Pod-Alization: Garry Kasparov Debates NATO / Ukraine; Audio Outperforms Video; Actor Liz Gillies on her F*** Ups

 Chess Champ Garry Kasparov argues that Ukraine should be admitted to NATO

 This week, the nonpartisan debate podcast Open to Debate (formerly, Intelligence Squared) tackles the question: "Should NATO Admit Ukraine?"

Arguing YES is Garry Kasparov, Founder of the Renew Democracy Initiative and former World Chess Champion. He argues that admitting Ukraine would protect the country from further aggression, affirm its sovereignty, and solidify its alignment with the West and the rest of Europe.

Arguing NO is Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations and Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University. He argues that admitting Ukraine would provoke Putin and escalate the conflict, destabilizing the region, and that Ukraine doesn’t yet meet NATO’s standards regarding military capability, political stability, and commitment to democratic values.

Currently, NATO has 31 member countries and there are four countries that have declared their desire to join the alliance, which includes Ukraine. Over the years, Ukraine has sought to move away from Russia's sphere of influence and align itself more closely with the West. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, a record 82 percent of Ukrainians support joining the alliance. Ukraine formally announced a bid for fast-track membership in September 2022. 

Did Kasparov checkmate Kupchan with his arguments? Find out if Kasparov used his favorite chess opening -- the Sicilian Defense with the Najdorf Variation.

Listen to the full episode at the Open to Debate website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get podcasts.

 

Audio Ads beat Video Ads in new study

 Audio Ads Outperform Video for Attention and Brand Recall was the head snapper of a headline in last week’s Advertising Age. Dentsu, one of the world’s largest media agencies, released a historic, first-ever study of media attentiveness that compared podcasts and AM/FM radio ads with all manner of visual ads.

This week’s Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® blog highlights findings from the Denstu study, as well as multiple other studies done over the past few years on attentiveness.  

• Over the last five years, a series of studies from the IAB, MARU/Matchbox and ABX reveal audio platforms and ad formats lead in consumer concentration with the lowest ad skipping    
  
  
• Massive ABX creative effectiveness study of TV and AM/FM radio ads reveals “sight, sound, and motion” superiority is a myth: AM/FM radio creative effectiveness is 92% of TV at one-fourth of the CPM  
  
  
• Attention is important: The more time ads are seen or heard, the greater the sales conversion  
   
• AM/FM radio and podcast ads have the highest attentiveness of all media formats, surpassing online display, online video, social, and TV  
   
• Attention cost per thousand: Podcasts are more efficient than TV and many digital platforms; AM/FM radio is by far the most cost-effective medium  
  
  
• AM/FM radio is extraordinarily cost-effective 
  

 Another celeb confesses that they F***ed UP

This week’s new episode of Interval Presents’ ‘Yeah,
I F***ed That Up,’ with actress and singer special guest Liz Gillies was just released.

In this episode, host Billy Mann chats with Liz about
some of the biggest blunders from her decades-long career, and how self-sabotage has held her back.

 Episode Highlights: 

 6:17 Liz talks about some early audition failures, including
for Slime Time Live on Nickelodeon and for The Grinch on Broadway.

9:46 Liz talks growing up on TV during Victorious and how it
impacted her: “The greatest challenge for me at that time was just growing up on TV and having to watch myself on TV throughout that entire thing because it affected everything, it affected what I let myself wear on the show, my character, it affected the faces I made, because I would start watching the show and go ‘oh my god,’ because it's a comedy, and you should never think that, but I was changing in real time into an adult from a kid/ teenager and I didn’t
have the privacy of my life, I had to do it on TV in super HD with acne and that was really difficult for me.”

13:36 Liz recounts her biggest regret: messing up her chance
to collaborate with her musical idol, Carly Simon, “This is where it gets really sad. So she sent me these lyrics, she sent me Carly Simon lyrics, she literally was like ‘Here I have these, put some music to them, write something, write something to it.’ At that time, I wasn’t as comfortable on piano as I am now, and I completely choked. I choked, I would look at them every single day and I thought to myself, ‘I will never be able to write anything that’s good enough to send Carly Simon.’ There’s nothing I’d love to avoid more than disappointing her with her wonderful lyrics, and I let every day pass by. I never did it. I think I even emailed one time, ‘I just need a little more time.’ And she was like ‘Yeah, cool, whatever.’ I ended up finally saying, I don’t even know what I said, I must have said something horrible [...], I said something along the lines of ‘Didn’t do it, can’t do it,’ or something. Then she said, ‘Send my lyrics back to me.’ [...] What a fail.”

19:27 Liz explains the inner turmoil she faces between
prioritizing her music and her acting careers

27:03 Liz shares her advice for people who have hit their
lowest of lows, from owning your failures, to trying something new and resisting the urge to beat yourself up over a mistake 

 This is a terrific podcast. You don't find too many shows in media where celebrities discuss mistakes, miscues, or downright screw-ups.

This week's recommendations:

 Open to Debate

 Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group®

Yeah, I F***ed That Up,