About this podcast
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.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 107 episodes
- (Almost) Everything We Could See · 34 min · Episode 107In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll react to You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s documentary following Theranos…
- Bad Calls, Losing Bets and Non-Answers · 32 min · Episode 106In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine what happens when companies ask the public to trust their explanations, their motives, or…
- Mixed Messages and Second Takes · 34 min · Episode 105In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine Microsoft’s response to a White House attack on its immigration practices, followed…
- Cornell’s Reckoning, Algorithmic ‘Gouging’ · 36 min · Episode 104In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine two very different crises connected by a common question: what happens when trust in an…
- Reorg, Reject, Retouch · 24 min · Episode 103In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll start with Microsoft’s decision to move communications under its corporate, external, and legal…
- All Apologies · 26 min · Episode 102In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine three very different responses to public pressure. Converse apologizes for disturbing imagery…
- You Ought Not Be In Pictures · 31 min · Episode 101In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine what happens when Hollywood turns corporate leaders into central characters. With new…
- Episode 100 · 30 min · Episode 100In this 100th episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll revisit the major forces that have shaped corporate communications over the past two years. They…
- Long-time listeners, first-time callers · 36 min · Episode 99In this special listener-driven episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll answer questions from communications leaders and longtime supporters of the…
- Return on Mission · 32 min · Episode 98In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll explore a different way to measure the value of corporate communications, public affairs, and…
- Fixing Flock’s Blind Spot · 28 min · Episode 97In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine Flock Safety’s attempt to reset its reputation amid growing criticism of its automated…
- Manifesto Mania! · 33 min · Episode 96In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine what happens when powerful executives go direct in an effort to reshape public…
- Full Court Press · 33 min · Episode 95In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine how the WNBA has become the latest battleground in America's broader cultural debate after…
- Off the Menu · 33 min · Episode 94In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine two very different corporate communications challenges. First, they explore why Cracker…
- A Midsummer Night’s Clip Show · 35 min · Episode 93In this special summer edition of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll revisit three of the season's most impactful conversations, each offering enduring…
- Defenestration · 33 min · Episode 92In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine how Ryanair reduced a terrifying in-flight emergency to the language of a routine scheduling…
- I Do / Undo · 28 min · Episode 91In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine two very different reputation plays: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s highly controlled wedding…
- …and the home of the brave · 39 min · Episode 90In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine why America’s 250th birthday feels smaller, flatter, and more complicated than a milestone…
- Comms on Three Continents · 28 min · Episode 89In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll move across three communication flashpoints on three continents: the evolving influence economy…
- Beast Mode · 31 min · Episode 88In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine MrBeast’s 500 million YouTube subscriber milestone and the reputation challenges that come…
