{"podcast":{"title":"Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories","slug":"lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","podcast_index_feed_id":257456,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/leadballoon","website_url":"https://www.podcampmedia.com/leadballoon","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/f7f1c742-fa62-11e9-a703-bfe81ccf5509/image/9b1c2168a9233fc4f00a55bbf69dbcc9.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podcamp Media","episode_count":75,"summary":"Compelling tales from the world of public relations, marketing and branding, told by the well-meaning communications professionals who lived them. Lead Balloon is like Freakonomics for communicators and media consumers. It's a show where we tell stories from communications industry leaders, brands that everyone knows and loves (or hates), and spectacular PR disasters. With immersive storytelling and a wry sense of humor, host Dusty Weis (nominated for \"Best Indie Podcast Host\" at the 2026 Podcast Academy awards) revisits epic PR disasters, intense communications scenarios, professional inflection points and notable campaigns we all remember, and usually finds a reason to chuckle. Because sometimes, there are important lessons to be learned from someone else's worst day. And sometimes, it's just more convenient than group therapy. Lead Balloon is an award-winning program, named by Adweek as \"Marketing Podcast of the Year,\" nominated for a Webby award and nominated twice for \"Best Business Podcast\" in the Podcast Academy awards. Tune in monthly for new episodes. Visit podcampmedia.com/leadballoon to learn more.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-30T22:19:04.768864+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456"},"episode":{"title":"68. Seth Rogen Film, The Interview, Sparks a North Korean Hack Attack and a Hollywood PR Debacle for Sony Pictures' CEO","slug":"68-seth-rogen-film-the-interview-sparks-a-north-korean-hack-attack-and-a-hollywood-pr-debacle-for-sony-pictures-ceo","published_at":"2026-04-29T10:07:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/68-seth-rogen-film-the-interview-sparks-a-north-korean-hack-attack-and-a-hollywood-pr-debacle-for-sony-pictures-ceo","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM6505536024.mp3?updated=1777425087","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM6505536024.mp3?updated=1777425087","summary":"In 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment sparked an international diplomatic crisis when it announced its latest comedy, which they called “The Interview.” Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Randall Park as a parodied version of North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-Un, the film features a slapstick plotline where a couple of bumbling journalists are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the reclusive dictator. But when the teaser for the flick hit the internet, the real life hostile foreign power was not amused. North Korea spent the ensuing months issuing threats of violence and terrorist attacks. And then, just a month before the film's scheduled release, the hermit kingdom successfully hacked Sony's computer servers, publishing damaging information for anyone to access on the internet. So in this episode of Lead Balloon, we speak with Michael Lynton, who was the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment at the time, and ultimately gave the film the green light for production. We discuss the public relations fallout from the hack, how he set about rebuilding the company's reputation, and WHY he even chose to launch that project--a mistake he still feels is the biggest he's made in a long entertainment industry career. Co-authored with Joshua Steiner, Michael's new book \"From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning Your Past So It Doesn't Own You\" is available now, wherever you get books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"In 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment sparked an international diplomatic crisis when it announced its latest comedy, which they called “The Interview.” St…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2630,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/episodes/68-seth-rogen-film-the-interview-sparks-a-north-korean-hack-attack-and-a-hollywood-pr-debacle-for-sony-pictures-ceo/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/68-seth-rogen-film-the-interview-sparks-a-north-korean-hack-attack-and-a-hollywood-pr-debacle-for-sony-pictures-ceo.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}