Scott Galloway
Appearances
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She is really, really funny. If you want to talk about what's ailing our country right now, it's that young people under the age of 30 aren't doing as well as their parents were at 30 for the first time in our nation's history. And within that is a subset of people who are doing especially poorly, and it's young men.
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And the single point of failure for a young man coming off the tracks, becoming more prone to extremist content, becoming more polarized, becoming more likely to harm himself, and some more likely to become a really shitty citizen, it can all be reverse engineered to one thing. And that is the thing that our dear leader, President Musk, is engaging in. And the one point of failure for young men is
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is when they lose a male role model. This is more fundamental than technology. It is more fundamental than cutting costs. It is more fundamental than government services. At some point, character does matter. And the ground central or the ground zero in my view for character for a man, the very basic, the A, Bs and Cs are, are you going to be involved in your offspring?
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And we're over here talking about Doge. Anyways, I found that to be the most offensive thing of the week.
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The most basic job of a man and a person is to look after your young. That's where it all starts.
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And again, the strongest signal of what is your job? Your job is to produce loving, patriotic offspring, in my view. And the single point of failure, the strongest signal isn't whether these kids are going to have money or not. The strongest signal is involvement of their parents. And if it's a boy, involvement of dad. And already he's being sued by two different people.
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Yeah, but actually there's research around this and it's the following. Of all the single parent households in the US, four in five are headed by women. Girls in those homes have the similar outcomes in terms of college attendance, rates of self-harm and rates of depression.
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What you find with boys, though, is that the moment there's no longer a male involved in their lives, the likelihood they'll be incarcerated, addicted to opiates, or engaged in self-harm dramatically increases. What it ends up is that while boys are physically stronger, they are mentally and emotionally much weaker than girls.
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I'm not sure that's going to shock anybody, Kara.
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So it is a bigger deal when the dad is not involved in the boy's life.
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Well, I would argue there hasn't been as much research, but I think what they find is that the key is having two parents and also, and this will get me shit, typically in gay relationships, one person brings more masculine energy than the other. That's true.
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She's so easygoing. And we know who we're not talking about.
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Do you think perhaps two parents, though?
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One of the quickest paths, I think, to a better country would be a recognition that the moment a boy loses access to a male role model, that the community and family need to move in and make sure there's men involved in that boy's life. And what's really unfortunate is that men aren't stepping up to the plate. And I say this all the time, if we want better men, we need to be better men.
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But to produce offspring, in my opinion, and not be involved in their lives, it is such an ugly feature of a person
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You're bringing into the world a child that has a tremendous disadvantage relative to other kids who are brought into loving households with either one or two women who decide to ensure that there are men involved in this kid's life. And it creates a host of issues as someone who has been asking themselves for a long time, why did my dad not decide to be involved in my life?
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And what it ends up is that it is harder and more damaging for boys to deal with this than girls.
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I find as you get older, when you're younger, you want to acquire shit. And then as you get older, you want to dispose of it. You want to get rid of stuff.
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We're taking Vox Media Podcasts on the road and heading back to Austin for the South by Southwest Festival, March 8th through the 10th. What a thrill. Chicken fajitas, queso, strawberry margarita, extra shot of tequila. There you'll be able to see special live episodes of hit shows, including our show, Pivot. Where should we begin with Esther Perel? A Touch More with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe.
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Not Just Football with Cam Hayward. And more presented by Smartsheet. The Vox Media Podcast stage at South by Southwest is open to all South by Southwest badge holders. We hope to see you at the Austin Convention Center soon. I'm not joking. I love South by Southwest. The people are a ton of fun. It's a great time. If you do come up and say hi, visit voxmedia.com slash SXSW to learn more.
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That's voxmedia.com slash SXSW.
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Well, just being a Warren Buffett, he has a metric which people look to, which has been a fairly reliable indicator of when the markets might be due for a correction. That is, he looks at the market cap relative to the GDP. And usually the average is around 100%. And when post, like 2009, it went down to 75%, indicating that stocks were cheap. And right now it's, I think, upwards around 190%.
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It looks like things are really frothy. The hard part is... And the question is what to do. And my sense is, and what I tell people is, it is very hard to time the market. It is very hard to time the markets because just when you think you're convinced markets are way too expensive, oftentimes they go up another 10 or 30%. And what I would say is it is very difficult to time the markets.
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Just make sure you're diversified. And if you think, well, maybe I want to put a little bit of cash on the sidelines to take advantage of opportunities, that's one thing, but don't make the mistake I made When Trump was elected in 2016, I thought, this guy's an idiot. He's going to crash the economy. And I sold everything. And so I incurred a tax hit.
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I paid an enormous amount of taxes, taking 22.8% of any gains out. And then six months later, I realized that I'd acted out of emotion. The markets had screamed up, and I had to buy back in with 78% of my capital at higher prices.
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So the lesson in terms of what to do is, okay, you may want to take some gains off the table and move a little bit more into cash, but be clear, nobody can time the market. You just want to be diversified and stand for as long as possible.
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I do it all the time. I love it. I love purging.
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Oh, Kara, I wouldn't give up a goiter to serve in the Trump administration.
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I don't know, that's my favorite word.
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I love having a small number of things. My happy place, if you will, is my place in Soho. I have license to decorate as I want. It's an angry, depressed Northern European person who doesn't like stuff. And anything that comes in, anything that comes in, something has to go out. If anything comes in, something has to leave. Oh, even guests? Yeah, I just don't want stuff.
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Yeah, or a goiter on your anus. Yeah. Yeah, no, I wouldn't. No, I would not. Would you?
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At this point, I just want someone who's competent and can, like, do math. Is he any of those? No, he's got a lot of...
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Yeah, this is like FDR saying, well, what were those ships doing in Pearl Harbor?
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He didn't, he's... They poured over the border and they started shelling maternity wards and sending, I mean, Russia invaded Ukraine. It's weird that we can't even have simple truths anymore.
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And it's interesting that all these things we took for granted, if you think about the post-World War II alliance or the operating system that's created more prosperity, more rights, more democracy, life expectancy, plummets in infant mortality, all of these things can be reverse engineered, I would argue, to this alliance between democracies that we largely had each other's backs, not only on this victory of moral clarity,
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but also this visionary investment in our former enemies, specifically Japan and Germany. And the result has arguably been more prosperity in the last 80 years and more righteous rights or progress or humanity than the previous 800. And this didn't happen by accident. And so basically to move to, well, I have an idea.
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Let's have two spheres of influence between two kind of a true autocrat and a wannabe autocrat, and we'll carve up the world. And Europe's sort of sitting there. I mean, I'm trying to think what could go right. And what I think could go right, and I think it's going to happen, is I think people do underestimate Europe.
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France and Britain are still very strong military and nuclear powers with fantastic educational institutions. Germany is arguably one of the two or three strongest manufacturing, has one of the strongest manufacturing industrial basis. And also a positive of this is they are, I believe, Europe is going to be a union again and is going to rise up and state more explicitly that we have your back.
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When I say your, I mean Ukraine. So I think the silver lining here might be that I'm hoping Europe fills the void for the next three years and 11 months.
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And I'm hoping we come out, I mean, I'm trying to move to what could go right, as opposed to everything around the sky is falling. And I think that Europe deciding to increase its military spending, decide that they need to be more unified, speak with a stronger singular, put all their bullshit squabbling aside, maybe engage and backs it.
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I think the UK absolutely needs to show more leadership and reintegrate back into the EU. And show that, okay, if we can't count on America, that's fine. We're still arguably the largest economy in the world, as large as the U.S. is. And we have Ukraine's back. That things don't end well for Europe when we surrender to a murderous autocrat.
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I think it feels really peaceful and nice when there's an absence of things.
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But look at, what I don't get is, my senior senator, now secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio, it's like, who are you? And when I say, I don't mean it like, who are you to do these things? But he kind of made his foreign policy chops being this cold warrior. And now he's saying he's complying and defending this ridiculous falsehood that Ukraine started the war.
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It's like, literally, who are you? Do you have any value whatsoever? Are there any values that are a red line for you whatsoever?
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I like to stay somewhere where I can call and scream, where am I? Where's my room service?
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I'd either go with Tom Hardy or Taylor Kitsch.
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He'd be very good. He's getting a little old, though. They need a younger Bond.
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He's a little too American, but actually Tom Hardy would be fantastic. I think he's really good.
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They will probably pick an unknown who's in their 30s because what they want is they want someone who like Daniel Craig can go for five or six films.
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Daniel Craig's a better actor and brought more physicality to the role, I thought.
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Well, Claire would bring you breakfast, I suppose. Yeah, that sounds nice. I don't stay at friends. Even when I'm at families, I stay in a hotel.
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I know Roger Moore's pretty dreamy.
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What's your favorite Bond movie?
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What I don't get is why do they put themselves up for public perception? I understand that over time, the personification of a company is really important. But if I were Mark Zuckerberg, I would be like, okay, I just don't have the skills. I'm not likable. That's okay. And a lot of people realize that and say, I'm not a likable person. Most CEOs are like, well, that's actually not true.
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Most CEOs are likable. But I don't understand why he keeps trying. It feels like all this stuff around videos of him doing jujitsu and hunting, that it feels very like, I desperately want to be liked.
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I want to be able to stay up till four in the morning and watch cable.
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And if he just was in the background as this brilliant, he's arguably one of the most brilliant businessmen of the last 50 years, I think it would be better than if he was out there saying, okay, I need pictures of me hunting or fighting.
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Well, I think Tim Cook's done a really good job managing his brand.
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Yeah, but when he's public, he's very manicured and he's very thoughtful about his statements. He has a very strong brand. He's very likable. Most of these guys do a very good job of, most of them, you know, trying to come across as, you know, Satya Nadella is very likable. And they, whenever you meet them- Don't say too much. The only time I've ever met these guys is at your conference.
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And they're all surrounded by PR people parsing every word and saying, okay, here's your 10 minutes with this person and- And they're all very nice and friendly. And at the moment, if you ask them a question or it gets awkward, someone like, you know, couriers them off. I think they think a lot about their public image and their perception.
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No one needs to see me walking around at three in the morning.
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I think Brian Chesky is very good at managing his brand and coming across as likable. But the reality is in a constant media cycle with social now, their public perception is pretty important.
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Well, he needs another Sheryl Sandberg. He needs another heat shield to be more likable. He had Sheryl, then he had Nick. The guy who's really done a great job of storytelling, although his book is this weird techno-libertarian.
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And going on Bill Maher, his kind of real time or videos of his earnings calls, his full embrace, wrapping himself in the flag. I think he's managed his brand really well. He's been aggressive. He's taken risks and they paid off. And the result is the company trades at like 90 times revenues. It's insanely overvalued, although it's dropped about 20% in the last few trading days.
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You moved her into like the Four Seasons retirement home, right?
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That's right. We met at DLD. That's the first time. Roberta Flack. Yeah. Wow. Good one. Long life. Yeah. You know what really hurt the far right party in Germany was Vance and Musk's endorsement.
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What does that say about you when you make Nazis less likable?
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Oh, that's right. But they still got about 22%, right? 22%.
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I have nothing to say. Yeah, I think it's great that she's going to be with you. And, you know, I hope she's happy. I hope you're happy.
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So look, my win is Canada defeated USA Thursday to win the first ever four nations face off hockey tournament. which capped what had become a heated and politically charged event, but it was just such an incredible spectacle of sports. And hockey, I went to hockey games with my son and my dad. And when you get on the ice, you just see these players. There's just no phoning it in.
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It really is an incredible spectator sport. And an overtime goal from Connor McDavid, who's arguably the best player in the league, sealed the 3-2 win for Canada. at the TD Garden in Boston, where ticket prices had just soared. And obviously, this meant more than just a hockey tournament. And it's very strange to be rooting for another nation
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but I think there were a lot of Americans rooting for Team Canada here. And I think a lot of us take for granted what has been just arguably one of the great alliances in history or the great friendships. Do you realize the US-Canadian border is the largest undefended border in the world? I mean, what does that say about our relationship with them? In World War II,
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Canada entered the war two years before the US and trained over 130,000 allied airmen. During the Iran hostage crisis, Canadian diplomats sheltered six American embassy staff and helped orchestrate their escape. If they had been caught doing this, they would have been hanged from cranes.
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After 9-11, Canada launched Operation Yellow Ribbon, accepting 224 diverted flights when US airspace closed, sheltering 33,000 stranded passengers. Canada has fought alongside the US in World War I, World War II, Korea, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and against. ISIS. I mean, there's just so many. Canada is America's largest trading partner. They supply more energy to the U.S.
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than any other country. The countries share critical supply chains in manufacturing, especially automotive. They consistently support U.S. diplomatic initiatives internationally. They coordinate on Arctic policy. They worked with the U.S.
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They support US positions on international organizations, including NATO and the UN. Deep people-to-people connections with extensive family ties across borders. My parents first came to Toronto where I was conceived and then came to San Diego where I was born.
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They have shared values around democracy, human rights, and free markets, cooperation on environmental protection of shared waterways and natural resources. And also, just in case you needed any reminder, they are the best in the world at hockey.
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She might not know for a while. My building, I don't know if you noticed, no one's ever there.
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This game, Connor McDavid, arguably the best player in the league, took this thing in sudden death overtime, and you could hear a roar across Canada as the 11th province, the United States, basically lost in overtime.
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And it's a strange feeling, but Canada, it is insane that we would be, you don't treat, when your neighbor is this good to you and just defaults to being your neighbor and being a wonderful ally, you don't treat them this way. And this game was, I'll tell you, sport occasionally gets it right. This was an outstanding, Team USA played exceptional.
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They were outstanding on the ice and actually American hockey is now almost rivaling Canadian hockey, but this was an incredible event. I mean, it was one of those moments in sporting history where it was about the game, but it wasn't about the game. And it was just an outstanding game. Anyways, my win is Team Canada in the Four Nations face-off hockey tournament. My fail is this, what I'll call a
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the surrender domino of big tech, and that is it's easy to rationalize why Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos show up and agree to sit side by side such that the president can pony them around and say, see the most powerful, wealthiest tech executives in the world like me, and then bully them into giving them a million dollars. But here's the problem.
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I won't even go up in the elevator if someone's getting in the elevator. I don't wanna make eye contact. I don't wanna know my neighbors. Interesting. I don't want them to see the prostitutes I'm bringing in. I don't want any of that. I don't.
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Okay, so you're protecting shareholder value, but when the three of them and Sam Altman do this, it makes it easier for someone like Linda Iaccarino to start threatening government retribution against IPG and Omnicom. She basically threatened to block the merger unless they advertise on the platform.
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It leads to Amazon paying Melania Trump an irrational number for her biography, thinking that we are now full kleptocrat. And the lack of separation of business and state is really not as important, but right up there with the importance of separation of church and state. Because in the 30s, Hitler basically said to corporations, if you support me and give me money, I'll bust the unions.
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And they became sort of intertwined until they lost any difference. It is a key step to fascism. is when corporations are bullying into supporting one group. And then unfortunately, because the other group decides to engage in fair play, the incentives are to support the autocrat.
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I'm just like, don't make eye contact.
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I understand the rationalization that, okay, this sucks, but you're aw shucks, I hate to be here, but I gotta be here. It's still cowardice. It might be lowercase cowardice. You might be able to justify it by saying I'm a fiduciary for shareholders. But for the last 20 years, you have been claiming that you're a fiduciary for stakeholders.
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And American rule of law and decency and democracy is what got you so fucking rich in the first place. And if business leaders who control two thirds of the economy don't step up and say enough at the expense of their own pocketbooks and quite frankly, their shareholders, we are going to be rolled over on this march to fascism.
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And at some point, I'd like to think there's a business leader out there. I don't know if it's Jamie Dimon. I don't know if it's one of these tech leaders who stands up and says, no, we are going to do what's right. We are not going to be bullied into supporting any political candidate. And if it hurts our shareholder value, so be it. But what is the point, Tim Cook,
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of being a multi-billionaire and claiming to that privacy is a basic human right. Well, okay, how do you feel about democracy? Okay, Sam Altman, in your hushed tones, worried about the safety of the world and concerned about AI. Well, are you concerned about America? Because you are being used as a little fucking bitch and you are enabling it. At some point,
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Give the doorman a thousand bucks a year for hush money. They know what's going on. A little Michael Cohen payment.
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On his deathbed, Jeff Bezos is gonna go, I had all the yachts, I had all the thongs, was I an American? Is that thought perhaps gonna haunt you on your deathbed? Did I stand up? Did I answer the call? Okay, maybe I would have been worth 90 billion instead of 120 billion, and maybe my shareholders would have been angry.
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But I think that's going to be a really good look when you get towards the end, that you were the guy or one of the guys. And we're still looking for this guy, because let's be clear, they're all men. We're still waiting for one of them to stand up and say, I'm not going to be a brick in the fascist wall. And my guess is that is going to play really well.
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History is going to look on you and say, good for you. Yeah, it cost you 10 or 20 billion of your 100 billion in wealth. I think that's a really good trade right now. But the corruption... of the domino of cowardice here is in full speed and in full light of day in corporate America, especially among big tech, who is going to step up here and say, no, that's my speech.
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A little. What happens on the second floor stays between the lobby and the third floor.
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Well, we better go to four times a week. Your expenses are about to go up.
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Well, thanks. That's nice. He's a very thoughtful guy.
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Higher propensity of depression also.
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I'm having the big handsome. Actually, I'm trying to get the big handsome guy on. He has a book out called Lucky Loser. What big handsome guy? Oh, he's like a big handsome guy. He also wears Tommy Bahama. He's dreamy.
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Speaking of which, have you watched Reacher on Amazon?
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But I'm so fascinated by... What it says about America, it used to be that the heroes were especially skilled or amazing fighters or super smart. Now it's just, I'm just so fucking big I can solve every problem.
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Just with size. Do you know what's out now? You know what comes out? Episode two came out today or last night. What? I'll give you two hints, White and Lotus.
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Today's show was produced by Lauren Amon, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie and her dad engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows, Mia Saverio, and Dan Shulon. Nishat Kirwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from your magazine, Vox Media.
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You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com slash pod. We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business care. Have a great rest of the week.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
Oh, is that right? Okay. I'll tell you. Send me the dates.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
I'm not exaggerating. When I walk in there, the first thing I do is I go, hello? Because there's a good chance someone's going to go, oh, hey, Scott. Yeah, we got in last Thursday.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
We brought our St. Bernard and my cousins. Is that okay?
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
Well, a couple of things. One, and this goes to messaging, and I was speaking to someone over the weekend about this. I don't think the Democrats, I don't think we get anywhere focusing on the injustice of all this.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
Well, just, I think you focus on the incompetence. There are a lot of people in America who have gotten an email or have been fired abruptly. And it's not, yeah, it's terrible. It happens often. moderates right now and a lot of people in the US like it because they think that government's gotten too big. They think it's gotten out of control and if they break a few eggs, fine, so be it.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
Oh, Cara, I wouldn't give up a goiter to serve in the Trump administration.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
And these TikToks of someone in the National Forestry Service saying, I just lost my job unceremoniously. It's like, well, okay, that happened to my cousin, maybe it happened to me. And I don't think that's how they should be messaging.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
I think they should be messaging about the corruption, that, okay, it just so happens that everyone in charge of overseeing the National Highway Safety Board, specifically around autonomous vehicles, or a large number of them have been fired, and those are the people directly overseeing. Musk's attempt to perhaps put unsafe autonomous cars on the road.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
And the fact that this is really just a misdirect from the following. They're talking about a $50 billion savings from Doge, but look over here, because what we don't want you to see is that we're talking about a $900 billion a year increase in the deficit which is nothing but a tax on our children or our grandchildren, such that Scott Galloway can have a tax cut.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
I put into AI my W-2 and then the latest proposed Trump tax cut. I'm going to save $950,000 a year if this thing goes through. Meanwhile, they want to cut over $800 billion from Medicaid that children depend on. So yeah, Doge, again, it's a fucking misdirect. Okay, it's a tragedy. I'm sorry. Fine.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
But all it is is a misdirect from what they're planning to do, and that is give a bunch of money to really rich people.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
I think it's it's it's a far right echo chamber of people who think who mistake leadership for coarseness and cruelty and just general weirdness.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
So let me just give you a couple of pro tips on moving.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
Well, that's different. The rallies, I think we should all, anyone with a platform has a responsibility. Let me back up. What to do? A common tactic across in the GRU propaganda machine is blitzkrieg of information where so many things are coming at you, you don't know how to parse them, you feel helpless, you don't know where to start.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
However, you need to calm down and there's a few basic defense mechanisms or a few means of counterpunching. One, recognize you don't need to respond to every outrageous thing. You don't need to be emotional. Two, when you do respond, respond with experts and data. Try not to be overly emotional. And also, and this is the hard part, decide which punches you're going to pick.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
And that is pick one or two or maybe three issues and focus on those and highlight them. So for example, I'm not focusing on this bullshit around DEI or DOGE or transgender, some people I think are passionate about it should focus on it. I believe the two most important things are the following. We have decided to surrender to Putin and we have decided to essentially
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
And the second is you give your partner, whoever's actually charged with moving, limitless funds and just say, please just accidentally let me know when it's all done. And then I will find reason why my business trips ends. But no, you should not be involved in moving areas.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
reconfigure the world order that has created more prosperity and peace and rights than any other 80-year period in history. And that is a very dangerous, stupid thing to do. And two, while everyone is focused on the $60 billion going to Ukraine or the $50 billion savings from Doge, that is not where they should be looking.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
They should be looking at the $900 billion a year annual increase in the deficit. Surrender and deficit are the two things I'm going to focus on. Be unemotional, You don't need to respond right away. Bring experts, bring facts, and focus on the one or two issues that you want to be a domain expert on. Otherwise, you just come across as what they want.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
If you can be offended, you can be manipulated, and you look weak. Don't be offended.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
We need to move from what I call being right to effective and figuring out a plan for counterpunch and then start talking about tactics. I think the Democrats right now, instead of talking about how outrageous they are, should be saying, oh, by the way, we are shutting down the government.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
If you've decided that the government is so incompetent, if you don't want to deal with the government, if you don't want to deal with elected representatives, fine. We're going to go upstream of Elon Musk and we are going to shut down the government. It's coming. All right. And let's see what happens to the 10-year bond and the wealth of the 0.1%. We are not going to raise the debt limit.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
That is the message they should be sending right now.
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Elon's Ultimatum, Trump's Military Purge, and Amazon's 007 Deal
What the fuck is with that? Are they claiming it's a Roman salute?
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
100%. I'm an ageist, and so is biology. We age-gate the Senate. You have to be 30. We age-gate Congress at 25. We age-gate CEOs of companies in the UK. They say at 65. In India, I think you have to retire at 65. In the UK, the mandatory retirement age for UK Supreme Court justices is 75. Your prefrontal cortex, when you're a male, does not catch up to a woman's until the age of 25.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And guess what? From the age of 40 on, your prefrontal cortex begins to shrink. And Senator Feinstein did not know where the fuck she was the last year she was in the Senate. And you lose the ability and the judgment, and people around you want to give you some dignity, and it ends up really hurting America. We absolutely need age limits.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
You know what? I like, personally, I'd go younger than most people. I'd probably go 70. Not 65, not 65, because we'd have to retire. No, people are in much better shape now. But I also, in a weird way, I think it's the right thing to do for people because it takes that anxiety away. It's like, all right, it's time for you to go enjoy your life.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Go have a nice life. You don't need to leave this place, feed first. Also, the thing I don't like, and this is one of the things I don't like about academia, is that nobody fucking leaves. And so there isn't room for young stars to advance at the rate they should, because we have some dude who was the bomb in gap one accounting in 1978, who won't fucking leave.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And because he has tenure, we can't fire the guy. And then he not only becomes unproductive, but is a means of trying to maintain some sort of relevance. He becomes obstructionist and general pain in the ass at faculty meetings.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Take to YouTube. He doesn't need to be a Supreme Court justice.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Bring in neurologists who say, look, this is where... This is the thing about age decline is it's not linear. It really drops fast. And at what age are people most likely to start really seeing a serious cognitive decline and have an age gap? But it is insane that we would have lower age limits, but we don't have upper age limits.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
By the way, a couple of the 14-year-old girls my son had over for a Halloween party would have done a better job and had a better... command and grasp of the issues facing the Senate than Senator Feinstein. I mean, there are these stories all over the place. So absolutely, for them, for us, for our Constitution, yeah, we need age limits, 100%.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I just can't even go there, Cara. I'm so fucking triggered. Between surrendering to Putin and measles, I can't even think about what might happen then. You take this one.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I don't see any evidence of that. I haven't seen any evidence he's declining.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And I'm Scott Galloway.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Well, you know, Cara, I hate to talk about me, but, God, can you imagine how much ass I would get if I was president, post-president? I couldn't do it as president, but post-president. Look, I'll be very transparent. I've been approached twice in the last two years by people who said, actually a firm and a person who said, if you put in 10 million, we'll put in 10 million.
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Not for president, but run for Senate or governor. And let's be honest, I have all the attributes to do this. I'm a narcissist, and I have outdoor plumbing, and I'm white, which are the three primary considerations for running for office. And also, I have money. Clever.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I appreciate that. I appreciate you saying that. Here's the bottom line. I'm not qualified. I don't have the domain expertise. I'm not especially good with people. I think you have to be really good with people. And also, and Kara knows this, this isn't an act, but this is a side of me that is not in many ways, the real me, and that is I'm an introvert.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
When I'm not on a podcast or on television, I don't enjoy people, I don't get energy from them. I want to be around a small group of people and on my own, and that does not make for a good politician. In addition, and I've learned a lot about this from Cara, and Cara has been very generous and helped me develop the platform and the skills to actually make a change.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I think Cara and I can actually have more impact from outside of the tent. And I think right now, if we are thoughtful and fearless and appreciate our blessings as Americans and decide to pipe up and be strong and thoughtful inside experts and be disciplined and show talent, I think we can affect more change in many ways than almost any congressperson and most senators right now.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I think Mark should run.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
He's the good billionaire. He's the billionaire we need right now.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Just selfishly, look at our lives. I can't imagine having a nice life. Can you imagine running for office and all the shit you have to go through?
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
But here's what I'm going to do is I'm going to take what is for me a decent amount of money, which for almost anyone is a lot of money, and I'm going to support moderate candidates and causes. And I'm moving back to the US in 18 months because I want to be in the fight. I think that this is an existential crisis, especially I think rich people need to get aggressive.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I think it's easy for us to just sort of fold our arms and sit back because the reality is we're going to benefit from the Trump administration. And I think we need to go a little bit more, be a little bit more aggressive.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Actually, Cara, you travel as much as I do. I travel as much. Do you have any thoughts?
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
You really only sleep four or five hours a night?
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
So first off, it is a real issue. I have been, as I joke, molesting the earth for 30 years. I travel a lot. And there is no, I found there's no silver bullet. There's a few tricks. The first is, quite frankly, is just a message of privilege, and that is I no longer do red eyes, or I try not to. I will take, when I come back from New York to London, I'll fly in the morning.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And I'll do a little bit of work and a little bit of nap, you know, take a nap. And I also don't fly into places just for the night any longer. I'll go somewhere and I'll stay one or two days to adjust. But I have some general go-tos that they say are what you're supposed to do. The first is I try not to drink alcohol, especially on the plane. I try to drink a ton of water and hydrate.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
As soon as I get to the place where I'm going, I try to work out. Even if it's just doing, I try and do 100 burpees in less than 12 or 14 minutes when I get into my hotel room if the gym's not open, but I try and immediately exercise. I find sweating really helps. And then if at all possible, even if it's just taking a walk, just going outside and putting my face in the sun for 10 to 12 months.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And some exercise slash sweating, hydration, and getting your face, getting in the sun, if there's sun wherever you are, But it's something I struggle with. And also, and it just helps to have money finally. I used to literally fly to Paris for a night, fly back if I had a meeting at LVMH or wherever. Now I don't do that. I will spend a couple of days. I enjoy myself. I sleep in.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Also, I use sleep aids. I either take, if it's a nation that allows CBD or marijuana, I take half five milligrams edible before I go to sleep to help me sleep. If it's not, I'll sometimes take a half of Lunesta, but I find you got to get some sleep, even if it means using a sleep aid.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Yeah, so first is, and I'm not a humble person, I have an aptitude for numbers and I like data, but more than anything, greatness is in the agency of others. And I have people think that it's us producing this content. We obviously have our producers here. My small media company has 18 people and I have three people who do nothing but try and find interesting data.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
We should be the 11th province.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Well, you know what it means when you're only attracted to Canadians?
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It means you're asexual.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Well, Canada first welcomed my mom and dad independently when they immigrated from Glasgow and London. And I had a terrible time when I visited Canada, said no one ever. I would suggest to anybody, if you want to go to a beautiful place with friendly people and great food, Montreal is the most European city in North America. Toronto is essentially like a clean, friendly New York.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And also my trick is when I find an interesting piece of data myself, I text it to my data team and I ask them to incorporate it in my presentations. And then I will write it down on my Apple Notes to try and cement it in my memory. So for example, yesterday I saw a piece of data that just blew me away and I wrote it down and it'll show up in my next deck when I do a speaking engagement.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Vancouver is arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
But yeah, every year I went to Formula One in Montreal. I always take the excuse whenever I get invited to speak in Toronto. I just absolutely distinct of the Alliance. It's just a great place to visit, a great place to vacation. And also, you know, whether it's Michael J. Fox or Alan Thicke or Bryan Adams, there's just so many, we've just benefited from so many talented Canadians.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
But I have, Cara and I are really appreciative of that. We clearly struck a nerve. I've had several people come up to me on the street and say that they were very appreciative of those comments. And also just on behalf of almost every sane American, distinct to what you're hearing, the majority of Americans deep down really do feel very positive about Canada and Canadians.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Brazil, because I'm about to go back. Brazil and Canada. If Bannon finally convinces the Trump administration to come after me, I'm either moving to Florianopolis or Montreal. I don't know.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
You got married in Canada?
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My parents got married in Niagara Falls.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I think that's a wonderful story. I also have a story about Niagara. I actually crossed the Niagara Falls on a tightrope, and it reminded me of getting a blowjob from a 90-year-old. And that is, you did not want to look down, Kara. You did not want to look down. What?
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And that piece of data was the following. Over 50% of 18 to 24 year old males have never asked a woman out in person. And I thought that was so illuminating and horrifying that I wrote it down and you can bet you're going to hear it again across all my different media channels. So
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Hold on, I got a worse one. Niagara, the ED drug for women. Keeps them wet for three days. Oh my God, stop, stop. Stop. That's bad.
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Today's show was produced by Larry Naiman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Notat engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows and Mia Severio. Nishat Kirwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com slash pod. We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. How do you get 100 drunk Canadian fraternity bros out of your pool? Guys, would you please get out of the pool? Never gets old.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Greatness is in the agency of others, but also when you find an interesting piece of data, it's not like I'm some Svengali that can just recall shit. I write it down and I use it over and over such that it becomes a static part of my web matter.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
98% of lesbians end up divorced.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Humans will do almost anything to avoid pain, and a subset of pain is the unknown, not knowing what's gonna happen. And so I get a lot of calls like this when companies are in play, being acquired, not doing well, should I leave? Is it gonna be shut down? So this is that type of question.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And my general advice is the following, is that change and disruption, you need to ask yourself what could go right. And that is, one, you don't know what's gonna happen, but also, If a lot of people get, say, it gets closed down and a lot of people get laid off, but the U.S.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
operation becomes the headquarters for North America sans the U.S., and a lot of people leave, that creates a lot of opportunity for promotions. So my general advice in situations where there's a lot of change and disruption is to ignore the psychological damage to the extent you can or the insecurity of the unknown. Because disruption brings a lot of opportunity.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And you might find yourself in six months, in 12 months, after a big event or non-event in a much better place than you'd anticipated. So especially with a company like TikTok that's got so much consumer power, you stick around and play it out. See what the next card when they turn it over, see what it is.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Support for Pivot comes from Coda. We talk a lot about business and tech on the show and the visionaries behind it all. But the truth is, turning your back of a napkin idea into a billion dollar business requires countless hours of collaboration and teamwork. And it can be difficult to build a team that's aligned on everything from values to workflow.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Thankfully, that's exactly what Coda was made to do. Coda is an all-in-one collaborative workspace that started as a napkin sketch. Now, just five years since launching in beta, Coda has helped 50,000 teams all over the world get on the same page.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
With Coda, you can get the flexibility of docs, the structure of spreadsheets, the power of applications, and the intelligence of AI all built for enterprise. Coda's seamless workspace facilitates deeper collaboration and quicker creativity, giving you more time to build.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
If you're a startup team looking to increase alignment and agility, Coda can help you move from planning to execution in record time. Try it for yourself. Go to coda.io slash pivot today and get six free months of the team plan for startups. That's coda.io slash pivot to get started for free and get six free months of the team plan. coda.io slash pivot. Support for the show comes from NetSuite.
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Nobody knows what the future will bring. Sure, you can keep an eye on trends and cross your fingers, but rates will always rise and fall and rise again. The bear market will change to a bull market and back again. And until they invent a crystal ball, your next best bet is NetSuite by Oracle.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
financial management inventory and hr into one fluid platform with one single source of truth netsuite offers real-time insights and data you can use to make the right decisions at the right time all to help you close your books in days not weeks so you can spend less time looking backwards and more time on what's next for your business
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And whether your company is earning millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite can help you respond to immediate challenges and seize opportunities. Speaking of opportunity, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com slash pivot. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com slash pivot. netsuite.com slash pivot. Support for Pivot comes from the NPR podcast Up First.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Your time is too valuable to spend doom scrolling all day long. Reading terrible anxiety-inducing news all day just isn't productive. Imagine how much time you could save if you limited your news consumption to just 15 minutes a day.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
You'd suddenly have the freedom to call a friend or learn to play the harmonica or just take a breath and be able to appreciate that you're not frying your nerves with more awful news. If you'd like to reclaim your attention without falling out of the loop, you might want to listen to the NPR podcast Up First.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Up First is a daily show that covers the three most important stories of the day in just 15 minutes so you can learn what you need to know and then move on with your day. Every episode gives you what you need to be informed about without compromising your sanity.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Episodes touch on the essential stories you need to know and cover topics including international conflict, the new administration, and so much more. I listened to a recent episode about Ukraine, and I found it actually quite even-handed. If you're looking for more news and less noise, you can listen to the Up First podcast from NPR today.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
Yeah, I think I have a little bit of a different take. And I think the underlying assumption is there's a lot of unemployment. And the reality is unemployment is still at pretty much historical lows, hovering around 4, 4.1%. Jobless claims are up a bit. There's a lot of headline news. I think the media loves, the media is like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
It likes movement and violence and any indication of Things bad in the jobless market or unemployment gets a lot of noise, but the reality is employment in the US is still very, very strong. And distinct to that, there's a lot of change, tumult, insecurity, catastrophizing around AI.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And then a lot of people argue that that unemployment number is a bit illusory because you're considered a discouraged worker or if you're no longer seeking employment after two years. But having say that, in general, it would be really difficult to make the argument that unemployment is bad right now. It just isn't. And I would argue that it's not about unemployment.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
It's about wages and it's about the percentage of workers' wages relative to GDP, relative to the stock market's percentage and corporate profits. Essentially, labor as a percentage or wages as a percentage of GDP are at a near all-time low or near 40-year low, whereas profits and shareholder value as a percentage of GDP is staggering.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
In sum, it's easy to get a job, it's just not easy to get a job where you can make a good living. I think that's the focus.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And they should. That's their job. And the people who figure out how to be part of that efficiency are going to make more money. So that's just capitalism. But unemployment is actually at historic lows right now. So I think there's a lot of insecurity. I think there's more job changes. Let me move to what is actionable. A lot of people call me and say, I hate my job. What do I do? And I'm like,
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
I think every three to five years, you should quit your job, even if you don't quit. And what I mean by that, well, you're different. You actually could. What I mean by that is I have been at NYU for 23 years, but I quit every three to five years. What do I mean by that? I go get an offer from a Columbia or Wharton or somewhere else.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And then I walk up to the dean's office and I say, this is the offer I have. And I'm totally transparent. I don't want to leave. I want to stay. But I need you to match the offer because this is market. And they hum and they ha and they make a bunch of excuses and then they match it. So the way, no one's going to manage your career for you. What you need to do is constantly quit.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
As a matter of fact, the surveys show the people who make the most money are job switchers. Not every year, but every three to five years. But here's what you do if you don't want to leave your job. You quit without quitting. You do a market check. You don't be an asshole. You go into your boss and you say, I got approached. This is what they're offering me. I'd like to stay. Be transparent.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
The truth has a nice ring to it and get a higher salary. But unemployment, no, unemployment isn't bad right now.
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Trump Term Limits, TikTok Status Check, and Scott's Presidential Prospects
And the way you do that is with a market check. And you might find out that you're being overpaid. That's correct. And you should shut the fuck up. Don't tell anybody.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
When did Jeff Bezos become Marc Andreessen? That's what I want to know.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Really? I always thought he was a pretty, like, even-handed guy.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Yeah, but the bottom line is it's because most journalists just aren't that hot, Cara.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Well, the good news is that probably won't happen. The next move, you won't even be aware it's happening.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
You'll have, no, no, no, no, no. You're not that old. You'll have some Filipino nurse saying, it's okay, Ms. Swisher, just follow me. And you'll be like, where's grandpa? You'll just, we'll be so out of it, you won't even notice.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Yeah, well, speaking of the Wall Street Journal, they did some great analysis a couple days ago saying that they think so far Doge has saved a whopping $2.6 billion. Yeah, a whopping.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And by the way, Musk has received subsidies, depending on how you count them, somewhere between 15 and 50 billion. So if you want to 6x the Doge savings, just cut off all subsidies to Tesla.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And it's just, again, it's look over here. And also, I'm trying to do the analysis. I believe... that these tax cuts will cost taxpayers more in terms of the treasury, just the benefits that Elon Musk will accrue than the savings he is garnering at Doge.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
So if you wanted to double the savings of Doge, you would just say, okay, thank you for your service, but you are no longer entitled to the tax cuts. I mean, this is it's just the math ain't math. And for lack of a better term, I don't think I don't think they should focus on the injustice.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I don't quite frankly, I don't think it's outrageous to get an email from somebody saying, tell us what you did last week.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Agreed. Agreed. But it's that's not where our focus should be. Our focus should be, OK, you recognize that the Department of Energy has been Department of Energy and I forget what the that exact term, has been tasked with cutting 800 billion, there's no way they can avoid Medicare and Medicaid. And by the way, when you privatize, okay, so a kid is still gonna need his medication.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Unless we decide to just let them die, they're gonna get their medication, but this is, hold on. That's what we're doing. Go ahead. Give me some running room. I don't think that's gonna happen. What's gonna happen is it's gonna be privatized, and either the employer or the individual or the county or the state is going to have to go into the private market and buy it.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And then the insurance company and the pharmaceutical and the medical industrial complex will insert themselves, make it less efficient, less cost-effective such that shareholder value goes up in the industrial medical complex. The privatization, essentially what these autocrats or these oligarchs want is they want the privatization of everything.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
You'll literally, it'll be like watching a senator stroll around the halls.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That way they can insert themselves in the middle for shareholder value. There are cities that have privatized everything, the utilities, the water, services, they've privatized everything. And what happens traditionally or typically is that there are some things that should be privatized.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
But when you privatize the post as they did here in London, what you end up with is a more expensive service where shareholders and companies get to skim or scoop up that incremental margin. And that is what they want here, is they want to get government out so they can insert, one, private enterprise and make money, and two, emasculate any regulation or oversight of their near grifty businesses.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
But the basis of DEI or the arguments against DEI is that it made sense, I think, if you were to steel man this, it made sense at some point to have DEI, but many of these problems won't have been solved. I won't say have been solved, but have been addressed in terms of a workforce that somewhat resembles the population.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
The problem is, is the basis of the arguments for doing away with DEI is that you risk economic growth and even safety if in fact you're not hiring based on competence.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Now, that is a real argument, but that argument holds no water when you are hiring fucking idiots to go into your cabinet, when you're hiring Fox News hosts to be the secretary of defense and you're claiming we need to get rid of DEI so we have more competence, that this becomes a meritocratic. I mean, it's just so cynical to talk about skills and domain expertise and who wins.
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earned and deserves the job and who would execute or prosecute the job with the most competence when you are bringing in, seriously, a fucking village, a circle of village idiots?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
We're taking Vox Media Podcasts on the road and heading back to Austin for the South by Southwest Festival, March 8th through the 10th. What a thrill. Chicken fajitas, queso, strawberry margarita, extra shot of tequila. There you'll be able to see special live episodes of hit shows, including our show, Pivot. Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel. A Touch More with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Not just football with Cam Hayward and more presented by Smartsheet. The Vox Media Podcast stage at South by Southwest is open to all South by Southwest badge holders. We hope to see you at the Austin Convention Center soon. I'm not joking. I love South by Southwest. The people are a ton of fun. It's a great time. If you do come, come up and say hi. Visit voxmedia.com slash SXSW to learn more.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
This is a dark side of me. I hate to admit this. I'd kind of welcome a measles outbreak in D.C. right now. I just think that this surrender clown and his cabinet of the best friends measles ever had. I mean, at what point, and of course it hits a small community in Lubbock, I mean, at what point do these literally head up your ass, cruel, weird decisions come back to DC?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That's voxmedia.com slash SXSW. Support for Pivot comes from Atio. Atio is an AI-native CRM built specifically for the next era of companies. It's extremely powerful, adapts to your unique data structures and scales with any business model.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Yeah, I don't. But I'm more interested in they're using her as a prop such that somebody, I think someone, I think my guess is Musk's lawyer said, nothing good can come from you having any sort of official affiliation here.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Yeah, that's exactly right. even despite the fact no one can even find her or get any sort of statement from her. Oh, she's in charge. That way, when these myriad of lawsuits actually get to a quote unquote judge who looks at the law, we need to figure, it's almost like they've created, she's effectively the equivalent of a human LLC, where you create a corporate shield between her and Musk.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I just can't, I'm trying to figure out the legalities.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Can I ask you a question? Sure. I'm veering from the script, which will drive our producers crazy because we won't get to sell as many fucking ZipRecruiter ads.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I saw this statement, I think it was from Cory Doctorow, and it just perfectly summarized, I really have a difficult time encapsulating what I think is going on or the kind of gestalt of this elite class of tech bros and their representatives in Washington, the vice president and the president. And he summarized it perfectly. He said that they believe there's an in and an out crowd.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That's right. Link it in.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Z-Biotics, let's party tonight and let's not feel it in the morning. Hello, dog.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Oh, my God. E.D. Chewable Viagra. Hello. Have you met me?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
What did you think of James Carville's opinion piece that would the Democrats to just sit back and and and let, you know, kind of let them have at it and let Americans kind of see what happens?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I'm torn. Actually, I think I have a little bit more reverence for James. I think he's brilliant. I do too.
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I enjoy how courageous he is. I thought his clip on Fox was just amazing.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And I'm thinking of him as sort of a role model. I just like how he's eased into, you know, his eighth decade wearing LSU sweatshirts and just being fearless.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Oh, I'm sure. You know that guy. He's like, I'll have a mint julep every five minutes.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
They're a pair. I worry that if we don't, I think there's a way to respond. I like what you said, become obstructionist and get in the way of stuff. I'm up for actually shutting down government. I think we should just say, fine, how about it? No, let's shut it down. But I worry that if we don't respond pretty aggressively, that we de facto normalize what's going on.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And I struggle with it because I can see his point. It's a really interesting tactical suggestion. Well, just to just sit there and say, this is all Republicans now. Let's let them have at it. See what happens, folks. Hey, U.S. citizens, you broke it. You bought it. This is you.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And not even not give them the satisfaction of being hysterical or responding or swinging back or counterpunching wildly. But I think where I land is, I think you need to be smart about how you respond, but you need to just say consistently with facts and experts, we cannot normalize this. This is not, measles should not be a thing.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
You know who I think we need more of? I think we need more kind of what I'll call dark people I don't want to call it Dark MAGA, but Dark Woke. One of my favorite comedians, Bill Burr,
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And if you read Alex Karp's new book, it's basically engineers and innovators are the in crowd. And everybody else is the out crowd. And that essentially the theory is, and I think it's a philosopher, I forget his theory, is that with the in crowd, they are protected by the law, but not bound by it. And the out crowd is bound by it, but not protected by it.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
It's basically saying this billionaire fuck Musk, just because he didn't get laid in high school, we have to put up with his hair plugs and his total lack of empathy. It's like, how much more money do you guys need? He just, you know, when people can't, people, there's so much money in this country and people can't, people have to get a second and a third job and can't be with their kids.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And he, I think we need more of that energy, just empathy.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Well, I mean, first off, all these things require context, and that is, in the past year, the stock, even with its drawdown, is up 50%. It still trades at just an exceptional valuation. It's trading at PE today of 145. I think Ford trades at a PE of like six or seven. So I think the market, when a company becomes this overvalued, is looking for reasons to take it down.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
But there's just no getting around it. The sales are down in Germany and across Europe and also in California. Sales are off between 10 and 40 percent. So this is really having an impact on sales. And he still gets, I think, about a third of his net worth from his stake in Tesla. I think it's just getting started. I mean, I think you remember my prediction three weeks ago. It was.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
My broken clock was that at some point, this is going to hurt the brand so much. I mean, I got to think at some point, people don't want... to drive into a parking lot and have people flip them off, which is everyone's, not everyone, a lot of people's inclination now when you see someone in a Tesla is to- I don't like them. Is like, oh, what an asshole, or flip them off.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I sold my Tesla three years ago and people said I was overreacting. Look, you should stay out of politics as a general rule for brands. It is finally starting. I think it got them some loyalty. I think it sort of is a reference and a little bit like, kind of innovation, politically incorrect.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Actually, I think that probably got him some additional customers for a while, but this feels like a lot of people, even people who probably support him think, I just don't need the hassle of someone judging me by the car I roll up in, in terms of my politics. Now, I want to be judged when I roll up in a Range Rover. It means that I'm in the midst of a midlife crisis and I can afford it.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And would you like to jump on, speaking of erectile dysfunction?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And I thought that perfectly summarized what is going on here. And that is these guys love COVID bailouts. They love the protections of free speech. They love the law. They expect the Justice Department to weigh in.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
The interesting thing will be, so the stock's overvalued. The market's looking for reasons to take it down. The product lineup feels stale. The interesting thing will be is if his kind of off-camera activities here or his extracurricular activities begin to infect Starlink. Because Starlink really is an amazing product, and they are signing up new customers like crazy.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
What I'm interested in or waiting for is the first company that says, we're reconsidering our deal with Starlink. Because so far it's just impacted Tesla. If it starts to infect SpaceX slash Starlink, then Houston has a real problem. And I think you probably are going to see that in the next 30 days.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
A big carrier or a government or someone's going to say, we're rethinking our relationship with Starlink.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
It's funny you say that because last night I was watching Game of, I'm watching Game of Thrones with my 14-year-old.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And the easiest way to buy it was on, it never gets old, Cara.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And so, but last night, the easiest way to buy it was on Amazon Prime. And for the first time I thought, is there another place I can buy it?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
But they themselves are not subject to it, right? No, no. I mean, whether it's paternity court, they would have a field day with- Andrew Tate getting out in Romania, sex trafficking. The role model for male abandonment, you know, Doge King. I mean, literally the notion that these folks
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Some would say 10, but the Magnum is at seven.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Yeah. What's interesting about the market right now is with respect to Nvidia or some of these other companies, their expectation or the expectations are that they'll beat expectations because what happened yesterday was Again, NVIDIA beat expectations. It came in at $39.3 billion versus a projection of $38.3. Its earnings were $0.89 versus a projected $0.84, and the stock is down 1% today.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
People have gotten so used to, or the market has gotten so used to these companies just blowing away expectations that when they only slightly beat expectations, they kind of, if you will, actually don't meet the expectations. So this company has gotten just so... The unusual thing about this company, and people like to compare it to Cisco, is that Cisco's price earnings multiple went crazy.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And the price earnings multiple has expanded here, but it hasn't expanded nearly as much because their earnings growth has also been exponential. So it does appear to have, I don't want to even say flat line, because the gains here have been so extraordinary, but the stock is down 5% year to date. It's just flat for the last six months after what is like a 100x increase over the last decade.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
don't weaponize or don't use the laws and means of transferring wealth and rights from the poor to them, but at the same time, don't feel bound to it. If you want to see, I'm really ranting now, if you want to see a massive amount of corruption, just wait until about three years from now when we find out what happened between now and then in the crypto markets. You are going to see so many scams.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
It really has been the stock of the last decade, but the expectations around these companies now are that you're going to beat expectations.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I'm of the mind that there's a non-zero probability, maybe a one in three chance where AI ends up being more like the PC industry and the airline industries where consumers capture the majority of value because they're not able to create sustainable moats. And I think DeepSeq was the first sort of signal of that.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And that is arguably jet transportation and PCs should be the most valuable companies in the world, they're not. And I wonder, I mean, a lot of these LLMs are beginning to feel pretty similar. Although I can't stand anthropic. It's so fucking PG-13. I can't make recommendations around this.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And also I think it's just going to be, this could be, in fact, one of those industries where, and this is a good thing, the winners might be us, the winners might be all industry.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Industry has garnered enormous and citizens shareholder value from jet transportation and the PC, but very few companies were able to create modes such that they could capture a lot of the value for specific shareholders. And I think if there's evidence of that this year or there's a slowdown, I think you're absolutely going to see a real correction.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And all I can say is what I'm doing, because I don't think anybody knows, I am rotating. of U.S. stocks into foreign stocks, because if you look at U.S. growth stocks, which have really carried the day for the last 15 years, relative to their historical averages, they are in the 98th percentile right now.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
So there's only 2% of the time in history, like basically sometime in 1999 or 2007, have they been more expensive. At the same time, Large cap value companies in Europe, Latin America, and China are at their 2%, meaning that they've been higher 98% of their historical, or in history, they've been higher 98% of the time. So I am rotating out.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
You're investing globally. And by the way, if in fact you're dumb enough to listen to any of us, absolutely listen to Aswath.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
But when you have Apple trading at a PE of 39 and it traditionally trades at 18, I mean, it's just not a bad, it's not a terrible idea to think about taking some chips off the table.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That's right. Rich people can go not only shopping for clothes or experiences, they can go shopping for rights. So if they're, back to the statement of these people are protected by the law but not bound by it, if you're a wealthy person, in fact, you are... the law has kind of gotten fed up with you, you can go somewhere else.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Or if you're worried about persecution, but you're right, this is nothing new. The EU has taken in approximately $23 billion selling visas across Greece, Malta, Portugal, Spain. The UK used to have a golden visa and then the populace got pissed off by it. What's unusual about this is the price point at 5 million I would think that that probably just appeals. So I'm on a visa here in the UK.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I'm on what's called a tech talent visa, where I had to say I bring specialized differentiated skills around technology. So give me and my family a five-year visa. And they agreed. The notion that you can buy in is not new. What's weird is the price point. Because what I think this says is you don't have any other options. And maybe you're a little bit on the run.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Or the tax authorities are closing in on you. Because if you look at one of the reasons the British economy or London specifically has done really well, or I would argue has done well over the last 30 or 40 years. I mean, London is the most, Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. London is the most handsome.
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And when you came here in the 80s, I've been coming here since I was a kid because my parents are from here. It was a shitty city, bad food, ugly rundown. It was just infrastructure was collapsing. It was really a mess.
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And Tony Blair basically did something similar in that he passed a series of incredibly airtight private property laws that said you can be an African warlord or a Russian oligarch, but if you bring in a million, 10 million or a billion dollars into the UK and you buy property here and you invest your money with British banks, no one can come for it. It's here.
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No one can come take it away from you. And as a result, London basically became, even more so than New York, I would say, every wealthy person's second or first home.
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And it has catered. It has become a butler economy.
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Well, I'm not sure that's fair.
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I just think this appeals to- That's a great point because here's the difference between London and America. People go to America to make their billion, people come to London to spend their billion and protect it. That is my biggest criticism or observation of the London economy, and this is the question I spoke at the Royal Academy of Arts last night.
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I needed an excuse to drop that, so I'm doing it right now.
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I sat next to this lovely woman named Dame Rothschild last night, who's actually a quite successful author. She gave me the whole Rothschild story.
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Dame Rothschild, yeah. Okay, all right. Anyways, by the way, that is an incredible venue. I think that was probably the highlight of my London experience so far. But anyways, people always ask me, how would you distinguish London from the U.S.? And one of the things I say is that this entire economy in the UK is serving wealth created elsewhere.
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And that is the wealthiest people I know here are people in money management. They own great hotels, great restaurants. They're servicing wealth that was built and created or inherited somewhere else. Well, I think that's a little unfair. I think the majority of these people, well, the majority of the people I know here made a lot of money somewhere else. Okay.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Anyways, whereas in the U.S., people go to the U.S. to make their money. And there's so much risk-taking and so much aggression. Again, my collective distillation or summary, having molested the earth for the last 30 years, is America is still the best place to make money and Europe is the best place to spend it.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
It's like being knighted. You're knighted except you have indoor plumbing.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
It'll be really interesting to see how many people do it and who it collects. If you need to spend $5 million to get into the U.S.,
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That's not a great forward looking indicator of why you need to do that.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
It will be real. Someone will do some investigative reporting and find out the first.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
The first hundred people that are willing to pay five million bucks to hang out or hide in the U.S. or avoid local tax authorities. All right. It's going to be very interesting.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I think Doge is going to be over and done by the end of the year. I think the reason that Musk invented it and came up with it is for money. People talk about patriotism. Sure, it looks like it. Every time we dig further into these things, we find out that these individuals are doing everything to try and get richer.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And I think he thought, I can get in there and under the auspices of some sort of fucked up, perverted means of patriotism or getting out my Anger or whatever it is, or getting more news about me. I'll also get a twofer because I'll basically fire everybody who's getting in the way of my autonomous car.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Yeah, I'll get in the way. I'll defenestrate anyone around trying to get in the way of space launches. I think it's all about money. And I think he saw an opportunity to clear out the regulatory hurdles that's between him and a trillion dollars. Having said that, I think over the last 30 days, he's found out there's a tax to this. And that is, I felt a noticeable pivot there.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
In the last 48 hours of the narrative around all this shit. Tell me. Well, you tell me because I'm in a bubble and I don't understand the American people anymore and I realize how out of touch I am. But I felt like, okay, people want to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. He should get to pick his cabinet. A lot of people voted for this.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Right. People think, OK, government is too fat. I kind of like it kind of tickles some of my sensors that they're feeling some of the pain of the private sector. It feels as if the narrative has turned just in the last 48 hours where all of a sudden Trump and Doge are on their heels and people, including Republicans that voted for Trump, are pissed off. They're like, we wanted more efficiency.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
We wanted leadership. We did not want this type of kind of heartless recklessness. This does not appear to make any sense. And I think with Musk, I think the straw that's going to break the camel's back here is when people start canceling contracts at Starlink. And he says, wow, I'm actually losing money doing this. And I think that is about to happen.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I think he is a brilliant guy, but it's all about money. The math... is gonna show that he is better off pulling a Vivek Ramaswamy. And it's like, remember Vivek? Vivek was the co-head of Doge, remember him?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And so this is what's gonna happen. It's gonna be like what happens to old actors. They don't die, they just fade away. Doge and Elon Musk are gonna fade away, because you can be sure he's doing the math,
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And he's like, even if I can get rid of all those pesky regulators, I'm still losing money here because my sales are plummeting because the general public across the U.S., much less Europe, when they see these idiots surrendering to Putin and when they see the type of recklessness and they see that they're not saving any money, all they're doing is making our government less competent.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
You're going to see Tesla sales continue to plummet, Tesla stock continue to go down. And again, the pivotal moment here is when it starts to infect Starlink. And I think he's going to fade back to the corporate sector.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Well, Clinton Gore did it. Almost every president's done it.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That's a long way, someone your age.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
He's a tall drink of lemonade.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
So I got to add some color here. He called me and said, would you consider doing a cameo? I'm like, yes, how much will it cost me? I mean, I'm so excited about it. Yeah.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Yeah. And basically, I read my lines. And I thought, oh, it's like kind of own a room. You're a lawyer giving some very bad news to someone. It's just, of course, face radio. It's just my voice. And I thought, oh, my God, I nailed it. And I sent it. And they wrote back, well, we love it, but we think it can be even better. And I later found out that they were thinking about cutting it out.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And Jason took me into the studio and it was such a learning experience for me because he would do stuff like, I'd do a line and he'd go, no, he's like, you're scared of this dude, but you're also angry. Have you ever been scared and angry? And he's like, think about it. And I talked about it. He's like, okay, now hit it. And he's like, no, no, no, no.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And then on another line, he'd be like, this dude is banging your wife and you are now really pissed off and you just found out and you're going to tell him this, hit it. And we did this back and forth where he was trying to bring out emotions in me and he'd be like, no, no, no, you're reading to an eight-year-old a comic book, be more animated, hit it.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
We did this back and forth for an hour and I was practically sweating. I was so exhausted by the end of the hour. And it made me walk away with such an incredible appreciation for just how fucking hard acting and directing is. And this guy literally turned my chicken shit into what I'm hoping is chicken salad. And it was so generous of him. He's not a director.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
He didn't get paid to do this, but he wanted the scene to be great.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And he was the guy. He's the he's the lead in the show. By the way, Parker Posey is hilarious.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
She's fantastic. I think Jason owns the screen whenever he's on it, but obviously I'm a little bit biased. But he was so, it just gave me an appreciation. You think acting is like they're really good looking and just act like themselves. That is horrible. That was one of the hardest hours I have ever spent.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
These guys, I can't tell you how profoundly disappointed I am in this. These whores trying to protect themselves or excuse their behavior, texting you or other people. I hate myself. Well, we fucking hate you more.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
No, no, no. I wish them the breast of luck. I mean, I wish them... Okay, all right. If there's an explosion in the capsule, we got to be quick to judge.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Godspeed. I'm a fan of fake breasts, and I have found so far that they taste real.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That's why the people come here, Kira.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Today's show is produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Corinne Ruff. Ernie Ertod entered in this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows, Ms. Saverio, and Dan Shilan. Nishat Kurwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com slash pod. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
If there's anybody who has the money and the resources to stand up to this bullshit. Tim Cook. It is Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, Cinder Pichai, Sam Altman, and his hushed tones and concerns about AI. Fuck you. You are literally...
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
The very principles, rule of law, separation between business and state, systemic laws, not individual laws where you give a million dollars to a campaign for favorable treatment. These ridiculous fake announcements, okay, put out a press release claiming that we're spending a quarter of a trillion dollars because of President Trump, even though it's all fucking jazz hands, it's all bullshit.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Somebody I'd like to think in the business community is gonna reach down and feel these circular things in between their legs and go, you know, no.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
No, there you go. Or a vagina and say, okay. Let's be honest though, they're all men. And say, okay, no, we're not doing this. And you're right, shareholders brace.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
At Apple, they've said, we want the EI.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
That's right. All this stuff is so good. His pronouns are now he and Himmler.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
There you go. Played a key backup role. Character actor in the whole drama.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Go ahead. But I don't even really understand what that means. We're only going to talk about- It doesn't mean anything. I don't. So do you not have an opinion? Isn't the whole idea of opinion is that you're going to be provocative and perhaps upset some people and catalyze a dialogue that perhaps helps craft better solutions? What's the point?
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Fair point. So why wouldn't the Washington Post? I just don't get any of this. I'm having trouble even making an argument for or against it. I don't know what it means other than him saying, I don't like the way it's being run now.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
I mean, the reality is with these newspapers now— There used to be 20, about 60 or 80 million subscriptions in the U.S. It's gone down to 20 million. Some have made the jump to digital, such as the New York Times. But the problem is it's a zero-sum game. And so when they sign up, when they thought, okay, the Washington Post is doing good work, it usually comes at the cost of someone else.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
They are now, as someone who's, I think, got some distance from the Washington Post. I like it. I have affection for it. But the reality is, it just feels like it's circling the drain right now. Yeah, absolutely. It doesn't feel like it has a growth strategy.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And the people who like the Post are quite frankly, I hate to use this word, but kind of the cultural elite.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Well, my view is they're pretty prickly. And when a billionaire weighs in with his views without really understanding journalism, it turns off their readers and their employees, and it's probably very damaging for the culture.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
There's all kinds of great content out there.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
The two winners here are, if he had said, I do think there's an opportunity. If you look at the amount of media coverage that sports gets, if you look at the amount of media coverage that politics gets, I think relative to its importance in the economy and the consumer's obsession with it, I would argue the opportunity in media And in podcasts, and I'm thinking a lot about this, is business.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
So if he were to say, if he were to say, we're going to focus, we're going to try and really beef up our coverage of the economy and business issues relating to the markets and everyday pricing and how it affects people's lives.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Because we all are kind of obsessed with Amazon and taxes and innovation and how AI affects us or doesn't in terms of our jobs. I think there's real opportunity here. The biggest winner of this move, hands down, are the heads of HR and recruiting at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Because every talented, my sense is at every organization, there's between 10 and 20% of the employees that add 120% of the value and the rest are negative 20. And what I mean by that is you have to have B players to scale. I know that sounds disparaging, but at every organization, they're generally a group of superstars that just drive a disproportionate amount of value.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
Those 10 or 20 people at The Washington Post have their pictures and their names like an FBI mob board at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. And guess what? They've already grabbed them.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
They'll all return your calls now. They have never, you're going to see, they are literally, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and some media players are going to come for the heart and the lungs of The Washington Post.
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Elon's First Cabinet Meeting, Trump's Gold Card, and Bezos' WaPo Revamp
And I'm Scott Galloway.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And I'm Scott Galloway.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I'm doing okay. I just hauled up five flights of stairs, my 14-year-old's beverage refrigerator, because what is a 14-year-old without his own beverage refrigerator? I like a beverage.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, you and my son. Do you know that? Yeah, but you deserve one.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I'm a big fan of bringing Elon to work days. I think it's... I was praying that the little kid would start goose-stepping. I think that would have been fitting. Yeah. Papa, tomorrow belongs to me.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
You mean the same? Oh, hold on. I think it's the same kid he put on his shoulders as he walked through the gates that said, work will set you free at Auschwitz.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
He used his kid as a prop at Auschwitz. Anyways, I think it's great when people bring their kids to work, but when you use your kids, it feels like the kid is a bit of a prop right now. He is.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And look, I don't, it all again is like the gulf of distraction. And that is the inspector general who was looking into Musk's payments and business activities has been summarily fired. Right. And I'm putting out a post tomorrow. Basically, what people don't realize is it's just so incredibly cynical because arguably one of the biggest welfare queens in history is Elon Musk.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
If you look at where a lot of these payments have gone. So a lot of this large S. So I find. Like, it's pretty obvious I have a bias against the guy, but I didn't... I thought it was smart for Trump visually to be sitting. Like, I'm more important than to have him there standing. I thought Elon looked good.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I'm trying to be... I thought he had... I thought that fashion was kind of cool, the black hat and the, you know, the jacket. But I thought... And I actually thought he handled the questions relatively well. So... You know, probably a win for them, but I have a difficult time just absorbing and processing any of this.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Oh, really? Yeah. I'm in favor of retro blue fridge. I'm actually very much an evangelist for beverages. Yeah, me too. But also... Yeah. Was it one of those like cool, what do they call it? Smeg?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
See, I think actually Trump, given the fact that he is that old, I think Trump is remarkably robust and good looking for people.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I think it was sort of a power move. But a couple of things come up. One. The kid was totally distracting for me. I do the same thing. I put out pictures on social of my dogs, one, because I think they're great and they are beautiful dogs, and two, I think it makes me more likable. I do the same thing. I understand what he's trying to do.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
The thing that propped up in my mind is I have good friends, and I got this practice from them. Every five years, they sit each other down and they say, logistics and money aside, which is a position of privilege, What could we do that would make you really happy? And my friend said, I think it was about five years ago, I'd like to sail around the world with the family.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
So they spent two years planning how to homeschool their kids on a boat, how to build a boat that could circumnavigate the globe. And they did it. They circumnavigated the globe. And there were some exceptionally scary moments. be involving pirates, rough seas, when you got like a seven-year-old on the boat. If the seven-year-old goes over, there's no getting them back.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And what they said to me was, I said, would you do it again? I tried to talk them out of it. These are good friends. I'm like, I just don't think this is a good idea. I wouldn't do it. And there's certain bodies of water. I would just take a plane. You don't need bragging rights. You're both incredibly impressive people. And I said, would you do it again?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And they said, not until our kids could give consent. Because they said there were just some moments that were very scary. And I feel the same way about this. If you're the president and you have children, it's one thing to have those moments. But I don't know. Do you really take your kid to a concentration camp?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I thought the whole thing was so fucking weird. Yeah.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, I think Sam has shown a great deal of discipline around his comms and his brand. I think he screwed up here. I think that whether it's true or not, it might have felt good to say, I feel for the guy and yes, he's insecure. I think he just sort of said, the offer isn't a serious offer and I have no idea what's going on with Elon Musk. I don't want to...
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Sam has taken so far the high road around this and he should continue to take the high road. He shouldn't take the bait and say, because that's basically saying he's insecure and it must have felt good. And I get why he would do it. He's probably so sick of this guy. I think so. That wants to deploy law for instead of actually competing against him.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And it's like this poltergeist who will not go away.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
That's absolutely fair. But Sam's brand is he's Sam comes across as the adult in the room and he's very restrained and he errs on the side of taking blows. And I don't think you should go there and say, you know, I mean, that was a that was that was a passive aggressive minus the passive part.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, but I think the bright answer would have been, of course, we had our lawyers look at it. We don't think there's any merit on it. We're focused on building great products. So I'm not here to psychoanalyze it.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, but the only thing is, if you're a public company and someone makes a bid for a certain class of shares is the way I would describe this, then you have a duty share obligation to put together a special committee and look at, and I don't know if they have debt, if that changes anything.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
But when you're basically a private company and everyone's making so much money, I just – unless there's someone on the board of the nonprofit that also hates Altman, which might be the case, and wants to create trouble.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And they can pretty much do whatever they want. They don't – a public company has an obligation. The board has an obligation to get the highest offer and look at everything. A private company is basically a private company, and they can kind of do – you know, the shareholders, the shareholders as represented by the board can kind of do whatever the fuck they want.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And I can't imagine any of them are going to go, yeah, let's bring Elon in.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
He doesn't have the money to buy, because if he were to buy it, he would have to... Actually, the more interesting kind of thing that no one watched, I actually read or looked at, which is Latin for, I had one of my analysts read, the earnings call from SoftBank. And a bunch of people asked questions about this anticipated investment in OpenAI at a $300 billion pre-money valuation.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And basically in so many words, they said, what the fuck are you thinking? Can you please explain this? And what will be the structure of the investment? So I'm now beginning to think that that investment might be at risk because a lot of the analysts on the call were, what are you doing? This makes no sense.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
So for the first time, I'm now wondering if SoftBank actually reduces their commitment to that.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
How is our player, Tesla, domestically, who has its own manufacturing in China, faring against BYD domestically in China?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Oh, I cannot tell you how impressed I am with Alice Han. She's my find. Occasionally you find somebody and you think this person is a genius and I want to give them more sunlight. And she's one of those people. Anyways, she's essentially said that, I mean, if you look at what's happened to Tesla in Europe, it's not much better in China.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
In January, retail sales of Tesla in China were 16% lower year on year.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And get this, 60% lower than in December. So, I mean, BYD, and BYD is now the number one EV car manufacturer in the world. Going to a much broader point here, I think that the most important relationship that could evolve hopefully in the next three years, let's assume that Trump, supposedly he desperately wants a Nobel Prize. And so let me go to advising the president in a hopeful way.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
The most obvious way would be to solve the civil war in Sudan, threaten both sides, work with both sides. The other way would be if China and the US kissed and made up the, I mean, have you seen these cars? These cars are $10,000 EVs and really good. They're adorable.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
For another $2,000 or $3,000, you can install a lot of airbags and a lot of safety features. And in addition, I would even go further than that. I would create a bilateral AI commission where we... Supposedly 38% of AI engineers are Chinese in the US. And when we don't cooperate with them, they develop their own chips. They have incentive to do things kind of in and around us.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I would have a bilateral AI similar to what Oppenheimer's vision was for nuclear, where we share everything with each other, but we also commit... to ensuring that AI is not used to create bioweapons by third parties or bad actors, because all we're doing is motivating the other to figure out workarounds to attack the other.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
The most important relationship in terms of a thong right now would be the first and second largest economy.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, but here's the Chinese playbook, and it's happening to Tesla. The Chinese playbook is very simple. Oh, Google, oh, Meta, come on in. And then they watch, listen, and learn, and then they steal their IP and prop up a local entrepreneur and capture the most of the value for the domestic market. And I think the same thing is happening to Tesla.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I can't imagine a lot of that IP from Tesla didn't end up at BYD. I don't know about that.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And battery, too.
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BYD sales plummet. Day after podcast. You have the worst taste in cars.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
They're super cool.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
In a second, they look like, I don't mean they're, they're kind of like the- It's like the new VW bug, but with technology.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It's the car equivalent of fast fashion. It is. We have figured out supply chain to just bring you something for dramatically less money.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, that's exactly right. The only thing propping up Tesla stock right now and his wealth is this basic, the market has said, this is now a kleptocracy and your proximity to power is more important than your innovation.
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Yeah, and also firing people who are investigating the company and getting rid of them. I guess that's a plus. Yeah, it's even, unfortunately, it's even, and this isn't in the script, but I'm just curious to get your quick reaction. Have you been following what's going on with Mayor Adams?
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Oh, God, I hope so.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Nobody in New York likes it. I agree. No, I said I hope so.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I mean, essentially, what's effectively happened is he's instructed the DOJ to drop all prosecution efforts against Mayor Adams. And in exchange, Mayor Adams has agreed to comply with all efforts by ICE to capture or retain or detain and deport people.
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So what you have is, I'll make sure that you are not subject to the same laws that every other citizen is subject to if you agree to go against your constituents and let our ICE people into, who knows, churches or schools. I mean, this is really fucking ugly.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
The guy who will probably win is when Andrew Cuomo actually announces that he's in the race.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It's a bunch of out-of-control progressives, one pragmatist named Whitney Tilson. who is a pragmatist, would be a great mayor, but probably doesn't have the name recognition. Governor Cuomo is going to come in and probably just lock it. But Kathy Hochul has, I believe, the power to remove Mayor Adams, and she should. She should. This is corruption at the highest level.
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Hunter, this is really, and by the way, I was a supporter of Mayor Adams. I thought the case against him was quite frankly overdone. I did not think what he did rose to the level of, I don't know how the media was portraying it.
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This is but this is it's so damaging to the Democratic brand because the Democratic brand, unfortunately, has been tarred with a broad but fairly fair brush of. every democratically run city on the West Coast is a fucking shit show. They ignored drugs, they ignored crime, and the quality of life is awful.
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I said two years ago, if I were Fox, I would just broadcast live from downtown San Francisco every day. And so the center of Democratic branding for politics moved to New York, which is actually performing quite well and still offers, is still the best place in the world to go in terms of a crush of opportunity, culture, nightlife.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
New York really still is the best city in the world and represents the best of America and thereby the best of the Democratic Party. And now we have this bullshit. So it's really damaging on a lot of levels. I think Governor Hochul should move in and say, do a press release and say, I'm removing him as mayor.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
No, you know who I would ask? That's a good question. I just thought of it. I would ask Mayor Bloomberg to step back in.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Six to 18 months until there's a special election.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
You saw my thread or whatever it is. I can't keep track. I just put out Gulf of Distraction. That's all this is. I don't, you know, what, who cares? I don't, fine, call it that. I just don't.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, we'll show them.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I appreciate that. Gulf of Dog.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Make America Scottish again.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
She's very calculating.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
She's not going to be on the go to the alumni cheerleading day where they have all these very cute 95-year-olds dressed up in pom-poms. She's an actual cheerleader. She's a gangster.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
They're in the background managing their brand really strongly with an eye on 28. And they're not going to like go down in some sort of like angry, near zombie apocalypse movie. Yeah, they're too smart. Yeah.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
So, you know, a broken clock can be right. I was a prediction machine last night. I wrote a bunch down.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
No, I was actually sober, which was kind of frightening. Interesting. When I was talking about, when you said that fuck, marry, kill thing, and I was talking about making sweet, sweet love to Mark Zuckerberg, and I thought I'd grab- You're still thinking about it, aren't you? Oh my God, I can't get off it.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
This could have been written by Sergei Lavrov, the equivalent of their secretary of state of propaganda. What might be interesting of the wildcard here is I'm not sure Europe is down with acquiescing to another murderous autocrat invading Europe and just saying, okay, it is what it is. What Secretary Hughes has said is probably pretty accurate.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Grabbing that chain, riding him like a dog and singing, who's self-harming now, you wanton bitch? Oh my God, my nipples are getting hard. And at that moment, at that moment, I thought, maybe I don't need drugs. Maybe I don't need drugs. Yeah. Anyways. This is all going to come crashing down, Kara. Anyways.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
If that's wrong, we don't want to be right.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I think Tesla is about to experience its real first major existential crisis. Sales off.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Here I go again. I can't help it. I'm an addict. They're off 20% to 60% across European countries. They're off 50% in China. EV demand appears to be plateauing. They are getting the shit kicked out of them by BYD. They haven't really released a new mass adoption product in about seven years.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And they have what is right now the worst brand ambassador in the world.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah. And then my more boring one is I really think Google is going to – you're about to hear a lot of stories about Google search companies. share falling below 90 percent at the hands of Perplexity, ChatGPT, and also Reddit. I was even thinking just as YouTube has become the ultimate distribution platform in 2025, I think in 26, it's going to be Reddit.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
There's just a bunch of like there's so many moons lining up right now. I'm really anyways, I think that Tesla is about to have I can't help it. I'm just going to say it now. Tesla stock is going to be below 200 in the next six months.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
At some point, I'll be right.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
We'll see, right? Yeah, we'll see.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Do you have any thoughts, any predictions?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Oh, you know what we should do?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And I'm serious about this. Alice, who I really respect, I would even call her a friend, the China analyst, Alice Han. She said, Scott, you should really, I haven't been to China since 2019. And I was saying, I was so excited about China. And I went there probably two, three times a year. And I haven't been back since 2019. And she said, I'll take you. It'll be a ton of fun.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And you'll meet with some interesting people. You and I should go to China and you should pick up your BYD and see if you can get it back to the U.S.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And pay the import. Pay the tariff and bring it back.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Yeah, the International Tourism Board, that's not going to be on any billboards. Wanastro, come to Shenzhen.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
We should do an event in China.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It's very unlikely we're going back to the traditional borders.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Reach out to us.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And I've heard that the CCP is actually a good organization because I can't find anyone who would say anything else. Bring us to China.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
After we see Wicked.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
We could see Wicked in Beijing. That'd be interesting.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Oh yeah, I'm going to, it's funny, I paused there because I feel like I rubbed my wealth in people's face. I'm going to Zermatt. I'm going to Zermatt on Saturday.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
But at the same time, the time you negotiate, you want to negotiate from a place of strength and what you've seen across Europe. You could argue that's one of the benefits of not only the invasion, of Ukraine, but also, quite frankly, of Trump, who signaled, I'm sick of supporting or giving everyone this very expensive military umbrella.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Supposedly we have this ridiculously hot ski instructor, so.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Really? Is it a concert or a showing?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
That sounds really cool.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie and her Todd engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Brose, Ms. Saverio, and Dan Shulon. Nishat Kroas, Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com slash pod. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business care. Have a great weekend.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
But you have seen a dramatic increase in military spending across the EU.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
So I'm not sure the EU is going to say, you know, Ukraine, if you can't, if you don't want to if you don't want to bend the knee at this moment, courtesy of whatever Trump and Hex that say, we've got your back. And what's just remarkable about Ukraine is in every conflict there's a new,
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
There's a new weapon that kind of rears up, whether World War I, it was tanks and biplanes, World War II, radar. Drones. Yeah. And this is all about drones. And it's just incredible what they have been able to do with substantially less resources. So I think you negotiate from a position of strength.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And when you start off with this type of rhetoric, you're basically, this could have been written by the Russians, right?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I heard he consulted with Jack Daniels before he made the speech.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
The other wild card people are talking about is, you know who doesn't want peace? China.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
China was a real beneficiary of the war because they get oil at dramatic, you know, on sale. Because Russia, because they've been essentially shunned by every other major oil consumer.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It felt like a rave party. It's like... I was like, let's drop some molly and turn off Russian gas.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
You brought a key point, and that is while at the end of the day, we might end up with some sort of commitment to not let Ukraine join NATO, because there is, if you talk to Professor Jeffrey Sachs at Columbia, who I disagree with on almost every foreign policy viewpoint, he would argue that we invited that Russia was backed into the corner because of the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Maybe ultimately you know that you're not going to let them join NATO and America for the most part gets to make that decision, but you don't offer it up before the negotiations. You maybe even say, in one way will guarantee their security moving forward is incorporating the new Ukraine into NATO.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And then Russia freaks out and says, okay, if you take, you know, if you give back 60, 70, 80% of the territory, you don't show up and negotiate against yourself and offer that up before you need to. So,
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
He's the most Churchillian character of this millennium so far.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I would say I have more confidence, actually, in the EU. I don't think— Keep in mind the EU is a large economy. They have dramatically increased their military budget. And quite frankly, they still remember what happens when an autocrat is let, when you give him, when you say, okay, here, you can have Poland or you can have this segment of France.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Anthony Chamberlain? Wasn't it Neville?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It's so rare. You're usually the one telling me I got it wrong.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Richard Chamberlain from the Thornburgs.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
With one of the hottest women ever, Rachel Ward.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
A love affair. His commitment to God. I'm like, dude, just tell God to put.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Oh, my God. Take that shit down and let us watch. I know. Put it on cable and let them go at it.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Well, I mean, first off, to be fair, you can't pin egg prices going up 53%. It's the avian flu or whatever it is. But if you look at, if you dig in, inflation is sort of a crude number because there's core inflation.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And if you really get to the nut of it, the thing that drove a lot of this kind of uncomfortable number, and it's probably the reason why the Fed is now pulling back on what they thought were going to be rate or the market thought anticipated to be rate cuts, is is shelter. Housing costs, including hotel and motel rooms, rose 0.4% last month.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And I've always thought that... And the Democrats need to get off their heels in whining and bitching and being outraged and get onto their toes and start proposing some really dramatic, forward-looking... Because I think one of the reasons we lost CARA was that we were seen as a party of the past and everything's fine and let's hold on to our tradition. Yeah.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
I don't read anything you sent me.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It takes too much time, and it's usually exceptionally—it's like 140— Well, you're articulating exactly what that piece said, but go ahead. 140 pace smeared over very woke toes.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
140 IQ. It's very smart woke.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Anyways, so I do want to listen to that podcast here with the three economists. But anyways— Yes. The really exciting thing would be, all right, how do we implement a CHIPS-like act for housing?
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Because if you unleash the real economy, there's a lot of great housing builders out there, Pulte, you know, there's a ton of... And say to them, all right, I don't know if it's 3%, 5%, 10% tax subsidy, and also make it more difficult... for residents to sequester new housing permits.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
One of the biggest tragedies in American history, I believe, was we took housing permits out of the hands of, actually, the bureaucrats were trying to fire, and we put it into the hands of housing owners, who all of a sudden decided, if I own a house, I don't want any more new houses built.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
But a dramatic—I would love the Democrats to propose a dramatic increase of tax subsidy, whatever it might be, that increases housing supply well beyond its current demand and says, within the next 10 years, we're going to bring housing prices down dramatically.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It has such a huge psychological impact on our youth because—and not only that, housing formation. I don't know about you, but when I— When I was younger and trying to figure out a way not to get married, I said, okay, let's get a dog. And then I was like, okay, let's get a house. And when you get a house, it's really a commitment to each other and you start saving.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
It's a great means of creating more cementing of a bond with somebody.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Let me think. No. Okay. My housing strategy is very straightforward. It's a 0.1% strategy. Wealthy people are the most homogenous, boring people in the world. And that is, I'm convinced, essentially income inequality is only going to get worse. And the 0.1% are incredibly boring. They all wear Hermes ties, they party in St.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Barts, they drive Range Rovers, and they want to live in one of six or seven places.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Invest what you know and boner pills and two-headed glass dildos. I'm still looking for an investment there. Anyways, but back to real estate. The 0.1 percent all want to live in Dubai, London, New York, Palm Beach, Aspen, certain parts of LA, and then there's maybe two or three close seconds, and they're all crowding into a small number. Of homes.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
And in addition, the secondary benefit is I want to make it such that my boys can't avoid me. It's like, well, we can go to Tijuana and eat cheap lobster. We could go hang out at my dad's place where we have to have lunch with them. Anyways, I don't know how we got here. But Trump, the Democrats need a housing act.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
Well, my heart says yes, but my brain says based on all previous track records.
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Trump’s Putin Call, Inflation Rises, and Sam Altman Strikes Back at Elon Musk
If he can be found liable by a jury of his peers selected by both his defense and the prosecution and be found liable of sexual abuse, I'm not sure inflation is going to stick to him. So I would think, but what I probably know or what I feel is yes, what I know based on fact patterns is no.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
So the question I get most frequently when I speak here is to compare and contrast the US with the UK. And I use a personal anecdote. My parents immigrated to the US from Glasgow and London when they were 19 and 22. They took enormous risks. I've been an entrepreneur my whole life. I like to think that a lot of my success is my fault, that I inherited sort of that risk-taking DNA.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
And when I speak to people in the UK, I say the primary difference is you're the ones that stayed. And that is it kind of comes down to a risk appetite. The U.S. has five times per capita the number of entrepreneurs. It has five times the dollar volume per startup. There's $5 million in venture capital waiting to be deployed for every startup in the U.S. versus $1 million in Europe.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I love what Constantine said about a restaurant. I went into this great little restaurant in Soho a few weeks ago called Dig In, and I loved it so much, I left my card and said, can you have the owner? I'd like to open another one. Does he need money? I just would never do that here. I thought that was a really interesting insight.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
And the collision of risk, crazy ideas that occasionally become crazy genius, and technology, and intellectual property, and great universities... results in a company that no one had heard of five years ago being worth more than the entire UK stock market, NVIDIA. So there's just an enormous difference. The way I would summarize my impression of the UK economy, I'll just say London.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I have no experience in it. I don't go anywhere that's not walking distance from Marylebone, so my bubble is pretty opaque. But the way I would describe the economy here is I love the term the Butler economy, and that is all the money I see being made here is people servicing wealth created somewhere else. You're either in financial services servicing rich people.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
You're either opening a restaurant or hospitality servicing rich people. But I don't see a lot of organic wealth creation. I interviewed the two quote unquote inventors of AI at one of your prestigious universities. My first question is, how the hell were you not able to make any money if you invented AI? Why haven't you been able to capture any money?
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
But just for your listeners, my summation of Europe versus the U.S. after molesting the earth for the last 35 years is U.S. is still the best place to make money and Europe is still the best place to spend it. Is this a failing nation, Scott? I think you have too much going for you to be described as a failing nation. You still have amazing universities.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
London's still the second best city in the world. Premier League, it's an unbelievable export. I know how ridiculous that sounds. People want to be here. There's still rule of law, rule of play. You still produce amazing rock and roll. I just don't see how you could say this is a failed... I would argue that the Second only to our entry into Iraq, the greatest self-inflicted wound was Brexit.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
An American can't understand why you would decide to increase your prices while reducing productivity in one fell swoop. It's difficult for us to wrap our heads around some of the economic decisions today. The UK has made, but I think a lot of people are kind of betting are hoping that the UK begins to grow again. So I'm in a weird way.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I'm sort of I would call myself cautiously optimistic about the UK. I think at some point it registers it begins to occupy the place it could it should command, if you will.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
Well, if you think of the U.S. as setting the tone economically and maybe even culturally for the West, there's definitely a reversion away from... People feel that quote-unquote wokeism, and I don't like to use that word, but I'll use it here, was this sort of overcorrection to systemic racism and that it began to cause more damage than it was... were causing more problems than it was solving.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
Well, with respect to energy, Trump, issued an executive order calling it an energy crisis. Gasoline in the U.S. on an inflation-adjusted basis is less expensive than it was 50 years ago. We are now the largest oil producer in the world. I would argue that we have a housing crisis and that the executive order should have been around that.
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Just going back to the U.S., and I'm curious of the same dynamics and whether Constantine and Daniel agree with this. I believe this, the election in the US was supposed to be a referendum on women's rights. Women's rights did not show up. This was a referendum on young men, in my view. And that is, if you look at the two cohorts that swung most from blue to red versus 2020,
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Two of the three cohorts, other than Latinos, was people under the age of 30 who in the U.S. are 24 percent less wealthy than they were 40 years ago. People over the age of 70 or 72 percent wealthier. Our tax code is basically an attempt to shove money from the young to the old. And to 45 to 64 year old women who I would affectionately describe as their mother.
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that is when your son's in the basement vaping and playing video games and i think a lot about struggling young men you don't give a flying about territorial sovereignty in the ukraine or ukraine excuse me or transgender rights all you know is your kid isn't doing well and 210 times a day your kid's getting a notification that somebody he knows is on a gulf stream or partying in st bart's and it's not him or her and so we not only have young people not doing as well
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This pornographic wealth is just shoved in their face. And you end up with, in my opinion, kind of a young, struggling young man. No group has fallen further faster in the world, I would argue, than young men in America. They are, if you go into a morgue in the United States, and there's five people who've died by suicide, four of them are men.
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One in three men under the age of 30 has a girlfriend. Two in three women under the age of 30 has a boyfriend. Why? You think that's mathematically impossible? Because women are dating older because they want more economically and emotionally viable men. There's one in five men live at home at the age of 30, one in three under the age of 25. They're not having sex.
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They're more obese, they're more depressed. When women don't have a relationship, they oftentimes channel that energy into their professional lives. More single women own homes in the U.S. than single men. Women in urban areas under the age of 30 are making more money than men.
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And I think there's been a serious kind of lurch back, if you will, whether it's executive actions, declaring the border, a state of emergency, you know, stuff around saying that gender is a thing, there's male and female.
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When men don't have the guardrails of a relationship or a job or being in school, they pour that energy sometimes into unproductive things, misogyny, nationalism or extreme nationalism, conspiracy theory. In some, they become really shitty citizens. They become sequestered from society. So I'm worried in the U.S. our biggest threat is a new species of asexual, asocial young men.
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who are incredibly dangerous have opted out of America. 60% of 30-year-olds used to have one child in America, and that's 27%. So people, I think, in the US, and this is a genuine question, I don't know if it's the same problem here, our tax policies have taken money from the young, stuffed them in the pockets of old people, so Nana and Pop-Pop can upgrade from Carnival to Crystal Cruises.
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Meanwhile, young people can't afford education, they can't afford housing. And we especially see this really acute emerging crisis
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among young men who are just opting out of America, who don't even want to try and date, don't even want to enroll in school, don't want to even try and get a job, just stick in their basements and go on Reddit or Discord, or why go try and shower or work out and get a relationship when you have you porn? Why get a job when you can trade stocks or crypto on Coinbase or Robinhood?
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I think this is, in my opinion, this is the most dangerous trend in America right now.
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And most of these issues, the actually American public supports, I would say on a more cynical level, America used to be a platform for prosperity, the protection of civil rights, the projection of women's rights and power and democracy abroad. And I would argue that it feels like a pretty quick transition to almost like a
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So I think there's a lot of nuance here. I would argue in universities, DEI is used as a giant misdirect from people such as myself who are enforcers of the caste system and wake up every morning and look in the mirror and ask ourselves the same question. How do I increase my compensation while decreasing my accountability?
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And what I've found is the ultimate strategy is to create an LVMH rejectionist bullshit elitist strategy where Dartmouth sits on an endowment of $8 billion and lets in 500 kids. So the conversation around who gets in is a misdirection. The important question is how many. If you are not growing your endowment or your freshman class faster than population, you should lose your tax-free status.
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We should be letting in more gay kids, more trans kids, more white Republicans from rural states. You know who doesn't talk about DEI? Junior colleges, because there's no admissions. They don't have a problem with DEI. So I think DEI on campus has ended up eating its own tail, started out with the right idea. Now it's nothing. And I would argue the same is somewhat true of the Democratic Party.
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I went to the Democratic National Convention. On the DNC.org website, it lists 17 special interests groups, and it says explicitly who we serve. Asian Pacific Islanders, seniors, veterans, Black Americans, the disabled. It basically lists, I added this up, 76% of the population. And when you say you're actively advocating for 76% of the population, you're not advocating for 76% of the population.
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I call it a kleptocracy, but America has become a platform for acquiring wealth and then leveraging that wealth as a means or a proxy of power. And the ultimate example of that was the launch of two meme coins, the Trump coin and the Melania coin, the day before the presidency, such that this conversation could have already or might happen this week. And I'll finish here.
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You're discriminating against the 24%. It's gone too far. I would argue in the workplace, having served on seven public company boards and and I'm going to do a lot of boasting here because I'm desperate for all of your affirmation, and 12 private company boards, there's still work to be done in the private sector. There still is a cycle of
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40% of all venture capitalists and probably 70% or 80% of all venture capital deployed are white guys from just two universities, Stanford and Harvard. So I would argue universities, it's gotten out of control. I'd love to see the DEI apparatus disassembled, along with the ethics department, the sustainability department, the leadership department.
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These are all bullshit where we hire formerly important people with no standards. They never get fired. It just translates to more student debt. In the boardroom, in corporations, in certain sectors, I do think there is a need to be thoughtful about broadening the aperture of the lens and bringing in people who are underrepresented. There's still a dearth of women raising venture capital.
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So I think it's nuanced based on sector. But to just say all DEI is bad, I want to move to where the University of California did in 1997. They don't have race-based affirmative action. They have adversity-based affirmative action. I'm a beneficiary of affirmative action. I had something called Pell Grants. I was raised by a single immigrant mother who lived and died a secretary, so I got grants.
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I had unfair advantage because I came from a household that was low income. And I think that there should be affirmative action, and I think it should be based on color, but that color is green. The poor need our help. The moment you start advocating for special advantage based on any external factors, I think at this point in our society, it probably causes more problems than it solves.
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President Trump, it's Vlad. We're thinking about stabilizing our currency or trying to send the outflows of our reserves. So we're thinking about pulsing at about 600 billion rubles
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into the Trump coin, which based on my economist estimation would take the value of it to a $20 or $30 billion market cap, making you one of the wealthiest men in the world, Mr. Trump, and none of this would be disclosable or transparent. Also, in unrelated news, we'd really appreciate you seizing arms shipments to Ukraine.
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What I've said on your show is that I think the male form, especially under the age of 30, with its bone structure, incredible double twitch muscle, and then this amazing... amazing chemical called testosterone, you're going to look back at your 25-year-old self and think, why wasn't I a fucking monster like Steve Bartlett?
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So I think we've gone kind of full kleptocracy is the way I would describe it. Are you optimistic, Scott? Well, I'm a glass half empty kind of guy. I don't. I don't know if I'm just getting older, but no, I don't see a man convicted of sexual abuse or found liable who inspired an insurrection retaking the White House as a point of light for the American experience.
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And also, there is some masculinity when Russian soldiers pour over the border in Ukraine. You want some of that big dick energy that Daniel was talking about. In the case of Zuckerberg, I don't think... I don't think he really understands an aspirational view of masculinity.
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I think when he couches immediately kind of trying to kiss Trump's ass because Trump threatened to put him in prison and what he used to call moderation, he's now calling censorship. And when you have an algorithm that elevates incendiary, hateful content, I would not describe that as masculinity. For me, masculinity comes down to protection, providing and procreation.
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And I don't think it's a I think to talk about gendering a workplace in the context of trying to excuse a total elimination of what I would think is probably healthy moderation. I imagine Daniel and Constantine might have a different view. I don't I think he's just couching his. his supplicant obsequious kiss-ass behavior under the auspices of masculinity, it just doesn't ring true for me.
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And I'm not sure we need to man up or femme up organizations and companies right now. When I talk about masculinity, you know, if I say at a conference, oh, women are better managers, everyone goes, yes, that's right. That's right, right? That's okay. If I say men are more risk aggressive and make better entrepreneurs, you're a misogynist, you're out.
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And the reality is men and women bring different attributes, but the masculinity and femininity, I think masculinity is a wonderful thing. I think we need a different image of it. I think people born as male have an easier time leaning into those things. Having said that, I work out at CrossFit with a bunch of lesbian firefighters.
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They bring great masculine energy and they could carry my ass out of a fire. So a lot of men demonstrate wonderful feminine qualities. A lot of women demonstrate wonderful masculine qualities. I don't think these things are sequestered to anyone born as a specific gender. What I think, what I talk about masculinity, I don't talk about it in the role of corporations.
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I think that's just fraught with risk and not worth talking about. It should be about shareholder value or stakeholder value. I think young men need a code. We're going to church less. We have fewer relationships. So what's the code you hold onto in terms of, creating behaviors that are productive for you, yourself, society.
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And I think masculinity needs to be redefined as something more aspirational where you're celebrated for being really fucking strong. You're celebrated for not complaining. You're celebrated for creating surplus value, create more tax revenue than you absorb. You're celebrated for being aggressive. You're celebrated for breaking up fights at bars, not starting them.
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You're celebrated for protecting your country, not shitposting it. You're celebrated for approaching strange women and expressing romantic interest. That's not a crime. And if she's not interested and you're rejected, you're both going to be fine. You're celebrated for getting out of the house. You're celebrated for working. You're celebrated for making money and liking money.
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I think there just needs to be a redefinition of masculinity in the context of helping young men find a code that they used to get from the armed services or from dual parent households. And I feel like they're struggling. So I like the idea of something that they feel in their bones and in their body and in their DNA that they can lean into that we celebrate.
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And the conversation is flipped entirely. Five years ago, I was called a misogynist for talking about masculinity. Now the conversation is being led and advocated by one group and it's mothers. who are like, my son is not doing well. I got three kids, two daughters, daughters in PR with the other ones at Penn, and my son is in the basement vaping and playing video games.
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He needs something to latch on to. He needs a code. Anyways, but I apologize, word salad. Zuckerberg and masculinity, give me a fucking break. He looks like a Chechen Mali dealer. Sorry, back to you, Stephen.
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To Trump's credit, he saw the opportunity and he flew right into the manosphere. Rockets, crypto, Joe Rogan, Theo Vaughn. He said, no, I'm not going to run from this. I'm going to fly right into it. Now, I would argue that his vision of masculinity has too much coarseness, too much cruelty, too much bullying. I don't think that's masculinity.
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I think when we talk about Elon Musk taking risks, sending rockets that are captured by scissors coming down, inspiring the EV race, taking an enormous risk, making a shit ton of money. Yeah, that's a great form of masculinity.
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Accusing men trying to save high soccer players, calling them pedophiles, calling your employees a sex criminal such that they have to leave their house, having 13 kids by five women or three women, none of which you live with, living next to, sleeping next to a loaded gun, of your self-control because of addiction. I don't think that's a great role model.
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I think it's an amazing role model for boys. I don't think it's a great role model for men.
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Yeah, I can't speculate on what motivates Elon Musk. I quite frankly just don't get the guy. And also, I don't have the domain expertise to comment on the rape gangs. It's such a serious, upsetting issue. I don't know it well enough to speak intelligently to it. Just the topic of censorship, though, as it relates to meta...
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A hallmark of a free society and a democracy is that pretty much anyone can say pretty much anything about pretty much anybody. I believe that. The question is, do machines and bots have free speech rights? Because if I say something, I believe... I may be paranoid, but it doesn't mean I'm wrong.
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I believe VCs whose portfolio companies I've said have overvalued have enlisted thousands of bots to basically just shitpost me over and over on X to diminish my credibility. I think because I've been critical of Putin that the GRU has hired troll farms to create lists of thousands of people to weaponize bots to say disparaging things about them. Do those bots have free speech rights?
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In addition, when Fox News distributes information to its anchors saying Dominion voting machines were weaponized by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, despite the fact they knew that was not true. But they tell their broadcasters to do it anyways. And then Dominion says, this hurt our business. And you knew it was false. And you decided to communicate it anyways. Their courts find them liable.
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They have to pay three quarters of a billion dollars. What happened at Fox News was a dumpster fire compared to the nuclear mushroom cloud that on meta. So a lot of what we're talking about here, if you want to say that mRNA vaccines alter your DNA, I think you should have the right to say that. The dissenter's voice is important because occasionally the conspiracy theorist ends up being correct.
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The question is, when you have a business model that elevates the most incendiary, ugly content beyond its organic reach, should you then be exonerated from all liability and slander that traditional media companies
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If we were to say that Elon Musk is a pedophile and start stating facts and evidence of it, and he could show that it's hurt his ability to raise money for Tesla, and he filed legal action against this podcast, I think we would be in a world of hurt. And that legal liability is warranted. But the most powerful media companies in the world have Section 230 protection.
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So they have a business model where conspiracy theory or novel content, which is Latin for bullshit and lies, and the more angry it is, it gets elevated beyond its organic reach.
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So while I'm kind of down with the notion that we should have free speech and anybody should be able to say pretty much whatever they want, there's something wrong when we have algorithms that have a profit incentive around rage, conspiracy theory, and lies, and two-thirds of Republicans believe that the election was stolen. And when one in five Americans think that 9-11 was an inside job,
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I mean, we are... Let's be honest.
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I think that's such an important point because I think it's a real shame that AI LLMs aren't crawling the real world. I was at Granger's yesterday. Someone comes up to me, love your content, Let's take a picture. They're so nice. Another person comes up to me and say, I disagree with your view on this, but we have a civil conversation.
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And then I come home to 40 bots telling me I'm Professor Genocide. I mean, people in the real world, generally speaking, I don't know if it's because of the threat of physical violence or they want to have sex with you or maybe they think at some point you'll hire their kid or generally just a comity of man. But people in real life, I find, are just lovely and wonderful.
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And it's a shame that these LLMs aren't crawling this because the treif and some of the vile shit they're crawling online, which I don't even think reflects our species. I think it reflects... technology that has a profit motive around promoting the most incendiary, hateful content. So there's got to be some sort of medium speed here.
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And also, I got a fact, Steve, because you don't like Chick-fil-A, don't eat a Chick-fil-A. If Musk wants to pay $44 billion and turn it into a Nazi porn bar, that's his right. I don't think it's illegal. I don't think the government should step in. But I don't have to paint his fence. And I can go to another platform. That's my right too. And everyone says, oh, you're against free speech.
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I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm against being on a platform that makes me feel bad. So he has the right. And all this notion around meta, free speech, it's a little different because they control so much of the media. But these are media companies and they should be liable for slander or defamation the same way traditional media companies are involved.
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I think we could solve a lot of this problem by just removing 230 protections for algorithmically elevated content. If you decide to elevate content beyond its organic reach, then you are making an editorial decision and you should be liable if that in fact is slanderous or defamatory.
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I just want to respond to that. I think you're guilty of the same illusion of complexity that protects these companies from acting like actors such that they can do anything regardless of the damage to the Commonwealth to add shareholder value. If you implemented, we have, first off, this notion that you don't want to give up your identity.
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Trust me, they know everything about you, Constantine, already. And I could go get a ton of information on you from the dark web fairly easily with a credit card. So the notion that somehow we shouldn't have some sort of... You could have... We need age verification for social media. There's no reason anyone in the age of 16 should be on a social media platform.
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And regarding the civil rights activists or the women's rights activists that needs an anonymity, you could create a number of accounts and use blockchain or some sort of third party anonymous to have a certain number of accounts that says, look, if you want an anonymous parody account, you want to make fun of people, fine. If you want to
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an account talking about issues that you feel are sensitive from other markets, fine. We could absolutely figure that out and then figure out, okay, this account is doing nothing. It has no base. It has no soul. It has no values. It has 72 followers. All it's doing is trying to start fights online. All it's doing is trying to make people feel shitty about Britain or shitty about America.
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And the reality is these companies use that illusion of complexity such that they can have more bots creating more fake clicks, more Nissan ads, and more shareholder value. I think there's a middle ground here. I think we could figure this out.
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I see too, and I can only, I don't feel like I can wrap my arms around UK's issues, but in terms of the US political extremism, I would put it number two, you know, at negative 40 Celsius and Fahrenheit meet. And because of our electoral system and Citizens United, people from the far left who are crazy and people from the far right who are crazy are just overrepresented.
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EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
And they come together to meet on reckless spending, deficit spending. They come together to agree on anti-Semitism. And there's just too many people on the far left and the far right. And the people in the middle, it's minority rule. They're just not represented.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
However, I think the biggest threat that people aren't talking about, and I've actually spent some time talking with the administration around this or the former administration, I should say, is loneliness.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
And that is you have the deepest pocketed, most well-resourced companies and people in the world trying to convince people, especially young men, that they can have a reasonable facsimile of life on a screen with an algorithm. And I think they literally go crazy. I think they wake up and they're obese and lonely and have no skills. We talked about this.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I think young people, I say this jokingly, but have seriously, I think young people need to get out of the house more, drink more, make a series of bad decisions that might pay off. I think we need more sex. I think we need more people in third spaces, more church, more religious, more institutions, national service. We're mammals. And I worry that one in seven men doesn't have a single friend.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
One in four men can't name a best friend. So this loneliness epidemic where people get into a bubble and start engaging into conspiracy theory, not trusting each other, blaming women, blaming the nation, self-harm. I worry about, you know what I say to young men, I coach a lot of young men, romantic comedies are two hours, not 15 minutes for a reason. This shit is hard. And it's worth it.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
But I worry that we're raising, like I said, this new species of asocial, asexual being called the young American male that is obese, anxious, and just a shitty citizen.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
You need cheap energy. You're right. What I would argue, I think it's going to be liquid natural gas and nuclear. We haven't talked about AI. AI requires 10 times the energy. The AI query is a Google query. The choke point is energy. I would argue in the U.S., I think we'd benefit more from, as opposed to drill, baby, drill, build, baby, build.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I think young people have seen housing prices just go crazy. There's a psychological benefit to household formation, forced savings. So I'm going to take your word because you're a very smart guy that Britain has implemented a series of policies. That energy stat you rolled out was incredible. But in the U.S., like I said, I don't want to say we're drowning in oil.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
There were more drilling permits issued under Biden. than the previous Trump administration. I mean, just to call Biden anti-energy or that somehow we have this massively overinflated energy prices, it's just not, that hasn't happened in the U.S. I would like, we need more homes in the U.S.,
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I'm older. I have 14 and 17 year old boys. And my observation is you can't tell them anything. The best you can do is you can try and model behavior for them. So I'm trying to be really kind to their mother. I'm trying to show them that, you know, if you're serious about having a good family, you got to be a generous, loving partner.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I'm trying to be in great physical shape and which is getting harder and harder. I'm trying to be aggressive and around them in terms of business and trying to be kind. And what I do, I do talk to them about the concept of surplus value. I'm like, you're takers right now. You know, the UK school system, which is amazing, is investing a lot in you and you're giving almost nothing back. Me and your
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
Your mother are loving you a lot more than you're loving us. You're just taking resources everywhere. You're a net negative. And you're crossing a manhood isn't sex or some religious ceremony. You're crossing a manhood is when you are start creating surplus value. You're loving more people than you're absorbing. You're listening to more complaints than you are complaining.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
You're creating more revenue than you're absorbing. That's the notion at surplus value. And I have this trick. called What a Man Does. And I've been doing this when they're kids. I'm like, guests show up, a man goes and gets their luggage and puts it in their room. A man is constantly scanning the table for empty water glasses.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
And I mean, one of the proudest moments I ever had was when like my six-year-old boy who was all like 30 pounds got up and went over this gigantic pitcher of water at this table and like started like trying to pour other people's water and everyone had no idea what was going on here. I do these things called what a man does. A man asks a woman out for coffee. A man pays for women.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
You definitely you know, we Democrats, we get it right. And then we just go too damn far. And and so I look at I'm a professor on a campus. D.I. 60 years ago, there were 12 black people at Princeton, Yale and Harvard combined. That was a problem. Race based affirmative action makes sense. This year, more than half of Harvard's freshman class identifies as nonwhite.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I'm a sexist that way. I still have told my men, my son gave me this rap on, dad, you're so establishment. I'm like, do everyone have sex? I'm like, then you need to pay. I mean, that's the bottom line. Anyways, but what I would say is I'm trying to model good behavior or be a good role model, but I agree with Constantine and Daniel.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
I think every day they have more potential to lead the most amazing life in history. I'm not a nihilist. I'm not a catastrophist. I think I have big problems, but given the blessings of the sons born to these men and future sons that you'll have, Stephen, Jesus, it's good to be them. They have no excuse. They should rock on. They should have a wonderful life.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
But 70% of those non-whites come from dual income homes in the upper quintile of income earning homes. The academic gap between black and white used to be double what it was between rich and poor. It's now flipped. So DEI was a good idea that quite frankly has gone insane and now just represents... the same racism it was trying to do away with.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
And then we created two candidates who were the only candidates who could make each other viable. Vice President Harris, given the hand she dealt with, did the best she did. I think President Biden should be buried in a crypt entitled narcissist who decided that it made sense for him to go back on his pledge to be a transition candidate.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
and gave us a British-style election timing on the Democratic side in a marketplace where you need time and money. So it was not, we did not have a great candidate. There is an understandable swing back from what is an overcorrection around some of these issues. You know, parents, we gave them a huge issue with transgender rights. There's more Padel players in California than transgender people.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
And yet the Democrats decided to conflate it with the civil rights movement and think that it was okay for a woman who transitioned, a transgender woman, to enter a bicycle race and finish five minutes before everybody else, and then we all bark up the same tree and decide that it's inspiring. And parents all over the nation are saying, what has, you know, we've literally gone crazy.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
Where I would disagree a little bit with Constantine is that America choosing economic growth and prosperity, there are 190 sovereign nations in the world. 189 would change places with America over the last four years. We hit 71 new record highs in the markets, 97% of all AI.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
We've created more market capitalization in a seven-mile radius of SFO International Airport than Europe's created in the last 20 years. We have the lowest inflation in the G7. We have the highest growth. We've grown 10% since 2020. That's triple the rate of Europe. Biden was unable to communicate any of that effectively.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
Because there's this psychological dynamic that when your wages go up, you credit your own grit and character, and when the price of cereal goes up, you blame the president. Now, similar to the future or how William Gibson described the future, it's here. It's just not evenly distributed. Prosperity is unprecedented in the U.S. over the last four years. It just wasn't evenly distributed. Now –
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
Having said that, in America, you can stop working in August and you've produced more and made more money than you have in Europe the whole year. And it has gotten better. It's got it says things are less bad than anywhere in the world in the US. Biden was unable to communicate it. And then talking about how great the economy is when rents were skyrocketing, tuition was going up.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
It was an ineffective strategy. But. I don't think it's fair to say Americans chose prosperity. We have prosperity. I would argue that, quite frankly, some of the Republican ideals are on deficit spending, which are nothing but taxes on future generations pulled forward. I mean, we'll see how that works. But his signature policies clamp down on immigration, tariffs.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
EMERGENCY DEBATE: What Trump’s Return Really Means for America & The Real Reason Men Voted for Trump! Is the UK About to Collapse?!
These things are wildly inflationary. So Constantine's right. It's going to be difficult. You don't know what's going to happen. But it feels to me, I would argue that my favorite appointment in the Trump administration in the adult in the room is the 10-year bond, which is going to say, sorry, girlfriend, when I believe the president tries to implement some of these economic policies.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Power of Trump 2.0, Why Elon and DOGE are Working, and Independent Media's Impact, with Jason Calacanis and Chamath Palihapitiya of All-In | Ep. 1008
He's going to accuse me of overreach.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Power of Trump 2.0, Why Elon and DOGE are Working, and Independent Media's Impact, with Jason Calacanis and Chamath Palihapitiya of All-In | Ep. 1008
then come after me, bitch. To go after the woman, it shows one of two things. Either you're weak or you have an incredible bias, a misogynist. Let's just get to the source here. It's just so clear the guy wants to fuck me.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Power of Trump 2.0, Why Elon and DOGE are Working, and Independent Media's Impact, with Jason Calacanis and Chamath Palihapitiya of All-In | Ep. 1008
The sexual tension is palpable. I get it. And he's rich, so there is a shot. What is that? I mean, it's irrelevant.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Also, zuerst einmal anonym. Du solltest nicht anonym sein. Du sagst nichts, was deinen Job bedroht. Und du klingst wie ein so schöner Kerl. Und auch, du hast mehr Vertrauen, als ich, als ich in deinem Alter war. Du kannst die Anerkennung für andere Menschen ausdrücken. Ich hatte diese verdammte Notion von Masculinität, als ich in deinem Alter war. Du klingst wie in deinen 20er oder 30er.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
dass, wenn ich beeindruckt war, besonders mit einem anderen Mann, es sich irgendwie von dem, wie beeindruckend ich war, entfernt hat. Ich hatte keine Selbstvertrauen, um Anerkennung oder Wunder an andere Menschen zu erzeugen. Also bist du bereits weit vor dem Spiel und hast eine schöne Stimme. Jedenfalls klingt es mir so, als ob du dich wirklich gut für den Erfolg befestigt hättest.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Nun, um in die Akademie zu wechseln. Also, zu Beginn denke ich, dass Akademie als Karriere unterwertet ist. Es ist wundervoll. Es erzeugt viele Lohnwölfe, weil man viele Sachen selbst machen kann. Es gibt gerade ein paar Probleme mit Akademie.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
That's a really thoughtful question. And I think kind of information intensive white collar industries that to a certain extent trade in complexity. There's a lot of regulation. There's a lot of different assets. People have taxes. It's complex once you get above any reasonable set of assets. And so people want to feel comfortable.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Zum einen ist es moralisch korrupt, basierend auf einer exklusionären Rejectionismus-Bullshit-Kultur, dass Kinder nicht eingelassen werden, trotz der Tatsache, dass wir die Kapitalität haben, um eine Doppel-, Doppel- oder Quintuple-Klasse, das ist eine andere Redezeit.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Und es gibt zu viele ältere Leute, die nicht mehr gehen wollen, weil der Mann oder die Frau im GAP-1-Bereich die Unterschiede zwischen Blackwater und Bluewater Economics in 1978 verstanden haben. Und jetzt sind sie 80 Jahre alt und werden nicht mehr gehen. Sie zeigen sich einfach nur an den Fakultäten und sind sehr zerstört.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ich arbeite mit dem, was ich glaube, ist wahrscheinlich die beste Fakultät in Amerika, bei NYU Stern. Und 10% aller Fakultäten sind einfach so inspirierend. These are people who give up a dramatic amount of compensation because they love teaching. And they are just so good at what they do. And their relentless pursuit of the truth, especially in this age, is just inspiring.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And they're great storytellers and they care about people. Anyways, but the downside of academia is there's just a third... of the people at any institution that, quite frankly, just shouldn't be there, aren't pulling their weight. And because of tenure, which is essentially a guild for the unproductive, tenure is nothing but student debt in my viewpoint. Anyways, I don't know how I got here.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Welche Medien wären für dich am besten? Du hast eine großartige Plattform. Eine Sache, von der ich an NYU wirklich geholfen habe, ich sage viele provokative, aggressivere Dinge. Ich denke, ohne das Halo der NYU-Brande, könnten Leute einfach denken, dass ich ein Arschloch bin. Oder vielleicht ein kreativer Arschloch, oder vielleicht ein interessanter Arschloch, aber meistens nur ein Arschloch.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Aber ich denke, Leute nehmen das, was ich sage, mehr ernsthaft, weil ich versuche, ein bisschen Fidelity der Institution und der Akademie zu zeigen, indem ich ein Team von Leuten habe, die Dinge recherchieren, wir Fakten prüfen, wir über Sachen gehen, wir versuchen, in Daten zu marinieren. Ich habe einen Anspruch auf Bildung. Jedenfalls, ich denke, es ist eine sehr starke Plattform.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Also, welche Medien? All strategy comes down to one thing. What can I do or what can we do that is really hard? Das ist alles, was die Strategie ist. Was können wir tun, das wirklich hart ist?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Wir haben eine großartige Geschichte über die Größe im E-Commerce oder die Größe im Streaming, damit wir so viel günstiges Kapital erzielen können, dass wir mehr Geld auf Warehäuser und Flugzeuge oder auf originales Content sparen werden.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Wir werden 18 Billionen Dollar pro Jahr auf originales Content sparen, was mehr ist, als wir auf die gesamte Film- oder Fernsehindustrie in der 80er-Jahre gespart haben. Das ist wirklich hart zu tun. Also lehnen sie sich an ihre Vorteile ein. of just overwhelming the competition with capital via great storytelling and access to cheap capital. That is really hard to do.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
You need to decide, all right, what would be really hard to do? And the way you figure that out is you ask yourself first, what am I really good at? Could I start a podcast? And if I do a podcast, am I good at it? Do I have the ability to get good guests? Do I have a good voice? Am I compelling in this medium? Do I find that people want to listen to me? Do you write well?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Can you go on LinkedIn and start writing about your specific domain and immediately get people subscribing and following? Are you really good on TikTok? You want to figure out what is your medium. Und wie Sie herausfinden, welches Ihr Medium ist, ist, dass Sie einen oder zwei wählen und sagen, ich muss in den Top 10% in Bezug auf Follower sein.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Das ist eine Übung, die ich meiner Klasse und Brandstrategie gebe. Ich sage ihnen, dass sie ein Medium wählen müssen. Es kann Threads sein, es kann X sein, es kann Twitter sein, es kann Powerpoint sein. Und dann müssen sie eine Metrik herausfinden, die sagt, dass ich am Ende der Klasse in den Top Dezile sein werde. And you can figure out those numbers.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Security, they want an absence of fear, they want someone nice and young and attractive and bright such as you to show up and actually, to a certain extent, youth is a bit of a disadvantage here, but give them a sense of confidence that they're doing the right thing with their assets. And in exchange... Manchmal, oder viele Male, sind Menschen bereit, 1-2% ihrer Asset zu bezahlen.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
What is the number of followers you need on Instagram, on Reels, to be in the top decile? And it'll tell you, this is how many followers you need. So you need to figure out what is your medium. What I enjoy the most is writing because it's the hardest. But when you write something worthwhile, it moves people.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
There's something about the written word that when it's done well and you've taken the time and the energy to fact check, to proof it, to make it sound elegant, to have a good twist of phrase, to make people feel something. It really resonates. It sticks with them. If I go on Morning Joe or The View and I kill it, it gets a huge sugar high on YouTube. And it's fun and it's rewarding.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
But there's nothing like writing something that when you took the time, you were up, you proofed it, you fact-checked it, and it resonates and it moves people. It moves their emotions or it highlights something that other people were thinking but not saying. That for me is... Ich möchte nicht sagen, dass es am liebsten ist, sondern es ist am hervorragendsten, weil es die schwerste Sache ist.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Also das erste ist, kannst du gut schreiben? Oh mein Gott, wenn du gut schreiben kannst, sagt deine Marke sofort den Leuten, du bist smart und du bist beruflich, was eine gute Schokolade und Pfeffer nicht nur in der Akademie, sondern auch in der professionellen Welt ist. Ist das dein Medium? Or are you really good at presentations? Do you want to figure out a way to start speaking in groups?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Do you want to call people, conferences and say, Hi, I'm a professor of X. I want to come talk about this. I didn't get... 98% of my time on stage, I don't get paid. I've returned all my compensation to NYU, so they don't pay me. And the majority of the talks I gave for the first 30 years of my career, I wasn't getting paid for. Is that true? Consulting, I guess I was getting paid a lot.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
But I did a lot of free speaking gigs. Now I charge 50k for a virtual, 200k for an in-person, and 400k if I have to go to the Gulf or Asia. I don't get a lot of those, but I do get some of those. Now, I am boasting, but there is a reason. It is taking me 20 or 30 years of deciding that, okay, speaking is probably what I am best at, and I'm going to get fucking amazing at it.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
I have a team of people pulling together 150 slide presentations. I go through it like it's a Broadway show. I rehearse it. I think of video. I think of sound. I think of emotional highs and lows. And every time I give one of these presentations or talks, and I do about... 40 oder 50 pro Jahr.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ich gehe sofort nachher zurück auf das Team und sage, wir haben hier ein Narrativ-Arch hier, das einfach nicht richtig gefühlt hat. Dieser Witz landete nicht. Das war wirklich gut. Lass uns das anwenden. Lass uns das anwenden. Es ist, als ob ich einen Broadway-Show oder einen Film veröffentliche.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Aber jedes Mal, als ich den Film veröffentliche, bekomme ich die Reaktion des Publikums und ich bekomme den Recut. Ich bin okay bei Threads oder Blue Sky. Ich denke, ich bin ein guter Podcaster. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin. Ich mag schreiben. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich großartig bin. I'm not good on the phone. And you want to figure out what mediums you're not good at and then find one where you think, could I be the best in the world and really lean into that medium?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Meine Mutter hat diesem Mann 1,5% pro Jahr bezahlt, um eine Menge dreckiger Stocks zu kaufen. Und ich habe mir das angeschaut und gesagt, okay, das macht keinen Sinn, investiere in Vanguard. Dieser Mann kann keine Stocks wählen, er ist ein... 65-Jähriger sitzt in einem schlechten Büro irgendwo in Las Vegas und er hat den Markt untergebracht, aber er ist wirklich teuer.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
In terms of the content, in terms of the content, the specific crowds out the general. I was in the field of brand strategy. That's a pretty specific area. It wasn't design, it wasn't marketing, it wasn't media planning. It was managing your brands as if they were assets, like a portfolio in a mutual fund. And then I went even more specific.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
I started collecting data on the digital footprint of luxury brands. Not the digital footprint of all consumer brands, but the digital footprint of luxury brands. And I started doing rankings of out of NYU on which luxury brands were the most digitally competent. And I parsed it into five areas, genius, gifted, average, challenged and feeble.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
By the way, rankings are incredibly powerful when they come out of an academic institution because you have to do the work, you have to fact check the shit out of it. And then you put it out and wow. And the thing about a ranking is, it's not about who comes first, it's about who comes last. Und das wollte ich tun. Die meisten Ranking von Institutionen listet die Top 10 und gibt Werte.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Nein, ich wollte ein Ranking machen, das sagte, okay, Whoever it was, David Yerman, you're literally the worst brand in jewelry as it relates to digital footprint. Anyway, don't be afraid to go very niche. Pick your medium and commit to being in the top 10, if not the top 1%. And don't be afraid to switch mediums in terms of your focus. But you do create a flywheel.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
I do all of it because I find it's reinforcing. Long-winded way of saying, the specific crowd's out there, General. Find your medium, commit to being in the top 10% within a year, the top 1% within two to three years. Don't be afraid to switch mediums. But my friend in academia, if you write well, that is probably gonna be your go-to. That is the hardest thing I do. It is the most rewarding.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And quite frankly, I believe it's the most impressive. Also, also in 50 years, it's unlikely people are gonna be watching your videos. It's unlikely people are gonna see your social. But your kids will likely read what you have written. And I find that nice to think about and very comforting. Congratulations on your transition to academia. I think it is a wonderful way to make a living.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Thank you, Anonymous from Colorado. That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehours at propertymedia.com. Again, that's officehours at propertymedia.com. This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez. Our intern is Dan Chalon. Drew Burrows is our technical director.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Thank you for listening to the PropGee Pod from the Vox Media Podcast Network. We will catch you on Saturday for No Mercy, No Malice, as read by George Hahn. And please follow our PropGee Markets Pod wherever you get your pods for new episodes every Monday and Thursday.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Die Mehrheit der Wealth-Manager in dieser Klasse könnte als teuer, aber schlecht beschrieben werden. Sie haben eine hohe EQ, sie machen dich besser fühlen, sie kommen zu deinem Haus. Jemand, der dich zu Abend oder zu einem Sport-Event bringt, bedeutet, dass ihre Kosten viel zu hoch sind. Weißt du, wer dich nie zu einem Nix-Spiel nehmen wird? Vanguard.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And you are in kind of ground zero, I think, unfortunately, for disruption around AI. So what do you do? First, let's look at some data. According to Brookings, those in business and financial operations occupations are at the third highest risk level for disruption from large language models.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Additionally, Citigroup believes that over 50% of jobs in the financial services industry could eventually be replaced by AI. Pew Research found that 62% of Americans believe that AI will have a major impact on workers, but just 28% believe that it will have an impact on them personally.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Recent data suggest that AI adoption rates are just 5% in some industries, creating an enormous opportunity for those who do decide to utilize the new technology. So, my kind of saying around this, if you're going to go into this industry, you have to go in with your eyes wide open. And that is, you're going to have to get to scale within three to five years.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And that is, if you're just managing a bunch of like 100,000, 500,000 million dollar portfolios, at some point, they're going to figure it out and just go to Vanguard. What you need to do is get to a certain amount of scale such that you can charge low enough fees such that, quite frankly, you're worth it. And what does it mean? What is value? It's fees over the services you're offering.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Or maybe it's the opposite. Anyways, you get my point. Und im Geldmanagement, die schlechte Nachricht ist, dass es so schwierig oder so einfach ist, 10 Millionen zu managen, wie es 1 Million ist. Aber die gute Nachricht ist, dass es so einfach ist, 10 Millionen zu managen, wie es 1 Million ist. Also Finanzielle Services ist viel wie ein Real-Estate-Broker.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Es ist ein dreckiges Geschäft für die ersten zehn Jahre. Es geht zu jedem fucking Event. Es gibt deine Karte an die Leute. Es macht viel freies Arbeit. Es macht eine Menge Arbeit und findet heraus, dass niemand, dass sie nicht wirklich Aspekte haben. But once you have a stable of clients, it turns into a really good business.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Now, the first thing is you are going to have to acknowledge the following or really adopt the following as religion if you want to be successful. AI is not going to take your job. Someone who understands AI is going to take your job. And that is AI still hallucinates and the majority of people still do not want to use an AI robo-advisor to figure out which funds they allocate.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Welcome to Office Hours with Prop G. Today we're wrapping up our special two-part series all about careers, navigating them, advancing them, maybe even surviving them. I'll be sharing my best advice. I don't know if it's the best advice, but it's my best advice. No corporate speak, no BS. That's right, NC17, R-rated advice. That's why we're here. I have not read or seen these questions.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Even if they decide to go all vanguard, there are still some decisions to be made. There are robo-advisors, but most people don't want to do that. You are also going to have to become exceptionally talented around the integration of how to make money and how to keep it. Now, what do I mean by that? Taxes.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
I would say the majority of my value add, Goldman Sachs manages my money, but really they don't manage my money. What they do is they manage my personal finance. What do I mean by that? I have several entities. They coordinate my lawyers when I'm creating LLCs. They give me tax advice, which is really their kind of value add.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Und das ist, ich sage, okay, ich denke daran, dieses zu kaufen, oder ich kaufe ein Haus. Soll ich es in ein LLC einsetzen? Wenn ich es in ein LLC einsetze, könnte es einen Ausstieg in den Steuern verursachen, weil das Haus wieder vergrößert wird. Aber wenn ich es in ein LLC einsetze, kann ich es in 2% pro Jahr reduzieren.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Und wenn ich es für zwei Jahre behalte und ein bisschen Geld davon erhalte, ist es für den 1031-Ausgleich qualifiziert. Wenn Sie sich überrascht fühlen, vertraue Ihren Instinkten. Es ist wirklich verrückt. Und behalten Sie fest, dass im Grunde genommen der Taxcode von sehr reichsten Menschen gewehrt worden ist. Es ist von 400 Seiten, glaube ich, bis zu 4.000.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ich habe es gelesen, es ist bis zu 7.000. Und diese zusätzlichen Seiten sind im Grunde genommen Laufhäuser für die Reichen, oder im Grunde genommen ein Versuch, Geld von den niedrigen und mittleren Einkommenshäusern an die Reichen zu transferieren, die über die letzten 40 Jahre eine disproportionale Anzahl der Verluste aggregiert haben. Aber in dieser Komplexität ist dein Wertgeber.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Und das ist, dass du die Unterschiede verstehen kannst zwischen, okay, ich werde dir helfen, deine Assets zu allociieren. Wir werden in Low-Cost-Funds gehen, aber ich werde dir helfen, sie zu wählen und dich zu diversifizieren. Ich werde dir die armen Arbeiten machen, um zu verstehen, wo du zu konzentriert bist. Ich werde eine Beziehung mit dir erstellen.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ich werde dir viel Arbeit für dich machen, kind of off the clock. Und ich werde wirklich glaubwürdig denken, and come to you proactively with different tax ideas or ways to essentially become more tax efficient. It was like Wayne Huizenga, the founder of Blockbuster, used to run those ads for the state of Florida, talking about Florida's zero income tax or zero state income tax.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And he used to say, it's not what you earn, it's what you keep. So to a certain extent, a financial advisor, in my view, is going to have less value add on how you make money. How do you make money? You diversify and you go into low-cost index funds, all right? But how do you keep money is understanding their specific personal situation and how they figure out and navigate the incredibly complex
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Tax Code. And you're going to have to also be the one to cut your own fees as their assets grow. Ritholtz Management, my friend Barry Ritholtz and his partner Josh Brown of CNBC fame, they run a, I wouldn't even call it a hedge fund, I'd call it a wealth advisory fund.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And as they have grown their assets, they have lowered their fees and they are very thoughtful and give personalized advice to their clients, which Vanguard, you know, they may claim to do it, but they really don't.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And as a result, people decide, okay, Vanguard would be less expensive, but these guys are worth it, because they know my personal situation, they're willing to meet with me, they walk me through ideas, they're proactive. So you are going to have to become an AI warrior, my friend. You're going to have to figure out a way to get people's Finanzielle Komplexität, ihre Kreditkarten zu uploaden.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Christ, finde einen Weg. Geh zu dieser App, wo es ihnen sagt, wie viele Abonnenten sie haben. Das erste, was wir tun werden, ist, dass wir uns darauf konzentrieren, dir Geld zu sparen. Gib mir deine Kosten, ich werde... Und dann wirst du es zu verschiedenen LLMs uploaden und versuchen, Ideen für Kostenverschwendungen zu generieren. Du wirst ein AI-Warrior werden. Das ist, was du willst.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Das ist, was du willst. Wenn dein Komponist kommt, um sie auf das Managen ihres Geldes zu pitchen, You walk in with a Panzer tank. And that Panzer tank is knowledge. It's willingness to do good work, understand their personal situation and understanding of how it all dovetails with the tax code. And you understand how to use AI. That is your Panzer tank.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Let's bust right into it. First question.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
And the guy next to you or the gal next to you who shows up after you, they're showing up fighting on horseback because you understand. You're one of the 5% that understands how to use AI. Let me finish where I began. Hi Scott, I'm a big fan. I'm a 23-year-old living in suburban New York.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
So Anonymous, so you're a 23-year-old and my understanding is you're thinking about starting your own type of distribution business. I always thought, so I started my first business, I've been starting business my whole life, but Es ist gut, dass du mit Leuten sprichst, und ich empfehle dir nicht, dass du nicht sprichst. Aber die Art, wie du ein Geschäft startest, ist, ein Klienten zu bekommen.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ein Fehler, den ich ständig gemacht habe, den ich ständig gemacht habe, ich mache es immer noch, ist, dass man glaubt, dass man Geld spart, ist ein Geschäft zu bauen. Nein, das ist es nicht. Es ist Geld zu machen, das ein Geschäft baut. Also, der beste Weg, diese Idee zu testen, ist, zu sehen, ob man einen Kunden bekommen kann.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Und ich weiß nicht, ich weiß nicht über die kompetitiven Dynamiken hier oder die Situation mit deiner aktuellen Firma, aber ich würde versuchen, einen Kunden zu finden oder einen potenziellen Kunden zu pitchen. Yeah, talk to people, get some advice.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
If you're an introvert and you aren't comfortable selling, then you need to either find somebody who can sell and make them your partner or you shouldn't be an entrepreneur. Let me be clear. Entrepreneur is a synonym for salesman or salesperson. You know what being an entrepreneur is? It's getting out a big spoon every day and eating shit. Du verkaufst ständig.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ich spreche nicht nur von Kunden, sondern auch von Investoren. Der größte Verkauf, den ich je gemacht habe? Ich hatte immer gute Produkte in meinen Firmen und ich fühlte mich mehr als verkaufen, als zu beenden, weil ich Content Marketing kreieren würde, um Content zu kreieren, damit wir dann Inbound-Leads bekommen. Ich habe unseren Sales Team genannt.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Du verkaufst nicht, du beendest, weil wir einen wirklich guten Job mit Content Marketing gemacht haben.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
The biggest sell I ever did was trying to find really talented people and then convince them to join my firm when they had offers from Google and Salesforce or trying to convince people to stay that we would get to a liquidity event and they would get economic security with me as opposed to C above.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Going to fucking Meta, where they were awarded options that were already, you know, $300,000 in the money. You are always selling. And if you are not comfortable with that, or you can't get comfortable with that, then you need to find a partner who is comfortable with it. There are some people that are so good at what they do, that they can build a business without selling.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
My landscaper is this really charming guy who will bring me out and show me. He's very emotionally manipulative. He'll come out and show me this Bougainvillea that he's helping us drape over our garage. I absolutely love Bougainvillea. It reminds me of my childhood in Orange County and my dad's super into them. And he just picked up on the fact that I love Bougainvillea.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
So occasionally he drags me out and he shows me this thing and he literally goes over and kind of hugs it like he's in love with it. Das verkauft, das entwickelt eine Beziehung mit einem Professor oder Podcaster, der eine Beziehung zu Bougainvillea hat. Wenn du dir nicht zufrieden bist, diese Art von Beziehungen zu behalten, wirst du jemanden finden, der es ist.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Also absolut, geh raus und sprich mit Leuten. Aber wiederum, die Art und Weise, wie du ein Geschäft startest, was ein Geschäft baut, ist Revenue, nicht Kosten. Und bei 23, es klingt, als würdest du unglaublich gut funktionieren.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Das andere, was du dir fragen würdest, oder vielleicht eine Küchenkabinett zusammenbringen und sie fragen würdest, ist, würdest du aus einigen Jahren Erfahrung bei deiner aktuellen Firma profitieren? Lernst du? Hast du ein Senior-Level-Sponsorium? Wenn du diese Dinge hast, wirst du vielleicht etwas über das Sticken denken.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Ist es eine Möglichkeit, mit dieser Firma zu wachsen, wenn sie herausfinden, dass du abgeholt bist? Was mich immer wirklich überrascht hat, war, als junge, talentierte Leute weggingen und ich sagte, wo gehst du hin? Und ich denke, das ist einfach der schlechteste Job jemals. Was machst du? Und sie denken, na gut, ich will in einer Position sein, wo ich Leute managen kann.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Na gut, warum musst du mich nicht fragen? Ich würde dich managen lassen. Is there an opportunity at your current firm? Develop a kitchen cabinet. Think about whether you might benefit from staying a year or two years. And think about how you get that first client. And if you are not comfortable selling, then you need to find someone to bring in the organization pronto that is comfortable selling.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
Because that's what it means to be an entrepreneur, my brother. But again, 23 thinking this way, you're doing really well. We have one quick break before our final question. Stay with us.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
She seems likely to drown. What should you do?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Scott’s Career Advice: Will AI Take My Job? Advice for Entrepreneurs, and How to Find What You’re Good At
We're taking Vox Media podcasts on the road and heading back to Austin for the South by Southwest Festival, March 8th to the 10th. What a thrill! We'll be doing special live episodes of hit shows, including Pivot. That's right, the dogs go into the great state of Texas. Where should we begin?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
It might be enticing to try and sleep through the next four years, but if you're wondering how to survive a second Trump term while staying fully conscious, Pod Save America is here to help you process what's happening now and what comes next. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, John Lovett, Tommy Veeder, John Favreau, and Dan Pfeiffer wade hip-deep
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Yeah.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
and put aside your petty, stupid fucking differences because this is an existential threat because you no longer have a sane and quite frankly, decent ally that I don't want to say you shouldn't have, I'm not saying you took them for granted, but quite frankly, they realize now a big brother's not going to save us here.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We have to develop our own unified approach to an economy, our own unified approach to a war machine. And I think it might actually be very unifying. In addition, Going on a war footing sometimes or preparing for a war footing can actually be good for an economy.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
My trip was great. I was in Zermatt. I'm basically now... If someone told me I could never ski again, I would say, well, how much will that cost me? All I can think about is the ACL I'm going to tear, and it's cold, and I don't know, skiing's not my thing anymore, but it's a good way to trap my kids on a mountain. And it's European skiing. It's all about the lunch. And you go and you drink lunch.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
People are disappointed that the Russian economy hasn't sunk as fast as some people thought because actually a war footing helps juice an economy, at least in the short term. This bullshit that the Ukrainian government the war in Ukraine has somehow been bad for the U.S. economy. Yeah, it's sort of expensive, 60, 65 billion a year. Okay, fine. Military budget's 800 billion.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
By the way, about 95% of that has gone back to U.S. military suppliers and has juiced the economy in red states. I wonder if it might actually bring unity to Europe, which is that Europe might actually be a union
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
again, that the Brits realize they have more in touch or more in common with the continent than they thought, and maybe even do something like a backseat move where they become more integrated again with the EU. They increase their military spending, and they put up a front that says, okay, we've got this.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I think this is an opportunity for leadership in Europe to say, Ukraine and Germany has said this, we've got your back. We recognize that this is a huge loss, but be clear, you don't need to surrender and fold right away. And the other silver lining is,
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I don't know if you've seen any of these Republican town halls, but there are enough people who have grandparents who fought in the war, who remember how terrible Russia has been in terms of our own interests, and hate the idea that America is surrendering. to Putin, that we are surrendering to a gas station posing as an economy who is only taken seriously because it has so many nuclear weapons.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I think the majority of Americans, as evidenced by that data, think, wow, this is just too much. I am not down. I don't understand why we are surrendering. It makes no sense. It is not good for the world. Even the far right is having trouble. I mean, okay, Tucker Carlson goes and gives Putin a lap dance and can't get over those amazing shopping carts at their grocery store.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Folks, I have been to Russia. I mean, we are not going to have an outflow of American citizens going to Russia. You can be sure of that. It is not a great place. They have nothing on us, folks, nothing. This is not a society, an economy, or a leadership to look up to. And I wonder if the silver lining here is that Europe becomes a union again.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
NATO actually hopefully comes back stronger, because I think it'll take some time, even if the Americans try and unwind it. I don't think they're going to be able to. And Europe puts forward a more unified front against... And they've been doing it. They've been spending more than us. But I hope this is the wake-up call. And I was thinking about...
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
You know, this blitzkrieg of information to try and confuse everybody, DEI, Doge. I read this morning they're trying to like partner, bring back Andrew Tate. It's all a fucking sideshow to get you to look away from the fact that they are trying to recalibrate the world order. And this is unacceptable. And I think it's unacceptable to most Americans. And I hope this
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
people who do not want to be surrender monkeys show up at the ballot box in about, whatever, about 22 months and send their congressman a message that we are not down with this, that you need to speak up and say this is not right. Anyways, I'm trying to think of what could go right.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And yeah, it's great. And I enjoy that. And time with my boys. So it was wonderful. What did you do last week?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
How do you think that manifests? Like, if you were to guess what the—on the ground, how do you think that shows up in today's electoral politics? What do you think happens?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Yeah, this is a messaging issue in my view, because one, okay, it's 60, $65 billion. And what we've failed to do is show that the majority of this capital, a vast majority of it ends up back in the U.S. economy, back in red states.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And the way I would position it is it's a stimulus program to help manufacturing in the U.S., help create jobs, and that regardless of what you think of Ukraine, if we stop doing this, it's going to result in a dramatic reduction in money and jobs and prosperity across mostly red states.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
That this is no different than, okay, when we send grain abroad for food aid, if you stop doing that, it would hurt farmers in Iowa. And just to contextualize it, it's $62 billion. And what have we gotten? Let's put the moral arguments aside because the moral argument is why do we give a shit about trench warfare in Ukraine when my son can't find a job or I can't afford my diabetes medication?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I think that's a fair argument. Okay. Let's just look at it from an economic standpoint. For approximately 1% of our spending, we spend $7 trillion, so less than that, the majority of which comes back to red states. It comes back to U.S. manufacturing. We get to take out a third, or so far taken out a third, of Russia's kinetic power. We've destroyed a third of their tanks.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We have put their economy on its heels to a certain extent. We have defanged what was supposed to be one of the most ferocious armies in the world. We have reduced the likelihood of terrorism against Western allies and terrorism domestically because a lot of their proxies who they were supporting have been castrated.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
They do not have the bandwidth to wreak havoc, which they have done since the end of World War II across different satellite countries because they are bogged down in a war. And it shows that essentially our enemy can be pushed back when the West gets attacked together and unifies without, by the way, without a single American boot on the ground.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
A manager's charge at the end of the day is to allocate capital to its greatest return, to a greater return than your peer group. The president is the greatest allocator of capital in history, thereby the greatest manager in history. The best ROI, the best example of great management over the last 10, 20, 30 years is the $60 billion stimulus program in the U.S. that has resulted in the defanging
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
the pushback of an enemy at very little cost to us. And that cost comes back to us in the form of jobs in the U.S. This is, distinct of the moral argument, this is a great deal for us. It is a great deal.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Would you rather have Russia with this superior fighting force that the whole world is scared of, or to have a third of its army taken out, to have a ton of its soldiers, and I hate to say this, killed, To have China thinking twice about invading Taiwan, saying what a small motivated army can do that's technically literate and backed by the West.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
The West is a much safer place with the pushback that the incredible Ukrainian army has provided. Kind of at very little cost to us. I mean, this is chump change. This is just not a lot of money when you think about the fact it ends up back in our economy. It's not as if this is not the problem, folks. Social Security is going to be $1.3 trillion this year. This is $60 billion.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Elon Musk has made $210 billion since the election. This is $60 billion to make the world a much safer place with a strong message that when the West comes together, is it an insurmountable fighting force and could push back on a murderous autocrat. This is about messaging. Do away with the moral arguments. I think those will be made on their own, but just say, this is a great investment.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We'd be stupid not to continue making this investment.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
What? Yeah.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We do. All right. Let's take a quick break. Stay with us. Support for PropG comes from Grammarly. Think about the most tedious part of your job. Is it writing the exact same email you've already written a hundred times? Some studies have shown that 88% of professionals spend more than half their work week on repetitive writing tasks.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Oh, like that feels a little creepy.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Well, imagine you had an assistant that could take the small stuff off your plate and help make your writing more effective and persuasive. You're in luck. because that's why Grammarly exists. Grammarly is your AI writing partner designed to help improve your communication. It's not just a glorified thesaurus.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Grammarly can give you writing prompts, help with brainstorming, and can even help you strike the right tone for your intended audience. And the best part, they offer enterprise-grade security and will never sell your data. So you can have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your data is completely secured.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We've used Grammarly at PropG, and as I've said before, it has made us more efficient and takes our written work and makes it just, quite frankly, more competent. Get more done with Grammarly. Download Grammarly for free at grammarly.com slash podcast. That's grammarly.com slash podcasts.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We're taking Vox Media Podcasts on the road and heading back to Austin for the South by Southwest Festival, March 8th to the 10th. What a thrill! We'll be doing special live episodes of hit shows, including Pivot. That's right. The dogs go into the great state of Texas. Where should we begin?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
with Esther Perel, a touch more with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe, not just football with Cam Hayward, and more, presented by Smartsheet. The Vox Media podcast stage at South by Southwest is open to all South by Southwest badge holders. We hope to see you at the Austin Convention Center soon. Visit voxmedia.com slash SXSW to learn more. That's voxmedia.com slash SXSW. Welcome back.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We're just one month into Trump's second term, although it feels like an eternity. Trump's approval is sinking. See above, silver lining, with polls showing him underwater and his aggressive budget cuts aren't helping. Doge is slashing jobs at the TSA, FEMA, and even the NIH unit researching Alzheimer's. Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson is cheering on Musk's crusade to shrink the government.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
But he's also throwing cold water on Musk and Trump's idea to send Americans $5,000 rebate checks with the supposed government savings. Some Republicans say it's unconstitutional. Others call it a political stunt. And budget experts warn it would need congressional approval if the savings even exist.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Yeah, I definitely, there's something about, I've noticed that when women, after they have kids, like seven, eight years later, especially women who I think got a lot of confidence from their looks, when their kids get a little bit older and they realize they've spent 10 years doing nothing but raising kids, Everyone talks about dude's midlife crisis.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
But Trump and Musk are plowing ahead, promising the Doge dividend will put money in voters' pockets. The rebate idea is already causing a split within the GOP, with Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski calling parts of Doge unconstitutional and disastrous. Could this be the breaking point where Republicans finally push back on Trump?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
into the week's political news and fish out some political analysis you can trust. Yes, Tommy's shoes get ruined. Yes, he'll do it again tomorrow because the endeavor is worth it, and so is your sanity. Tune into Pod Save America wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Yeah, with respect to Doge, again, I think, I mean, it sort of goes to, okay, what to do? A common psychological warfare technique is to overwhelm the opposition with so many different outrageous things and so many different aggressive topics, issues, inbound missiles, that you're overwhelmed and become flat-footed. I suffer from this. I don't even know where to start.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And the way you respond is the following is, okay, you don't need to respond to everything online. You don't need to take up everything with emotion and anger. You should cite experts. You should bring in data. And then pare down what you're going to focus on in terms of your pushback. So, for example, I think Doge is a giant fucking weapon of mass distraction. $50 billion. $50 billion. Fine.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
They want to try and right-size government. People are understandably concerned that there's a lot of waste. Government needs to be right-sized.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I think the wrong messaging is all this quote-unquote injustice that I get these national forestry people are wonderful and that there's going to be diapers on the side of your favorite trail, and that they got an email and they've been fired after 18 years of service. But I think a lot of Americans say, welcome to the fucking work week. This happened to me or it happened to my cousin.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I have never seen midlife explosions across some of my partners and their friends. Oh my God, they go crazy. So you got that to look forward to. I love how you brought that up and you kind of like that, that you didn't mind the pervy As long as it was a little bit. It sounds like you kind of didn't like it, kind of did.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Private equity came in and bought out our chiropractic clinic, and we got our phone shut off. I think what is happening to a lot of these workers has happened to a lot of people in the private sector. And to be blunt, there isn't a groundswell of sympathy, I think, or empathy they were hoping for.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And people think the government needs to be reined back in as it has been on a regular basis, including under Clinton and Gore. Now, having said that, what I would focus on is the incompetence. I would focus on the fact that, okay, they didn't save $8 billion here, they saved 8 million.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Oh, they fired the nuclear, the people overseeing our nuclear stockpile, only to rehire them, which makes it more expensive. Oh, you can be clear that the people regulating Tesla's self-autonomous driving unit, they've all been fired, right? That this is essentially corruption and incompetence at very little money.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And the thing they should link this to is, okay, while they're off here playing Keystone Cops and playing incompetence girls gone wild here, they want you to look over here at $50 billion in savings. Okay. They're planning with with the tax cuts that will benefit me, I ran, I looked at the new tax proposal and I ran my W-2 through it.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I'm gonna save a million dollars a year with Trump's tax cuts, right? Fine, government's too big, save us that 50 billion. But be clear, you're not fooling anybody. You're planning to increase taxes on future generations by the biggest tax increase in history. It's 900 billion here. Let's just come together and agree on
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Somewhere between 12 and 18 times the amount of the $50 billion we're arguing over in terms of Doge. While everyone is obsessed with Doge because it makes for good TikTok and people know people in the government, the real story here is somewhere between $600 and $900 billion a year increase in taxes on future generations. I think that's what we should be focused on.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I traveled a lot. I made a lot of excuses and left town.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Yeah. No, I was out. So along those lines of children, today we're going to be talking about Trump turning on Ukraine, Trump's honeymoon coming to an end, and Mitch McConnell's retirement announcement and legacy. Let's bust right into it, Jess. One month into his presidency, Trump is making a dramatic pivot toward Russia, upending decades of U.S.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Yeah, like Medicaid, 80 million people, one in six households or one in six kids, 40% of births, the elderly who are disabled. I mean, this is, and also it is actually a really well-run cost-effective program. It provides health coverage for low-income Americans at a lower per person cost than private insurance.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
So Medicaid actually helps the economy because unless you're gonna decide you're gonna let people die, of their cystic fibrosis, or you're gonna let old people, the disabled, wither away, what is the most cost-effective way to give people some dignity to make sure that kids can't actually, we can provide their medication, we can provide their in-home physical therapy for the disabled.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Well, this is a lower cost way to do it. And it is very popular. And the fact that they're, you know, hey, look over here at $50 billion in Doge savings and we'll give you a $5,000 check, but we're going to cut, what, $600 to $800 billion from Medicaid? I mean, this really is, it is, in my opinion, showing their true colors.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And that is, at the end of the day, the most remarkable thing about the Republican Party is that it serves not the 1%, it serves the 0.1%. And the fact this is all a giant ruse to say, look over here while we cut taxes on the very wealthiest Americans. And I do think this is probably a bridge too far. I think they will probably check back on Medicaid.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I hope they don't because I think this could probably be the beginning of a pretty serious clean sweep or close to a clean sweep once we have the midterm elections happening. But Medicaid is, I would say, maybe with the exception of Social Security, is the most popular social program in America, maybe even more popular when you look at its effectiveness.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
foreign policy while previous Republican leaders championed a tough stance on Moscow. That was kind of their go-to. Today's GOP is largely silent as Trump moves to cut support for Ukraine and cozy up to Putin. His administration has even floated excluding Ukraine from NATO, and he's blaming Zelensky for a war Putin started.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
But this is great messaging for the Democrats that, okay, do you know anyone on Medicaid? This is who they're coming for. And if you think, if they can cut, you know, 16 times what they say they're going to cut in Doge, that's what they're planning to cut from Medicaid. It's not like that. It's like, at some point...
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Is somebody, and we need to be a Republican, going to give them a, do you have no sense of decency speech, right? At some point, somebody needs to stand up, and I think someone is going to find their backbone here. The budget proposed just endorsed cuts to Medicaid by $900 billion. This is just this is extraordinary.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
It's just so insane. And I think the messaging so far has been pretty good around this. But the notion that Okay, we're a household that makes $50,000 a year. That's our tax receipts. We spend $70,000. That's our government expenditures, $7 trillion on $5 trillion in tax receipts. And we are $350,000 or $35 trillion in debt. But we're going to cut our expenditures by $500,000.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
and send a check to people rather than paying down our debt. I mean, it's just, does anyone do math anymore? Have citizens gotten to the point where it's like, you know, I just give it up. My kids are fucked. Just run up their credit card. I don't care. I do think there's going to be enough people who are going to go on.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
social and say, this is just stupid to start sending checks when we're planning to run up the deficit another $900 billion a year to send checks to people for $5,000 rather than paying down the debt. That absolutely, again, to your point, that just makes no sense. All right. One more quick break. Stay with us.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Meanwhile, a Quinnipiac poll shows that 81% of Americans, including 73% of Republicans, don't trust Putin. So why is Trump ignoring them? Jess, Trump's team is pushing for a peace deal on Putin's terms, which European leaders say would weaken Ukraine. If this strategy backfires, what are the long-term consequences for U.S. influence and alliances?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Welcome back. Before we wrap, last week, Senator Mitch McConnell announced he won't seek reelection in 2026, marking the end of a four-decade career that reshaped American politics. As Senate GOP leader, he cemented a conservative judiciary, steered his party through shifting ideological tides, and clashed with Donald Trump in recent years.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
His exit raises questions about the future of the GOP and the battle for his Kentucky seat with former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Rep. Andy Barr already in the race. Jess, what do you think McConnell's legacy will be?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Oh, no, I'm calm. I'm fine. I'm just fine.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
So I'm a full-blown ageist. And do you know who else is ageist? Biology. My son had a Halloween party. He was 14. There were 15-year-old girls in my house that are more qualified to be senator than Senator Feinstein was in the last year of her Senate. They would have done a much better job. They would have had a much broader grasp and understanding of the issues than Senator Feinstein did.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Put these people on a fucking ice floe. Enough already. You have to be 30 years of age to become a senator. Why? Because a 29-year-old, they believe, does not have the experience, the maturity, or the cognitive ability to make decisions on behalf of a country.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
But someone who doesn't know where the fuck they are and freezes on a stage when asking questions, someone who—someone who literally—there is a—I believe it's a Republican female representative who literally doesn't know where she is. It's tragic. She's suffering from late-stage Alzheimer's. Biology says, hold my beer, when mostly Democrats talk about, scream ageism.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And because we have a system with Citizens United where the incumbent almost always wins, and these people must get great reservations at great restaurants in D.C., and they decide to never leave, we need age limits for both the Supreme Court and for our elected representatives. Enough already. I mean, make it something low like 80 or something like that. But at some point, it is time to go.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
His legacy will be the following, in my view. showing to the world just how much Senator Schumer sucks. And that is this guy, call him Machiavellian, call him evil, he outplayed Democrats every step of the way. While our leadership decided to send a strongly worded letter around all these outrage around Merrick Garland, he always won. He managed to pack the courts up and down.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And when a 14-year-old girl has to carry a child from incest to term, when a woman is bleeding out in an emergency room parking lot from sepsis because a doctor is worried about going to jail, it is because our leadership were fucking neutered and didn't want to go gangster the way McConnell did. McConnell was shameless. He is the graveyard digger for democracy, and he was highly effective.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
We need more Democrats like that. I want to see the same sort of shamelessness that Speaker Emerita Pelosi brings to her fucking corrupt insider trading. I want to see some of that gangster corruption, some of that gangster backbone, some of those big fucking balls to negotiations with Republicans. His legacy... Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn't, but he sure as hell was effective.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And this is the problem that the Democrats suffer from and what I have suffered from my entire career is they cannot discern the difference between being right and being effective. He was much more effective than Democratic leadership. Yeah. Can we disparage him and say that he was evil and that he did the wrong thing? Yeah. Hold my beer, bitches. He outplayed us days one, two, and three.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Yeah, Senator McConnell voting against Hegseth and Patel is like Hannibal Lecter deciding he's a vegan on his deathbed.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Oh, he did?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Oh, that's right. He voted against Hegseth and Gabbert. You know, great. These folks seem to develop a conscience after they leave Congress and then go on Bill Maher or when they decide they're resigning. That doesn't... I don't think he deserves any, quite frankly, any props for that. All right. That's all for this episode. Thank you for listening to Raging Moderates.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Jess, by the way, I hope for you this week that at some point in the park with your kids, someone comes up to you and says the following. God milf. Oh, that's good.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
That's good. I've been waiting. I haven't been able to focus on anything else. Our producers are David Toledo and Chenenye Onike, our technical director is Drew Burrows. You can now find Raging Moderates on its own feed every Tuesday. That's right. What is real? Our own feed. There you'll get exclusive interviews with smart voices in politics and ours.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Please follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Jess, have a great rest of the week. I hope you have a ton of inappropriate comments coming your way. I can't wait.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I think that we take for granted that the number of people who have not died or the number of people who've died at the hands of another human being declined dramatically post the World War II order. That the number of children who died because of hunger or infectious disease has absolutely plummeted. That the number of people who get to
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
be with their dying partner because we embrace civil rights, that the opportunity for a Black girl to become a lawyer or a doctor based on her merit without being held back based on her ethnicity, the color of her skin, her gender, her sexual orientation, that the post-World War II operating system in the West has been the most prosperous system decent, righteous era in history.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And central to all of that was this post-World War II order where Western democracies would have each other's back, that we had disagreements. But at the end of the day, we recognize that elections, rights, rule of law,
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
a certain level of decency, not demonizing special interest groups, that we had been, we brought a group of people out of the darkness, Germany, and allied, turned our enemies into our allies by, in this extraordinary move of vision, the Marshall Plan invested in our former enemies. And we had this new world order of the most prosperous nations in the world who had each other's back.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And we took this operating system for granted. It was so incredible. it yielded such incredible fruit for so many people that we kind of took for granted that, well, of course, that's a default operating system. Why would we do anything else?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
So when Trump decides to ignore history and give in to a murderous autocrat that is invading Europe and lie to say things like Zelensky is a dictator or that Ukraine started this war, I think even the Russians are shocked at this shit. I think they're like, what? Yeah, how did this happen?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And you just can't help but think, okay, so is this essentially Trump saying to Putin, let's carve up the world, let's have spheres of influence. You have these rights to Antarctica or to the North Pole now that all the ice is melting. You can have domain over these nations, whether it's Ukraine or Turkey or Crimea, and you make your money, I'll make mine. Europe, they're fucking wimps.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I'm sick of them. I'm sick of them lecturing at me, whatever. We'll just carve up the world. And you get yours, I get mine. And we're dictators and we're autocrats and we're both going to make a shit ton of money. Other than that, I can't find reasoning for it. Is there a silver lining here? I think Europe is saying, okay, we can no longer depend on the U.S.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
and we can no longer depend on their umbrella of military support. That might be a healthy thing. Europe is substantially increasing their own military budget. But this is an upending of the world order since World War II that has been the most prosperous country You know, the North Atlantic Treaty has been the most prosperous operating system in the history of our species.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
So this is, in my view, while everyone's focused on all this bullshit and this misdirects of DEI or Andrew Tate, or even Doge, I think is a misdirect. This really is the story. This is the thing we should be focused on. And that is, do you really wanna break up what has been the most successful alliance in history? Do we really wanna have a reputation for abandoning our allies and saying, okay,
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
history is wrong. When a murderous autocrat invades Europe, we shouldn't be worried.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And there's some merit to those statements.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Can you believe that? It's not easy to believe that. It's not easy to make Nazis less likable. And we figured it out.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Scott Galloway.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
How much did you miss me? How much did you miss me? Is it tough?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I love this term. Well, what if what could go right? And I wonder if I see this and I was just horrified. I mean, first off, Senator Marco Rubio, like, who the fuck are you? But literally, and when I mean that, it's not like, who are you to say these things? But I have no idea who this individual is. He was this cold warrior. That's how his foreign policy stance was. He was a cold warrior.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
And now he's signing up to the notion that Ukraine started the war. That would be like FDR saying, well, what were those ships doing in Pearl Harbor anyways? The Japanese, I can see why they attacked us. This is just insane that we would be surrendering, that we would say, OK, that's it, where we surrender. And I wonder, I'm trying to see the silver lining here.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Raging Moderates: Trump Ditches Ukraine and Cozies Up to Putin
I think Europe is more impressive than people give them credit for. You know, Dassault makes incredible money. Jet airplanes, the German tiger tanks, and the manufacturing capability there is incredible. The economies of Italy and France are still relatively big economies. The UK has some of the best universities in the world. Europe, this is a wake-up call. Get your shit together and unify.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Red States receive more federal funding than they pay in taxes. Republican leaders, who are under the delusion they control the power of the purse and won, are instead quietly expressing concerns over what doge cuts mean for their constituents. Dismantling USAID hurts Kansans, who sell their crops to a government program that fights hunger abroad.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
NIH-Cuts threaten jobs in Alabama, Florida, Nebraska and other red states. One of Louisiana's Republican senators believes plans to gut the FBI will hurt his state. Cuts to the VA fall on a key Trump constituency as veterans skew Republican by two to one. Delete the Department of Education? Trump carried four of the top five states that received Title I funding for low-income students.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Louisiana, Mississippi, Arizona and Alabama. Amid a chaotic transition, the White House mistakenly elevated the wrong person to acting FBI director. In any other administration, this kind of fuck-up would have been endless fodder for comedians and congressional investigations. In this administration, it barely gets a footnote. Brian Driscoll, aka Driz, will likely be fired soon.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
But the G-Man's response to an attack on his colleagues and the rule of law is a lesson in leadership and masculinity, defaulting to protection. Even if we lose, weakens him, as it inspires others to do the same. Think about this. A man who makes Nazi gestures owns the majority of satellites and space launch capacity and has usurped the power of the purse and Congress.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
A recent poll shows many moderates favor effective, move fast, break things, over right, checks and balances. Autocracies are seductive. In the short term they seem effective. A third of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum favor an autocrat as long as he, let's be honest, it's always a he, is aligned with their views.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
The same man is openly threatening other companies with government retribution if they don't spend money on his companies. Für die Demokraten und die Republikaner ist dies kein Zeitpunkt, um zusammenzukommen, sondern um zu retten.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Viele, oder die meisten Amerikaner bis jetzt, fühlen sich nicht anders als unter der neuen Regierung. Und sie mögen die Idee, schnell gegen Probleme zu kämpfen, die sie glauben, aus der Kontrolle geflogen sind. Grenzüberschritte, Regierungs-Largesse, wachsende Ideologie.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Der Blitzkrieg, der die Verbrechung von Alliieren verursacht, die Verzeichnung von Wasserböden und die Verabschiedung von Putin, hat viele Amerikaner, besonders Demokraten, flachgelegt, auf die Enttäuschung gewartet. If you believe that democracy should not surrender, as Trump is urging Ukraine to do, then the seminal question is, what to do? Honest answer? I don't know.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
However, I do have some ideas. Nobody had Elon Musk as master of coin on their 2024 election bingo card. Seizing the levers of the federal payment system was strategic and elegant, as it gave the White House a single point of control, with influence over government priorities and policies via control of money flows. I do something similar when my sons are misbehaving.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Rather than attempting to parent hard, I just remotely shut off their phones' internet access. Department of Dad Energy. Dode. With the seizure of power, and money is power, Musk can reward friends, punish enemies, impose his political will, and effectively delete government agencies and departments by shutting off funding without worrying about pesky constitutional oversight.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
This is techno-authoritarianism. Musks dominion encompasses the public and private sectors, physical and digital realms, and even space. In a 2007 essay, Musk-Ally and Doge-Co-Architect Peter Thiel argued for a new Alexander the Great, i.e. a king or dictator to cut the Gordian knot of our age. The chief obstacle, according to Thiel, America's constitutional machinery.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Thiel schrieb, Quote, Unquote. Mein Pivot-Co-Star Kara Swisher beschreibt diese Mentalität als, quote, Let's wipe the slate clean, then we'll build the civilization we want, unquote. The problem? A plurality of American citizens did not vote for this vision, much less these individuals. Trump won.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
In our system, the ideas he campaigned on can now become policy, assuming he has the votes in Congress. Musk ist der mächtigste Vizepräsident in der Geschichte und er wurde nicht mal gewählt. Seht euch die Zeitung von Musk hinter dem Resolute-Desk an, folgt von der surrealen Oval-Office-Pressekonferenz, wo Trump den Rolle als geriatrischer Vizepräsident zu Musks Politik-Blitzkrieg gespielt hat.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Ich glaube, wenn ihre Gedächtnis, die die Libertards zu eignen hat, abschließt, werden die Republikaner im Kongress realisieren, dass sie einen Monster erschaffen haben, den sie nicht mehr kontrollieren können. Musk's digital coup subjugates the right as much as the left. His attempt to hijack the government also hijacks the MAGA agenda.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
By the way, at some point Americans will realize the conservative-progressive battle is a misdirect. The real fulcrum, where the battle is being waged, is up-down. Rich versus not rich. The wealthy and corporations whom Trump and Musk listen to will put up largely symbolic resistance to an emerging autocracy. They aren't going to suffer, as the world now offers civil rights for sale.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
The 1% can move anywhere by influence and ensure everybody in their circle has access to Mifepristone. The savings from Doge are again a misdirect from an enormous tax increase on today's youth via the deficits we'll register if Trump's tax cuts go through. I know a lot of very wealthy tech executives and financiers. The key to their wealth, yes, much of it is luck, not their fault.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
And much of it is talent. However, the real secret sauce is a focus. The acquisition of wealth is an obsession for the, wait for it, Wealthy, pro tip, anybody speaking at a university who claims they never thought much about money, is obsessed with it. The right's defense of Musk, that Doge is some patriotic gesture, is laughable. His focus and his only focus. Er wird ein Trillionär.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Sein Volontärismus ist ein Versuch, die Obstacke zwischen ihm und größerem Geld zu klären, spezifisch Regulierer und Fair Play. Musk-Kultisten offern oft das gleiche, ah, schucks, er kann sich nicht helfen, er ist so authentisch Rap, wenn er sagt oder tweetet, seltsame, rexistische und einfach dumme Dinge. Aber sein Id?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
is always in check when it comes to saying anything about China, where officials likely feel they have leverage over Musk. So measured, so thoughtful, so disciplined, so obsessed with money. He recognizes he doesn't enjoy the umbrella protection of the First Amendment in China and accusing a member of the CCP of being a sex criminal, his go-to, would likely result in swift economic retribution.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
He may or may not suffer from Aspergers, but he definitely suffers from being an asshole. And by the way, for those of you bots waiting to fill the comments section with cries of TDS or an obsession with Musk, you're wrong. I've been clinically diagnosed with DAS, Democracy Addiction Syndrome. And bitches, after four weeks of this nonsense, incompetence, surrender, my affliction is spreading.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
If it's possible to hold our government hostage by capturing the federal payment system, then we need to work upstream of Musk's choke point. Already the Treasury Department has exhausted roughly 60% of the extraordinary measures at its disposal to delay a default on our bonds.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
The rates on the 10-year Treasury bill, however, indicate that Congress will raise the debt ceiling, as both parties have done 78 times since 1960. But what if Democrats refuse? A dozen GOP senators and 49 House Republicans, more than 20% of each conference, have never previously voted to raise the debt ceiling. Democrats have a strong stand here.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
If they credibly threaten default, rates on the 10-year T-Bill will increase and equities will likely suffer. This will be painful, but the pain will primarily fall on the 1% and corporations, i.e. those who own 90% of assets and have influence over Trump. In effect, the markets could do what Congress won't. Reign in Trump, kick Musk to the curb and demand the US remain a nation of laws.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
In March the government will run out of money, unless Congress acts. If the government shuts down, roughly 3 million federal workers will stop receiving paychecks. Stiffing the military, air traffic controllers and people who keep our food and water safe is stupid. It hurts them and us.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
At the moment, however, a sleep-deprived alleged ketamine abuser who makes Nazi salutes is cutting off funding for programs he dislikes and promising buyouts to federal workers with money that isn't there. Hakeem Jeffries is correct when he says there's little Democrats can do legislatively to stop President Musk. But Democrats shouldn't do anything legislatively to enable him either.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Here again, Democrats have a decent hand to extract concessions, as a shutdown is upstream of Musk's power. Musk's wealth is the source of his power and his main point of vulnerability. One third of his wealth is tied up in Tesla stock, which briefly rose after the election, as the market priced in kleptocracy, but has plunged 30% since December.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Proteste an Tesla-Lokationen in den USA zeigen, dass andere sich ähnlich fühlen. Tesla's brand value dropped 26% year over year, due primarily to Musk entering the political arena. His behavior in Europe, where he endorsed Germany's far-right neo-Nazi party, stoked a race riot in the UK, and stands accused of manipulating algorithms on X to influence public discourse in France...
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Das hat Tesla-Sales verursacht. In China, Teslas zweiter größter Markt, sind die Verkäufe jährlich um 11 Prozent geringer. Letztes Monat hat BYD viermal die Zahl der EVs verkauft, die Tesla verkauft hat. Musks Politik ist schlecht für Amerika. Wir müssen sie schlecht für sein Geschäft machen.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Musk hat einmal tweetet, Quote, zwischen Tesla, Starlink und Twitter, ich habe mehr real-zeit globale ökonomische Daten in einem Kopf als jemals. Quote. Frage. Ist es in Amerikas besten Interesse, für einen Mann die kombinierte Macht von Henry Ford, NASA und William Randolph Hearst zu haben?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Starlink ist ein großartiges Produkt, aber die wachsende Bewertung, die Musk über globale Kommunikation erzeugt, ist erstaunlich. Musk kontrolliert bereits halb die Satelliten in der Orbit. Er plant, in den nächsten fünf Jahren bis zu 58.000 mehr zu starten und verspricht, das Niveau zu 500.000 zu erhöhen. In der Politik schlägt das Pendulum immer zurück.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Die Demokraten sollten klar sein, dass sie, wenn sie den Kongress wiederholen, die Dominanz in den Satelliten von Musk beurteilen und Regulierungen beurteilen, um im Interesse der nationalen Sicherheit zu arbeiten. Notieren Sie, dass das auch gute Politik ist, weil Musks Popularität auch bei den Republikanern sinkt. Denken Sie daran, als würde man Greenland invadieren, wenn Greenland Raum wäre.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
In the meantime, Senate Democrats can block government contracts Musk companies rely on by filibustering funding legislation, as Republicans do not have a filibuster-proof majority. When I interviewed historian Niall Ferguson on my podcast, he said British politics is a game of cricket between people who went to Oxford. Whereas American politics is a blood sport.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
I'd argue Niall misses some nuance. Recently, democratic politics have felt like a stern game of bridge at the rest home. For MAGA, the coarseness of our discourse is a feature, not a bug. Musk und Trump verstehen das. Sie spüren violente Rhetorik und leveragen politische Gewalt, wie am 6. Januar, weil Angst ein nützliches Werkzeug ist, um Follower und Opponente in Linie zu halten.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Gestern begann ein DOJ-Offizier falsche Angelegenheiten von Menschen an Musk und seinem Team zu verurteilen und Angelegenheiten an Offiziere zu senden, um ihre Kommentare zu klarifizieren, also sie zu enttäuschen. Ja, freie Sprache, unless it's our guys. This is an attempt to cast a chill on opposing speech in what can be described as the fascist hymn.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Speaking of fascist hymns, the Wall Street Journal reported on February 19th that Linda Iaccarino is now a brick in the fascist wall, threatening to leverage her dear leader's influence to block the IPG-Omnicom merger if they do not advertise on her platform.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Despite credible threats, Trump has removed security details protecting his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, General Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci, to name a few. In response, Democrats marched to a federal building and did their best impression of a seniors facility when Jell-O nights been cancelled.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Die Demokraten sollten es klar machen, dass wenn sie in die Macht zurückkehren, Trump und jeder, der sich auch in den digitalen Krieg engagiert hat, auch ihre Sicherheitsdetail verlieren. Es geht um Incentiven. Wir müssen über die stark bewortete Liste gehen.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: DOGE: What Can Be Done?
Was ich hier vorgelegt habe, ist langweilig und unkompliziert, verglichen mit der Geschwindigkeit und zerstörerischen Kraft eines 19-jährigen Computeringenieures, der hoch auf den Bergen liegt. My concern is for America, but I'll be fine. The people who will pay a far greater price are Trump voters, who believe this fight is for them. It's not. It's against them.
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