator handle like a studio. Short, unscripted, and once again, entirely about food.

August 12, 2026Episode 7346 min

Ep 73: Liane Nadeau - Chief Media & Investment Officer at Digitas North America

Liane Nadeau, Chief Media and Investment Officer at Digitas North America, joins Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa on the Snarketing Podcast to talk networked experiences, the death of channel planning, advertising to LLMs, and the fluid funnel. We get into why sports keeps taking a bigger share of the upfronts, how Digitas converged its direct and programmatic teams years ahead of the pack, and why programmatic was never a channel to begin with. Liane makes the case that context is back, that addressability got confused with targeting, and that too many brands optimized themselves out of growth by chasing the last click. She also breaks down the fluid funnel and the living, liking, loving, loyal framework, why agencies still beat in-housing, and what it actually means to build media for humans and the LLMs deciding what those humans see. Plus a lightning round, an unpaid Dunkin' placement, and a running joke about recording the whole thing in French. For marketers, by marketers, talking to marketers, with just a touch of snark. -- Topics : media strategy, upfronts, sports media, programmatic, retail media, commerce media, AEO, GEO, SEO, AI, LLMs, agency value, in-housing, media measurement, marketing funnel, Digitas, Publicis Groupe.

August 4, 2026Episode 12 min

Snark Snack 1: Highway Mangos and Subway Fortune Cookies

The first "Snark Snack" is here. The off-mic conversations Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa have been having for years, now on the record. Episode 1 riffs on selling mangos in traffic and somehow ends with a fortune cookie side hustle aimed at the sad commuters on the LIRR. Short, unscripted, and exactly what happens when the mic stays on a little longer. New Snarketing episodes every other week, with Snark Snacks "lite bite minisodes" in between.