Adam Conover explains how YouTube ruined everything

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Nilay Patel (1:32)

Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Neal Patel, Editor-in-Chief for The Verge and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. Today, I'm joined by comedian, podcast host, and YouTuber, Adam Conover. Adam is a familiar face to anyone who spent time in the Internet. He got his start like so many successful comedy writers at CollegeHumor. That was before he transitioned to cable TV with Adam Ruins Everything, then on to Netflix, and now all the way back to YouTube again, where he posts videos and hosts a podcast called Factually. You'll hear right at the beginning that Adam does not like to be called a creator. He's got a pretty unique perspective on it that speaks to how he sees tech platforms and their leverage over entertainment. We got pretty deep right away about what Adam thinks really happened to the TV business, why Hollywood seeded entire categories of TV programming to YouTube and the chase to become Netflix and HBO. You'll hear him argue that YouTube is in fact a worse gatekeeper than the networks, because you can't actually argue or negotiate with a recommendation algorithm. There's a lot in this one. We're gonna get right into it. I think you're gonna enjoy this conversation. You'll see that I really did. Please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for new episodes every Monday and Thursday.

Okay, comedian Adam Conover on YouTube Gatekeepers and the business of making entertainment online. Here we go.

Adam Conover, you're a comedian, you're a podcaster, you're a YouTuber, you're a board member of the Writers Guild of America West. I'm sure you have additional titles. Welcome to Decoder.

Adam Conover (2:48)

I'm also a stand up comic. That's often how I describe myself. That's sort of my identity as a comedian. But yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm a fan of the show.

Nilay Patel (2:56)

I have so many questions for you about this moment in media and entertainment.

You have a view into all of it.

Live comedy is a thing that is successful in America in 2026, and sitcoms don't exist, which is a video I just watched that you made. There's some disconnect in how we make this stuff, how we distribute the stuff, how we pay for the stuff. And like I said, you have a view into Hollywood, you have a view into television, a view into YouTube. Let's just start at the very beginning. I listed off a bunch of things, and you said you identify as a standup comic. How many roles do you have? How many things do you do?

Adam Conover (3:33)

Okay, so yeah, I'm a standup comic, I'm a comedy writer, I'm a television host, I'm a member leader in the Writers Guild of America. I also now basically run a small business as a YouTube podcaster, which is me. I recently hired my first full-time employee to help me do all the things I do, but beyond that, it's a bunch of freelancers. I'm one of many people trying to make my way in this new massively disrupted media landscape where the companies that used to make media seem intent on destroying themselves, destroying their own businesses, giving up large thwaws of the industry to the tech giants, which are trying to crush us under their heels. So it's an interesting time to be a comedian, to say the least.

Nilay Patel (4:24)

Yeah. I'm interested in all that dynamic between the tech giants and people who make content for those platforms, and Hollywood, let's just call it Hollywood, the Death Star of Hollywood seems as fraught as ever. I want to start with a really basic question. You describe yourself as a YouTuber and a podcaster.