00:00:00
He has lost his mind. He is cognitively disabled mad King George as it's getting
00:00:04
and it's getting worse. >> Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast
00:00:15
Network. I'm Carara Swisser >> and I'm Scott Galloway. >> How you doing Scott?
00:00:20
>> Uh I'm tired. I took the red eye back from Mexico. >> Mhm. >> But uh fortunately the infrastructure is
00:00:27
so superior. at the airport's in Mexico now. Took me about 3 minutes to get and
00:00:32
I'm not exaggerating. >> I agree. >> I texted my assistant. I said, "Should I
00:00:36
get to the airport early?" And she said, "Oh, no, not to worry. It's Mexico." And
00:00:39
I'm like, "Jesus Christ, how far >> we're going to get into that. It's
00:00:42
really weird. I have to tell you, I'm so glad I'm not traveling this week. We
00:00:46
traveled a lot last week for South by Southwest and it was quite fine. It even though it was sort of building the idea,
00:00:53
it was building in these airports. Um, we'll talk about it, but I am so happy
00:00:57
I'm not traveling. And it seems like airports, it's like lines, delays, crashes, and ice. Okay, let's get to the
00:01:06
news. Two pilots are dead after an Air Canada plane and a firetruck collided at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday evening.
00:01:12
There's there's stoppages at Newark everywhere. As we record this, LaGuardia
00:01:16
is closed. The accident comes as airports. Chaos across the country, not just TSA lines uh due to a DHS shutdown
00:01:25
because they're not paying the TSA um security people. The Trump administration is now sending ICE agents
00:01:30
into airports there. They can't wear masks because there's no criminals apparently. Border control uh ZAR Tom
00:01:37
Hman says ICE will be there to help move these lines along. I think he was told about it in a truth social and that he
00:01:42
had to do something about this. Poor feckless guy is like, "Oh god." Trump
00:01:46
just announced if ICE isn't enough to help at the airports, he'll bring in the
00:01:49
National Guard. TSA workers have been calling in sick in record numbers and more than 400 officers have outright
00:01:54
quit since the shutdown began in February. They're not being paid. Um there there was just a report that there
00:02:00
was an agreement between John Thun and the Democrats which Trump rejected. This is fully in Trump's this chaos is
00:02:06
Trump's chaos. Um he's uh he's trying to send ICE to do this. Elon Musk, as
00:02:11
usual, because he can't, you know, because he's a narcissistic prick, has
00:02:14
inserted himself into this, offering to pay TSA salaries during the shutdown. This is not how we want to fund
00:02:19
government. President Trump says um that it's it's the Democrat's fault. It's
00:02:24
clearly chaos follows him wherever he goes and he won't do any deal because of
00:02:29
the Democrats want to put strictures on some ICE activities, which seems appropriate. Um any thoughts on this?
00:02:34
And and airports suck for people. You're seeing videos after video after video of
00:02:38
the lines, the chaos, uh the shutdowns, the the lack of security, the possibility of accidents everywhere you
00:02:46
go. Any thoughts? >> You want another attack on the middle class is that probably the most obvious investment in
00:03:00
the middle class is investments in infrastructure. Because when people can get to work,
00:03:07
when people have more opportunities, when people can spend more time with their families, when people have an
00:03:11
absence of stress, when they can take their kids to Disneyland, you know, that's that's accretive to the
00:03:18
prosperity of their life. And a a fairly decent metric for the progress of a civilization and how much it cares about
00:03:24
its civil, how much it cares about its middle class is its investments in infrastructure.
00:03:30
And when you see this type of political warfare breaking out, I mean, here's
00:03:35
what's happened. It doesn't The 1% that that controls our government now
00:03:41
has their own infrastructure. Um, I mean, I their own their own transportation, their own planes, their own security,
00:03:50
their own police force. If you just give a little bit of money away, you can get,
00:03:55
you know, your own practically your own fay in government. So, I'm not exaggerating. I I go to the Cancun
00:04:01
airport, you know, I I buy a, you know, whatever. I bought some >> survea >> bad. Yeah. I bought a Modello especiial
00:04:10
and there was no security line and I thought, "Oh, I have to come to Mexico
00:04:15
for an investment in the middle class." >> Yeah. >> Anyways, I find the whole thing
00:04:19
incredibly discouraging. Typically before um our podcast, I do 30 seconds of research. In this one, I just couldn't
00:04:26
do it. I just couldn't do it. >> Yeah. Well, it's not a very good look.
00:04:30
Who do you look? I hate to say who looks better here, but I think this is one of
00:04:33
these visceral things. The way the attacks on Minneapolis were, this is a visceral thing that goes all over.
00:04:40
>> They blame Trump or do they blame government in general? >> I think they blame Trump. I think chaos
00:04:44
follows this guy and and it looks like there's very clear reports the Republicans tried to settle it and he
00:04:49
refu he's refusing. He refuses to give in. >> Well, that's but see that's the problem.
00:04:54
If you want to if you want to end the if you want to get air traffic controllers
00:05:00
and TSA paid, it's pretty easy. >> Just cancel all immediately pass legislation that
00:05:08
grounds all tail numbers that are private planes. Private planes have their own special type of tail number.
00:05:13
>> They do. >> And all of a sudden, the prunes are going to come through the constipation
00:05:17
of the legislative process and they're going to figure out a way to fund TSA.
00:05:22
But the people who control our government right now, unfortunately, aren't as affected by this.
00:05:27
>> No, they aren't. So, >> and Trump doesn't care. He doesn't care
00:05:30
about people. >> He doesn't like he gives a [ __ ] that lines are long at at Hartsfield Jackson
00:05:35
airport. >> Yeah. What's interesting is the airports that are working had private private
00:05:40
security there like San Francisco and some others. Um, and the ones that had TSA obviously. And if I was a TSA
00:05:46
person, I would quit too. I mean, he was urging them to stay working without pay.
00:05:50
No. No, just settle your differences and everyone knows that. And then to just send ICE in of all things. So
00:05:57
ineffective, so inefficient. >> What that what was the rationale for that, dude?
00:06:01
>> I don't know what they're going to do. I think I I literally from what I the
00:06:04
reporting was is he tweeted it or threaded it or whatever that whatever he's on, truth it. And Tom Hman was
00:06:10
like, "Oh no, what do I do?" And they have to all act like, "Okay, you know,
00:06:16
we have to do some like of course we're on it, but they're not on it. It's like
00:06:19
crazy mad King George." I think what we have to have a conversation about and
00:06:22
we'll talk about Iran is he is lo he has lost his mind. He is cognitively disabled mad King George as it's getting
00:06:29
and it's getting worse as you saw from the tweets. Let's as we record he says
00:06:33
he's postponing strikes on Iranian power plants for 5 days claiming productive
00:06:38
talks with Iran uh to end the war. Iran is denying the talks with the US just as
00:06:43
US presidents denied talking with Trump about how what a good idea it was. I think he's having com he's like Nixon.
00:06:49
He's talking to the portrait on the wall. Over the weekend, Trump was threatening to obliterate uh Iran's
00:06:54
power plants if the straight of Hormuz wasn't reopened. Then he said he wasn't.
00:06:58
And then he said he was in Cox and then he said this. He says a lot of things. It changes from absolutely minuteby
00:07:03
minute. Iran said it would irreversibly destroy essential infrastructure across the Middle East if the US attacked its
00:07:09
energy sites. They are not backing down. They are a lot stronger than Well, Trump
00:07:13
didn't do any homework at all. oil prices fell and stocks rose after Trump postponed these uh strikes be but he
00:07:20
threatened them and he may threaten them again in the next 15 minutes. He seems to be literally changing his everything
00:07:27
by the second. Um he probably got spooked by oil and gas prices. High gas prices in the last few weeks are
00:07:34
sparking uh more interest in electric vehicles. We'll get to that in a second.
00:07:37
But where are we this? Because this this shifting is is literally minuteby minute. Like it's not it's like there's
00:07:44
four minutes that goes by and then he says something different than the previous thing he just said when he gets
00:07:50
in front of a microphone. >> Well, this is a continuation of just a total lack of objectives and no ability
00:07:58
to communicate what the objectives are such that he could declare victory and win. It feels as if it's spinning out of
00:08:03
control. A clear lack I mean at some point in confidence comes to Roose. I I was always thinking it's just amazing
00:08:10
that [ __ ] hasn't gotten worse or we haven't had a disaster when he keeps
00:08:14
appointing podcasters and talk show hosts and conspiracy theory theorists to the most important positions in America
00:08:22
and now we're starting to see that come to fruition. Of course they were going.
00:08:27
One of the downsides of globalization, incredible prosperity, a lowering of prices. Um, you know, you outsource
00:08:34
comparative advantage. Globalization, I would argue on the whole, has been just an unbelievable unlock incentive
00:08:38
cooperation. The problem with globalization is it creates a series of choke points that can bring the global
00:08:43
economy down. One of those choke points >> are the straits of Hormuz. And a lot of
00:08:48
people said it was a choke choke point, but whoever was saying that they weren't
00:08:51
>> they weren't listening to. and you have effectively the world is likely going to
00:08:57
go into some sort of fairly either modest or maybe even a deep recession. Um, and everyone talks about our energy
00:09:04
independence. Yeah, we're strategically from a defense standpoint not that vulnerable, but we're going to have to
00:09:10
pay the same higher prices as everyone else. And even even the numbers around well prices were down today because he
00:09:16
claims to be having talks. There's now fear that uh he's sending combat troops
00:09:20
and amphibious vehicles into the region and >> then he said he wasn't then he said he
00:09:24
was then he said he was and that they they're going to try and maybe take the
00:09:28
island of Kar which is responsible for 95% of the throughput in exchange for them opening hormuz the president of
00:09:34
Finland said that Europe should support the efforts to uh escort ships to the straight of Hormuz in exchange for Trump
00:09:41
committing to supporting Ukraine. And what's interesting about >> what's interesting I think or the
00:09:46
dynamic I'm seeing emerging here is the key word that's coming out of both this
00:09:51
>> this war and the war in Ukraine is one word asymmetry and that is well two
00:09:56
words asymmetry and distraction and that is generally speaking the world's powers
00:10:02
shaped by economics and military strength and if you go to the latter military strength was a function of
00:10:07
really expensive sophisticated platforms of which only a few nations could produce just a small number of them and
00:10:14
they were devastating. Now it's moving to the following dynamic. A a um a Shahed drone costs 25 to $40,000,
00:10:26
but the Patriot missile to shoot it down costs 4 million. >> Yeah. >> And so all of a sudden you have the
00:10:33
ability to create cheap and cheerful massive armaments. >> Yep. using AI and GPS that can overwhelm
00:10:41
the most sophisticated machines >> speedboats. You know, I had that interview with with Tender Warner where
00:10:47
he talks about this. He's like >> aircraft carriers versus zodiacs >> weeks ago. He's like, "Look, we're going
00:10:51
to lose cuz this drone that costs nothing is going to, you know, det is going to hurt our ships or these these
00:10:58
Zodiacs or whatever it happens to be." But they have the ability to do this.
00:11:02
And I think they miscalculated just how many of them Iran had and just how strong the government was. I think they
00:11:10
I think both Israel and the United States thought there'd be a popular uprising. There hasn't been. Um it
00:11:16
certainly could happen, but it doesn't seem to be happening because as Warner
00:11:19
noted quite correctly because he does his homework. This group of people have has a grip on power there. terrible
00:11:26
group of people, but they they are in control of this comp country in a way that Trump did not seem to understand. I
00:11:33
guess >> he didn't anticipate them attacking their neighbors. I think long-term
00:11:37
that's a strategic blunder on their part, but we used to worry that our aircraft carriers might be
00:11:41
>> vulnerable to a Chinese hypersonic missile. It's not. They're vulnerable to
00:11:46
hundreds of Zodiacs going 30 miles an hour. And also, I mean, I mean, it's the the
00:11:55
reason why Ukraine has, despite unbelievable odds, been able to push back against a far superior military
00:12:03
power and economy and Russia is the same reason >> that Iran is a greater threat and is
00:12:09
able to create more disruption now than we had anticipated. And it's all comes
00:12:12
down to this one word, >> asymmetry. And then the second word is distraction. And that is and Fred
00:12:18
Zakaria did a fantastic piece on this at the end of the at the end of the 20th century. Britain was the world's
00:12:25
dominant superpower controlling about a quarter of the world's GDP very similar
00:12:28
to what we control. And they got bogged down in a series of conflicts overseas that took away their political, their
00:12:35
economic and their military focus and weaken them at home such that Germany could industrialize.
00:12:41
>> Yeah. >> And that we might be falling into the same trap. a little group of Americans
00:12:46
with just guns and some moxy, you know, that's the kind of thing. I mean, you
00:12:50
have to sort of make these historical links because no one would have thought we would have beaten the British, right?
00:12:58
But we had more at stake, right? Or we had more reasons and good reasons. Um, but I think I think the problem is again
00:13:06
Trump equals chaos. It's like it doesn't have a point. The this this airline
00:13:10
thing doesn't have a point. It's going to hurt airlines. It's going to hurt
00:13:14
customers. It's going to hurt travel and tourism. Uh it's going to get people not
00:13:19
to travel. It's going to hurt the economy in all manner of ways. And the same thing with this. It's going to hurt
00:13:25
everybody. Now, interestingly, with this oil and gas price spikes, high prices are sparking more interest again in
00:13:32
electric vehicles, which had seen a fall-off. And searches for EV models are up quite a bit, 20% here in the US since
00:13:38
the Iran conflict begin. It's not just in the US. BYD dealerships across Asia
00:13:42
are also seeing a spike in demand. Um, it's a really interesting moment because
00:13:47
for people who don't understand, let me tell you, range anxiety is really going
00:13:52
away. It's in a way that's really significant. >> I'm sorry. You said range anxiety.
00:13:56
>> Rain range anxiety anxiety. People worry about not being able their cars will run
00:14:01
out of electric essentially and that is not doesn't exist now. >> What can take away anxiety? I'm in.
00:14:07
Right. >> I tried Xanax last night and even that [ __ ] didn't work. >> No, just a plug. That's all you need is
00:14:12
a plug. And these >> I have several of those, but I do that for fun. >> Yeah, exactly.
00:14:16
>> Oh, wait. No, I'm sorry. An electric plug. Excuse me. Never mind. >> Called for. Anyway, electric vehicles
00:14:21
are seeing a spike. This is not a surprise. But I have to say uh for the first time in my I have of a gas car and
00:14:27
electric car. I'm thinking of just going all electric because I don't feel range
00:14:31
in. That's the issue is that I better have a car to get out of here in case of
00:14:34
the apocalypse essentially. >> Well, that might be. Okay. So that might be if there is a silver lining here over
00:14:40
the medium and the long term. >> It does put a you know $60 a barrel oil does not help alternative energy.
00:14:49
>> It doesn't. >> And this I don't think this is going to be
00:14:53
worth the price. I've been more optimistic about the potential outcomes of this this what should have been a
00:14:58
conflict or a military operation out of war than most people. But hopefully this
00:15:03
does give a renewed focus on I mean if China hadn't busted a very strong move
00:15:09
to alternatives they would be really [ __ ] and they're still [ __ ] but it kind of renews the importance of being
00:15:16
independent and not being subject to these choke points around >> in a variety of ways not just
00:15:22
>> and actually did I tell you this your >> your ex-wife >> Mhm.
00:15:27
>> we spoke at where was I? in South by Southwest. >> Yeah. >> And she ran after, of course, my
00:15:33
favorite South by Southwest moment was after a talk, she came up and started answering questions for me as people
00:15:38
were asking me questions. And by the way, her answers were pretty good. He's very
00:15:43
>> Anyways, she this time she ran after me as I was headed out and because I was
00:15:48
talking about Iran and >> could be anything >> and she showed me the site
00:15:53
>> and it shows at any given moment >> where Texans are getting their
00:15:58
electricity for air conditioning and everything. >> Oh yeah, she's on to the Texan thing.
00:16:02
>> And at that moment she pulled it up, 60% of the electricity >> Mhm. was coming from wind power in Texas
00:16:09
and another 18% was coming from solar. So Texas which is supposed to be the epicenter of oil and gas and land man
00:16:16
>> at that moment was getting 78% of its energy electricity. >> Yeah.
00:16:20
>> From um from renewables. >> Yeah. >> Anyways I I I the >> this is getting it is so the the
00:16:30
incompetence chickens are coming >> to roost >> to roost. >> Yeah. Yeah. you know, the rightwing is
00:16:36
going the right-wing podcasters are really going after Heg Seth and Trump on the war and stuff
00:16:40
>> and we need to be really thoughtful about um this whole notion of asymmetric
00:16:46
warfare. It just you can't and it's so interesting. They launch multiples of
00:16:52
these drones and they change altitude so the GPS locators trying to fight back get confused and then but Ukraine is
00:16:59
coming up with all sorts of sorts of defense drones. It's just going to open
00:17:03
up an entirely different I I think you're going to see massive uh and you you actually pointed this out that
00:17:11
Ukraine uh is gonna is going to assuming we ever get to something resembling a state a sustainable peace that gives
00:17:17
people the confidence to invest. >> You're going to see an unbelievable I
00:17:22
think technology boom there around defense. >> Actually, if I were like advising my son
00:17:26
Alex and go to Ukraine when this is all over and you will have you will be a billionaire. like it'll be it's so it's
00:17:32
going to be so exciting there. I think there's corruption issues there very significant including with Zilinsk's
00:17:38
government and stuff especially with Galenc's government but yes it's absolutely an opportunity. What's really
00:17:44
interesting here is um is is again all of this has chaos attached to it and we do not need more chaos anyway and by the
00:17:52
way on our 250th birthday coming up guess who did this that kind of military tactics the US revolutionaries. um in
00:18:00
order to beat the very much more organized and much more um at the time militarily uh superior British. Anyway,
00:18:08
>> let's go. >> But we just hid behind trees. We refused to march in a first we were we refused
00:18:12
to march in a straight line. >> No, we didn't do marches. We didn't
00:18:16
>> and have bright red coats that were great targets at dusk and night. >> Yeah.
00:18:20
>> So funny. You're in my algorithm. I I got served that great tomahawk scene of
00:18:25
Mel Gibson with his and his kids killing like 90 >> Yeah. I can't stand Mel Gibson as Mel
00:18:31
Gibson, but I love all his movies. >> Oh, he's a fantastic one. I know, but
00:18:34
he's a terrible person. Anyway, um I do I love all those movies. I hate that I
00:18:39
love them, but I love them. Every one of them. >> Fantastic. >> Anyway, that's the Patriot you're
00:18:42
talking about. That's the Patriot. Yeah. Okay, Scott, let's go on a quick break.
00:18:46
When we come back, Elon loses in court. Support for this show comes from Delete Me. Delete Me makes it easy, quick, and
00:18:53
safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make
00:18:58
everyone vulnerable. When you sign up, the experts at Delete Me do the heavy lifting of wiping you and your family's
00:19:03
personal information from data broker websites. This isn't a one-time service.
00:19:07
Delete Me sends you regular personalized privacy reports showing what info they have found, where they found it, and
00:19:12
what they removed. I've tried Delete Me. I use it all the time, and I've found
00:19:16
incredible amount of information about me out there. A lot of it inaccurate, but all of it compiled in a way that's
00:19:22
really disturbing. You don't have to take my word for it, though. Last year,
00:19:25
the New York Times wire cutter named Delete Me their top pick for data removal services. Take control of your
00:19:30
data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now at a special discount to our listeners. Get
00:19:36
20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/pivot and use the promo code pivot at
00:19:42
checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeleteme.com/pivot and enter the code pivot at checkout.
00:19:48
That's joined me.com/pivot. Code pivot. Support for this show comes from MintMobile. We all like our money. It
00:19:59
keeps the lights on and lets us have fun. Unfortunately, big wireless companies also like your money. So much
00:20:04
so that they come up with clever ways to squeeze more out of you each month. That's why MintMo does things
00:20:10
differently. They offer a premium wireless phone plan for just $15 a month. All other plans come with
00:20:15
high-speed 5G data and unlimited talk and text, and you don't need to bother
00:20:19
getting a whole new phone or number, nor do you have to deal with long-term contracts. Just activate online in
00:20:25
minutes and start saving immediately. No more expensive monthly phone bill riddled with unexpected fees. Get 3
00:20:31
months of premium wireless service from MintMobile for just 15 bucks a month. If
00:20:35
you like your money, MintMo is for you. Shop plans at mintmobile.com/pivot. That's mintmobile.com/pivot.
00:20:42
Upfront payment for $45 for threemon 5 gigabyte plan required. Equivalent to $15 a month for new customer offer for
00:20:49
first three months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.
00:20:58
Scott, we're back with more news. A jury found Elon Musk liable for misleading
00:21:02
Twitter investors in the run-up to his purchase of the platform in 2022. Damages could reach up to $2.6 billion.
00:21:08
Musk legal team obviously plans on appealing the ruling. He also he also didn't have the the worst of the of the
00:21:14
things he didn't the jury didn't find around fraud and everything else. Um, by
00:21:19
the way, he's been very busy this week besides offering to pay TSA. He's uh
00:21:23
busy he's got to shut up. I felt like that this week. He's busy keeping his
00:21:26
hands in politics. He's been fixated on advocating for the passage of the Save
00:21:30
America Act, a strict voter ID bill, attacking Senate Majority Leader John Thun in the process, even though there's
00:21:35
very little um evidence. And by the way, the New York Times is just outright saying it that there there is any voter
00:21:41
fraud in these areas or examples of it. He's still holding influence in Ukraine,
00:21:45
by the way, in a positive way, having cut off Russian forces, Starlink internet access last month. That's cuz
00:21:50
they were getting them through the black market. The Russian forces using Starlink and he cut them off. Very good.
00:21:54
Good job, Elon. Let's give you kudos for that. And over at his other business,
00:21:58
Tesla seemed semi-truckss are finally here actually winning over truck drivers. It looks like a pretty good
00:22:03
product. And Tesla says as Tesla and SpaceX will launch Terrafab chip project in Austin because semiconductor
00:22:10
manufacturers aren't making chips fast enough. Um that's not a surprise. I
00:22:13
think everyone's doing that. Everyone's going to be doing that. But sort of it's
00:22:16
a mixed bag here. This this jury trial, we'll see. He'll probably like exhaust
00:22:21
them with appeal after appeal. But the jury didn't like what they heard how he
00:22:25
behaved. And he still has never paid for his misbehavior when it comes to the SEC
00:22:29
and others. He tends to win or get off. Um, any thoughts on that or any of these
00:22:34
topics? >> The definition of market manipulation is what he engaged in. If I were on a board
00:22:40
and I went out and and said falsely on Twitter that as a board member with insider information, we have funding
00:22:48
secured to take this company private at a 40% premium to market and the stock ran up and then it ended up not to be
00:22:54
true and all the people who bought those shares at an elevated price. I think I'd
00:22:58
be in jail. I know I could never serve on board of directors again, >> but here's the problem. He's gonna be
00:23:04
found I think he's gonna be found guilty. I think he's going to be fined
00:23:06
$2 billion and it doesn't [ __ ] matter. And >> the the right answer is is just
00:23:11
>> But he was found guilty. Let's the damages in this. It's not guilty. It's
00:23:14
>> But he'll appeal it, right? >> He's appealing. It's liable, not guilty.
00:23:18
Just >> I think excuse me, because it's a civil case, it's liable. Thank you. But here's
00:23:22
the here's the unfortunate thing. It doesn't [ __ ] matter to him. And it's
00:23:27
not a the point of a justice system is not only punishment, but it's to create
00:23:33
incentives so people don't do things again. And in not only criminally, but in civil litigation. And what we need to
00:23:39
move to is what they're proposing with a wealth tax. And that is the whole point
00:23:42
of a wealth tax is we're going to take a percentage of your wealth. And now I'm
00:23:47
against wealth tax tasks, not theoretically or philosophically, but practically they just don't work. But we
00:23:53
need to move to some sort of proportionate civil liability fines. And that is the following. It's not a $2
00:23:59
billion fine. It should be 20% of your net worth. And that is if you if you commit this type of market manipulation
00:24:07
that where people lose faith in the markets, you don't own $2 billion. You owe 20% of your net worth. Uh otherwise,
00:24:17
what is the incentive not to do this again? >> Yeah. So, so and the same thing should
00:24:22
be happened uh should happen with when Meta has is when Meta is found guilty of creating addictive products and so is
00:24:30
Alphabet. It should >> that's the other case. >> It shouldn't be a billion dollar fine.
00:24:33
It should be 10% of the market capitalization, >> but it won't be. So, what's going like
00:24:37
here the juries now? It's interesting. It wasn't a judge trial. They decided to
00:24:40
do a jury trial. So, jurors do not like this guy obviously. And he's he very
00:24:44
clearly >> he's not a sympathetic character. >> He's not a sympathetic character
00:24:47
anymore. And he has gotten off on the pedo thing. He got off on the 420 thing. He got off on funding secure. He's
00:24:53
gotten off over and over again. And what he either he either wears people down or
00:24:57
continues to attack, right, when he lost in in court to the Center for um countering digital hate, he went back
00:25:05
again or he pushed the government into bothering the the person who founded it. I mean, this is the thing is he just
00:25:12
keeps on coming and like this fixation on the save act, which is evidence-free um that there's issues that they're
00:25:19
trying to solve here. And at the same time, here he is doing this kind of cool technology in Ukraine or the truck or
00:25:25
the the I don't know if he's going to be successful in the chip project, but I
00:25:29
wish he would just do that, right? >> I mean, um I was going to say it's called Pivot,
00:25:36
but there could be a podcast. It's called Musk. He creates so much news. I mean the guy is a big thinker and
00:25:40
creates a lot of news. Look, I am I am super excited about the prospect. Uh I I'm anything that helps the brave
00:25:52
people of Ukraine and their army defend against Russia and push back on it. I I applaud I applaud Elon for doing this.
00:26:00
I'm thrilled about it. At the same time, it represents something much scarier and
00:26:06
that is there shouldn't be one individual that has the ability who is unelected
00:26:12
and not subject to any sort of >> what he feels like. >> The biggest criticism I would argue the
00:26:17
big >> say if he got Molly from the lady in the bathroom. One of the most valid criticisms of
00:26:23
Trump's unilateral war with just one other country is he didn't even he didn't even get any sort of advice or
00:26:30
approval from Congress much less do what George Herbert Walker Bush did and that
00:26:34
is get a consent or get approval from the UN. >> He acted some people would argue
00:26:38
unilaterally. Now a lot of people would say he didn't act unilaterally. He got
00:26:41
79 million votes. Okay. Musk is changing the face of war. Fortunately for what I think is in the
00:26:50
right direction >> in this case >> but should that's right but should one
00:26:54
man be able to accrete so much wealth and technical mastery that he or she >> can change the course of civilization
00:27:01
and war >> this is we keep talking about the wisdom of crowds the ignorance of the
00:27:05
individual is really frightening >> yeah I like that the wisdom of crowd the
00:27:10
ignorance >> I just made that up I think the kicking in you always do things like this so
00:27:15
you're just being nice to me cuz we got in an argument this weekend >> we did we But now that's done.
00:27:19
>> The it is d power corrupts and absolute power absolutely corrupts and we should
00:27:26
not have any individual that accreted so much wealth and power and technical sophistication that they can change the
00:27:32
course of civilization. Now some people would argue that Napoleon did that or Genghask Khan
00:27:38
>> but these people were incredibly >> people who've done that >> but they were incredibly savvy and they
00:27:43
worked their way through power structures and ultimately ultimately they fell but I am uncomfortable
00:27:51
with someone who is not elected by people who's not accountable to anybody who can pay his way out of or appeal his
00:27:58
way out of any civil or possibly criminal I mean Christ I I hate to go The only person imprisoned from the
00:28:04
Epstein files is a woman, >> right? >> And so it's it's okay if
00:28:08
>> she should be there. >> I'm not arguing that. My my belief is
00:28:13
there should be other people in the cells next >> agrees. Yeah. >> Looks like they shut down a lot of these
00:28:18
investigations right at the beginning of the Trump. >> But what happens when
00:28:23
But what happens if Musk all of a sudden decides, I'm pissed off with the left
00:28:27
criticizing me. I'll show them. and he turns off Starlink in the middle of a a
00:28:32
ground offensive trying to push Russia trying to push Ukraine out of >> you know
00:28:37
>> I'm just telling you it's up to the lady in the bathroom with Molly that's the
00:28:41
problem seriously >> but that's that kind of that but that kind of summarizes
00:28:45
>> what does he feel like today did he get did he have a nice night with his lady
00:28:48
friend or did he have a bad fight >> so to a certain extent Donald Trump in
00:28:52
some ways well I mean is more dangerous but what's more dangerous someone who
00:28:56
commands the US military >> or someone who commands two of the world's low earth satellites.
00:29:03
>> Yeah. >> But has >> I say Musk Musk >> but is not elected by the public. I mean
00:29:08
you can make the argument that okay no we chose Trump. >> We did we didn't but but Congress we
00:29:15
also believe in three parts of government and that's >> agreed. But he has more legitimacy.
00:29:20
>> Correct. >> He has more legitimacy to make these type of decisions than Musk.
00:29:24
>> Yes. But not this decision. >> I when I first heard this I'm like oh
00:29:28
that's great. Good for him. I even put out a thread saying, "Well done, Elon
00:29:31
Musk." >> And then I thought, "Fuck, >> what I don't I want him to have to go to
00:29:38
Senators Kelly, Clolobashar, the Joint Chiefs of Staff." >> What should I do? He may have
00:29:42
>> and Senator Warner. You think he might have? >> I don't know. I don't know.
00:29:45
>> He might be coordinating. That's a fair point. Maybe it's coordinating with our
00:29:49
joint joint chiefs. >> My doubt. Who knows? I I suspect he's probably in I mean, I don't know. When I
00:29:54
got approached many years ago by that Ukrainian defense person asking if I could call him to turn to stop geoencing
00:30:02
Crimea, I was astonished and they were like, "Could you do that?" I'm like,
00:30:06
"Why is one person deciding this?" like why isn't the I remember that's was the
00:30:12
center of our beef at the I was it was anyway um >> but also I do want to say I do think
00:30:18
just calling balls and strikes I think the >> the Tesla semi-truck is a winner
00:30:23
>> looks great looks great it's a winner looks great we give you that it looks
00:30:26
good we'll see how how if they can roll it out but it looks great um agreed agreed it looked I was looking I was
00:30:32
reading all about it this weekend looks fantastic >> and not only that but that is
00:30:35
>> he could make innovative things that's where he should focus is clearly a
00:30:38
genius. All right, >> stop focusing on hate, Neon. Focus on the things you do that are good.
00:30:43
>> And I've always thought that ground zero ground the most obvious autonomous
00:30:48
something like 90% of the damage done to our highways is trucks. >> Yeah. >> And you talk about a 10 to 4 10 p.m. to
00:30:57
4:00 a.m. It's not a great job. It's not a healthy job. >> So, it's always felt like if there's if
00:31:03
there's ground zero for autonomous, I've always thought it's long haul trucking.
00:31:07
Yep. You should look at my interviews with the Aurora CEO Chris Erson who started Google the Google autonomy.
00:31:13
>> Well, I was going to say how is Aurora doing but I don't want to go.
00:31:15
>> Yeah, I don't I'm just saying I love all these efforts and I'm thrilled with I've
00:31:19
never wanted to own a semi-ractor trailer. I'd like one of those. >> You are absolutely not getting one.
00:31:24
Never. I I don't think you've ever driven me anywhere and I don't think
00:31:27
you're ever going to um the Trump I grew up in California. I'm sick from the age
00:31:32
of 15. We have never you have never driven me in a car. Well, what do you want? Two sensitive men so both people
00:31:38
can be crying in the car in the parallel parking spot remains. >> I've driven you. I have driven you in a
00:31:42
car, but I don't think you've ever driven. >> You're You are You're a good driver. It
00:31:45
was in a mini. You were in a >> I don't think anyone would say that. I'm
00:31:48
an angry driver. I try not to drive as much as I can. Anyway, let's >> sit on two phone books. That was a
00:31:53
little unsettling. >> No, you didn't. You're a big guy. Anyway, the Trump administration sealed
00:31:57
the steering wheel. I put you in a mini. I did it. I put you in a mini. I sit way
00:32:01
up front. So, the Trump administration has also unveiled a national, speaking of control of tech oligarchs over our
00:32:07
government, unveiled a national AI framework to replace state-by-state rules with one federal standard. The
00:32:12
framework proposes regulations like child safety rules and standards for energy use of data centers. It calls on
00:32:17
Congress to address issues like intellectual property rights and preventing AI systems from being used to
00:32:22
silence or censor lawful political expression or descent. The administration says it wants to work
00:32:27
with Congress to convert the framework into a bill in the coming months. I mean, I'm sorry. They are so everyone
00:32:33
involved in the government right now is a tech industry shill. So it this is not
00:32:38
the states have passed I think 71 laws in 27 states. It is chaotic. At the same time the government has abregated all
00:32:46
power to these tech companies. So I don't I don't think any good will come
00:32:51
of this. Your thoughts >> there needs to be federal legislation. >> Absolutely.
00:32:58
Because if California in an attempt to maintain its economic growth all of a sudden puts in place technologies that
00:33:08
might inhibit the growth such as okay you can't use AI for surveillance of Americans. I mean the CIA has a rule the
00:33:16
central one of the most covert organizations in the world which I by the way I think is the only organization
00:33:21
in history that can keep a secret. They they have a rule. You can't they don't kill American citizens. There
00:33:28
needs to be there needs to be regulation and legislation around AI and it needs to be a thoughtful discussion and then
00:33:37
but what I hate is just a all of a sudden a race to the bottom around AI where okay, Texas says it's a
00:33:43
free-for-all and you can use it to surveil Americans or create >> I get it. It's just our government has
00:33:48
not our federal government never made so social media laws. They never made privacy laws. Well, they're not making
00:33:53
laws, but they're saying >> they're not doing this to create better
00:33:56
laws. They're doing it to get everyone out of tech way >> to delay and obuscate any attempt to
00:34:01
regulate. Yeah, I think that's >> if they were doing it for they would get
00:34:04
together with Congress and do actual laws that are in everybody's interests.
00:34:10
Uh and and that and that tech would be a voice of many in this thing. They don't
00:34:15
want to. Let me say this is yet another attempt to abregate. States are the only
00:34:20
groups that are doing something somewhat effective and they shouldn't be doing it
00:34:24
but they have to because the government has lo the federal government has lost all responsibility for regulating what
00:34:31
is a very frightening situation uh that we should all be cooperating not just in
00:34:35
this country but globally around AI safety where it's going who's you know
00:34:41
on jobs on child safety on cancer research on everything there should be rules about surveilling citizens etc
00:34:49
etc. We are not, this is not an administration I trust to do it because everyone in a position of power has
00:34:54
someone else behind them who is in tech and they are all grabbing for things. Thank you.
00:34:59
>> Oh, in 2025, seven of the largest AI companies in America, Snap X, OpenAI,
00:35:04
Bite Dance, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta spent over $50 million on federal lobbying. And by the way, best ROI in
00:35:10
history. It's not AI or capex, it's lobbying. and in 2025 hired 87 lobbyists, roughly one of every six
00:35:18
members of Congress. Open AAI has ramped up its lobbying spend nearly 70% from last year. What's interesting is
00:35:27
one of the greatest brand declines in history over this over the shortest period of time. AI.
00:35:34
>> Think about how excited we were about AI just 24 months ago. One, a Pew Research
00:35:40
poll found that Americans are five times more concerned than excited about AI. There are roughly double the amount
00:35:49
Americans who think AI's effect on society will be negative than there are people who think it'll be positive.
00:35:54
>> Worse brand destruction. You're right. It >> the brand erosion in AI is historic.
00:36:00
>> Twothirds of Americans think that AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates. Less than a third of Americans
00:36:06
trust AI and 3/4 of Americans think AI poses a threat to humanity, >> existential threat. Let me just say
00:36:13
ahead of the midterm, Silicon Valley has poured a hund00 million into a network of packs and organizations to advocate
00:36:19
for these strict AI regulations. And a report from Public Citizen found that one in four federal lobbyists now work
00:36:26
in AI. Think about why do you think they're working there, kids? They're not
00:36:30
to help you. They're they're there to help them. and they have the White House
00:36:34
captive. In any case, it would be a great idea to do some bills, but not with this administration, not in its
00:36:39
current form. >> But this is the opening for a Democrat. I spoke to someone this morning running
00:36:44
for president and >> there no one on the Democratic side has been able to say we need federal AI
00:36:50
regulation focused on these three things. >> No one has been able to articulate what
00:36:56
is needed around regulation and AI. And it is a real opening for one of them because it's the technology of the day.
00:37:03
It has got it's created a huge amount of anxiety and yet no one has been able to
00:37:07
articulate a vision for what sensible regulation that protects Americans while while ensuring that our thorough breads
00:37:14
continue to run because there really is economic value and we don't want to hamstring our best and brightest such
00:37:21
that China gets out ahead. There are real concerns on both sides, but someone needs to thread the needle here and come
00:37:26
out and say AI regulation at a federal legislation focused on the following, you know, three things. It's a big
00:37:33
opening for a Democrat. >> You know, you I just did a two-hour interview with Tristan Harris. He said
00:37:37
the exact same thing. It's a big opening for >> Tristan. He's so good. You know, we've
00:37:42
been talking for 10 years about this issue. Just >> Yeah. Now, he was early to the to the I
00:37:47
hate big tech game. He's very compelling, too. >> You are incorrect. He does not. He's
00:37:52
like Cara Swisser. He does not hate it. He doesn't like what they're doing with
00:37:55
with they made a mess of our house. That's how I feel. Anyway, let's go on a
00:37:59
quick >> I feel shamed. >> I feel >> I feel shamed. >> He's a great new documentary coming on
00:38:03
called The Apocaloptimist. AI apocalyp. >> Apocalyptus. >> Apocaloptimist. It's called the AI.
00:38:11
>> Not a creature that lives at 30,000 ft below the surface. Sperm whales who
00:38:15
lives in the bathroom with the woman who has >> Molly. Let's go on a quick break. When we come
00:38:22
on apocaloptimus. All right, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, Nextar
00:38:27
is approved to merge with rival Tegna. >> Support for the show comes from Vanta.
00:38:32
Risk and regulation. If you're a business owner, you probably know that both are on the rise and your customers
00:38:37
need to know your proof of security. But earning that trust can be expensive and
00:38:40
timeconuming. Vanta says that's the challenge they're designed to solve.
00:38:44
Vanta automates compliance to bring risk management and customer trust together on a single AI powered platform. helps
00:38:49
companies achieve and maintain compliance across more than 35 security and privacy frameworks including SOCK 2,
00:38:55
ISO 2701 and HIPPA. The result, faster compliance, less manual work, and more time to focus on growth driving
00:39:01
opportunities. So, if you're tired of sifting through old audits and spreadsheets, you can get a system
00:39:06
that's always working in the background, keeping you compliant, reducing risk,
00:39:09
and helping your business scale fast and with confidence. Vanta says that companies, including RAMP and Ryder,
00:39:14
spend 82% less time on audits with Vanta. That's not just faster compliance, it's more time for growth.
00:39:19
You can get started at vant.com/pivot. That's venta.com/pivot. vant.com/pivot.
00:39:33
Support for this show comes from Shipstation. When your company is growing fast, order fulfillment can make
00:39:39
or break your success. ShipStation's intelligence-driven platform brings order management, rate shopping,
00:39:44
inventory and returns, warehouse systems, and comprehensive analytics all in one place, saving customers 15 hours
00:39:50
per week on fulfillment. With ShipStation, everything you need to manage getting your product to customers
00:39:56
is in one place. You can connect to over 200 sales channels, and instead of five
00:40:01
to seven disconnected tools, you've got one. You can also set up time-saving
00:40:05
automations. ShipStation picks the best carrier, finds you the best rate, prints
00:40:09
labels in bulk, and sends tracking updates. Done. Share tracking details, can cut customer service inquiries by
00:40:15
12%. Returns management can give you data on what's coming back and why, and
00:40:20
analytics can show you where you're saving and where to optimize. Try Shipstation for free for 60 days with
00:40:26
full access to all features. No credit card needed. Go to shipstation.com and use the code pivot for 60 days for free.
00:40:34
60 days gives you plenty of time to see exactly how much time and money you're
00:40:38
saving on every shipment. That's shipstation.com code pivot. shipstation.com
00:40:44
code pivot. Scott, we're back with more news. Broadcast station owner NextStar will
00:40:52
merge with rival Tegna after the FCC signed off on the $6.2 billion acquisition, creating the largest
00:40:58
operator of TV stations in the country. This is unprecedented. The commission has waved the rule that bars a single
00:41:03
company from owning TV stations that reach over 39% of the US households. Guess what? The new entity uh is
00:41:11
allowing Nextar to own 60% and near doubling. The combined company would own over 250 stations reaching over half of
00:41:19
American households. Eight states have filed emergency motions to stop the merger. As usual, Brendan Carr, the
00:41:24
bureaucratic toad, just waved it right through because it's their conservative
00:41:28
and they are um uh and they are they were thanking President Trump. They're the people behind the Kimmel mask.
00:41:34
They're one of the people uh conservatives are actually split on the issue. Um some thinking it's a great
00:41:39
thing because it helps the conservative side, their team. The other people feel as correctly, you wouldn't like it if a
00:41:45
bunch of liberals own these like 60% of the stations. That said, mainstream media has leaned well, it's leaned
00:41:51
middle left, middle left kind of things. Um, just what do you think about this? I
00:41:55
mean, obviously this is open. This is something This is Rupert Murdoch's wet
00:41:58
dream from many years ago. The ability to own things across the country. Although, who's watching local news at
00:42:05
the same time? >> I'll tell you who's watching local news. Really old people. Exactly.
00:42:09
>> I could program local news. It's called What Stupid People Did Today. Two people
00:42:13
were mugged in a Two people were mugged in a parking lot at 4 a.m. this morning.
00:42:17
>> Yeah. >> Um >> or the it could happen to you story >> and the weather
00:42:20
>> killer bees. It could happen to you. >> It could happen to you. Mold on your
00:42:25
penis. It could happen to you. >> Is is your Are you losing hair because of your drinking water? Um
00:42:32
>> could happen to you. I'm I'm torn because the idea of any one entity
00:42:38
controlling that much information flow to a populace that disproportionately votes
00:42:45
it it feels feels uncomfortable. At the same time um these companies are in structural
00:42:51
decline and the only way they survive is through consolidation and cost cutting.
00:42:56
I was on the board it's now time for the latest episode of Scott's weak flexes. I was on the board
00:43:03
of a company that was a Yellow Pages company. >> Oh, I didn't know that one.
00:43:07
>> It's one of my best investments because typically these companies, we know we
00:43:11
know local stations are [ __ ] but they're not they're not going to go out
00:43:15
of business as quickly as people think. So, for example, in 1999, you could buy a Blockbuster. Everyone knew Blockbuster
00:43:20
was going away, but in 1999, you could buy a Blockbuster franchise for two times cash flow. And they did go away,
00:43:26
but they went away 13 years later. I mean, you you four or six >> money. Yeah.
00:43:30
>> So, you can buy these things. at pretty distressed prices and then you need to
00:43:33
consolidate the back end. Back to the yellow pages company. We knew that the yellow pages business was going to go
00:43:39
away. You could buy these things at two times cash flow. So we would go buy every regional yellow pages company
00:43:46
quite frankly consolidate the backend which is Latin for layoff everyone but the salespeople. And then we went and
00:43:52
bought the biggest yellow pages company in Canada and then the biggest one in Australia. And it's a great business.
00:43:58
Now to a certain extent is that bad? Is that too much concentration of power? So
00:44:04
these companies are melting ice cubes. They need to consol. >> They were when the yellow pages
00:44:09
mattered. But go ahead. Which they did, kids. >> But it's the same thing here. The these
00:44:14
businesses are going out of business slowly. And so I'm I'm of two minds. I
00:44:21
don't trust this FTC to make these decisions. I'd want to see an economist
00:44:24
say >> FCC, >> I'm sorry, the FCC. I'd want to see an economist
00:44:29
issue or thoughtful people say that the the risk of job destruction, the risk of
00:44:35
having the capital to do anything regarding the investigative journal journalism at city hall or the local,
00:44:40
you know, lo local courthouse that these guys need to consolidate. Having said that, this level of concentration feels
00:44:48
pretty unhealthy. >> Yeah. Yeah. 60 is a lot. I think you're right. I, you know, when remember we
00:44:53
were on when we were on the tour and you know or I was on one thing and everyone
00:44:56
was asking me about CBS and I'm like show of hands of who's watching it and
00:45:01
it was like no one >> relevant >> and I thought so we're worried about one
00:45:05
irritating person at a station that's mean a network that's declining faster
00:45:11
than all the others by the way. The other two are doing okay. They're double
00:45:14
in size essentially. I was like, "So, no one's watching it." And even the
00:45:18
strongest player is slowly dying, you know, who's doing okay. And then they definitely throw off a lot of money,
00:45:25
right? Like your yellow pages thing did. Right now, they >> in 2017% of America watched the Academy
00:45:31
Awards. Do you know what percentage watched last year? >> They went down, right? Like three
00:45:35
>> 5%. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing. And so you're sort of sitting there, you're
00:45:40
like, okay, it's really irritating and grotesque and at the same time of this
00:45:44
consolidation and these people that are doing, you know, performative, you know,
00:45:48
uh, [ __ ] to Donald Trump, which they were, you know, around Kimmel and there's no such thing as a performative
00:45:54
[ __ ] That's an oxy. >> I don't know. I have never done one. Um, I'm not going to go into the
00:45:58
>> I'm not going to touch that. >> Don't touch it. >> I finally have a filter that says you
00:46:02
should say nothing, Scott. >> Let me say I haven't had sex with a man,
00:46:06
but I have not have done a blow job. Anyway, thank you for that information cuz I that's gross. Um,
00:46:10
>> well, you know, Taylor Swift writes all these writes all these songs about men
00:46:14
breaking up with her, but she's never written a song about [ __ ] Connect the dots. Okay. Connect the dots.
00:46:19
>> Okay. All right. Um, in any case, um, I had the most interesting Anyway, I'm not
00:46:24
going to go into it. Um, so I have a whole Gay Taylor thing called the my Gaylar playlist on Spotify. Listen to
00:46:32
Cornelius Street is all I can tell to everybody. Um, so let me get what am I getting? Getting back on track.
00:46:39
>> Oh man, you've been thrown off by >> I've been thrown off track by [ __ ]
00:46:43
Um, I don't I don't think it matters. And yet it does because these they do
00:46:48
have an impact on a certain population and watching someone like my mom or other people get twisted by propaganda
00:46:55
on say a Fox News, it does actually matter, right? It's really bad information. That said, I don't think
00:47:01
most of these local stations except for a very small few h do journalism anymore. So,
00:47:06
>> they matter in local politics. >> That's right. That but they don't do
00:47:10
much journalism and I don't think they matter much. >> Hurst did Hurst did this genius move and
00:47:14
it went bought all the local news stations and swing districts because basically the dirty secret of specialty
00:47:21
retail is that for 45 weeks a year it loses money and then for seven weeks it just breaks into a [ __ ] ton of money.
00:47:27
Basically between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The dirty secret of these local news stations in these swing
00:47:31
districts >> is they lose money for 22 months and then for two months they quintuple their
00:47:36
ad rates as so and so overspends trying to you know trying to be the local representative.
00:47:42
>> Yeah, that's where it hurts. >> But do you know do you know the average
00:47:44
age of a Fox viewer? The average >> 69 70. >> That's exactly right.
00:47:51
>> I think that's young. So that means that if a 40-year-old accidentally turns on Fox, a 97y old is
00:48:00
also watching. Do you know what the average age of a local TV Do you know the average age of a local TV news
00:48:06
viewer? >> 70 80 >> dead. They're dead. Cara. >> All right, Scott. One more quick break.
00:48:12
We'll be back for wins and fails. >> Support for today's show comes from a
00:48:16
select quote. Life insurance. It can get confusing. If you already have a policy,
00:48:22
do you know how much you're paying for it? And do you know how much coverage
00:48:24
you're actually getting? There's a good chance you're paying too much for too
00:48:28
little. It's not always the easiest thing to think about, but getting it right can be simple with Select Quote.
00:48:33
For over 40 years, Select Quote has been one of the most trusted brokers in insurance, helping more than 2 million
00:48:38
Americans secure over $700 billion in coverage. Their mission is simple. To find you the right insurance policy for
00:48:44
your unique needs. They shop, you save. And if you don't have a medical exam,
00:48:48
it's no problem. Select Quote partners with providers that offer same day coverage for up to $2 million. No
00:48:53
doctor's visit required. When you connect with Select Quote, a licensed insurance agent can reach out right away
00:48:58
to help you find a policy that fits both your life and your budget. Life insurance is never cheaper than it is
00:49:04
today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50% at selectquote.com/pivot.
00:49:10
Save more than 50% on term life insurance at selectquote.com/pivot today to get started. That's
00:49:16
selectquote.com/pivot. Support for the show comes from Upwork. The fastest growing businesses aren't
00:49:26
doing more quickly. They're simply delegating smarter. And with Upwork, you can bring in expert freelance fast so
00:49:32
you can keep moving forward for the long haul. Upwork is a one-stop platform to find, hire, and pay expert freelancers
00:49:38
across web and software development, data and analytics, marketing, and business operations. Upwork can help
00:49:43
grow your business by giving you fast access to specialized talent across 125 plus categories. You can fill skill
00:49:49
gaps, launch projects faster, and scale support up or down without committing to
00:49:53
full-time headcount. And with Upwork Business Plus, you can access the top 1% of talent on Upwork. And with AI powered
00:49:59
shortlisting, so you'll get matched to the right freelancer in under 6 hours.
00:50:02
No endless searching required. Thousands of growing businesses already trust Upwork to hire flexible, highquality
00:50:08
freelance talent for everything from one-off projects to ongoing support. It's free to sign up and posting a job
00:50:13
is easy. You can visit upwork.com right now to post your job for free and connect with top talent ready to help
00:50:19
your business grow. That's upw.com. upwork.com. Okay, Scott, let's hear some wins and
00:50:30
fails. May I go first? >> Of course. >> I'm going to do a win. Let me just tell
00:50:34
you, Project Hail Mary just brought in $80 million at the box office. That's a
00:50:38
record opening for Amazon. MGM I did. I went on Friday night. >> I heard it's about friendship. I'm sorry
00:50:43
to interrupt you. >> It's about a friendship between a man and rocks. Um, it is an alien who looks
00:50:49
like a pile of rocks. Um, it is a wonderful movie. It is about science. It is fun. It is It made me It's
00:50:56
infectiously delightful and it deserves I can see why I did $80 million the box office. I saw it on IMAX film. You don't
00:51:02
need to really. There's some beautiful things in it and some beautiful photography, but you hardly you could
00:51:09
watch it. It's a wonderful It feels like a little like ET a little bit. It's got
00:51:14
It just is a wonderful movie. Uh Ryan um what's his name? >> Gosling. >> Gosling. Ryan Gosling is delightful.
00:51:22
He's the kind Scott. You need to see it because it's the kind of man you want to
00:51:26
be. >> Two people have said I'd love it. Yeah, >> you would because he's the guy that you
00:51:30
want to be. He's sort of a reluctant hero of course and at the same time it's
00:51:33
about ingeniousness. It's about it's the same writer of the mar m Mart m Mart m
00:51:38
Mart m Mart m mar m mar m mar m mar m mar m mar martian same book and everyone what's interesting someone told me
00:51:41
people read project hail Mary someone who I didn't think read much read both
00:51:46
the Martian and project hail Mary it's a lot of plot not great writing but the
00:51:50
movie the movies become marvelous I think I love the Martian it's about sort
00:51:54
of fix it things it's it's everyone in it is great uh this this an this rock
00:52:01
character that becomes his friend they're trying to solve humanity 's problems together is you start to really
00:52:07
love this charact. It's a really great character which is voiced by a puppeteer
00:52:11
I think a very well-known puppeteer. Amazing. Like I can't believe at first I
00:52:16
was like I'm going to look at a rock character this entire time and it ended
00:52:19
up being delightful. I got to say it deserves I it did much better than people thought. Amazon this is their
00:52:24
first big hit that is an original and congratulations to Amazon for this. I have to wonderful movie. Again, Ryan
00:52:33
Gosling can do anything. He can sing. He can dance. He's funny. He was great on
00:52:36
SNL. Wonderful. What a movie star, but also totally approachable as a dude. That's why you'd like it. My fail. You
00:52:43
know, there's so many obvious ones. I mean, more than nine months after its announcements, Trump mobile phone still
00:52:48
hasn't launched. It never is going to launch, by the way. They're a bunch of
00:52:51
grifters. Um, but I think I think probably something that got a lot of press was President Trump's reaction to
00:52:57
the death of Robert Mueller. Uh, former FBI director, special counsel, and Bronstar Marine veteran. He died this
00:53:03
weekend at the age of 81. I had no I had no idea he was sick. Well, former uh presidents Bush and Obama shared their
00:53:09
tributes to him. Trump went the other direction posting, "I'm glad he's dead."
00:53:14
uh you know then Scott Bent that little quizzling weak weak weakling was like oh
00:53:21
he was the victim here of Robert Mueller and so he should be able to say that but
00:53:25
it does open it is really shocking when everyone sort of gave the left a hard time for not being unhappy that Charlie
00:53:31
Kirk had died and by the way it was terrible and murder in a terrible and murderous way and nobody should be
00:53:36
celebrating that. Um, this was just like very typical and it sort of opens the door to when someday
00:53:44
Trump uh sheds these mortar coils for anyone to say that. Um, so it just was like it's another gross, chaotic,
00:53:52
mentally deranged madness of King George moment. That's I was like, are you can
00:53:57
you just shut the [ __ ] up and not give us your thoughts on every awful thing that crosses your your increasingly
00:54:05
aging brain? Thank you. There you go. >> There you go. But we're increasingly, it's like when
00:54:11
you hang out, people begin to look like their dogs. We're becoming the same person. My fail was the same thing. So,
00:54:17
I'll take the other side of it. But, >> okay, >> before we get to that, I want to just
00:54:20
talk a little bit more about [ __ ] If >> if you're do you think it should bother
00:54:25
you if your spouse has given hundreds of [ __ ] to random men, or is my wife overreacting?
00:54:31
>> Oh my god, >> that's good. I think you'd be good at giving
00:54:36
>> blowj my win. >> I would think you'd be better than me at it, but go ahead.
00:54:42
>> All right, enough. Even I have limits. >> I knew that would stop you.
00:54:46
>> I even I have limits. >> I knew it. >> Okay, so I don't know how to make a
00:54:50
clean segue here. So my we we uh we uh talk a lot about what talking about an aspirational
00:55:02
uh vision for masculinity. Um, and I think unfortunately it's been confused with u volume,
00:55:10
dominance, and attention. And that's, you know, that's not strength, Cara.
00:55:14
That's just insecurity with a ring light or a Twitter handle. And if you want an
00:55:20
actual template for masculinity, you could do a lot worse than Robert Robert Mueller. And this was a guy, he
00:55:27
was a Marine in Vietnam, by the way. He volunteered. He didn't he didn't avoid deferments, no
00:55:35
bone spurs. Also in high school, captain of his lacrosse, hockey, and baseball team. An amazing
00:55:44
>> leader, >> physical athlete, >> leader, >> captain. All three teams decided he
00:55:48
should be the leader of that team. He marine in Vietnam where he earned a bronze star. Went on to lead the FBI for
00:55:55
over a decade and then later in his career he took on one of the most politically radioactive investigations
00:56:03
in modern history. And how did he handle it? He had there was no three theatrics.
00:56:08
There was no personal branding. There was no need to be at the center of the story. He just did the job. And before
00:56:15
all of that, uh, as I mentioned, a very serious athlete and a scholar, went to Princeton, and get this, married for
00:56:24
over 60 years, raising a family, including, I believe, two kids, while building a life of service. You know,
00:56:32
that's a decent outline for masculinity. it not performative outrage, no constant
00:56:39
self-promotion, but discipline, restraint, and commitment, you know, to your work, your country, and your
00:56:46
family. And his posture was simple, you know, service matters more than me. The work matters more than me. And I feel
00:56:54
like I feel like with today's who we should be looking to for role models and
00:56:58
masculinity, that's what we've lost. We've started rewarding people or men
00:57:04
for being loud instead of being reliable and that for being visible instead of being being credible or empathetic. And
00:57:13
this guy was real strength. It's quiet. It's showing up. It's doing hard things.
00:57:19
And it's not making everything about you. And so when we talk about using masculinity as a code or a guide for
00:57:27
young men, you know, if you're trying to figure this out what it looks like, here's a filter. Are you
00:57:36
are you optimizing for attention or for service, right? Because one of them is more immediate, but the other
00:57:45
compounds over a lifetime. And I found it so upsetting that this guy who's such an outstanding
00:57:52
role model and such a fantastic example of what it means to be an American and what it means to be a man that his
00:58:00
family would have to endure that nonsense. >> Yep. I agree. >> So he'll be he'll be buried.
00:58:06
>> That was the story is Trump's reaction to >> he'll be laid to rest with full, you
00:58:10
know, full honors and and there's few people that deserve it more. Anyways, Captain Robert Mueller, United States
00:58:18
Marine Corps. Rest in peace. What a wonderful example he he he set for for all Americans and especially young men.
00:58:26
>> Mhm. All right. >> That's my win. That's it. That's all I
00:58:30
got. You said the fail. >> Okay. All right. I have one more win. Scott and I did get in a tiff this
00:58:34
weekend and we settled it. And I have to tell you, you acted like a man. I have to say you handled a lot of people
00:58:40
wouldn't have called me back. We had a little tiff. I was a little snarky. you
00:58:43
got we got mad at each other and I have to say I said to my wife I said Scott handle it like a real man like really we
00:58:49
had a good talk we worked it out we'll always have little tips not very many
00:58:54
but I have to say you acted with great dignity and and open >> appreciate that Cara
00:58:59
>> it was really I was really very much happy with it I have to say >> that's nice that makes me feel good you
00:59:05
acted like a woman really is what you did it was like Carrie [ __ ] >> well that's the less version of a man
00:59:10
just beyond the white lotus We should be on White Lotus. We know those people. They should make us carotus.
00:59:18
>> Tulum with Molly in the bathroom. >> Oh my god. >> Finally, Cara takes Molly. And that's
00:59:23
the plot. What happens from there? And >> someone's got to die though. Who's going
00:59:27
to die? >> You. Obviously you. Come on. Obviously. Anyway, and then I'll have to solve the
00:59:33
most performative [ __ ] from someone. I'm willing to take >> to solve the mystery. Anyway, we want to
00:59:38
hear from you. Send us your questions about business tech or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com/pivot to
00:59:43
submit a question for the show or call 85551 pivot. Elsewhere in the Karen Scott universe this week and on with
00:59:48
Cara Swisser, I spoke with experts about how the Trump administration is dramatically expanding the immigration
00:59:53
detention system. I think it's really important to focus on things that people
00:59:56
have lost a little attention to, especially this prison system we're building. Aaron Reichlin Milneck, lawyer
01:00:02
and senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, says Steven Miller won't stop pushing for more
01:00:07
deportations, even if the focus has been off them of late. Let's listen to a
01:00:11
clip. >> His goal is a million deportations a year. I don't think they're going to hit
01:00:15
it, but they're going to try to spend every penny of that funding that they can in order to reach that goal. And
01:00:21
that means more people caught up in this rapid system, more people held in detention, more people subject to awful
01:00:27
conditions, and more people who see what's happening and say, "I can't take
01:00:31
it anymore. I just want to give up even if I could have a chance to stay in this
01:00:35
country because I don't want to spend another day in this hell hole." >> So anyway, let's just not lose focus on
01:00:40
things. We tend to do that in this society right now. So, I thought it was important to talk about the issue, these
01:00:44
detentions. >> I'm glad you're doing that because one of the things I was thinking about is
01:00:47
that >> so many really important issues, including incarceration in this country
01:00:53
or in the United States, we're the most incarcerated country in the world. It it
01:00:58
bubbled up to be an issue where a lot of important people were talking about it and beginning to visit it and and think
01:01:04
thoughtfully about it. And it's been pushed down because we just have so much
01:01:07
[ __ ] nonsense crowding out everything else. >> Right. That's the whole point. That's
01:01:10
what they're doing. It's their it's a flim flamy. And one of the things is
01:01:13
it's easy when it's Minneapolis and we can see it. This stuff is hidden because
01:01:18
they're behind this is what where they want it. The hiddenness of it, but it
01:01:21
gets out. And so I thought it was important to keep focused on on things like this. Um which is why I did the
01:01:27
Epstein survivors. I'm like, let's not forget, let's not forget. Let's not
01:01:30
forget. Anyway, it was a really good panel with a really good group of people. Okay, that's the show. Thanks
01:01:34
for listening to Pivot and be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. will be back on Friday.