How to advertise on Other People's Lives: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

Other People's Lives sells its host-read inventory direct through Santagato Studios, the hosts' own production company, and quotes each buy per campaign rather than off a public rate card. Spotsnow data shows every tracked ad on the show is a coded, host-read direct response spot, which is about as clean a signal of intent as a feed gives you. Squarespace, the top spender, has run roughly 4 host-read reads. For a buyer, that mix means one thing: this feed is built to move product with a code, not to buy background reach. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys. Here is the profile for Other People's Lives.

Why Other People's Lives is built for host-read direct response

Joe Santagato, a comedian and content creator behind The Basement Yard, co-hosts with Greg Dybec, a published author and former Elite Daily editor. The show sits in information technology and services when you follow its top spender, though its feed reads as society and culture with heavy true crime overlap.

Spotsnow attributes 100% of the show's tracked ads to host-read direct response. That matters because every read here carries a code or a vanity URL you can tie back to a sale. Spotsnow estimates reach at roughly 130,000 listeners, and that number is an estimate, not an audited count. The format is the argument. The show is built on long, unfiltered, taboo-adjacent phone calls, and a listener who sits through a story about surviving a plane crash sits through the ad break in the middle of it. A host-read borrows that sustained attention. When Santagato stops the story to vouch for a product, the read inherits the trust the story already built.

Influence shows up on the ratings base. Spotsnow lists an Apple Podcasts average of 4.8 across roughly 2,900 to 3,410 ratings. The pull here is concentrated in the feed itself, where the hosts talk directly to a young, mostly male, US-heavy audience, rather than spread thin across a dozen social channels. That concentration is exactly what a coded read leans on.

Who is advertising on Other People's Lives

The roster runs DTC and subscription-first, with streaming and retail names layered on top for reach. Recognizable buyers include Squarespace, BetterHelp, Quince, SoFi, and Mint Mobile.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

Squarespace

Squarespace sells an all-in-one website and e-commerce platform. Spotsnow data shows around 4 host-read spots and estimated total spend of over $10K, all classified as host-read direct response. It fits because the show's audience skews young, entrepreneurial, and side-hustle minded, exactly the people who need a first website. Joe even points at the show's own Squarespace site in the read, which makes the pitch land.

BetterHelp

BetterHelp runs online therapy matching. Spotsnow data shows around 2 host-read spots and estimated total spend of over $9K, host-read direct response. Mental health and trauma are recurring themes in the episodes themselves, so a therapy pitch reads as an extension of the conversation rather than an interruption.

Quince

Quince is a direct-to-consumer brand selling affordable-luxury apparel and home goods. Spotsnow data shows around 2 host-read spots and estimated total spend of over $9K, host-read direct response. The value framing suits a mid-income audience that wants nicer things without the markup, and DTC codes track cleanly against this kind of feed.

The awareness outlier

Not everything here is a coded read. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Lululemon show up as produced brand spots, no promo code attached. That proves an awareness objective can ride this feed too, even though the host-read core is built for attribution.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why society and culture brands cluster here

The pattern isn't random. This show pulls a young, mostly male, US-based audience that shows up for raw, first-person storytelling and stays through the middle of an hour-long call. That combination of long dwell time and hosts who feel like friends is what a coded read needs to convert. Squarespace, BetterHelp, and Quince all sell something you decide on your own and buy online, and they all keep coming back, which is the strongest tell that the coded reads are paying off. Brands cluster where the audience trusts the voice reading the ad and can act on it in one tap. That's this feed.

How your ad could sound

Squarespace host-read on Other People's Lives

The Squarespace read works because Joe frames it around his own use. "Squarespace is my go-to all-in-one website platform. I use Squarespace to create the website for this podcast," he says, then points to the show's guest submission page and the Basement Yard tour site. Concrete use cases beat abstract features every time, and the offer lands clean: squarespace.com/opl, free trial, code OPL for 10% off.

Where it could tighten: the offer code and the free-trial mechanic get repeated at length, and the actual call to action sits behind a long personal anecdote before the code arrives. A little more urgency, and moving the code up sooner, would sharpen the ask without losing the personal framing that makes it work.

View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. The format holds attention through the break. Long-form storytelling means listeners don't skip out mid-episode, so the host-read gets heard.
2. The hosts carry credibility. An Apple average of 4.8 across thousands of ratings tells you the audience trusts the voice doing the reading.
3. The audience is buyable. Young, mostly male, US-concentrated listeners are the exact profile DTC and subscription brands chase.
4. Repeat buying proves the math. Squarespace has run roughly 4 reads and BetterHelp and Quince each around 2, which brands don't do unless the codes come back.

Other People's Lives in a nutshell

The audience is young, leans male, mid-income, and heavily concentrated in the US, drawn in by unfiltered personal stories. Squarespace, BetterHelp, and Quince already buy here, all on coded host-reads, with streaming names like Netflix layered in on produced awareness spots. The show is sold direct through Santagato Studios and quoted per campaign. If your goal is trackable direct response with a code or vanity URL, this feed fits; if you only want passive reach, it's a less natural match.