{"podcast":{"title":"Communication Breakdown","slug":"communication-breakdown-7019931","podcast_index_feed_id":7019931,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/6301456/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://ocrnetwork.com/podcasts/communication-breakdown","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/bb1654c4c2ff3f77a3c1f292f51b3d52.jpg","author":"Observatory on Corporate Reputation LLC","episode_count":86,"summary":"Communication Breakdown is a postgame show for PR pros. In each episode, hosts Craig Carroll (Founder of the Observatory on Corporate Reputation, Editor of the SAGE Encyclopedia of Corporate Reputation, Lecturer at Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business) and Steve Dowling (former head of communications at OpenAI and Apple) discuss the strategies and tactics companies are using in high-visibility crises and PR initiatives, giving listeners unique insight into how key decisions are made. The podcast offers two unique perspectives on communications theory and practice, drawing on Craig’s research and teaching on reputation at USC Annenberg, UNC Chapel Hill, and universities worldwide, and Steve’s two decades of experience as a comms leader at some of the world’s most influential companies. Whether you’re a PR professional, marketing executive, or just curious about how companies make key communications decisions, you’ll find these discussions insightful and valuable.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-05T04:21:27.467075+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931"},"episode":{"title":"Susie Wiles’ star turn","slug":"susie-wiles-star-turn","published_at":"2025-12-19T14:00:08+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931/susie-wiles-star-turn","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/susie-wiles-star-turn--69127594","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/69127594/ep_63_suzie_wiles_star_turn.mp3","summary":"In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine the fallout from a rare, high-access Vanity Fair profile of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. What looked like unprecedented transparency quickly turned into a reputational stress test, raising questions about intent, narrative control, and internal alignment. Steve and Craig move past the headline-grabbing quotes to analyze what they call “wedge warfare,” how third-party storytelling can disrupt relationships even without factual errors. The conversation offers practical lessons for communications leaders operating in high-salience, high-risk environments where perception often matters more than explanation. Takeaways High-access profiles create cumulative risk, every quote, image, and anecdote compounds meaning. Defending intent or tone can worsen a wedge by reinforcing doubt rather than stabilizing trust. Images function as narrative events and must be managed with the same rigor as interviews. Topics Mentioned White House communications, corporate reputation, wedge warfare, narrative control, media access, high-risk interviews, photojournalism, alignment signaling, claims-perceptions-reality framework, crisis communications, leadership visibility Companies Mentioned Vanity Fair, CNN, The Atlantic, New York Post, Axios Episode Hashtags #VanityFair #CNN #TheAtlantic #NewYorkPost #Axios #WhiteHouse #CorporateReputation #StrategicCommunications #PublicRelations #MediaStrategy #NarrativeControl #CrisisCommunications #LeadershipMessaging #StakeholderTrust #ReputationRisk #ShawnPNeal #AdvoCast #OCRNetwork Communication Breakdown is a production of the Observatory on Corporate Reputation . Hosted by Craig Carroll and Steve Dowling. Produced in partnership with Advocast and Shawn…","meta_description":"In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine the fallout from a rare, high-access Vanity Fair profile of Whit…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2045,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/communication-breakdown-7019931/episodes/susie-wiles-star-turn/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/communication-breakdown-7019931/susie-wiles-star-turn.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}