Best Hobson Media Enterprises Podcasts (2025)

1
FIR #451: Return-to-Office-Obsessed Execs Are Minimizing the Employee Voice 23:41

4d ago23:41

23:41

Leaked audio of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon reveals an executive who has dug in his heels and has no interest in listening to the voice of the employee. In the clip, he essentially tells employees, “My way or the highway.” While the return-to-office mandates don’t represent a majority of businesses, they have been high-profile, as have employee…

1
FIR #450: Senior Leaders Doubt Communicators’ Abilities 20:52

8d ago20:52

20:52

Listen to communicators talk about their impact on their organizations and you would be forgiven for thinking that executives find their communication teams to be indispensable. Recent research says otherwise. As complexities mount in the worlds of business, media, and politics, less than 20 percent of senior executives are confident their communic…

1
FIR #449: Employees’ Use of Shadow AI Surges 13:47

16d ago13:47

13:47

Employees everywhere are using AI to save time and be more productive. The thing is, many of them are using tools their employers have not approved and they’re not telling anyone. Companies are benefiting from this stealth approach to using generative AI, but there are plenty of risks, too. Neville and Shel look at the data and discuss approaches c…

1
FIR #448: Has Night Fallen on Change Management and Enterprise Social Networks? 23:08

23d ago23:08

23:08

Change leadership consultant Caroline Kealey thinks change management is dead. Communication leader Sharon O’Dea thinks Enterprise Social Networking (ESN) is dead. That’s right: It’s time for another installment of “X is Dead.” In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel outline the cases these two communication thought leaders make and offer o…

1
FIR #447: Decisions, Decisions: The Struggle to Communicate in the Age of Ubiquitous Malignancy 1:48:14

26d ago1:48:14

1:48:14

The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer characterized the current communication environment as one infected by grievance. Another commentator claimed that we are living in an age of ubiquitous malignancy. Communicating with a broad audience of stakeholders is especially challenging in this landscape. While the Trust Barometer identifies business as the on…

1
FIR #446: Navigating Grievance — Insights from the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer 19:11

1M ago19:11

19:11

In this short midweek episode, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson unpack the findings of the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, revealing a global crisis of grievance and eroding trust in societal institutions—government, business, media, and NGOs. Key topics include the impact of trust inequality, the rise of hostile activism, and the expectations placed …

1
FIR #445: Media Relations in a Turbulent Media Landscape 24:57

1M ago24:57

24:57

The media landscape is in turmoil. It may not be exactly the turmoil we hear about, though, based on research release in a new Poynter Institute report. For example, it is taken as gospel that “people don’t trust the media,” but a survey finds that’s not necessarily accurate. Local news reporters, for example, are highly trusted, mainly because the…

1
FIR #444: Preparing for Trump 2.0 22:51

1M ago22:51

22:51

Media outlets around the world — and in particular in the U.S. — are strategizing how to cover the incoming Trump Administration. Some are even planning to shift their focus to more soft news in order to retain readers and avoid drawing the president’s ire. We look at the implications for the media relations industry in this short midweek episode. …

1
Secrets of Sex Part TWO with Shaunti Feldhahn & Dr. Michael Sytsma 35:10

2M ago35:10

35:10

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 191 - Secrets of Sex Part TWO with Shaunti Feldhahn & Dr. Michael Sytsma with a special focus on their breakthrough book, Secrets of Sex and Marriage: 8 Surprises That Make All the Difference Most people are curious about sex and would love a few answers. "Are we normal?" "Why isn't my spouse as interested …

1
FIR #443: From RSS to ChatGPT — FIR’s 20-Year Tech Communications Chronicle 52:43

2M ago52:43

52:43

For Immediate Release launched on January 3, 2005. Episode #1 explained what podcasting is, then looked at the role blogs played in the tsunami tragedy in Asia. On our 20th anniversary, Neville and Shel recall FIR’s origins and the many changes the show has undergone in two decades, some significant milestones, memorable moments, some of the challe…

1
FIR #442: Justin Baldoni’s Attack on Blake Lively Explains Why PR is a Dirty Word 19:43

2M ago19:43

19:43

Astroturfing, smear campaigns, social media manipulation, unauthorized release of private information, defamation, character assassination, whisper campaigns, media planting, and gaslighting. These activities are undertaken by the seamiest, most ethically challenged public relations practitioners. While there are far more PR professionals who abide…

1
FIR #441: PR, AI, and Social Media Are All Shook Up 1:29:00

2M ago1:29:00

1:29:00

The world’s biggest PR agency laid off five percent of its global staff. It’s a sign of the headwinds facing the industry, including reduced opportunities for earned media, which is what PR agencies spend a lot of their time trying to achieve. We’ll explore what’s happening in the PR agency world in the long-form FIR episode for December 2024. Also…

1
FIR #440: Experimenting for Influence 17:18

2M ago17:18

17:18

Even when they know it has been rigged, people assign a lot of credibility to experiments. When they see the experiment produce favorable results, for example, potential customers might be more inclined to buy. Experiments can also influence decision-makers in your company — again, even if they assume you put your thumb on the scale. The phenomenon…

1
Secrets of Sex Part ONE with Shaunti Feldhahn & Dr. Michael Sytsma 30:14

2M ago30:14

30:14

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 190 - Secrets of Sex Part ONE with Shaunti Feldhahn & Dr. Michael Sytsma with a special focus on their breakthrough book, Secrets of Sex and Marriage: 8 Surprises That Make All the Difference Most people are curious about sex and would love a few answers. "Are we normal?" "Why isn't my spouse as interested …

1
FIR #439: Agentic AI Tops Digital Trends for 2025 19:53

2M ago19:53

19:53

There is a common thread among many of the predictions and trends posts that typically blossom across the web as the year draws to a close: AI agents are poised to revolutionize (a word we don’t use lightly) work in 2025. The frontier AI models — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Llama, and a few others — have captured imaginations and led to various uses t…

1
FIR #438: Google’s AI Overviews Are Upending SEO 15:51

3M ago15:51

15:51

It doesn’t seem to be a big deal at first glance. A Google AI Overview answers a search query at the top of a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Beneath it, all those traditional links and snippets are still there. However, analyses reveal that many people are reading the AI Overview and calling it quits — they never click a link to visit a website…

1
Blended Family Holiday Challenges - Josh and Kristy Groce 30:29

3M ago30:29

30:29

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 189 - Blended Family Holiday Challenges - Josh and Kristy Groce We're joined by the hosts of the "Couple on Fire" Podcast, Josh and Kristy Groce to gain insights on the best, most effective ways to manage the stressful holiday season with blended families and the challenging schedules that accompany holiday…

1
FIR #437: AI Takes Root in the Workplace 1:31:59

3M ago1:31:59

1:31:59

Research finds that corporations no longer see AI as a novelty; it’s a full-blown business tool, one that is so critical that its development is mostly being done in-house. In the November long-form episode of “For Immediate Release,” Neville and Shel review new research about AI’s place in the business world and among employees. Also in this episo…

1
FIR #436: Nothin’ But Bluesky (and TikTok and Threads and Instagram and WhatsApp…) 22:14

3M ago22:14

22:14

Bluesky — the Twitter-esque social network that has suddenly started attracting refugees from Elon Musk’s X — had its start when Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey asked software engineer Jay Graber to introduce federation to Twitter. She told him she couldn’t, but she could create a new social network based on a new federation protocol called AT, a de…

1
FIR #435: Physical Presence is Not a Collaboration Magic Bullet 19:55

3M ago19:55

19:55

When executives justify their return-to-office mandates, they almost universally cite the collaboration and innovation that result from serendipitous encounters between employees. They also point to the need to boost productivity. The problem with these arguments is that the evidence does not support them. In this short midweek FIR episode, Neville…

1
Crucial Communication Insights for Couples - Bill & Pam Farrel 38:54

3M ago38:54

38:54

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 188 - Crucial Communication Insights for Couples - Bill & Pam Farrel Marriage experts Bill & Pam Farrel share with us their “secret” code that helps them build trust and communication in marriage. ------------ WATCH the Marriage Talk Podcast on our YouTube Channel CLICK HERE for more information on the mini…

1
FIR #434: Podcasts Defeat Mainstream Media in 2024 U.S. Election 20:52

3M ago20:52

20:52

Among the many post-election analyses flooding media channels are reports that mainstream media and social media wielded far less influence than they have in the past. Instead, influencers and podcasts held sway. In this short midweek FIR episode, Neville and Shel break down the reports and discuss the impact on communicators far beyond the electio…

1
Building Love In Sickness And Health - Bill & Pam Farrel 34:20

4M ago34:20

34:20

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 187 - Building Love In Sickness And Health - Bill & Pam Farrel Bill and Pam Farrel, authors of "Men are like Waffles Women are like Spaghetti," share their journey of building love and drawing closer together as they navigate Pam’s battle with cancer. More from the Farrel's ministry: https://www.love-wise.c…

1
FIR #433: Something Old, Something New 1:32:17

4M ago1:32:17

1:32:17

Blogs have been with us for 30 years, which qualifies as “something old.” In this long-form episode of FIR for October, we’ll examine the state of the oldest social media category. We’ll also examine the state of generative Artificial Intelligence, which has been around, for all practical purposes, since November 2022, which makes it “something new…

1
FIR #432: The CEO Authenticity Balancing Act 18:41

4M ago18:41

18:41

CEOs and other senior executives are increasingly expected to nurture a presence on social media—especially LinkedIn, which has seen a 35-percent increase in C-suite professionals in the U.S. over the last five years. These executives are also expected to be authentic in their online engagements, even sharing some details of their personal lives. P…

1
Your Guide To Arguing Properly 24:33

4M ago24:33

24:33

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 186 - Your Guide To Arguing Properly Dr. Gary Smalley had some great tips for couples when they argue. They are: 1. Don’t escalate the argument. This seems simple enough, but we all do it. So, next time you start to argue, step back, take a deep breath and count to 10. 2. Don’t withdraw from the argument. D…

1
FIR #431: The Evolution of Influence 19:55

5M ago19:55

19:55

In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel dive into PRWeek’s “The Evolution of Influence” report, exploring the dynamic shifts in how public relations professionals exert influence in today’s fast-changing landscape. We break down the seven key themes revealed by the survey, including the growing challenges of decentralization, the increasing…

1
Blended Family Challenges and Insights - Josh and Kristy Groce 31:18

5M ago31:18

31:18

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 185 - Blended Family Challenges and Insights - Josh and Kristy Groce We're joined by the hosts of the "Couple on Fire" Podcast, Josh and Kristy Groce to hear their story of becoming a blended family and the challenges and blessing connected to that family formation. More info: joshandkristy.com/ -----------…

1
FIR #430: Influencers, Memes, and AI Boost Marketing Transparency Mandate 1:22:23

5M ago1:22:23

1:22:23

Much of the content in this monthly long-form episode of FIR spotlights rising trends in marketing, including employee influencers, Gen Z’s rising power as influencers, the role of influencers in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, and AI’s growing presence in the marketing space. All of this is raising alarms about the need for marketers to be tr…

1
FIR #429: Fake Podcasters Discuss Real Debunkbot 13:18

5M ago13:18

13:18

Debunkbot was designed to talk people out of their beliefs in conspiracy theories — and it works. To discuss this remarkable chatbot, we turned to PDF2Audio, which creates an audio podcast discussion (or summary or lecture) from any uploaded PDF. It’s not Google’s NotebookLM, which features a similar capability within a more robust note-keeping too…

1
FIR #428: Which AI Tool Is Best For What? 19:46

5M ago19:46

19:46

Edelman, the global PR agency, has vetted the current crop of AI tools, winnowing out those not enterprise-ready, categorizing them, and identifying those that excel at various tasks. Given the dozens (if not more) of new AI tools that appear every day, this can be a big help to overwhelmed communicators who can’t take the time to try out every app…

1
FIR #427: The Metaverse Lives! Just Don’t Call It The Metaverse. 18:28

6M ago18:28

18:28

When OpenAI released Chat GPT 3.5 in November 2022, conversations about virtually any other technology were sucked into the vacuum of space. Venture capitalists and other investors shifted priorities overnight, sinking billions into Gen AI and often turning their backs on other endeavors. That and the colossal failure that is Meta’s Horizon Worlds …

1
FIR #426: We’ve Got Your Share of Model Right Here 15:43

6M ago15:43

15:43

“Share of model” refers to the frequency or prominence with which a particular brand, keyword, or phrase appears in an LLM’s responses to user prompts relative to competing brands or related terms. It measures how often and favorably an LLM mentions or discusses a specific entity or concept in its outputs. Marketers and PR practitioners were accust…

1
FIR #425: Stand Up, Stand Out, or Shut Down? 1:36:08

6M ago1:36:08

1:36:08

The desire to stand out has declined significantly over the last 20 years, according to a new study. That has serious implications for society, business, and communicators. Meanwhile, shutting off comments on your social media channel could have worse repercussions than putting up with comments you don’t want to see. Also in this episode, The fediv…

1
FIR #424: The Rise of the Hybrid Communication Officer 20:11

6M ago20:11

20:11

As we reported nearly a year ago, communication’s influence is growing among organizational leadership. However, in many companies, executive acceptance of communication may be taking a worrisome turn as additional responsibilities are being tacked onto the communication role, including sustainability and DEI. Is this because some companies see a n…

1
FIR #423: As Op-Eds Fade into History, Where Does Thought Leadership Belong? 15:52

6M ago15:52

15:52

Op-eds pay off. According to one analysis, New York Times opinion articles get 37 percent more readers than the newspaper’s general news coverage. Wall Street Journal op-eds attract 571 percent more readers than its general news. (That’s not a typo. Five hundred seventy-one percent.) However, more and more news outlets are shuttering their opinion …

1
FIR #422: Will AI Kill the Consulting Billable Hours Model? 18:41

6M ago18:41

18:41

Neville and Shel both spent time at a global Human Resources consulting firm in addition to their long tenures as independent consultants. At the core of all consulting is the labor-intensive work that takes time, and time is money. Every consultant has an hourly billable rate, and even when quoting project fees, those fees are based on the hours r…

1
FIR #421: GenAI Is Paying Off for Individual Employees 25:59

7M ago25:59

25:59

The End of the Generative Artificial-Intelligence Bubble The End of Investors’ Generative AI Honeymoon Will Generative AI Really Pay Off? Generative AI Seed Funding Drops 76% As Investors Take A Wait-and-See Approach Is Generative AI Worth the Investment? These are all headlines from the last several weeks suggesting, as Gartner believes, that gene…

1
Is Your Wife A "Weaker Vessel" Or Fine China? 22:49

7M ago22:49

22:49

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 184 - Is Your Wife A "Weaker Vessel" or Fine China? 1 Peter 3:7 reads, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker vessel and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” Th is is perhaps one o…

1
FIR #420: How Well Did CrowdStrike Handle Its Crisis Communications? 1:25:59

7M ago1:25:59

1:25:59

A faulty software update caused the biggest IT outage in history, affecting everything from commercial airline flights to hospitals. The crisis communication demands on CrowdStrike were enormous. How well did the company acquit itself? Neville and Shel look at the company’s response and share what some crisis experts have said. Also in this episode…

1
FIR #419: Is Shadow AI an Evil Lurking in the Heart of Your Company? 14:25

7M ago14:25

14:25

The headline is a bit dramatic but it was hard to pass up the “Shadow” reference. In fact, Shadow AI refers to employees covertly using generative AI tools at work without IT, HR, and other departments knowing about it. A recent report found vthat 27.4% of the content employees fed into AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini was sensiti…

1
FIR #418: These Are Our Rock-Solid Beliefs — Unless You Don’t Like Them 15:43

7M ago15:43

15:43

For years, Tractor Supply has touted its values and how firmly it has committed to them, as demonstrated by the fact that the Tennessee-based retailer recently set new targets, having already met the ones it established in 2018. But a vitriolic campaign by a right-wing podcaster led the company to summarily abandon those values, leading some employ…

1
FIR #417: As AI Adoption Grows, Is Share of Model the New Metric? 13:36

7M ago13:36

13:36

Share of voice, share of search, share of conversation—brands are forever measuring their share in whatever space they want to dominate. Now that people are seeking answers from generative AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, brands will need to know whether they show up in the responses these models deliver. There is already a proposal to c…

1
Is The Perfect Marriage Pure Fiction? 25:33

7M ago25:33

25:33

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 183 - Is The Perfect Marriage Pure Fiction? Is there such a thing as the perfect marriage? The spouse God gave us is all we will ever need in our marriage. Satan will try to get you to believe that there is someone “better” out there, but don’t be fooled, we’re all fallen creatures that have scars and pasts…

1
FIR #416: No Likes, No Follows, No Stress! 18:41

8M ago18:41

18:41

Maven is a new social network that eschews likes and follows — the features of other social networks that induce stress and anxiety in users who feel compelled to grow their numbers rather than have meaningful conversations. But if brands can’t build a follower base or measure engagement on their posts, is there a use case for establishing a presen…

1
FIR #415: A Staggering Failure of Leadership and Communication 16:55

8M ago16:55

16:55

The UK Post Office scandal is a stark example of leadership and communication failures. When a faulty computer system was implemented, it erroneously flagged financial discrepancies, leading to the wrongful conviction of numerous subpostmasters for theft and false accounting. Instead of addressing the software’s errors, the Post Office’s crisis com…

1
FIR #414: Companies Treat Remote/Hybrid Like It’s Temporary. It’s Not. 18:17

8M ago18:17

18:17

Organizations need to adopt policies and communication strategies based on the acknowledgment that remote/hybrid work is here to stay. The current state of play is rooted in an assumption that it’s temporary, creating tensions between workers and leaders and leaving pre-pandemic company cultures in shambles. In a survey conducted jointly by the Int…

1
Healthy Marriage, Healthy Church 22:57

8M ago22:57

22:57

Welcome to the Marriage Talk Podcast - Ep 182 - Healthy Marriage, Healthy Church is an empowering initiative aimed at strengthening both individuals and church communities through the power of healthy marriages. This transformative program emphasizes the profound impact of strong marital relationships on the overall well-being of families and congr…

1
FIR #413: AI Is Coming for Copywriters 20:43

8M ago20:43

20:43

We are told, “AI won’t take your job.” Instead, “Someone who knows how to use AI will take your job.” Tell that to the scores of copywriters who have already lost their jobs to generative AI. With ChatGPT and its competitors in the frontier LLM space being used to write more than anything else, agencies and organizations are figuring out how to cra…

1
FIR #412: Don’t Let the Door Hit You on Your Way Out 1:29:01

8M ago1:29:01

1:29:01

You work for one of the biggest consulting firms in the world. You’ve been told that taking a voluntary separation package from the company is in your best interest. When you agree (not that you had much choice), you’re asked to sign an agreement that not only won’t you disparage the company, but you’ll use the language provided to you to let your …

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