Travel planning shouldn’t feel like a part-time job. We sit down with Eni and Dianni, the founders of Travel Spoken, to unpack how they’re turning authentic travel stories into bookable, voice-led itineraries that save time, money, and headaches. From their first trip together to the decision to become travel agents, they share how living the pain—spreadsheets, tabs, group chats, misleading photos—led them to build a social-first platform where real videos and voice notes map directly to flights, hotels, and activities you can trust.

We dig into the AI layer powering their approach: a voice-first agent that understands natural language, asks smarter follow-ups, and rearranges plans to cut transit time and avoid common pitfalls. Think domain-tuned models, accurate transcription, and itinerary logic that accounts for weather, distance, and local context. They also detail the cities they’re launching first—New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, and London—so travelers can discover credible content and book with confidence.

Monetization gets a clear, refreshing treatment: standard commissions without hidden fees, a subscription for premium features, and revenue share for creators whose content drives bookings. There’s a B2B lane, too, giving small agencies and busy agents modern rails to serve clients faster. We talk candidly about the hard parts—accreditation, distribution partnerships, and customer support that stays human when it matters. Along the way, you’ll hear practical advice for student founders on choosing problems worth your grit and building momentum that outlasts setbacks.

If you care about smarter travel, authentic content, and AI that actually reduces friction, this conversation will hit home. Subscribe, share with a friend who plans every group trip, and leave a review telling us which city you want to see on Travel Spoken next.

This podcast is proudly sponsored by USC Annenberg’s Master of Science in Digital Media Management (MSDMM) program. An online master’s designed to prepare practitioners to understand the evolving media landscape, make data-driven and ethical decisions, and build a more equitable future by leading diverse teams with the technical, artistic, analytical, and production skills needed to create engaging content and technologies for the global marketplace. Learn more or apply today at https://dmm.usc.edu.

Search isn’t broken, it’s louder—and that changes how we win. Steven Schneider, founder and CEO of TrioSEO, joins us to break down why Google’s results feel crowded, how LLMs surface authentic takes, and why classic formats like listicles and “X vs Y” pages are quietly outperforming generic blogs. We get tactical fast: building tight topical clusters for a single ICP, writing honest competitor comparisons that LLMs actually cite, and using accessibility and voice search to widen the funnel while lowering risk.

Steven pulls back the curtain on his path from building and selling affiliate sites to leading a 45-client agency through market shocks like COVID, Amazon’s affiliate cuts, and product review updates. We dig into the pricing mindset—when to undercharge to earn proof, when to say no, and how to spot red-flag clients. Then we connect SEO to revenue with interactive assets: calculators, benchmarks, and quizzes born from keyword research that convert curious readers into qualified leads. It’s a practical blueprint for turning attention into pipeline.

We also explore how UGC and micro-influencers amplify trust, why embedding real video into written guides boosts engagement, and how personal branding acts as an SEO flywheel on platforms like LinkedIn and X. Steven’s take is clear: in a world where AI can churn out words, authority comes from useful, honest, and accessible experiences that help people decide. Subscribe, share with a teammate who needs an SEO reset, and drop a review to tell us which tactic you’ll test first.

This podcast is proudly sponsored by USC Annenberg’s Master of Science in Digital Media Management (MSDMM) program. An online master’s designed to prepare practitioners to understand the evolving media landscape, make data-driven and ethical decisions, and build a more equitable future by leading diverse teams with the technical, artistic, analytical, and production skills needed to create engaging content and technologies for the global marketplace. Learn more or apply today at https://dmm.usc.edu.

The ground is moving in media, but not the way the headlines scream. We sat down with journalist-turned-AI strategist Pete Pachal to map the real shifts: where models help, where they harm, and how to build resilient workflows that amplify human judgment instead of replacing it. Pete draws on years across top newsrooms to explain why reporting still hinges on trust and access, while research, formatting, and distribution are ripe for automation.

We compare models by job-to-be-done: ChatGPT for deep, iterative research with memory and web access; Claude for quick, clean drafts with minimal prompting. Then we get into policy: how to define “AI slop,” why many outlets draw a red line on machine-written copy, and what mature co-authoring looks like in practice. Think sports recaps, earnings briefs, and tightly scoped beats—edited, verified, and disclosed. The goal isn’t free words; it’s freeing reporters to chase consequential stories.

Beyond the newsroom, we explore the business model hiding in plain sight: own your corpus. Vetted archives can power branded agents, internal research tools, and licensing deals without handing over raw IP. We also tackle creative domains. Music is nearing a viable licensing marketplace for synthetic style and voice, while video remains an assistive tool for b-roll, packaging, and multi-format distribution. For PR teams and small businesses, Pete lays out a playbook to build a critical, not flattering, AI thought partner that scores guests, audits competitors, and stress tests strategy at a fraction of old costs.

If you’re serious about journalism, comms, or digital strategy, this conversation gives you a clear map: where to insert smart human oversight, which tools to use for which tasks, and how to turn your content into a durable asset. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review to help more media pros find practical guidance that actually works.

This podcast is proudly sponsored by USC Annenberg’s Master of Science in Digital Media Management (MSDMM) program. An online master’s designed to prepare practitioners to understand the evolving media landscape, make data-driven and ethical decisions, and build a more equitable future by leading diverse teams with the technical, artistic, analytical, and production skills needed to create engaging content and technologies for the global marketplace. Learn more or apply today at https://dmm.usc.edu.