The Study Hall Podcast

Fortesa Latifi is a senior writer for Yahoo News. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Latifi discusses her new book "Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online."  The book chronicles the rise of mom influencer content. Latifi shares insight her reporting process. She also offers a nuanced assessment on the risks of family influencers. 

More info about "Like, Follow, Subscribe" : htt...

Kate Wagner is the architecture critic at The Nation. She also runs the blog "McMansion Hell." In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Kate chats about the significance of McMansions, President Trump's tacky design choices, 1880s/1980s, gilded palaces, Saudi Arabia's failed future city, Iranian architecture, and gentrification. 

Subscribe to "McMansion Hell":  https://mcmansionhell.com/

More info about Study Hall: st...

Miles Klee, senior writer at Wired, chats about his reporting on Meta, social media addiction, AI, and  internet culture. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Klee discusses how he translates niche internet stories for a broader audience.

Works Cited:

-https://www.wired.com/story/the-tesla-influencers-leaving-the-cult/

-https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-speaks-incel-now/

-https://www.wired.com/story/mark-zuckerbe...

Jamie Hood's writing has appeared in The Drift, Bookforum, The Nation, and numerous publications. She is the author of How To Be A Good Girl: A Miscellany and Trauma Plot: A Life. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Hood discusses the process of writing her memoir, the survivor narrative, personal essays in the post- #MeToo era, and the confessional form.

More info about Trauma Plot: https://bookshop.org/p/books/trau...

Cale Weissman is one of the worker-owners of Gourmet, a food magazine that has been recently revitalized. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Weissman chats about the return of Gourmet. He also discusses food content, restaurant coverage, worker-owned outlets, and aesthetically unappealing, albeit delicious, recipes. 

More info about Gourmet: https://gourmetmagazine.net/

More info about Study Hall: studyhall.xyz 

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Daniel Kolitz's reporting has appeared in Harper's, The Nation, The Atavist, and numerous other publications. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Kolitz shares the inside story about his viral Harper's article and discusses what it's like to "go gonzo." Kolitz also shares insight into earning a source's trust and offers a nuanced take on narratives about Gen Z/millennials.

Works Cited:

-https://harpers.org/archive/20...

Liam Scott's reporting has appeared in The Nation, Columbia Journalism Review, and numerous other outlets. He currently writes a newsletter for The Washington Post on press freedom. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Scott discusses his reporting on Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong-based publisher who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison. Apple Daily, Lai's newspaper, published content in favor of the 2019 pro-democra...

Natan Last's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Drift, The New York Times, and Los Angeles Review of Books. He also writers the bimonthly crossword puzzles for The New Yorker. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Last chats about his new book "Across The Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of Crossword Puzzles."

More info about "Across The Universe": https://bookshop.org/p/books/across-the-universe-the-pas...

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the former editor in chief of The Advocate. She is the of the Holding Space podcast. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Gilchrist talks about the evolution of queer media, her viral moment with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and campy pop culture. 

Check out Holding Space: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holding-space-with-tracy-e-gilchrist/id1866733335

More info about Study Hall: stu...

Tina Vásquez is a features editor at Prism. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Vásquez discusses her work reporting on immigration, ICE raids, and workers' rights. Vásquez also talks about how movement journalism can help restore the public's trust in media and offer more holistic coverage of topics like the immigration system.

Sign up for Vásquez's movement journalism course: https://courses.outvoice.com/products/l...

David Klion is a contributing editor at Jewish Currents and columnist at The Nation. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Klion discusses how Bari Weiss went from a polarizing opinion writer to the editor-in-chief of CBS News. Klion breaks down the origins of Weiss’s reactionary politics and analyzes her plan to transform CBS News.  

Read Klion’s deep-dive into Bari Weiss’s career: https://www.theguardian.com/media/ng...

Elena Sheppard’s writing has appeared in The Cut, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other outlets. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Elena discussed her memoir “The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora”, which traces her family’s history in Cuba. Elena shared insight into the memoir-writing process and how she explored her family’s story. In addition, Elena talked about the dynamic of writing a memo...

Nicolas Niarchos is a reporter with work published in The Nation, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His new book The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth traces the origins of the metals fueling decarbonization. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Niarchos discusses his rigorous research and reporting into the green energy metal supply chain in Congo, Indonesia, ...

Tarpley Hitt is an editor at The Drift. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Hitt discusses her new book Barbieland: The Unauthorized History. The book chronicles the checkered journey of Barbie from a knockoff idea to a global icon. Hitt chats about her rigorous research process and what can be learned from Mattel’s highly litigious history. 

More info about Barbieland: https://bookshop.org/p/books/barbieland-the-una...

Caroline Palmer was the editor of Vogue.com and Director of Editorial, Video, and Social Media at Amazon Fashion. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Palmer discusses her novel Workhorse, which chronicles the heyday of fashion media in the early 2000s. The novel centers around an ambitious editorial assistant who lands a dream job at a prestigious fashion magazine. Workhorse explores the glamor of that era and takes ...

Sofia Quaglia is an award-winning science journalist whose work has been published in The National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, and other outlets. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Sofia chats about how she started reporting on biodiversity and the nuances of translating complex scientific concepts for a mass audience. 

More info about the class Sofia is teaching with Study Hall on J...

Marianne Dhenin is an award-winning journalist whose work has been published in Truthout, Yes! Magazine, The New Republic, and Teen Vogue. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Marianne chats about their Noema Mag report on the history of air conditioning in the Gulf States. Marianne discusses how they use their journalism to illuminate the class implications of climate change issues.

Read the article here: https://w...

Max Tani is the media editor at Semafor and co-host of the Mixed Signals podcast. In this conversation with host Daniel Spielberger, Max discusses the biggest media stories of 2025 and how legacy media can regain its footing in 2026. Max chats about how legacy media outlets are experimenting with AI tools and leveraging the creator journalism model. In addition, Max shares what it’s like covering some of the biggest media stories l...