Announcing BSI's "Defend and Deliver" Podcast

The Brand Safety Institute is proud to announce the Defend and Deliver podcast hosted by BSI Senior Fellow Louis Jones and produced by Elijah Pysyk, BSI Creator in Residence.

The focus of the podcast will be the impact that various forces have on content - and how those impact on the vital relationship between consumers and brands. We’ll interrogate current and emerging topics in technology, digital advertising, consumer consumption, and brand safety. Each episode will equip listeners - especially those in the digital advertising supply chain - with insights to protect corporate reputation, stay in front of trends, and maximize consumer connectivity in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

What We Cover

Louis Jones will interview experts from the advertising industry and beyond on the most pressing challenges in society, technology, and politics that impact media/ advertising - and the consumer connection, including:

• The AI Revolution: How generative AI and agentic traffic are transforming consumer interactions and how the industry thinks about concepts like authenticity, content provenance, measurement, adjacency, and verification.
• Brand Reputation: Moving past simple tools like blocklists into nuanced alignment of where a brand wants to show up and how that aligns with the principles that underlie their brand image.
• The Evolution of the Open Web: How publishers and other content creators should be thinking about the value they create in a world where AI can create content at incredible volume.

“It’s both exciting and an honor to engage these industry and thought leaders on behalf of BSI.", said Jones. "It’s so enlightening to see what factors they believe are influencing the brand and consumer conversation. From different points in the landscape, we explore the history and trends that shape these conversations today - and into the future. I believe you will walk away with valuable insights that help sharpen your focus so you drive meaningful consumer connections.”

Who Should Listen?

Whether you are an advertising professional, a media owner, public policy wonk, or an academic, this show is built for you. We bring on thought leaders to share actionable, real-world data to help you orchestrate informed campaign decisions, with confidence.

Launch Episodes

To get the ball rolling, we have recorded an initial set of four episodes that are available now:

Episode 1: Jeffrey Cole (LinkedIn) - Jeffrey Cole from the USC Annenberg Center for Digital Futures joins Louis and explains how disruption actually happens and why most companies don’t see it until it’s too late. We unpack the pattern behind shakeups like Kodak and Best Buy, why AI starts with fear (unlike the early internet), how ChatGPT challenged Google, and what “seeing is no longer believing” means for trust, news, and the future of advertising.

Episode 2: Rob Norman (LinkedIn) - Louis and Rob Norman discuss the political nature of media ownership, how streaming became the default for long-form video, whether Meta has hit a tipping point on brand safety, the case for YouTube as the single most powerful channel in media, and more.

Episode 3: Vanessa Otero (LinkedIn) - Louis Jones sits down with Vanessa Otero, creator of the Media Bias Chart and founder of Ad Fontes Media, to unpack how a side project became a tool that ad agencies use to decide where brands belong, and why she's now fighting a federal subpoena on First Amendment grounds.

Episode 4: Donnovan Andrews (LinkedIn) - Louis and Donnovan Andrews chart the transformation of the relationship between content and consumers as we learn more about Brand Storytelling and its AI focused expansion.

Where to Watch and Listen

Check out Defend and Deliver on YouTube where you can see new episodes on a monthly basis, watch clips, and explore our archived episodes.