Great Chat – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Great Chat

Mackenzie Bohannon, Angela Du, Ashley Mayer, Helen Min, & Sally Shin

News

Frequency: 1 episode/9d. Total Eps: 65

A podcast mostly about tech.

Site

RSS

Apple

Data updated on 22/10/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

https://lightningpod.fm/
8 shares
https://lightningpod.fm
5 shares

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 58%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

AI’s Spooky Season

Season 6 · Episode 5

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 • Duration 35:53

Between Anthropic’s soft Q3 and CoreWeave’s meltdown, everyone’s suddenly asking: is AI over? Spoiler: we don’t think so, but it’s going to be a bumpy ride. This week on Great Chat, we dig into IPO timing, the margin question nobody can answer yet, and why early-stage founders seem more optimistic than the late-stage crowd. Plus: Victoria’s Secret’s return to form, Elizabeth Holmes’s redemption arc, and the year’s best corporate security warning. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

Read moreCollapse

What happened to tech’s backbone?

Season 6 · Episode 4

Friday, October 16, 2026 • Duration 46:16

People beyond Silicon Valley used to love the products tech companies made. Now, they feel like AI tools (and data centers) are being shoved down their throats. This week, comms pro Aaron Zamost joins the chat to rant about tech’s reputational decline and leadership vacuum. Maybe what we really need is a spokesperson who is, well…normal (it's a lot to ask). Plus: we debate what has and hasn’t changed since Aaron’s famous “startup clock” essay from 2015, lament the AI to SI rebrands, and dissect Twitter beefs spanning Vinod Khosla and Kelly Clarkson. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

Read moreCollapse

The launch industrial complex

Season 6 · Episode 3

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 • Duration 38:57

In the AI slop era, pre-seed startups are spending real money on cinematic launch videos, renting creator armies, and prioritizing attention over substance. This week on Great Chat, Ashley and Helen ask whether manufactured hype has peaked, what comes next, and how a young startup can actually stand out when everyone is shouting. Plus: what's in a name? We dig into the proposed AI-to-SI name change, discuss AI safety, and debate whether AI can feel. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

Read moreCollapse

What does the tech industry owe San Francisco?

Season 6 · Episode 2

Thursday, October 1, 2026 • Duration 38:18

New York's restaurants are bankrolled by Wall Street money; LA's by Hollywood. So why has tech failed to leave a physical imprint on San Francisco? This week, Ligaya Tichy, founder of New Entity and an early community builder at Yelp and Airbnb, joins the chat to make the case for putting tech wealth to work in brick-and-mortar businesses. We get into San Francisco's evolution from nerd utopia to industry town, why the last generation of tech money didn't make its way to small businesses, and what a modern system of patronage could look like with the AI lab IPOs on the horizon. Plus, Dario's on-camera awkwardness, and Oura's cratering IPO "Readiness Score." Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

Read moreCollapse

Doomers at Dreamforce

Season 6 · Episode 1

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 • Duration 40:14

Great Chat is back in its sixth season with Ashley, Helen, and guest host Taylor Lorenz. We dive into AI assistant wars, Dreamforce, the All In Summit, and Corgi in context. Plus, in our main topic, we break down Dario Amodei's "pacing" essay and discuss who actually benefits from the industry's current storylines. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

Read moreCollapse

Tech's short-term era

Season 5 · Episode 12

Thursday, July 30, 2026 • Duration 42:08

Venture capital used to be the most patient money in finance. So why does it suddenly look like day trading? This week on Great Chat, the group digs into tech’s short-term era: founders leaving their own companies for nine-figure packages, emerging managers pitching early DPI, researchers switching teams, and a YC Startup School that filled Chase Center with mega-church energy. Plus, TK is back, Anthropic loses its aura, and Kalshi had a rough week. An optimistic takeaway: if no reputation is permanent, neither is any failure. Keep swinging. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod

Read moreCollapse

Too big to laugh: how tech lost its sense of humor

Season 5 · Episode 11

Wednesday, July 22, 2026 • Duration 40:30

The tech industry used to be way funnier; there was a whole HBO show about it! Now the timeline is earnest, angry or self-righteous, and rarely self-aware. Comedian Alexis Gay, who spent seven years working in tech and startups, joins the chat to diagnose what happened: tech got too big to be a cottage industry, too powerful to poke fun at itself, and too fragmented to share an inside joke. She also makes the case for why now is exactly the moment for a new Silicon Valley-style show. Plus: the Brian Chesky hack that nobody believes, why buying tech merch hits different than earning it, and the "directionally very bad" mug we all need ASAP. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod

Read moreCollapse

Never follow your heroes (on X)

Season 5 · Episode 10

Friday, July 17, 2026 • Duration 42:41

This week on Great Chat, we grapple with the wave of tech leaders who are trading mystique for distribution and engagement-maxxxing. Is this the new world, and we're just boomers? Probably. But that's not going to stop us from crashing out over it. We also chat about Anthropic's latest model and television commercial, and comms blunders by Phia and 1X. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod

Read moreCollapse

SPVs have a brand problem

Season 5 · Episode 9

Wednesday, July 8, 2026 • Duration 42:04

The SPV drama keeps coming, this time with some new main characters. We break down the public spat between AngelList-affiliated USVC, Anduril co-founder Matt Grimm, and the SPV/fund manager caught in the crossfire. We explore the mounting pressures around deal access and liquidity contributing to the explosion of SPVs, and why SPVs keep taking reputational damage for what's really an incentives problem. Plus: Fable is back (kind of), Angela survived her cruise with a new appreciation for hygiene tech and some notes for Starlink, and we marvel at Taylor Swift’s lockdown on wedding content. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod

Read moreCollapse

Maybe Twitter isn't real life

Season 5 · Episode 8

Thursday, July 2, 2026 • Duration 38:37

This week on Great Chat, The New York Times piece about San Francisco's "struggling" six-figure earners has Helen and Ashley doing the math on their early-20s rent checks. Then: the New York congressional primary results, where the biggest Twitter personalities got the fewest votes (and the guy with no following won??). Ryan Petersen calls remote work "white collar fraud," the internet responds, and it's actually kind of productive? And very sadly, Om Malik passed away at 59, and the outpouring from the tech community was unlike anything we've seen in years. What made him irreplaceable — and what does it mean that we can't imagine who fills that role today? Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod

Read moreCollapse

Great Chat – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Great Chat – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other2

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify