The Colin and Samir Show

3 Trends Reshaping the Creator Economy in 2026

The first three months of 2026 revealed where the creator economy is actually headed. We broke down the three trends that defined the quarter: the livestreaming explosion and the clipping economy turning fame into an assembly line, AI video hitting mainstream audiences and getting banned at the same time, and the gamification of literally everything — from war to the Oscars. Plus, why the backlash to all of it might be the most important trend of all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

YouTube, Meta and the case of the Infinite Scroll

Apply to Press Publish LA - ⁠presspublish.la [presspublish.la] For years, platforms have operated under one assumption: They aren’t responsible for what happens on their apps. This case challenges that. A jury found YouTube and Meta negligent not for the content on their platforms, but for how those platforms are designed. In this episode, we explore the case, the legal shift it represents, and why it may mark the beginning of a new era for the internet...one where attention comes with responsibility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

He Built an AI Podcast and It Became the #1 Show.

This episode isn’t about AI tools. It’s about what happens when content makes itself. Adam (levy.eth [https://x.com/levychain]) built a fully automated, AI-generated podcast about the Epstein Files. No hosts. No studio. No production team. It became the #1 podcast in the UK, beating ABC News, the BBC, and Audible — and he was doing about 5% of the work. In this episode, Samir sits down with Adam to break down exactly how he built it, what it cost, and what the numbers look like on the other side. But the conversation quickly becomes something bigger — a real-time reckoning with what AI means for the creator economy, for the people who've spent years building audiences by hand, and for what it means to make something worth making at all. They get into: * How Distill became the foundation for a fully autonomous podcast network * Why daily content is the stickiest product in media — and how AI is the only thing that can truly do it * The economics that are breaking open: $1 per episode, profitable at 20 listeners * What the five-minute mark tells us about where audiences are headed * Why AI won't kill creative careers — but will force creators to be radically more honest This is one of the most important conversations we've had on the show. And it's only getting more relevant by the day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Who Is Actually Making Money in the Creator Economy?

COME TO PRESS PUBLISH LA: http://presspublish.la/ The creator economy is projected to reach $43 billion in ad spend this year. But a recent survey found that nearly half of creators make less than $10,000 a year. So where is all the money actually going? In this episode, Colin and Samir break down the economics behind the creator economy — and why so much of the money is concentrating at the top. As major brands shift billions of dollars toward creators, they’re increasingly partnering with a small number of highly organized creators who can deliver large, multi-platform campaigns. We explore: * Why the creator economy is becoming winner-take-most * How Fortune 500 brands are reshaping creator partnerships * Why creators with teams and infrastructure are landing the biggest deals * What smaller creators need to do to compete for brand dollars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

How Markiplier’s $50M Movie Changed Hollywood Forever

Breaking down the success of Markiplier's indie-horror film "Iron Lung" and what it means for creators and Hollywood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]