00:00:00
The Republicans are committing unnatural acts. They really are. It looks like a weird sex position. The way they have
00:00:07
drawn these things and it's grotesque. Hi everyone. This is Pivot from New York
00:00:17
Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Carara Swisser >> and I'm Scott Galloway.
00:00:22
>> So I I didn't hear from you yesterday on Mother's Day, but that's okay. I know
00:00:25
I'm teasing. Please. >> Yeah. I can't even imagine the royal ascot wedding coronation jubilee that is
00:00:34
Mother's Day at your house. >> Seriously, you got three mothers. >> You got
00:00:40
mother >> three mothers, an ax, a ceramic mug business, and somebody definitely crying
00:00:45
in a Subaru. It's got to be >> That's Lou. >> It's got to be
00:00:50
There's a lot lot of >> a lot of mothers. Yeah. No, I have to say. And and also my mother, too.
00:00:55
>> Well, I'm glad you had a nice Happy Mother's Day, Cara. What did you do for
00:00:58
your lovely wife? >> Uh, not a lot. All I do is remind the boys to call her.
00:01:03
>> Oh, wow. >> That's what I do. I I I basically a lot of angry texts of something along the
00:01:08
lines of, "Have you called the person that gave you life?" >> Oh, nice.
00:01:12
>> That kind of thing. >> Anyway, we should get to the news. Um, this is a really interesting story. I I
00:01:17
thought and I was paying attention was a way. The FCC's lone Democratic commissioner is accusing the Trump
00:01:22
administration of waging a quote sustained coordinated campaign of censorship and control against ABC. In a
00:01:28
letter to Disney CEO Josh Dearo, Anna Gomez said the FCC under Brendan Brand Carr has been weaponized to pressure a
00:01:34
free and independent press and all media into submission. The letter comes after
00:01:39
ABC accused the FCC of attempting to chill free speech, which it did in a petition filed last week. That filing is
00:01:45
tied to the FCC's probe into whether the view violated equal time rules when
00:01:49
tennis Texas Senate candidate James Telerico went on the show earlier this year. ABC argues the view got an FCC exe
00:01:56
exemption in 2002 as a a bonafiti news interview program which it is and that ruling remains in effect today. And you
00:02:04
know, as usual, Brenda has said so many things publicly that are really damning in terms of when it when they come to
00:02:09
court. You know, as being such a suckup to the Trump administration and not an independent person he's supposed to be.
00:02:14
He can have his opinions about things, but he has made become more sensorious than all the left he accuses them of and
00:02:21
is making all manner of business threats. It's interesting that Disney and ABC is pushing back rather hard
00:02:27
under this new CEO. something probably I I suspect uh Iger wanted to do but felt
00:02:32
he couldn't at the time but uh any thoughts on this? >> Well, yeah, they they're learning that
00:02:38
>> you said this you sort of predict there's going to be a lot of standing up
00:02:41
and >> well they're learning that they have figured out that sucking Ron Ronda
00:02:47
Santis and Donald Trump's [ __ ] has not paid off for them. Remember the economic
00:02:51
warfare that DSantis was trying to levy levy for political reasons and it it doesn't pay it doesn't pay to appease
00:02:58
these guys. >> They did push back on Dantis if you recall. Remember they sort of played
00:03:02
games with him for a while. >> Sort of. >> Yeah, they did. They did.
00:03:06
>> Well, >> with Trump they did not. That is correct. >> And now go to the legal veracity. This
00:03:12
isn't this isn't legal ambiguity. This is a government harassment campaign with
00:03:16
an FCC seal on it. Um, saying that saying that the equal time probe or that the view violates equal
00:03:27
time that basically essentially means Fox and Friends have been violating equal time for 25 consecutive years.
00:03:33
This is just ridiculous. >> Exactly. Exactly. >> And then the lone Democrat uh on the FCC
00:03:38
is a woman named Anna Gomez who essentially is yelling into a void while the institution continues to be
00:03:45
>> weaponized against the press. It's not I mean Commissioner Gomez basically can't
00:03:50
even descent. It's more like a hostage note when she writes her letters of disscent. So this is nothing but again
00:03:56
more weaponization of media or weaponization of our government agencies to try and squaltch free speech. It's
00:04:01
just insane when they talk about I mean all this [ __ ] that supposedly Democrats call
00:04:07
for violence and the language they use. ridiculous and Brenda is just making it worse by giving these stupid speeches
00:04:14
with his smug little, you know, [ __ ] eatating grin that he always has on his face. And again, Brenda, I'm following
00:04:19
you everywhere you go after you leave office and I will make sure people understand what you did constantly.
00:04:26
Constantly. Anyway, sorry. Go ahead. >> This is and I hate to say this and it
00:04:31
goes into our next story. Do you want to talk about gerrymandering? >> Yeah, we will. Yeah, I can read. I mean,
00:04:35
for people don't know, obviously this got big press. As redistricting wars ramp up ahead of the midterms, Democrats
00:04:41
are facing some major setbacks. The Virginia Supreme Court just struck down a voter approved map that could have
00:04:46
netted the Democrats up to four House seats. It's not over yet, and we'll see.
00:04:49
It's going to go to the Supreme Court. Um, but the Supreme Court, of course,
00:04:52
did its business by weaking the Voter Rights Act in recent ruling, setting off redistricting pushes in several southern
00:04:57
states. Republicans could now have around 15 new winnable districts, but Trump's approval ratings are still a
00:05:03
massive hurdle. As one Democratic strategist put it, Trump has the power to rig the maps, but he doesn't have the
00:05:08
power to get his approval rating higher. It could slap back at them. Um, it's
00:05:12
really interesting. One of the longshot options reportedly tossed around in Virginia, lower the mandatory retirement
00:05:17
age for the state supreme court and replace the entire bench. Uh I think uh there's a bunch of things they may have
00:05:23
to do, but what's a real shame is that now the Democrats are going to have to
00:05:27
jerrymander their states, which is not good for any this none of this is any good to be breaking this precedent of 10
00:05:33
years following the census to do this what is essentially stealing. Just when you look at the map in Tennessee, it's
00:05:41
insane. Like there's like people are 210 miles away from from other voters, which
00:05:46
is crazy. It's a crazy It's a crazy map and it's all done to retain power. Um,
00:05:52
which I think they won't actually doing this. I think people are offended by
00:05:55
having their votes stolen from them. >> Well, Democrats, and I agree with this,
00:06:01
wanted to fight fire with fire or gerrymandering or gerrymandering. And they lost both the map and you could
00:06:07
argue the moral high ground, although I think it was the right move. Uh, and you
00:06:10
can't argue with the fact the other side is destroying democracy. Um, I mean, Tennessee is the template,
00:06:15
right? There's two Democratic Congress people in 2020, Nashville and Memphis.
00:06:20
Republicans redistricted Nashville in 2022, and now it's Memphis. The playbook
00:06:26
is pretty straightforward here. They find a Democratic district, and they redraw the lines until it disappears.
00:06:33
Now, I I actually believe I don't believe I mean a really interesting message and the right message for a
00:06:40
candidate, specifically a presidential candidate, and right now the only one actually talking about [ __ ] issues is
00:06:45
Rahm Emanuel. They're all just cos they're all just cosplaying Obama hoping
00:06:49
rhetorical flourish and talking about breaking bread with Jews and Muslims and we need to come together.
00:06:54
>> I say Newsome got the job done in California. He like hit them hard and
00:06:58
won. >> He fought back and he won. He fought the law and he won. But uh we need
00:07:03
structural reform. One, a really decent talking point, an issue for a president,
00:07:08
a presidential candidate would be the following. Within 90 days, I'm I'm
00:07:13
putting up for a vote in the Congress and the Senate to de J gerrymander the entire United States. Six Republicans,
00:07:18
six Democrats. We're going to use technology. It might be just as much as putting a grid on top of the United
00:07:24
States map and saying, "Okay, it might be AI, whatever it is, but we need to
00:07:29
dejerrymander the United States." And then I think another structural form and
00:07:33
it goes to a larger issue. A lot of the world's problems right now can be reverse engineered to old men who
00:07:40
won't [ __ ] leave. >> Won't [ __ ] leave. >> It creates fascists who find reasons to
00:07:45
deny democracy. It creates uh public investment that lacks investment in young people and children. It creates a
00:07:53
demographic collapse because young people don't get money because old people keep voting themselves more and
00:07:57
more money. I see it in academia. Young academics are leaving the field because there's no [ __ ] room for them.
00:08:04
Because a guy who was the bomb in 1988 in gap one accounting won't [ __ ] leave because we give them tenure about
00:08:08
the time they become totally unproductive. There needs to be a shedding a healthy shedding of skin. I
00:08:15
have self-imposed term limits on boards. You need to move on. And one of those structural reforms should be term limits
00:08:24
and age gating for the most important people of the long term of the United States. And that is our Supreme Court.
00:08:29
>> Absolutely. We need >> or term term limits and age gating both. Right. Correct.
00:08:34
>> I just said that. >> Well, at both at the same time or one or the other.
00:08:38
>> Yeah. For God's sakes, if you're 72, your prefrontal your brain is shrinking.
00:08:42
Your brain starts shrinking at 45. By the time you're 72, most people have a
00:08:47
very difficult time with cognitive function. And I'm sure there's exceptions that Ruth Bader Ginsburgg was
00:08:52
was very smart at 80. She should have been forced to retire at 72, as should the rest of them. You need young
00:08:57
thinking. You need people You need people who occasionally have a [ __ ] child in the house so they can re they
00:09:02
can relate to the issues facing facing young people. I you you don't want to
00:09:06
pack the court because all that means is when a Republican gets in, they're going
00:09:09
to expand the court from 12 to 30 people under their watch. You need you need age
00:09:14
gating and you need term limits. But more than anything, a great talking point for a Democrat right now would be
00:09:19
I am going to dejerrymander the US within 90 days. I'm going to put a vote up and you can find out who is
00:09:26
not up for true democracy here. >> Right. Absolutely. I mean, one of the things it just that when you look at
00:09:32
these maps, you know, at some point, obviously Jerry Men's been around forever, but these are like they're un
00:09:37
like the Republicans are committing unnatural acts. They really are. It looks like a weird sex position the way
00:09:45
they have drawn these things. And it's grotesque. It's grotesque. And they, you
00:09:49
know what it was? I have to say those images from uh Tennessee with those fat white old men laughing at young very
00:09:57
vibrant interesting >> black legislators you're nothing more >> they really did look like the
00:10:04
confederate south >> they look like the confederate south it was a version and then laughing you all
00:10:09
by the way y'all are going to die of a heart attack relatively soon because you
00:10:13
look like you could get out for a walk or two but one of it just was the visuals were so like these old racist
00:10:20
[ __ ] And I'm not sure that's And then at the top of the heap is Trump who
00:10:24
looks like who's cognitively I keep saying this Scott, we have to, you know,
00:10:29
we did it with Biden. I think we have to zero in on his cognitive difficulties that just continue. And today Dr. Oz and
00:10:37
uh the other one Britt Katy Britt were like talking to him like he was a toddler, like a toddler when he was
00:10:44
something or the Mr. Pres. It's like you talk to someone in old folks home. >> Age gating. No one should be allowed to
00:10:50
run for president. If when elected they're going to be older than 70 or or pick a number, have have neurologists
00:10:57
decide. You need a physically and mentally ridiculously capable person. But at some point,
00:11:04
>> nei neither Biden nor Trump should be entrusted with overseeing the six fleet
00:11:09
or NAFTA agreements or trying to stay up till 4 in the morning to get the votes they need, whatever it is. Yeah,
00:11:16
>> this is a young person's job. >> Agreed. You know, I when I said that to
00:11:20
you, I think you were surprised. You were like when I said I'm leaving at 72.
00:11:23
I have 72 and that's it. That's it. I'm gone. I'm off to Cambridge.
00:11:27
>> That's the number you fix. 72. >> Yes. I bought myself a cap in in Norway.
00:11:32
I bought myself a cap. I love it. I'll send you a picture. Um I Yes, that is
00:11:36
it. 72. And I'm gone. I'm gone. Like, see you later. Maybe I'll sit and write
00:11:41
historical novels from my cottage in Cambridge, but I'm gone. like gone. Gone.
00:11:46
>> I'm pretty sure your third wife's gonna be Susan Collins. I think you're gonna
00:11:49
be one of those tech people that goes MAGA on us. >> No, Susan Collins. >> And I'm up to you, Mary. By the way, she
00:11:55
has a tremor. >> If if a man and a woman >> Mhm. >> need a marriage license to get married.
00:12:00
What do two women need? >> To get married? >> A liquor license. >> Oh, very funny. Very funny.
00:12:08
>> I don't think that's sexist. See, I think it's profane and vulgar, but I
00:12:10
don't think it's sexist. >> Isn't the issue I have any >> No, it's not that funny.
00:12:13
>> It's not that funny. Anyway, these redistricting I think the he cannot
00:12:16
fight the polls. The polls are so bad. Everyone doesn't like him. That's one
00:12:21
thing I did the message I gave to people. I was like, he is widely he has his group that like him, but I got to
00:12:27
tell you, you got to watch the cracks in MAGA and you got to watch the polling, which is everyone is sick to [ __ ] with
00:12:33
this guy. And he is cognitively disabled. I'm going to say that in every single show until uh the 20 past the
00:12:40
2026. >> That's that's the cold comfort. >> Mhm. that we as progressives are serving
00:12:45
ourselves up this morning and that is that Trump can't rig the he can rig rig
00:12:48
the maps but he can't rig his approval rating >> infuriate people although
00:12:54
>> that's the hope that basically >> segregating voting again with taking
00:12:59
away neutering certain parts of the voters voters rights acts this ridiculous corrupt gerrymandering that
00:13:06
it'll come back to honibes and my fear is the following >> okay tell me because I have a fear
00:13:13
I I I believe that America is still highly sexist, highly lookist, and opts for a person who may be wrong more often
00:13:22
than not, >> strong, >> but is effective >> versus people who are right and
00:13:27
ineffective. >> And this this is the key distinction between the Democrats and the
00:13:32
Republicans right now >> is the Republicans are wrong and being highly effective and Democrats are right
00:13:38
and virtuous and totally [ __ ] ineffective. >> I'm not so sure. this whole thing with
00:13:42
the ballrooms and the weird um the thing with the weird uh title base and etc. It's just it's getting
00:13:48
>> vote based on a ballroom. >> No, I know they don't, but it's part of
00:13:51
the whole crazy old man thing. Um, one thing that I will say I was with a bunch of cyber experts and the two things they
00:13:56
did point out I think correctly is one um the uh the Russians are preparing to attack during the midterms you know in
00:14:04
Trump's favor as they as recent studies have shown they did obviously against
00:14:08
both Clinton and attack >> you know online like a lot of online cyber not just cyber cyber and and
00:14:16
information fuckupery essentially and then the second thing is I sat next to one guy who's an American who was
00:14:23
talking about who obsess who's obsessed with Steve Bannon and he feels they're
00:14:27
going to try to and he Trump has sort of talked about it a little bit put go to 80 districts that matter and put martial
00:14:35
you know martial law in place or create all manner of ICE and Proud Boys etc. If
00:14:40
you listen to Steve Bannon, he does talk about this. And I think this a couple of
00:14:43
the cyber people were paying a lot of attention to Steve Bannon and uh and what he's doing. And you know that that
00:14:50
uh sack of that meat sack of rumpled whatever is is very effective in many ways. Speaking of effective, although I
00:14:58
can't believe he keeps hanging on looking the way he does. Anyway, um let's go on a quick break. When we come
00:15:03
back, a game-changing feature coming to Apple's AirPods. Support for Pivot comes from the Freedom
00:15:10
from Religion Foundation. Quick reminder, America started a rebellion. >> Uh yeah, we fired a king claiming divine
00:15:16
authority >> and then wrote a constitution with no mention of God, >> which is a big deal.
00:15:21
>> The whole separation of church and state thing, as you know, >> and those lines are blurring. You see it
00:15:27
in things like America Praise event on May 17th where the government starts uniting with religion
00:15:32
>> which typically or historically doesn't end well for freedom >> and the Freedom from Religion Foundation
00:15:38
is working to protect that line. >> So help us protect the first amendment.
00:15:42
>> Go to ffr. us/pivot or text pivot to 511511 to learn more and join. Remember to text
00:15:50
pivot to 511511 >> because the first amendment protects all of us and it protects you. Tax rates may
00:15:58
apply. >> Scott, we're back with more news. This is really interesting. Apple's
00:16:06
reportedly reached the late stages of development for new AirPods that include tiny cameras designed for AI features.
00:16:11
Who said they were going to put cameras? You and I have talked about this. The cameras would help Siri understand
00:16:16
what's around you, so you could ask questions about objects, landmarks, or directions in real time. The new AirPods
00:16:22
are expected to look similar to AirPod uh Pro, but with slightly longer stems to fit the camera hardware. Uh, this is
00:16:28
astonishing. I think Apple originally wanted to launch the AI wearable sooner, but delays in upgraded Siri pushed the
00:16:34
timeline back. Um, you will of course lose 50 pairs of these, Scott. Um, this is really 50 100,
00:16:42
>> by the way. This has none no pods in it because I can't find them. >> Gosh. Jesus. And there's I I can attest
00:16:49
in New York Scott's New York apartment, there's so many AirPod cases everywhere
00:16:53
and they're like one AirPod in them. Some are never been opened. It's really
00:16:58
It's a funny >> I love those things. I absolutely >> Yeah. So, talk about this because one of
00:17:02
there's there obviously privacy because a lot of people have have been pushing
00:17:05
back on the Meta glasses which sell just okay. They don't they're not like
00:17:09
they're they're popular but not that popular. Um, so talk a little bit about
00:17:13
this because there is a privacy issue here like people looking out. At the same time, it's inevitable you're going
00:17:20
to have these heads up displays in some way and this is a version of heads-up display that isn't in your face which I
00:17:25
think is more effective that it's in your ear of a camera in your ear. I love
00:17:29
your thoughts on this cuz you have big thoughts on visual like heads up displays. Well, uh, as much as I hated
00:17:37
mixed reality headsets and the Oculus, I love this. And it goes back to a very anthropological thing. What is harder
00:17:45
for people to adapt to when they lose their vision or they lose their hearing? >> Vision, I guess, but not
00:17:50
>> hearing. Okay. All right. >> As a matter of fact, when your hearing
00:17:52
goes, you stop processing words and you become more, this is going to sound strange. Well,
00:17:58
it's not strange. People have a much more difficult time maintaining societal
00:18:03
contact. relevance in relationships when their hearing starts to go as opposed to
00:18:06
their vision starting to go. Your hearing the last sense to go when you die is hearing. You're supposed to when
00:18:13
people pass, you're supposed to keep telling them that you love them. Supposedly, that's the literally the
00:18:18
last sense to go. And I think it's the most underrated um of the senses. We have overinvested in visuals and
00:18:26
underinvested in hearing. AirPods, if they were a distinct company, just AirPods would be a Fortune50 company.
00:18:32
And what is this? What is Apple doing here? They're turning your ears into eyes and sending the footage. You know,
00:18:39
unfortunately, they might be sending the footage to Certino. But the the AI wearable race is now happening. What's
00:18:47
interesting though is it's not happening where people thought it was going to
00:18:49
happen. It's happening in their ear canal. So Meta has Ray-B bands. Apple has AirPods.
00:18:55
Uh Google probably has some glassing. I don't know what they're calling it this
00:18:58
week. Yeah, they they originally had uh contact lenses. They remember they long time we broke a story about them working
00:19:05
on contact lenses with um visuals in them. But go ahead. >> The the problem here or the I think it's
00:19:11
a great idea and I'll buy one. The problem is the hardware for at Apple the hardware is always ready before the
00:19:17
software and they wanted to launch this sooner but Siri has is probably one of the worst tech products of the last 10
00:19:25
years. >> It is. It really is. And Apple, I mean, think about it. Apple has the world's
00:19:29
best supply chain and the world's most embarrassing AI assistant. >> It is so bad. I hate Siri.
00:19:36
>> I mean, essentially, AirPods, as they envision it right now with this with
00:19:40
cameras, is essentially because of a very weak uh AI assistant overlay. It's
00:19:47
like a Lamborghini chassis waiting for an engine that works. So, the hardware will be the best looking hardware, the
00:19:54
best operating hardware. The problem will be the AI overlay. And I told you what I believe.
00:20:00
>> They have to get it right. They have >> I think they're going to [ __ ] can Siri
00:20:03
and license it to someone else for tens of billions of dollars, >> right? Yeah. Why not just make it good?
00:20:07
Like I I am constantly Siri, call Scott or Siri, you know, text Scott or something like and it never works. It
00:20:14
sometimes works and it just it should work every single >> What if it was Gemini? What would what
00:20:19
would Gemini needs to catch up? What would Gemini pay Tim Cook or the new guy >> to design something?
00:20:27
>> We're your default AI. >> Look, Siri, just talk to me even though
00:20:30
I didn't want to. Go away, Siri. >> Sorry. Go ahead. >> I think they're in the pole position
00:20:35
here. I think the most elegant move to massively uh throw 1020 billion dollars a year to
00:20:41
the bottom line would be to have a bake off and say one of you is going to be the Intel inside of Apple and that is
00:20:48
your >> kind of a big thing to give up though. But they're not good at it. Just like
00:20:50
with maps, they're just not good at it. >> Well, search, they give it up in search
00:20:54
and it worked out well for them. >> Search. Yeah, exactly. >> I think this is a move.
00:20:56
>> Let me ask you a physical question. Okay. So, when AirPods, people do not
00:21:00
remember this. When AirPods first came out, people made fun of the look of it. You remember every you look like an
00:21:04
alien. You look like you're wearing earrings for men. And then everyone just
00:21:08
loves them, right? And they fall out of your ear. There was all manner. Now, if they're even longer with these like
00:21:13
stems, it could it could look odd. But it seems to me the best solution is the in the- ear airpod looking like things.
00:21:21
Not over the ear, not around the neck, over the head, except, you know, I'm on
00:21:26
an airplane. I wear, you know, a pair of um really good um noise cancelling headphones, but that's different. Um so,
00:21:33
you think that's okay. The and the privacy issues. You don't have an issue
00:21:37
with the people. It can see everybody and it's recording presumably. >> Well, that's that is a big issue. I
00:21:44
haven't thought that through, right? Because you're not supposed to be taking
00:21:47
pictures of people's kids. >> The surveillance, >> government, you go into the White House,
00:21:52
>> uploading your data, your whereabouts, >> but no one no one creates tech hardware
00:21:59
that is a better signaling device than Apple. And pulling out your iPhone, I've
00:22:04
always said >> pulling out your iPhone is like pulling out an MX black card, but for a billion
00:22:08
people, not 10 million. It says that you get it. It says you're one of the seven
00:22:12
most wealthiest people on the planet. It says you're probably in the creative
00:22:16
arts industry. You know, it just it's it is incredible signaling. I wear my AirPods. If I'm at a conference and I
00:22:23
just need to get somewhere without getting without speaking to people or I'm just feeling exhausted by people, I
00:22:28
just put my AirPods on uh in and I act like I'm talking to somebody like I'm
00:22:33
speaking to myself. >> I know that trick. But let me just say one of the things I'd like to not look
00:22:37
at my iPhone anymore. I'd like like I use my watch quite a bit but it's not
00:22:41
good enough and I use my if my AirPods were better, I would not pull my phone out at all.
00:22:46
>> 100%. >> You know, that's the thing. So, I think this is really interesting. Another
00:22:50
interesting piece of tech, and we're very techheavy today. SpaceX chipmaking
00:22:54
project in Texas will have an initial price tag of at least $55 billion and could eventually grow to 119 billion
00:23:00
according to a public hearing notice. The project called Terapab will create chips to power AI for SpaceX and Tesla.
00:23:06
I think this is a smart move by Elon. SpaceX is asking for tax breaks for the project, of course, which will be
00:23:12
discussed at a hearing next month, and te Texas will definitely give it to them because that's what Texas does. They
00:23:17
bend over. Speaking of bending over, um SpaceX is of course preparing to go public with one of the largest IPO
00:23:23
offerings in June. Um to me, more than the robotics focus, this is really an important I mean the way they do energy
00:23:31
is sort of rapacious to the people living in the areas they're living in and it's there's getting a lot of push
00:23:36
back. But the idea of your own chips, all these companies really have to be in that game. It seems like and it's an
00:23:43
important it's Elon really does know this. I don't think he's as highly
00:23:47
technical as he makes himself out to be, but he does understand this is the heart
00:23:50
of it. Your thoughts? >> I agree. This is a really smart move and it's one of the most interesting and
00:23:55
it's also quite frankly it's fundraising. It's going to be a big slide in his road show for SpaceX IPO.
00:24:01
they, you know, they're talking about a 60 to120 billion dollar chip fabrication
00:24:07
plant, Terraab, and it would be bigger than the, the biggest one in the US right now is a $65 billion plant from
00:24:14
TSMC. So, the world's most advanced chip maker with 50 years of experience, Elon, is
00:24:20
trying to out TSMC, TSMC. So, I it it creates He's very good. He and Trump are both obsessed with being
00:24:29
in your [ __ ] face every day and they're very good at it. And so this is it may I'm not I think it's going to
00:24:37
happen. The guy is a big thinker. >> Exactly. Like X AI went nowhere. >> It may or may not he may not be very
00:24:42
good at this. It doesn't matter. It is a great This guy is a big thinker. He's
00:24:46
bold. He's pul pulled off some big bold. >> Let me say he did he did surrender XAI
00:24:52
by doing the anthropic deal. It just everybody's left. >> He's not going to win here. He could win
00:24:56
in this. And I I I think he probably might this is a better focus for him. Speaking of focuses for French
00:25:03
prosecutors are summoning Elon and X's former CEO, Linda Yakarino. Oh, Yakarino, where did you go to? She's
00:25:10
doing some health company to face preliminary criminal charges into X. The investigation includes charges of child
00:25:15
pornography and sexualized deep fake. It was interesting when I was in Europe, they were like, "Oh, it's not he's not
00:25:20
going to it's not going to go anywhere." I don't really care. I'm glad a
00:25:22
government is doing it, right? Cuz ours certainly wouldn't. And they should they
00:25:26
should face an investigation of what was happening there at X doing all this. Who
00:25:32
made the decisions about these child pornography and sexualized deep fake creations? I'd like to know and I'm glad
00:25:37
a government is pursuing it. I don't even care if they win. I'm glad they're
00:25:40
doing it. That's my feeling. >> There you go. Um >> yeah, I don't More power to them. At
00:25:48
some point big tech executives, their flight pattern is going to look like Jerry Mandered because they're not going
00:25:53
to be able to go to the airspace. We forgive these these founders, especially during the Trump
00:25:59
administration for the economic pass is the word I would use. >> Yeah, but we are we are net gainers from
00:26:04
big tech. We just are in the US. That's not to say >> should pay the price for stuff like
00:26:08
this. >> I agree. >> Yeah. >> That's not to say we shouldn't hold them
00:26:11
accountable. It's not to say they shouldn't be subject to the same rules
00:26:14
and regulation as other industries, but if you had a red button to push and do away with all big tech, you wouldn't
00:26:19
want to do it. And for all the problems and externalities, there isn't a single
00:26:23
nation in the world was presented with the opportunity when say put your headquarters here. The problem is, you
00:26:29
know, the big tech, I don't think Italy is a is a net gainer from big tech. The
00:26:34
US is, but I'm not sure other nations are. >> Yeah, they are. >> And so, a lot of these nations are doing
00:26:39
the math and saying, "You've gutted our media companies. You don't pay that many
00:26:42
taxes here. You haven't really increased employment a lot. You're just creating
00:26:46
tremendous disruption >> and sexualized deep fakes. >> Yeah. And also you now appear to be an
00:26:52
existential threat to our our kids emotional and physical well-being. We're not down with, you know, the
00:26:59
idolatry of innovators for a lot of good reasons and some bad is has totally kind
00:27:06
of infected or overwhelmed the US. The worm has turned a little bit. AI is way down. people are realizing what a what a
00:27:12
what a negative impact this has had on our children and then going much bigger. It's manifesting itself in terms of
00:27:19
being ground zero for frustrations around income inequality. But these other nations just aren't that impressed
00:27:24
by these guys. They're like, "Okay, you broke a law. We're going to charge you."
00:27:28
>> Yeah. I I like the activity. And I think as you said a long time ago, early in
00:27:32
our relationship, someone has to do a per walk on on what whether it's chat bots and kids dying or something like
00:27:39
that. someone has to go to jail. They won't, but I like I like the effort by
00:27:43
these governments and I don't think it's um I think someone needs to investigate
00:27:47
how they made these decisions about sexualized deep fakes and child pornography on that on whatever service
00:27:52
that doesn't and what they did to stop it or not stop it. I think it's important for public.
00:27:56
>> There was there was a guy I think it was a Mackenzie partner on the board of
00:28:00
Goldman and he took insider information and traded on it. >> He went to jail.
00:28:05
>> Jail. Think about what's happening in the Trump administration around oil
00:28:08
prices. >> Think about what's happening in tech in terms of teen self- cutting
00:28:15
>> and depression among teen and being weaponized. You said you expect the
00:28:18
Russians to cyber attack us. They've been cyber attacking us. >> Yes, I know.
00:28:22
>> They use these poorest platforms that are totally focused on shareholder
00:28:25
value. They create lists of people who are pro- Ukraine or or people who are polarizing and they infect their
00:28:33
comments and people's perception of them perception of them. They diminish their
00:28:37
credibility and they create fights everywhere to try and atomize us. We've been we're attacked every day and the
00:28:44
ultimate Trojan horse is big tech who charges them a small fee to go sit inside the Trojan horse and start
00:28:52
attacking America from within. Yep, that's correct. And and by the way, they'll shift in a dime. I don't know if
00:28:57
you noticed, suddenly David Saxs is like Anthropic's going to be really successful after needlessly all of a
00:29:02
sudden he likes Anthropic. >> Oh god, he's such a Let me just tell you, we were right about that one. Like
00:29:08
immediately when it's back when they're back, he turn because he's losing the
00:29:11
fight over unfettered AI and they're just better. That's all. Anyway, um he
00:29:17
was lying the first time about when they attacked him and for a government official to do that to an American
00:29:22
company without any proof is really grotesque. I I don't mind it if there's
00:29:26
proof, but in that case, it was because he wanted to feather his own nest. Anyway, let's go on a quick break and we
00:29:32
come back, we'll check in on the Trump phones. Speaking of, dare I say it, fraud.
00:29:37
>> Support for the show comes from Netswuite. Every business is asking the
00:29:41
same question. How do we make AI work for us? The possibilities are overwhelming, but sitting on the
00:29:46
sidelines is not an option since you know your competitors are already making their move. No more waiting. With
00:29:50
Netswuite by Oracle, you can put AI to work today. Netswuite is a top-rated AI cloud ERP trusted by over 43,000
00:29:58
businesses. It's a unified suite that brings your financials, inventory, commerce, HR, and CRM into a single
00:30:03
source of truth. Now with Netswuite AI connector, you can use the AI of your choice to connect to your actual
00:30:08
business data and ask every question you ever had from key customers to cash on hand to inventory trends. Plus, you can
00:30:15
automate those tiresome manual processes. Let's see your competitor do that. This isn't another bolt-edon tool.
00:30:21
It's AI built into the system that runs your business. Whether your company earns millions or even hundreds of
00:30:25
millions, Netswuite helps you stay ahead of the pack. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, get the free
00:30:30
business guide, Demystifying AI, at netswuite.com/pivot. The guide is free to you at
00:30:35
netsweet.com/pivot. netsweet.com/pivot. Scott, we're back. It's been almost a
00:30:42
year since the Trump phone was announced, and there is still no sign the device is anywhere close to
00:30:46
shipping, but that hasn't stopped Trump mobile website from continuing to accept
00:30:50
$100 deposit for the phone. The fine print notes, a pre-order deposit provides only a conditional opportunity
00:30:55
if the Trump mobile later elects to offer the device for sale. And while the phone was initially touted as being in
00:31:02
made in America, the site now describes as being shaped by American innovation. Looks like these aren't coming. I know
00:31:08
people have lost their money, which we said would happen. This is exactly um you know, I'm not sure where the phone
00:31:14
ranks among various Trump griffs. Um another Trump venture where things weren't looking so great. The Trump
00:31:19
media just posted a net uh drop of 46 net loss of $46 million and I think they made under a million dollars in revenue
00:31:28
driven largely by unrealized losses in crypto holdings. And while they're doing
00:31:33
all this grift, the Pentagon has released a batch of quote neverbeforeseen UFO files on a dedicated
00:31:38
government website. The files include details from over 400 reports from the 40s in recent years, including several
00:31:44
Apollo missions. President touted the administration transparency and true social post saying now the people can
00:31:49
decide for themselves what the hell is going on. We cannot decide. They're just
00:31:53
more lights. Hey, I can get more out of just like a book I buy at the airport about these things. Um, so it's just a
00:32:00
lot of, you know, handwaving all over the place and grift. I mean, the Trump phone, which Scott and I both said was
00:32:05
never going to happen, is not going to happen, people. And that's 60 million
00:32:10
bucks or something like that. I think that's how much they collected. It's
00:32:12
it's grift. First off, this wasn't this wasn't a down to payment on a product.
00:32:17
It was a donation. I don't think anyone's going to care. I I think the likelihood that he was ever going to
00:32:22
have a competent phone was probably didn't escape these folks as as it relates to me aliens.
00:32:28
>> I'm convinced, >> yeah, >> that aliens have been monitoring us,
00:32:31
including all of our media. And if we're really honest, about twothirds of our
00:32:34
media is porn. So, >> I think this explains that the aliens aren't using anal probes for
00:32:40
information. They're just trying to speak our language. Can I ask you a question? Do you believe
00:32:45
in aliens? I'm just curious. When you think about UFOs and you see these pictures and the Let me tell you,
00:32:51
everybody, I looked at some of these pictures. They look like the pictures you always see. Bright lights, things
00:32:55
moving across the sky, unexplainable phenomena, often often lights, you know, or lights moving in a pattern or
00:33:02
something like that, which could be explained lots of different ways. Uh, do you actually believe in aliens, sir?
00:33:09
Oh, this is gonna sound this is going to sound like I'm on edibles, but I'm not.
00:33:12
But I believe in everything. What do I mean by that? >> If you believe there's some logic here,
00:33:18
I think >> like Loch Ness's monster. >> Most astrophysicists believe
00:33:24
I it appears the infinite space theory that that space never ends. All right. So, space never ends and it's
00:33:30
regenerating and the spice space-time continuum curves and space never ends. That means everything exists. That means
00:33:38
everything that's happened has happened before. Because if if space never ends,
00:33:42
that means the infinite possibilities of everything exist and everything that you
00:33:48
can imagine is out there. >> Oh my god, I need an edible at this point. Okay,
00:33:52
>> that means we exist all the time forever, you and I. No, it means that if
00:33:57
there's if there's an infinite number of universes, at some point there's a
00:34:00
universe very similar ours with similar lifespans, similar earth and gas and organisms and similar similar carers and
00:34:07
Scots. And if you don't believe if it's not exactly like it, just keep going
00:34:10
through infinity and eventually you'll get to it. So, >> oh wow. the fact that
00:34:13
>> this is like the plot of Interstellar or something like that. >> Well, if if space is infinite, and I'd
00:34:18
like to hear an argument for how it couldn't be, then of course there's a
00:34:22
galaxy and another alien intelligence that can send probes here. Having said that,
00:34:27
>> I don't think they'd be that interested with us. So, I don't
00:34:31
>> Do I believe they exist? Yes. Do I believe the ones we have seen are actual
00:34:35
alien intelligence or life? I don't think so. >> Maybe they're flashes from another
00:34:38
universe. Maybe that's what we're seeing. lights that maybe they, you know, like in all the sci-fi they or or
00:34:44
the Marvel movies, all the different universes suddenly get the sky gets ripped open and one of the universes
00:34:49
comes in to this one. You have to close the It's always having to close a [ __ ] portal in those movies, which I
00:34:55
never understand. Um, but I vaguely do. >> I think we should ask aliens to hunt
00:34:59
down all the people on Jeffrey Epstein's island. I think we could call it Alien
00:35:04
versus Predators. They Oh, um I would like the aliens to arrive just about now. That's what I would like
00:35:10
them to do. >> You ready for it? >> I would like them to come now. It's
00:35:14
time. It's time. It's time. Either Jesus or them. I don't care. Jesus needs to
00:35:18
come back or they do. I don't either. I'm good with anybody showing up and
00:35:23
like getting our That's the distraction we need. And And uh I >> But that's what this says, Cara. This is
00:35:30
meant to be a distra distraction. >> Of course. Absolutely. Anyway, uh, well,
00:35:35
we wish you would come, aliens. >> All I got to say is if females invade the earth and kidnap men with large
00:35:40
[ __ ] uh, you're in no danger. And I'm just I'm just writing this to say
00:35:45
goodbye. >> Oh, can I have your stuff? >> I'd like your stuff. >> Can I have your stuff?
00:35:52
>> Can I have your stuff? >> You have my stuff. I show to my house in
00:35:54
New York and I'll be like down two Kashmir sweaters. I know you've been stealing my stuff.
00:35:57
>> True. I have your stuff. They're in Brooklyn right now. Anyway, you can stay
00:36:00
in Brooklyn anytime. You'll never come to Brooklyn, which is fantastic. >> I've been there twice, both times to go
00:36:05
to the new Soho House over there. That's it. >> Alex and I will be in Brooklyn.
00:36:08
>> If you're not If you're not in If you're not on the island called Manhattan,
00:36:12
there is no reason to ever visit. And I will be in Manhattan on >> the Northeast is so overrated except for
00:36:16
a 7 by two mile island. That's it. >> Let me just say he's going to be in
00:36:22
Brooklyn with me and he's going to eat, you know, tonight. By the way, let me
00:36:25
just say it's Amanda's birthday today. Um, and happy birthday, Amanda. We're
00:36:29
going out for uh oysters tonight in in DC and I literally going to have to take out a small loan cuz Alex is coming.
00:36:35
Like please. Last time we took him for sushi. It was like $400. Anyway, uh one more quick break and we get back uh wins
00:36:43
and fails. Support for this show comes from Harvey AI. The future of law is Agentic. Not just tools that assist, but
00:36:51
AI agents that navigate complex matters. Harvey was built on legal agents that analyze, draft, and execute with
00:36:58
precision. But great lawyers don't just complete tasks, they strategize. That's
00:37:02
why Harvey created agents that can do the work from end to end. They build a plan, pull from secure data sources, run
00:37:09
sub agents in parallel, and draft the work product ready for your review. So you can delegate the work and own the
00:37:15
judgment. Harvey agents support work across fund formation, litigation, regulatory compliance, M&A, and more.
00:37:22
adapting to the complexity of each matter and the way your team actually works. Trusted by more than 60% of the
00:37:28
AM law 100 and leading Fortune 500 legal teams, Harvey is the AI operating system
00:37:34
designed specifically for legal work, helping teams move faster with greater precision and confidence. Harvey.ai
00:37:41
tailored for law. Learn more at harvey.ai. Okay, Scott wins and fails. I feel like
00:37:50
I shall go first. Speaking of conspiracy theories, this is one that I find very troubling. And look, listen, I even kind
00:37:57
of believe it. One in four Americans think the April shooting at the White House Correspondent Center was staged
00:38:02
according to a new survey. Roughly one in three Democrat respondents said they believe the event was staged compared to
00:38:07
one in eight Republicans. The same thing with the other that a lot of like Marjorie Taylor Green, all these people
00:38:12
think the the shooting in Butler was staged. I just feel the falling off of assuming con and this is this does go
00:38:19
back to Kennedy assassination and before there's always been a conspiracy theory-minded public popul populace we
00:38:25
have but it's just a little it's slightly depressing because like remember when you said I thought Jeffrey
00:38:30
Epstein didn't kill himself just like nobody believes anything and I find it
00:38:35
really depressing that our shared like I get conspiracy theories and I see why you might think this and I hate myself
00:38:41
for even saying oh maybe it was right without any proof. And I find that feeling in me really gross. I have to
00:38:49
say the conspiracy theory minded. But you become more that way as you live in this world where AI and social media and
00:38:57
everything else just sort of spins your spins your brain in a way that's really
00:39:01
gross. Um, and speaking of clarity, I have to say one thing is first of all, Matt Damon on Saturday Night Live was
00:39:07
superb and he looks like he's great in the Odyssey. He was super. That was a
00:39:11
superb show. SNL is really bringing is a really solid actor. >> Talking about clarity, Chelsea Handler
00:39:16
at the Kevin Hart rose. Uh, >> you love that. I thought of you when I saw that.
00:39:20
>> [ __ ] super. So was Tom Brady, by the way. But let me say Chelsea Handler
00:39:24
handed it back to the MAGA sort of adjacent comedian Bros. Let's listen to her call out the comedians who went to
00:39:31
the Saudi comedy festival. Now that your favorite leader is making the draft mandatory, I assume that all of you will
00:39:37
be signing up to go fight in Iran. Or do you tough talking [ __ ] only go to the
00:39:41
Middle East for comedy festivals? Oh, was so she had so many lines. That was a nicer one. And then she had some
00:39:55
choice words for Tony Hinchcliffe. She said, "Tony Tony is what happens when
00:39:59
women don't have safe access to abortion care," which I thought was funny. And
00:40:03
then also like who's who's uh who's who's warming Joe Rogan's balls in their
00:40:07
mouth now that you're here tonight. He looked sick the way she attacked him.
00:40:11
And it was so good. She did such a good job. I have to say Chelsea, I love you. Marry me. I got to say so good. She was
00:40:19
fant and they just he was so uncomfortable. Like they can't take a joke. These people they can dish it out
00:40:25
but they can't take it. And Chelsea put them down. Put them down. And I love
00:40:29
love to see it. Anyway, your thoughts? I agree with you on that. Um, so my wins and fails. My win is Mayor Mani's Pieta
00:40:40
terror attacks. Um, I'm not even going to get into whether the city of New York should be cutting
00:40:46
costs or spends too much money. I don't have enough domain expertise. I'm a
00:40:50
resident of Florida, but the percentage of federal employees uh, as a percentage of the population has
00:40:59
steadily gone down. I've never bought that. There's just waste, fraud, and
00:41:02
abuse everywhere. And if we're going to get our fiscal house in order, do we
00:41:06
need to cut spending and raise taxes? The answer is yes. So, I'm just going to
00:41:09
talk about the raising taxes side of it. If you're going to raise taxes, it feels
00:41:13
to me that there's a very legitimate argument that the people who have done the best over the last 30 or 40 years
00:41:20
are the very wealthy and specifically owners. And it's pretty basic. Productivity has gone up 45 degrees.
00:41:28
Wages have gone flat. The delta between those two lines is trillions of dollars in um value creation and almost all of
00:41:36
it has gone to the top one if not the top 0.1%. So it seems to me that just basic math is it makes sense for the
00:41:44
wealthiest among us to uh pay a disproportionate amount of incremental taxes needed to operate this great
00:41:51
experiment called the US to pay for our navy to pay for food stamps. And the problem is, okay, so what do you do in
00:41:58
New York if you need to raise revenues? Do you increase corporate taxes? The problem with that is, and Jamie Diamond
00:42:04
pointed this out, JP Morgan has gone from 30,000 to 20,000 employees in New York in the last 10 years because it's a
00:42:10
very expensive place to do business. >> Yes, it is. No question. >> Meanwhile, in Texas, it's gone from
00:42:14
10,000 employees to 30,000. So, at some point, >> you get diminishing returns. And a lot
00:42:19
of the people that work at corporations are middle- class people who who who commute in from the different different
00:42:25
burrows. So you got to be very careful about raising costs on business because New York is getting to the point where a
00:42:32
lot of businesses are contemplating uh >> leaving. >> Yeah. Leaving or at least trans or at
00:42:38
least doing the bulk of their hiring somewhere else. Then you think, well, we could just go after all rich people. The
00:42:44
problem is there are a lot of people in New York making a half a million, 600, 800 grand a year as a couple and they
00:42:50
can't. I was that couple and I had to leave because it's just so goddamn
00:42:56
expensive there and you're already paying 13 or 14% incremental taxes. So I like the idea and I let's bring this
00:43:03
back to me in 2017 when I sold my company I made the mistake of giving NYU I think 2% of the company. The dean
00:43:11
called me and said, "Can you come up here?" And when the dean calls you and
00:43:13
says, "Come up here." It's either very good or very bad news. And he said, "We
00:43:17
just got a check for X." And he said, "First off, thank you." And he said, "If
00:43:22
my math is correct, that means you sold your company for why." And I said, "Yes." And he's like, "I need you to
00:43:26
move out of faculty housing right away." >> That's right. You lost that house.
00:43:30
>> And he said, >> "You like that house, didn't you?" >> I loved it there. No one, it was all a
00:43:34
bunch of 110-year-old widows from some tenure history professor that died 40 years ago. No one makes eye contact. No
00:43:40
one talks to each other. I loved it. Washington Square Village. It was amazing. No one even looks at you in the
00:43:44
eye. Occasionally there'd be a little mimograph paper saying, "Yeah, join us
00:43:48
in the third floor to celebrate Lois Frankle's life." You know, occasionally
00:43:52
there was a notice about someone who died. That's it. I absolutely love it. Anyways, he said, he was really funny,
00:43:58
too. Peter Henry, one of my role models and the best boss I've ever had. He said, "You're in strategy." He's like,
00:44:03
"Answ me this. What do you think the objective is of faculty housing?" And
00:44:07
I'm like to provide housing for young faculty who who could otherwise not live
00:44:12
here. And he's like bingo. I need you to move out next week, not the week after.
00:44:16
Anyways, >> I bought a place which Caris Swisser is very fond of. It's been my one of my
00:44:21
second homes. >> Yeah. >> And I spend about I don't know about 60
00:44:25
days a year there. Maybe 90. I don't know. >> And here's the bottom line. This tax I
00:44:30
figured out. I did the math. If it goes through un unfettered or >> I'm the one that told you about this, by
00:44:36
the way, but go ahead. >> You told me about it, so I began looking into it.
00:44:39
>> Yeah, >> it's unlikely to it'll be watered down. But if it goes through, as mom Donnie
00:44:43
has proposed it, it would be an incremental $100,000 a year tax on me. Personally, I'm not fond of that. It's a
00:44:50
form of a wealth tax because all that really does is take a say a condo worth 10 million and make it worth eight and a
00:44:55
half or 9 million because it's an extra $100,000 a year. But here's the bottom
00:44:59
line and the reason why I think it's a win. One, our municipalities need to get
00:45:05
their fiscal house in order. Two, it's clear that if there's going to be
00:45:09
incremental taxes, it should be on the wealthiest among us. And three, a sec a tax on second homes, which is also being
00:45:16
proposed, by the way, in San Francisco and Montana, is a very elegant way of going after those of us who quite
00:45:23
frankly have the money. >> Right. It's under It's over $10 million.
00:45:27
the houses. Correct. >> Over five. In addition, it also kind of you get a twofur here. And that is if
00:45:33
people decide to sell, it does free up housing stock. So, nobody likes a tax. I get it. And the wealthy are going to
00:45:41
come out of their skin. I get it. The bottom line is >> [ __ ] Griffin needs to shut the hell
00:45:45
up. He looks like a >> Hold on. I'm not done with my wins and my tails.
00:45:49
>> All right. Okay. >> I get it. I actually think as far as taxes goes, which nobody likes. See
00:45:54
above the meaning of the word tax. I think this is an elegant, thoughtful, less bad tax.
00:46:01
>> My little lesbian communist from San Francisco finally. Go ahead. Sorry.
00:46:06
>> And and as long as I can roll out of my apartment and I have the money, which I
00:46:10
do, and go to Jack's wife, Freda and sit there and order a latte and watch the
00:46:14
freak show of commerce, sex, capitalism, art, fashion, walk by me, it is worth 100 grand a year to me. And it's still
00:46:23
worth that to a [ __ ] ton of people. Because if you have a second home in Manhattan, my brothers and sisters, you
00:46:28
are doing just fine. >> Yeah. >> So the piet tax and the second home tax
00:46:35
being proposed across municipalities that need to raise revenue. It is an elegant,
00:46:40
>> great idea, >> thoughtful tax. >> This is what you're not going to like.
00:46:43
My fail is Mayor Mom Donnie and his class warfare against the rich and doxing Ken Griffin. That was totally
00:46:52
totally out of line. I would agree with you. >> Totally out of line. And here's the
00:46:55
problem with Democrats. We want to redistribute virtue, not income. Propose a tax on the wealthiest. I get it. Get
00:47:03
on with it. Stop complaining about billionaires. Do your [ __ ] job and raise taxes on the wealthy. But instead,
00:47:11
do not go to their homes and dox them. >> And this is what's going to happen. This
00:47:17
is what's going to happen. And Ken Griffin, who was had a $6.5 billion project underway in Manhattan,
00:47:23
supposedly has given a quarter of a billion dollars to New York-based charities. You know what he's going to
00:47:27
say? [ __ ] you. And he's going to he's absolutely going to take capital he was
00:47:32
investing in Manhattan and move it to Florida and Texas. And here is the problem with Democrats. We'd much rather
00:47:39
signal virtue than do our [ __ ] jobs. And that is it is one thing to be right, but it doesn't matter if you're
00:47:45
ineffective. and and the Democrats are going to lose if they continue to to try and with this
00:47:51
undercurrent of young men are the problem, don't have problems. Most white people are racist and all billionaires
00:47:57
are evil. Well, guess what? You're going to lose the young male, the wealthy, and
00:48:02
quite frankly the white vote. If you keep this class warfare demonization of success up, one of the most wonderful
00:48:10
things about America and the reason why we have consistently attracted the best and brightest around the world is we
00:48:16
celebrate success. Now, do we need to redistribute income to the middle class? Abso fuckingutely. But notice how they
00:48:24
never talk about Oprah or Beyonce. This is identity politics at its worst. It's
00:48:29
demonizing success and you are going to end up with lower Treasury receipts. But
00:48:34
great, you're going to >> ask what is the thing? Because it it I think the the most effective messaging
00:48:39
around this area and I often would be saying are billionaires off. I'm like not all of them. No, of course not. Like
00:48:44
you know I think the most effective way is to say everyone needs to pay their fair share. That I think is a very
00:48:51
effective things and you're saying the same thing. And remember I think Gore
00:48:55
tried to sort of demonize rich people of course which is ironic since he is one.
00:48:59
Um, but one of the things uh that I think is effective is everybody should pay their fair share. Like everybody
00:49:06
shouldn't get breaks. Everyone shouldn't get to meet with the president if I
00:49:09
don't, right? Everyone shouldn't be in a meeting where they get stuff. I think
00:49:13
the they the get well they're getting good stuff of them standing there and pulling in like Scrooge McDuck all the
00:49:18
money is a very good message. Like why do they get to first why do they get the best bits and you don't? I think that is
00:49:25
not demonizing them. It's saying fair share. This is how much they pay. This
00:49:29
is how much you pay. This is how much corporate tax has gone down. This is how much your taxes have gone up. I think
00:49:35
that is fully a great way to do it. And I agree that I didn't love the the the
00:49:40
thing of the Ken using Ken Griffin. I think you could have done much wider is all these people have second homes and
00:49:46
they should pay a tax on it and that's that. And that and they're very rich and
00:49:50
they can not just they can afford it. They don't have they don't have to pay
00:49:53
taxes and win with math is the way you kind of do it with people in a in a smart way. That's my feeling. What about
00:49:59
you from a marketing perspective? What do you think? >> If teachers unions were much more
00:50:03
powerful and they had figured out a way to weaponize government and we're getting paid $500,000 a year on average,
00:50:10
plus benefits plus retirement, they would not be saying enough. We don't need anymore. People will always respond
00:50:16
to incentives in a capitalist society to get more and more. Until we get rid of Citizens United, the wealthiest among us
00:50:23
will weaponize government and always incrementally seed the transfer of power of our economy from laborers and
00:50:31
consumers to investors. The entire shooting match around income inequality is the following. The point of America
00:50:39
is to to make the jump to light speeded by evolving from an earner to an owner because once you're an owner, your
00:50:45
wealth compounds tax deferred. And owners are more so powerful and have such powerful lobbies because of Citizen
00:50:52
United. They keep coming up with new tax rates. I can buy a jet today and write the whole [ __ ] thing off in year one
00:50:57
being cash flow positive. If I own a home and I put it in an LLC, I'm an owner. I can sell it. Don't have to have
00:51:03
a capital gain. I can roll into another investment property, put it in a trust, $30 million exemption, and start
00:51:08
building a dynasty until we have an elected elected populace, elected representatives who stop transferring
00:51:17
capital, influence, well-being, health per your series from from labor and from consumers to shareholders. None of this
00:51:26
is going to change. And the key to all of this, none of this happens unless you do away with Citizens United. And for
00:51:32
Bernie Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who keep complaining about the wealthy. Well then do your [ __ ] job
00:51:39
when you controlled all three houses of government. Taxes went down on the rich during the Biden administration.
00:51:45
>> So everyone com it's like the the guy complaining that the the game was rigged
00:51:50
is wearing a referee's uniform. >> Yeah. >> You need structural reform. But
00:51:54
demonizing billionaires everybody does the same thing. Everyone responds to incentives and feathers their bed the
00:52:00
most. I do think on the other hand the look of the Bezos's at that Met Gala wasn't good. Totally different issue. I
00:52:06
think they do it to themselves. They do it to themselves. So let them do it to themselves. Venice, everyone knows how
00:52:11
that feels. Um I have to say I agree with you. You're right. I think it was a
00:52:15
rare misstep by Mamani who's a little more deaf as the way he handled Trump.
00:52:19
>> Very savvy politician. >> I thought that was a little clottish of
00:52:22
him. I think you're right. I think you're right. Anyway, um those are good
00:52:25
ones. Uh we want to hear from although Ken Griffin's still been a whiny [ __ ]
00:52:28
about it anyway. Um, he's always a whiny [ __ ] Um, we want to hear from you.
00:52:32
Smart guy. I understand, but really smart guy. >> He needs to All of them need to stop
00:52:37
talking. Every one of them. Anyway, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech, or
00:52:41
whatever is on your mind. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show or
00:52:45
call 8551 Pivot. Uh, and we have a specific question for you listeners today. Who do
00:52:51
we want who do you want to see co-host with me in August when Scott goes away on a vacation? We have we already have a
00:52:57
really good list actually and they're really including Chelsea Handler is coming. Uh so that I'm very pleased
00:53:03
about that. We want to hear your ideas and maybe we can get them for you. So we'll pick at least one from the people
00:53:10
the suggestions of the people and don't be kooky. Don't be like you know the
00:53:13
pope. I can't get the pope. Although I'm working on getting an interview with him
00:53:16
but I mean I mean I could try to get the pope but it's not going to work. Uh so
00:53:20
email us, call us or tell us on the socials. We want to hear uh your suggestions. I would prefer an alien if
00:53:26
that's possible. If anyone's listening from up there or tapping into this show
00:53:30
um elsewhere in the Cara and Scott universe this week, uh on with Cara Sw on on with Cara Swisser, I'm talking
00:53:36
with author and journalist Patrick Raden Keefe. He's one of my favorite journalists. He writes amazing books. Uh
00:53:42
obviously wrote about um uh the opiate crisis. He's written about the crisis in
00:53:47
Northern Ireland. He's just amazing journalist. Uh his new book is called London Falling. It's about a mysterious
00:53:53
circumstances surround the death of a 19-year-old who was pretending to be the son of a Russian oligarch. I asked Raden
00:53:59
Keefe why he's drawn to these true crime stories. Let's listen to a clip.
00:54:03
>> I don't really even think of myself as a crime reporter, but it is a situation
00:54:07
where when I go out and I kind of pursue what's interesting to me in the world, it's often stories about
00:54:14
people transgressing in one way or another. It's often stories about people kind of using their
00:54:20
own charisma to change the world a little bit to find some little wormhole, some loophole they
00:54:26
can get through or actually to kind of reorganize the world in a way that they would want. And it's funny cuz we talk
00:54:33
about those stories as if they're outliers, but I feel as though that is the era we live in.
00:54:39
>> It's a great interview. He's so smart. Elsie, he's very handsome. He's got he
00:54:42
was in he was in too. Yeah, >> that will be handsome. hands down will be on Netflix within 24 months.
00:54:48
>> Oh, I think he's already sold it. I think Say Nothing. >> I hear that story and I want to know
00:54:53
more. >> That's correct. It's going to be great. I We were I actually was asking him
00:54:56
who's going to play the kid in the movie. Um I think he's already sold it,
00:54:59
I believe. So, okay, that's the show. Thank by the way, it's a riveting read.
00:55:03
It's really You can't put I'm not sure it has that as much meaning as he's
00:55:07
putting in it, but it's fantastic read and it is it does it's about modern day
00:55:11
London, too, which is interesting. Okay, that's the show. Thanks for listening to
00:55:15
Pivot. Be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on
00:55:19
Friday.