Russ: There’s a company out there actively helping people steal your podcast… and then sell ads against it.
Nadia: This is Nadia.
Russ: And this is Russ.
Nadia: It's Wednesday, October 28th, 2026, and this is Feed Drop.
Russ: We've got three stories from the world of podcasting you need to hear.
Nadia: We're starting with that podcast host letting people straight-up copy your show and cash in on it.
Russ: Then, a new study claims podcast appearances can actually influence voters. I'm... skeptical.
Nadia: And as AI sweeps through Hollywood, the Oscars say they have a plan to keep things human.
Nadia: So let's start there, because this one is wild. Podnews is reporting that the podcast host RSS.com has a feature that lets users clone pretty much any podcast out there.
Russ: Hold on, clone? You mean just copy-paste my entire show onto their platform? Why?
Nadia: They say it's for people who've lost access to their original hosting account and need to recover their feed. But the tool lets you import any show using its public RSS feed, and then—
Russ: And then they can slap their own ads on it. So someone could just take our show, put it on RSS.com, and start collecting cash from ads they inject into our work? That's insane.
Nadia: That's exactly the fear. RSS.com has monetization features built right in. So yes, in theory, someone could re-upload your content and profit from it.
Russ: This isn't a 'recovery tool,' Nadia. This is a piracy toolkit. That excuse sounds like total bull—
Russ: —bull-oney. Total baloney.
Nadia: [laughs] Of course, the company claims they 'strictly prohibit' copyright infringement in their terms of service, but the feature itself is a free-for-all. It’s a classic case of building a tool with some very foreseeable 'unintended' consequences.
Russ: Foreseeable is right. So what can a creator do? Just hope nobody notices their show?
Nadia: Right now, your only real move is to monitor the podcast directories. If a duplicate of your show appears, you have to file a takedown notice. The burden of enforcement is entirely on you, the creator.
Russ: So, congratulations podcasters: you've got a new item for your weekly to-do list. 'Check for clones of my show.' Just fantastic.
Nadia: Alright, let's switch gears to politics. A report highlighted in Podnews suggests podcast appearances are way more influential than we thought.
Russ: Oh, here we go. Every four years someone says podcasts will 'change the election'. What's the stat this time?
Nadia: Well, this survey says one in four likely voters claim a political candidate's appearance on a podcast could change the way they vote.
Russ: One in four? I find that... hard to believe. Are they listening to candidates they disagree with? Or are they just tuning into their favorite political echo chamber to get their opinions reinforced?
Nadia: That's the billion-dollar question, isn't it? The study doesn't say. But the implication for campaign strategy is huge. It suggests that a long-form, authentic-feeling conversation can cut through the noise of 30-second TV ads.
Russ: 'Authentic-feeling' being the key phrase. It's still a performance. It's just a 90-minute performance instead of a 30-second one.
Nadia: Maybe. But it's a format where you can't just hide behind talking points. You get challenged, you have to think on your feet... listeners feel like they're getting the real person, not just the politician.
Russ: So what does this mean for a regular person? Just... be more skeptical when a politician shows up on your favorite comedy podcast?
Nadia: Exactly. And for podcasters, it means you hold a certain amount of sway. If you have an audience, you might be a target for political outreach. Decide what your policy is before the email from 'candidate X' lands in your inbox.
Nadia: And finally, let's talk about Hollywood's favorite new boogeyman: AI. According to Variety, the Oscars are trying to draw a line in the sand.
Russ: Let me guess: 'AI can't win an Oscar.' Groundbreaking.
Nadia: [dry] You pretty much nailed it. Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said the Oscars will always reward 'human excellence' and honor 'human-driven work.'
Russ: Which sounds great, but how on Earth do you enforce that? If an AI helps write the script, or generates a VFX shot, or perfectly de-ages an actor, is that no longer 'human-driven'? Where's the line?
Nadia: And that is the giant gray area. They aren't banning AI as a tool, they're saying the authorship must be human. It's the exact same debate we're having in podcasting. Is using an AI to generate your show notes or clean your audio a problem?
Russ: I say no. If it makes the show better or easier to produce, it's just a tool. It's like arguing you can't use a spell-checker on your script. It's not writing for you, it's just helping.
Nadia: But what happens when the tool gets good enough to do the writing? Or to clone a host's voice, which is already a thing. The Academy is trying to future-proof the meaning of an Oscar, to make sure it remains a celebration of human creativity.
Russ: I get it, but it feels like trying to hold back the tide. So the takeaway is... what? AI is coming, but don't expect it to win any little gold statues just yet?
Nadia: That's about the size of it. And for us in audio, it's a prompt to think about our own standards. Where do we draw our own lines on using AI in our work? It's a question every creator is going to have to answer.
Russ: So, to sum up: one podcast host is making it disturbingly easy to clone your show and run ads on it.
Nadia: Podcasts have become a new political battleground, with a quarter of voters saying an appearance could change their vote.
Russ: And the Oscars are trying to figure out how to stay human in an AI world, a problem we're all about to face.
Nadia: So, before we go... what are you actually listening to this week, Russ? Something human, I hope?
Russ: [laughs] Yes, very human. I've been hooked on a show called 'The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong.' It's about all the bizarre, hilarious, and terrifying ways we've misunderstood the world throughout history. The research is incredible, and it's all done by one guy. No AI in sight.
Nadia: A history of getting things wrong. That feels appropriate for today. And that's our show for Wednesday, October 28th.
Russ: Thanks for listening to Feed Drop. We'll be back tomorrow — and we promise it'll actually be us, not our AI-generated, ad-supported clones.
This show is made with AI: the hosts’ voices are synthetic and the scripts are AI-assisted. Every story links to its original source.