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Burn The Map: DIY Podcasting Power with Anika Jackson

Release Date: 07/07/2025

Burn The Map: Herding AIs, Dodging Doom, and the New Ethics of Intelligence w/ Dr. Craig Kaplan

Burn The Map

In This Episode: We sit down with Dr. Craig Kaplan—the guy who was building AI before your favorite “disruptor” learned to tie their shoes. Dr. Kaplan takes us on a wild ride from the OG days of artificial intelligence (when data lived on floppy disks and having a “machine learning” project meant you had actual machines to move) to his current crusade: making sure superintelligence doesn’t wreck the joint for the rest of us. Kaplan lays out what everyone’s too scared—or too clueless—to admit: if you wouldn’t leave your wallet with a random LLM, why are you ready to...

Second Brains, Biometric Socks, and the AI Classroom: Lisa Dieker on the Future of Learning

Burn The Map

“I was the daughter of a mechanic and a librarian—I know a thing or two about fixing things, building things, and making sense of way too much information.” —Dr. Lisa Dieker In This Episode: We talk to Dr. Lisa Dieker about why the future of learning isn’t robots replacing teachers—it’s humans and AI teaming up (with a little extra caffeine and a lot of biometric gadgets thrown in). As the Williamson Family Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas and Director of the FLITE STEM Center, Lisa’s on a mission to hack how we teach, learn, and support every kind of mind...

Burn The Map: Quivers of Legs and Law Changes w/ Brenda Novak

Burn The Map

In This Episode: We talk to Brenda Novak, co-founder of the Connecticut Amputee Network and champion for anyone told they're “too expensive to fix.” Brenda breaks down her wild ride from business school grad to accidental activist, gives us the unvarnished scoop on the cutthroat world of prosthetic coverage (hint: it’s more ‘Shark Tank’ than ‘Grey’s Anatomy’), and shows us that sometimes, you’ve got to pass whole new laws just to get back on your feet—literally. What We Cover: How Brenda and her fellow “pirates” rallied lawmakers to pass legislation making...

Burn The Map: Book People, Broken Systems, and Why Kids Are Getting Dumber w/ Rae Foote

Burn The Map

“If you’re worried your kid hates reading, maybe start by showing them you can sit down with a damn book. Kids do what we do, not what we say.” —Rae Foote In This Episode: We talk to Rae Foote, the unicorn who went from running logistics in military manufacturing (yes, actual missiles) to wrangling the chaos of marketing tech at Hachette Book Group in NYC—all while moonlighting as a champion for children’s literacy. Rae's journey is less “lifelong calling” and more “epic faceplant after faceplant, but make it fashion”—falling into publishing, falling for NYC, and now...

Burn The Map: Joel McKay Smith — Networking Maestro, Rural Champion, and Master of Community Capital

Burn The Map

In This Episode: We talk to Joel McKay Smith—a guy whose “Rolodex” literally stress-tested the Wrench platform—about why real power isn’t in the LinkedIn follower count, but in the relationships you actually maintain. From rural Utah dairy farms to industrial parks, Joel’s journey is a hilarious, head-spinning tour straight through the heart of economic disruption and small-town resurrection. You think you’re a “super-connector”? Please. Joel remembers your name, your birthday, and probably your lactose intolerance from a conversation in 1997, all while masterminding a...

Burn The Map: Ask Me Anything with Dan & Gabi

Burn The Map

In This Episode: We sit down with Gabi Barragan—strategic advisor, organizational change whisperer, and the go-to for real talk about taming the AI beast in business. Gabi ditches the ‘thought leader’ theatrics and gets honest about what it really takes for companies to stop talking about AI adoption and actually get their hands dirty—without blowing the lunch budget on useless software. She walks us through the mess and magic of wrangling data chaos, the power of fierce internal experimenters (yes, she thinks your employees are already using ChatGPT behind your back), and how a little...

Burn The Map: Doors, Data, and Digital Twins with Timber Barker

Burn The Map

In This Episode: We talk to Timber Barker, founder/CEO of BOOM Interactive, about turning flat floor plans into living, AI-powered digital twins—and the not-so-glamorous reality of building the company that does it. From selling his truck to keep the lights on to landing partnerships with NVIDIA and projects with the NBA, Timber breaks down how CoreSpec3D makes the built world actually usable: chat with your floor plan, drop “sticky notes” that act like tasks, render photorealistic options in seconds, and hand first responders a real-time 3D view when things go sideways....

Burn the Map: Are You Even Using Your Data? Drew Phillips on the Realities of Content & Chaos

Burn The Map

“Don’t tell me about your fancy martech stack if you can’t tell me where your own customer data lives. Spoiler: if your dashboards are a mess, your personalization is, too.” —Drew Phillips In This Episode: We talk to Drew Phillips—part globe-trotting data wrangler, part content whisperer—about what actually moves the needle in enterprise content, data integration, and personalization (hint: it’s not a magic vendor pitch or an AI buzzword bingo). Drew reveals the truth behind making content less painful for brands that have more SKUs than most people have socks—and how chaos...

Burn The Map: Home Hacks & Human Hacks for building a Healthier, Smarter World w/ Matt Fischer

Burn The Map

“Building the future is messy—so is your garage, probably. But at least the future will breathe better.” —Matt Fischer In This Episode: We corral Matt Fischer—startup troublemaker, AI obsessive, and the guy who actually uses data for good (no, seriously)—for a whirlwind tour through everything from hacking the smart home to fighting mold, to upending how businesses actually make decisions. Forget the hype-cycle fluff; Matt is deep in the trenches, building tech that might actually keep your kid out of the ER and your boss in business (but hey, don’t get too cozy, bosses:...

Burn The Map: White Collar Hunger Games with Gabi Barragan

Burn The Map

In This Episode: We sit down with Gabi Barragan, Wrench.AI’s Co-Founder and CMO (and, let’s be real, the original “Gabi Filter” for anyone who couldn’t write their way out of a Slack thread). Gabi gets brutally honest about the future of work, why most people are totally unprepared for the AI tidal wave, and the one skillset robots still can’t fake—being a decent human. She and Dan swap war stories about flattening orgs, surviving existential tech dread, and why soft skills are the new power tools. Plus: why your lawyer’s job is toast, how to future-proof your career...

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“Don’t spend $25,000 building a studio before you’ve recorded your first episode. Please. Use your laptop, a good mic, and just get started.” —Anika Jackson

In This Episode:

We talk to Anika Jackson about what it actually takes to go from “hey, let’s start a podcast!” to running a slick, sustainable media machine. She walked through her own scrappy journey—launching Brand Amplified out of her PR agency, turning a side hustle into a business, and learning (sometimes the hard way) that you don’t need a $25,000 studio to get started. What you do need: consistency, a clear sense of why you’re doing it, and a willingness to put in the reps, even if your first few episodes are a little rough around the edges..

We discuss:

How to launch, grow, and monetize a podcast without burning a pile of cash.
The real story behind turning a hobby into a business—spoiler: it’s not glamorous, but it is possible.
Why most podcasters quit too soon, and how to avoid rookie mistakes.
The hidden cost of “doing it all yourself”—and why AI is your new best friend.
How Anika’s DIY approach landed her speaking gigs, teaching gigs, and more guest requests than she can handle (seriously, 100+ waitlist).

Enjoy the episode. This show is brought to you by Wrench.ai.

Guest Bio:

Anika Jackson is a communications maestro with 25+ years in the PR and media trenches. She’s the Executive Director at the ICL Foundation, co-produces USC’s MediaScape series, and is the host of Your Brand Amplified®—a top 1.5% podcast where she cracks open the world of branding, entrepreneurship, and the business of being heard. When she’s not turning chaos into content, you’ll find her teaching grad students at USC, judging the Webby Awards, or wrangling AI tools into service for indie podcasters everywhere.

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People and Organizations Mentioned

Anika Jackson (Guest)
Dan Baird (Host)
ICL Foundation
ICL Academy (online middle and high school)
University of Southern California (USC)
Full Capacity Marketing (Anika’s PR agency)
Maestrix.ai (Guillaume Demortier, Founder)
Ziotag
Simplified
Podgagement
ListenNotes
Webby Awards

Show Notes & Timestamps

00:00 — Why most podcasters quit before they get traction (and how Anika didn’t)
03:00 — Turning a hobby podcast into a business you can actually monetize
06:00 — Building a content backlog: 10 interviews a week, 100+ guests in the queue
08:00 — Why AI tools are a podcaster’s best friend (and which ones actually work)
10:00 — Making your podcast accessible (for real, not just for compliance)
13:00 — Metrics, downloads, and the lies you tell yourself (and your sponsors)
16:00 — The future of podcasting: AI clones, digital personas, and what’s still very, very human
22:00 — Small teams, big impact: How AI is killing middle management and opening up new business models
28:00 — Why every business, big or small, needs an AI-literate workforce
34:00 — Anika’s top 3 tips for launching a podcast (hint: don’t overthink it)
36:00 — Where to find Anika and why LinkedIn is still king

In This Episode:

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Show Notes & Timestamps

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