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That's odd.com.
00:00:33
>> Why not just remove the broadcast
00:00:35
networks from those rules? Why are they
00:00:37
I I'm some like they shouldn't be bound
00:00:39
by that [ __ ] Brandon Carr who's clearly
00:00:43
looking for his next job which will be
00:00:45
Dancing with the Nazis.
00:00:52
>> Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York
00:00:54
Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast
00:00:56
Network. I'm Cara Swisser.
00:00:58
>> And I'm Scott Galloway.
00:00:59
>> And we are live from South by Southwest
00:01:02
in Texas.
00:01:09
>> So before we before we get to it, um
00:01:12
again I we're psyched to be here uh this
00:01:14
live episode. We want to thank our
00:01:16
presenting sponsor ODU. They've
00:01:18
supported they sponsored our pivot tour
00:01:20
last year. So they're really into us. Um
00:01:23
we will get to everything else, but
00:01:24
Scott, I have a surprise for you. I
00:01:25
don't know if you know this, but I have
00:01:27
a television show coming up on CNN.
00:01:30
>> Really?
00:01:31
>> Yes.
00:01:34
>> I heard it's a horror film called Cara's
00:01:36
Going to Live Forever.
00:01:37
>> Yes. So, I'm going to play a little
00:01:40
clipboard cuz someone that I work with
00:01:42
is in the show itself. Cuz largely I
00:01:45
felt sorry because he's had so many
00:01:46
disasters in television. I thought he
00:01:48
should be part of a hit series.
00:01:49
>> Zero for five. Five TV series. I haven't
00:01:52
seen any of them, have you?
00:01:53
>> Yeah. All right, let's go. This is going
00:01:54
to be a huge hit and it's going to
00:01:55
really chap his ass. So, go ahead.
00:01:57
>> Wow.
00:01:58
>> Wow.
00:02:01
>> Doesn't this land in the backyard of a
00:02:03
Colorado household owned by a woman
00:02:05
named Mindy?
00:02:07
>> Mor. Mor and Mindy.
00:02:10
>> It's a state-of-the-art sound therapy
00:02:12
pod that is using sound playing in your
00:02:15
body. So, there's a lot of science-based
00:02:16
frequencies designed to calm your
00:02:17
nervous system at a cellular level. We
00:02:20
typically call it an inner and out of
00:02:22
body experience. You know those moments
00:02:24
where you suddenly have to ask yourself,
00:02:26
"How did I end up here?"
00:02:28
>> This feels like the lamest crypt in the
00:02:30
world, and I'm stuck with Cara.
00:02:33
>> Well, Emily Ratikowski was busy.
00:02:35
>> This was one of those. I was deep inside
00:02:38
a concrete basement in New York City
00:02:39
about to embark on an auditory journey
00:02:41
that is designed to help my body repair,
00:02:44
restore, and transform itself.
00:02:47
>> We're going to take you on a beautiful
00:02:49
sound journey.
00:02:50
>> Sound journey, Scott.
00:02:51
>> All right. My traveling companion was my
00:02:53
good friend and podcast partner Scott
00:02:55
Galloway.
00:02:56
>> I just had a deep insight. Cara, this
00:02:59
longevity trend.
00:03:01
>> Hasn't the earth suffered enough?
00:03:03
Shouldn't we just die?
00:03:13
Um,
00:03:16
anyway, it's coming uh April 11th, but
00:03:18
the the plot spoiler there is Scott
00:03:20
falls asleep in it and has no journey.
00:03:23
He just snores. Um,
00:03:26
and there is no real science to that.
00:03:28
So, just among other things we prove,
00:03:30
but we had a nice time.
00:03:31
>> Yeah. And that's definitely going to
00:03:33
save CNN.
00:03:34
>> Yeah.
00:03:39
Oh, well, I won't be there when the
00:03:40
Ellison's take over, so that's fine with
00:03:42
me. Um, anyway, uh, we've got a lot to
00:03:44
get to. Well, first of all, you having a
00:03:46
good time here? Are you enjoying it?
00:03:48
>> I'm having a great time. I went out last
00:03:49
night. I'm so sick of rolling up to the
00:03:52
the parties now kind of suck cuz you
00:03:54
meet some guy and you're like, I want to
00:03:55
grab a drink and he's like, I'm 8 years
00:03:57
sober and now I'm a Pelaton influencer.
00:03:59
[ __ ] you.
00:04:01
I want to find the guy who's in a
00:04:03
custody battle so he can never see his
00:04:05
kids. That dude I'll roll with.
00:04:07
Anything? No,
00:04:08
>> I'm having a nice time.
00:04:09
>> You're having a nice time.
00:04:10
>> Everyone is working on their sleep.
00:04:12
Well, good for you.
00:04:14
>> So, uh, you're leaving. You're going to
00:04:16
the Van Fair Oscar party. That should be
00:04:17
fun.
00:04:18
>> Hello.
00:04:18
>> Yeah, that should be good. I'm not
00:04:20
going. I'm staying.
00:04:21
>> I was the plus one. And the plus one
00:04:23
RSVPd yes. And Cara said no.
00:04:26
>> So, you'll have a good time. Try not to
00:04:28
bother the celebrities. That's my only
00:04:31
advice. Just be cool. Okay. Can you do
00:04:32
that?
00:04:34
>> Thank you for that. That's hugely
00:04:36
helpful. Thank you.
00:04:38
Just be cool for me.
00:04:40
>> Is there anyone you want to meet? Is
00:04:41
there like Sean? He probably won't be
00:04:43
there. He's
00:04:44
>> I want to meet simple. I want to meet
00:04:45
the um
00:04:47
>> I was going to say the gay hockey guys.
00:04:48
What's it called?
00:04:49
>> Heated rivalry.
00:04:50
>> Heated rivalry. I'm sorry. I'm just
00:04:53
announcing now executive producer season
00:04:55
2 heated rivalry.
00:04:57
Swedish women's team. Biggest show of
00:05:00
next season. Biggest show of next
00:05:02
season.
00:05:04
>> Oh god. I'm going to go for two here.
00:05:06
>> I'm I'm going to alert security at the
00:05:08
Vanity Fair Oscar party for this. But
00:05:09
anyway, just be cool. Say nice things.
00:05:12
They You'll probably get recognized by
00:05:14
some of them. It'll be nice.
00:05:15
>> I'll be at the bar. That's all.
00:05:16
>> All right. Excellent. All right. We've
00:05:18
got a lot to get to today. We've got a
00:05:19
lot to talk about. There's so much. It's
00:05:21
crazy amounts of news all the time and
00:05:24
every every moment. But, uh, first
00:05:26
thing, surprise, surprise. Wealthy
00:05:28
people are swaying elections with their
00:05:29
money. billionaires made up about 19% of
00:05:32
all reported campaign donations of 2024
00:05:36
federal elections. This is a a well it's
00:05:38
a quantum leap in numbers. Within the
00:05:40
19% for every dollar that went to
00:05:42
Democrats, $5 went to Republicans. The
00:05:45
billionaire families gave an average
00:05:47
total of $10 million each, roughly equal
00:05:50
to the amount a h 100,000 typical donors
00:05:52
give combined. Um Scott, before Citizens
00:05:55
United, the share of billionaire
00:05:56
spending was under 1%. This is 19%.
00:06:00
That's an enormous amount of people,
00:06:02
enormous number for a small amount of
00:06:05
people. Let's talk a little bit about
00:06:06
that because obviously billionaires
00:06:08
taxes are being discussed. Um there's
00:06:10
all there's all manner of things
00:06:12
happening here, but their influence is
00:06:14
absolutely clear.
00:06:16
>> Yeah. I mean, if you think about 19%
00:06:19
from 900 people, it's um look, it's the
00:06:22
boring stuff that kind of moves the
00:06:23
needle that that's not that interesting
00:06:26
to talk about. But we're gonna wash,
00:06:28
rinse, and repeat a cycle of autocrats.
00:06:31
Uh I actually believe there's uh if you
00:06:34
look at history, there's as much danger
00:06:36
of an autocrat coming from the far left
00:06:37
as from the far right. I believe the far
00:06:39
left is as dangerous as the far right.
00:06:40
It's the extremes that present a threat
00:06:43
to society. And the two things that are
00:06:47
probably most important to avoiding a
00:06:50
strong man or a strong woman uh from
00:06:52
either side of the party are very boring
00:06:55
things. But until we have them, we're
00:06:56
going to have the weaponization of a
00:06:58
decline in the structural and economic
00:07:00
standing in my opinion of of middle
00:07:02
class, especially middle class males who
00:07:04
tend to be unfortunately more violent
00:07:06
and upset when they don't have economic
00:07:08
or romantic prospect. But the two major
00:07:11
reforms that need to happen or we're
00:07:14
going to have a cycle of strong men and
00:07:16
strong women for the next 50 years is
00:07:19
one, we need to dej gerrymander the US
00:07:21
because the the general election no
00:07:23
longer matters. It's the primary. And
00:07:26
who turns out in the primary? The
00:07:27
crazies. So every district now is hard
00:07:31
blue or hard left. And we keep sending
00:07:33
um 535
00:07:36
very far-left or very far-right people
00:07:38
who share no comety, no no collective
00:07:41
values, don't want to work together, and
00:07:43
nothing happens and they genuinely don't
00:07:45
like each other. And the
00:07:48
the narrative from our leadership is not
00:07:52
how do we work together and get
00:07:53
something done. It's that the other guys
00:07:54
are wrong. And so it creates a level of
00:07:57
division and stasis that's really
00:07:59
unproductive. And then the other thing
00:08:00
is Citizens United. We can't have a
00:08:04
small group of people who aren't evil,
00:08:06
but incrementally will say, "Hey,
00:08:08
Charles Schumer," and I'll use a
00:08:09
Democrat as an example because we always
00:08:11
talk about Republicans. Democrats take a
00:08:13
lot of money, too. It's Republican it's
00:08:15
it's Republican donors typically, but
00:08:17
also Democrats do do bask in a lot of
00:08:20
the pack money. And what happens is
00:08:23
Republicans are much more overt about
00:08:25
trying to get tax cuts for who they
00:08:26
think are the most productive people and
00:08:28
corporations in the world. What
00:08:30
Democrats do is just ring their hands
00:08:32
and kill stuff in committee and say they
00:08:34
have concerns about things. But if you
00:08:36
have until we have Citizens United
00:08:38
overturned and dejerrymander, we're just
00:08:41
going to ping from the far left to the
00:08:43
far right for the foreseeable future. it
00:08:45
I I do think the Republicans are sort of
00:08:48
doing things in plain sight in a in an
00:08:51
effective way by channeling all this
00:08:53
money, right? And but the number from
00:08:55
going from 1% to 19%, it's a very and
00:08:59
you're right, it's a very small amount
00:09:00
of people. And actually, it's a small
00:09:02
amount of people from Silicon Valley.
00:09:04
So, it's a very particular I mean,
00:09:05
there's there's the Ulanes, the box
00:09:07
people, there's a bunch of other rich
00:09:09
people you don't know as well. And by
00:09:11
the way, look on your bottom of your
00:09:12
boxes. That's what you're getting from
00:09:14
Amazon is from this very far-right
00:09:16
family. Um, but one of the things that's
00:09:18
the problem here is that that this stuff
00:09:21
is done in plain sight. And what's
00:09:24
they're not going to under overturn
00:09:25
Citizens United from what I understand.
00:09:27
I interviewed Larry Leig recently who
00:09:30
has another case that could hollow out
00:09:32
Citizens United in terms of super PACs
00:09:34
and dark money.
00:09:36
>> Um, but what is the solution until then?
00:09:38
Because I don't think they're letting
00:09:40
up. I don't I think they won't let up in
00:09:41
this presidential election. It doesn't
00:09:43
seem like all of a sudden Elon Musk is
00:09:46
gonna call start calling himself they
00:09:48
them. It's not happening for us. So what
00:09:51
what could be done in the interim
00:09:53
because he will continue to spend. He's
00:09:55
sort of the the poster child for this.
00:09:57
But then you quietly have a whole bunch
00:09:59
of them doing the same thing.
00:10:01
>> The honest answer is I don't know. I
00:10:03
don't know if there's a way to prohibit
00:10:04
certain political spending across
00:10:05
certain more targeted media. Mhm.
00:10:08
>> Um, so I have a movement called Resist
00:10:10
and Unsubscribe and neither Alphabet nor
00:10:12
Meta would take my dollars to drive
00:10:14
traffic, but if you want to, you know,
00:10:17
promote Cole and get in the way of the
00:10:19
earned child tax credit, spend away. So
00:10:23
I also I think there might be some
00:10:24
workarounds that people have talked
00:10:26
about by going state by state.
00:10:27
>> Mhm.
00:10:28
>> But until
00:10:30
I I think until unless it's overturned,
00:10:32
which I agree with you, it doesn't look
00:10:35
>> this is all a word salad of saying I
00:10:37
don't know.
00:10:38
>> Yeah. So when you think about we've
00:10:39
talked a lot about the billionaire tax.
00:10:41
Um, you have proposed other things like
00:10:43
an AMT tax and there's some things in
00:10:46
committee right now, speaking of
00:10:47
Democrats, which seem much more
00:10:49
effective, which is giving tax relief to
00:10:50
people under a certain number. Um, and
00:10:54
then at the same time making the group
00:10:56
of people taxed larger.
00:10:59
>> Well, there's three different tax
00:11:00
proposals. So the Democrats, to our
00:11:02
credit, have finally wised up and
00:11:05
realized that they need to move from
00:11:08
their objective of redistributing
00:11:10
virtue, telling other people they're not
00:11:12
as worthy, constantly talking through
00:11:14
identity politics about what's right and
00:11:16
what's wrong with the world. And if you
00:11:18
tell billionaires they're evil and white
00:11:20
people they're racist, and young men
00:11:22
that they're predators, they'll leave
00:11:24
the party. I'm like, "Okay, this part is
00:11:26
not for me." And if you look at those
00:11:27
three groups, they have largely
00:11:29
abandoned the Democratic party. So what
00:11:31
they realize is that the key to 26 and
00:11:34
28 is to talk less about redistributing
00:11:36
virtue and redistributing income. And
00:11:39
also that the best narrative for
00:11:41
redistributing income is tax cuts, not
00:11:44
not handouts. Now the three there's the
00:11:47
Conor proposal, there's the Booker
00:11:49
proposal, and then there's the Warren
00:11:52
um proposal. Warren is basically class
00:11:55
warfare. It's a 5% tax, wealth tax every
00:11:57
year. That may not sound like a lot, but
00:12:00
the majority of people don't have 5%
00:12:01
liquid taxes sitting around. I can't
00:12:04
imagine the hundreds of thousands of
00:12:05
people who would be hired to try and
00:12:08
diminish or decrease or lower the value
00:12:10
assessed value of billionaires wealth.
00:12:13
It goes after basically 900 people.
00:12:15
Actually, that's not true. People over a
00:12:17
billion, it's 5%. But to tell
00:12:19
billionaires they have to come up with
00:12:20
5% of their wealth every year, I do
00:12:23
think that that's the tipping point
00:12:25
where you would lose somewhere between a
00:12:27
quarter at least from a residency
00:12:29
standpoint to a third of billionaires in
00:12:31
the US. The example is the non-dom tax
00:12:34
in the United uh in the United Kingdom.
00:12:36
It was theoretically it made all the
00:12:37
sense in the world. It's like you've
00:12:38
been here for a while, you should pay UK
00:12:40
taxes. The tax receipts this year are
00:12:43
going to be lower because 10,000
00:12:45
millionaires have moved away in the last
00:12:47
year and people have this populist
00:12:49
[ __ ] of let them go. Well, okay,
00:12:51
who's going to pay for the NHS? So, the
00:12:53
wealth tax doesn't work. The wealthy are
00:12:55
the most mobile people in the world.
00:12:57
They have homes all over the world. They
00:12:58
can have really nice lives in Milan or
00:13:02
in London. So, if you're looking to
00:13:04
actually be effective, not, you know,
00:13:06
not just right, the wealth tax doesn't
00:13:08
work. Rose is more about social services
00:13:11
and and corpor corporate taxes, expanded
00:13:14
child tax c tax credit. The one I like
00:13:17
the most is Bookers. His he's saying,
00:13:19
okay, it's the first 75,000. It's
00:13:22
taxfree. Right now, what people don't
00:13:24
realize is that first off, the myth that
00:13:28
wealthy don't pay their taxes. The top
00:13:30
1% paid 19% in 1980. Now they pay 42%.
00:13:34
It's the 0.1% that are getting away
00:13:38
quite frankly with murder that can use
00:13:39
all sorts of tricks to lower their tax
00:13:42
rate into the high teens. But the 1% the
00:13:44
workh horses mom's a baller at a law
00:13:46
firm. She's a partner making a million
00:13:48
half 2 million bucks. Dad owns three
00:13:50
chiropractic clinics. He's making 800
00:13:51
grand. They make 2.3 2.8 million. They
00:13:54
probably live in a blue state in a blue
00:13:56
city. They're paying 48 or 52% uh
00:13:59
marginal tax rate. So the whole notion
00:14:01
of tax the rich doesn't go very far.
00:14:04
What I think what Booker is saying is
00:14:07
essentially if you go the first 70 the
00:14:09
first 29,000 pay almost no pay no
00:14:12
federal taxes right now. He's saying be
00:14:14
at the first 75,000. Now, the devil in
00:14:17
the details is that even though it
00:14:18
sounds like, oh, that benefits people
00:14:20
who make up to 75,000 the most, it
00:14:22
actually benefits people who make
00:14:23
150,000 the most because they get to
00:14:26
apply that free 79 in the lower tax rate
00:14:28
on a larger base. It's a good idea. It's
00:14:32
time that we level up the middle class.
00:14:34
So, I like that. And it's it's a little
00:14:36
bit more elegant. Whenever you send
00:14:39
money to Washington as opposed to
00:14:40
lowering taxes, there's some
00:14:42
inefficiency and friction in Washington.
00:14:44
So, I think it's a good idea, but I
00:14:46
think there are more elegant ways to
00:14:48
raise tax revenue. Um, lower basically
00:14:52
do away with or lower the estate tax,
00:14:54
the uh the exemption on money that's
00:14:56
inherited from 30 million to 1 million.
00:15:00
We're creating dynastic wealth. And the
00:15:02
key is to have taxes that are least
00:15:04
taxing. If your kids inherit 11 million
00:15:08
instead of 14 million, you're obviously
00:15:10
no less happier because you're not
00:15:11
around to see it. and the kid isn't any
00:15:13
any less happier if he gets 11 million
00:15:16
or she gets 11 million versus 14
00:15:18
million. The other thing we need is uh
00:15:19
AMT and that is if you make over say a
00:15:23
million bucks or you're a corporation
00:15:25
that makes over 10 million bucks use the
00:15:27
4,000 pages of loopholes to skirt it
00:15:29
down skirt it down 1202 depreciation but
00:15:33
if you're not paying at least 40%
00:15:35
there's an AMT. So, an alternative
00:15:37
minimum tax and then um triple the
00:15:41
budget of the IRS because the biggest
00:15:43
tax cut in history that we don't talk
00:15:44
about is that the Trump administration
00:15:46
has essentially neutered uh the IRS. So,
00:15:50
crime's going to go up when there's no
00:15:51
cops on the beat. Supposedly, $750
00:15:53
billion a year is called the tax gap,
00:15:56
which is uncollected taxes that are
00:15:58
owed. So, get rid of the estate tax
00:16:00
exemption, alternative minimum tax of
00:16:02
40%. support the IRS
00:16:04
>> and support the IRS as opposed to what
00:16:06
feels a little bit like class warfare.
00:16:09
>> That's an interesting thing. I don't
00:16:10
think it works very well because people
00:16:11
are aspirational. That said, the the
00:16:14
tech people especially who are the
00:16:16
wealthiest um have not really slathered
00:16:19
themselves in glory in terms of people
00:16:21
we I mean they the brand has gone down.
00:16:23
And so I think people don't when when
00:16:25
Jeff Bezos rents Venice or uh or or Alex
00:16:30
Karp talks about disenfranchising
00:16:32
white Democratic women. I think that's
00:16:34
what he was sort of saying in his
00:16:35
statements the other day. Um it it feels
00:16:38
like let's get them like they're they're
00:16:40
sort of they're they're creating an
00:16:42
anger toward them that uh that I think
00:16:44
is unnecessary and unproductive and at
00:16:47
the same time you sort of want to take
00:16:49
all their you know leave them naked
00:16:51
without clothes. Um, not well I don't
00:16:53
want to see them naked. That's not true.
00:16:55
Um, but it's a real it's a real
00:16:58
conundrum and I do think one of the
00:16:59
things that has to happen is there's got
00:17:00
to be some neutering of Citizens United
00:17:02
in that regard because I think it's very
00:17:04
clear what the trends have been. On a
00:17:06
middle metal level, the biggest tax cut
00:17:09
would be having the stones to go after
00:17:12
entitlements because we spent $7
00:17:14
trillion on $5 trillion in receipts.
00:17:17
And every time we do that, in order to
00:17:20
keep the government pumped up and going,
00:17:22
and the asset prices, the assets which
00:17:24
you and I own, keep them elevated, we
00:17:26
issue more debt. So the biggest tax cut
00:17:29
in history would be fiscal
00:17:30
responsibility. And it's a tax cut on
00:17:32
your kids in the future who are going to
00:17:34
have absolutely no money in the
00:17:36
government to invest in education or
00:17:38
technology. And if you really want to
00:17:40
get serious about quote unquote taxing
00:17:42
future generations, some Democrat is
00:17:45
going to have to be the adult in the
00:17:46
room and say that if you make over a
00:17:48
million dollars a year as a senior
00:17:49
citizen, you're not getting social
00:17:51
security. And we need to move back the
00:17:53
age and we need to means test it and we
00:17:55
need to distribute GLP1 and bring down
00:17:57
health care costs. But if we're serious
00:17:58
about lowering taxes on future
00:18:00
generations, we can have populist ideas.
00:18:02
But what we need to do, quite frankly,
00:18:04
is just have more of a fiscal
00:18:05
responsibility because the deficit every
00:18:08
day is a $2 trillion tax on future
00:18:10
generations because someone's going to
00:18:12
have to pay the ship back.
00:18:12
>> Well, that may be true, but it's the
00:18:14
Trump administration who's brought up
00:18:15
the deficit more than any other of any
00:18:17
of the
00:18:18
>> we that's been a bipartisan thing.
00:18:20
>> Certainly, but Trump is
00:18:22
>> 7 trillion George B George Washington to
00:18:24
George Bush, 30 trillion since George
00:18:26
Bush. But Trump's been the worst.
00:18:28
>> Been the worst. So, um, we're going to
00:18:29
move on to March Madness. Kicks off this
00:18:31
week. The the and sports books are
00:18:33
expecting to take in $4.5 billion in
00:18:35
bets on the NCA college basketball
00:18:37
tournaments. Now, only 11% of that will
00:18:40
come from the prediction markets this
00:18:41
year, which is a large amount, but
00:18:43
that's a perfect time for Poly Market to
00:18:44
announce that it's bringing in Palunteer
00:18:46
and uh TWWG AI to monitor sports
00:18:49
contracts and flag anything suspicious.
00:18:52
Reminder, Poly Market is backed by Peter
00:18:54
Teal and 1789 Capital, which is uh
00:18:58
Donald Trump Jr.'s fund in AI system
00:19:01
monitoring predictions markets. It seems
00:19:04
like that's the fox guarding the hen
00:19:07
house.
00:19:07
>> But is it meant to is it meant to so in
00:19:11
the MAMI race, what was strange when you
00:19:14
see billboards everywhere saying that
00:19:16
mom dami chance of winning 91%.
00:19:20
If you're voting for Cuomo or some other
00:19:22
candidate, I I supported a guy named,
00:19:24
you know, Whitney Tilson. I'm not a New
00:19:25
York resident, but my friend Whitney
00:19:27
ran. Anyways, you don't show up or you
00:19:30
think, "Oh, great." You get excited. So,
00:19:32
these prediction markets actually the
00:19:34
polls have the polls have an influence
00:19:36
on the actual voting. I think AI in
00:19:38
terms of monitoring, I like the idea. I
00:19:41
I've always felt that AI could be used
00:19:42
for defensive measures as much as
00:19:44
offensive measures. whether or not Peter
00:19:46
Teal has other objectives that's a
00:19:48
little bit scarier.
00:19:49
>> Maybe he does.
00:19:51
>> So that you're right. It's not AI as a
00:19:54
defense mechanism or for compliance.
00:19:55
It's the fact that Peter Teal who
00:19:58
believes in in
00:20:00
>> no democracy I believe is his
00:20:01
>> Yeah. Feels like democracy is an
00:20:03
outdated mode. So but just in terms of
00:20:05
gambling huge threat to young men and
00:20:08
what people don't know about gambling as
00:20:09
an addiction is that it's got the
00:20:11
highest suicide rate of any addiction.
00:20:14
Because if you have a meth addiction,
00:20:16
people people notice it and they weigh
00:20:18
in. You can spend your kids' college
00:20:21
fund, mortgage your house, spend
00:20:23
everything, and people have no idea. And
00:20:26
often times people feel like it's it's
00:20:28
it's just too late. And when in states
00:20:30
where they legalize gambling,
00:20:32
bankruptcies skyrocket 35% in that same
00:20:34
year. I was just in Vegas. Vegas is
00:20:37
dying because why be in Vegas when Vegas
00:20:40
is in your pocket? And I I'm curious
00:20:44
what you think cuz you have sons. I have
00:20:46
sons.
00:20:47
>> They don't gamble.
00:20:49
>> Yeah, but you're a better parent than
00:20:50
me. So,
00:20:51
>> yes. Yeah.
00:20:52
>> The But the question is, speaking
00:20:54
theoretically as a parent,
00:20:56
>> I don't think they gamble.
00:20:57
>> For young men, do we infantilize them?
00:20:59
Do we have more regulation? Is it a
00:21:01
lifeless?
00:21:02
>> You know, I think young men do have a a
00:21:04
higher risk profile. I mean, just
00:21:06
between my my daughter, it's more
00:21:09
comparable. uh my daughter who's six and
00:21:11
my son who's four, he's so risk I mean
00:21:14
penis out every moment of the day like
00:21:17
and it's you're always like wow those
00:21:19
that's gonna hurt when you get to the
00:21:20
bottom of those stairs on your head like
00:21:22
and my daughter is very careful so it's
00:21:24
a really it I hate to say that because I
00:21:26
don't like to play into gender tropes
00:21:29
but it's true it just is um but
00:21:32
>> trope away we're different and that's
00:21:34
okay
00:21:35
>> she happens to be I was very risktaky
00:21:38
when I was a kid Um, I I'm I'm with you,
00:21:42
aren't I? Hello. Um,
00:21:44
and someone's like, "What's your biggest
00:21:46
risk?" I go, "That any moment it will be
00:21:49
over with Scott." Like, which which it
00:21:52
never happens. It's like a really
00:21:53
exciting series that ends on a
00:21:56
cliffhanger every every episode. Um, but
00:21:59
one of the things that I think about
00:22:00
with gambling is I I my sons don't
00:22:02
gamble, which is interesting, and I kind
00:22:04
of like gambling better than they do,
00:22:05
which is interesting. But um I think the
00:22:09
fact that it's you're right AI should be
00:22:12
used in positive ways and we should
00:22:13
mitigate the negative ways. But again, a
00:22:16
lot of this is controlled by people with
00:22:17
self-interest that you never understand.
00:22:20
And so what are they um and earlier
00:22:22
today I did an interview with the cast
00:22:24
of the Audacity which talks about these
00:22:27
issues. It's a new Silicon Valley show
00:22:29
>> and the idea of the manipulation of our
00:22:32
information for in all manner of way I
00:22:35
think we do not understand where it's
00:22:36
about to go and so who owns it and who's
00:22:40
running it. Same thing with media. Where
00:22:42
are the interests is going to be a huge
00:22:45
problem going forward.
00:22:46
>> But your point is your point is the
00:22:49
right one in what you just said and that
00:22:51
is AI should be applied to monitoring
00:22:53
and compliance. It should just be an AI
00:22:56
that reports to a federal agency that's
00:22:59
trying to prevent a tragedy that
00:23:00
comments, not to Peter Thiel.
00:23:03
>> But keep I mean it's this is a difficult
00:23:05
one because I think a lot about young
00:23:06
men and between 24 by7 porn and gambling
00:23:10
and an economy that's basically linked
00:23:13
to dopa hits trying to evolve a new
00:23:16
species of asocial asexual males. I
00:23:19
believe that our economy now is
00:23:21
essentially tied to evolving this new
00:23:24
species of male that is basically a
00:23:26
shitty citizen who starts blaming
00:23:28
immigrants, prone to conspiracy theory,
00:23:30
prone to misogyny, prone to obesity,
00:23:32
depression, anxiety, never develops the
00:23:34
skills outside of their house. Males
00:23:36
aged 20 to 30 are now spending less time
00:23:38
outdoors than prison inmates. And
00:23:41
unfortunately, they're up against this
00:23:42
indomitable foe of an AIdriven platforms
00:23:46
that at the exact right moment will
00:23:48
convince you, hey, don't go to class,
00:23:50
bet on the Jets game. Or, hey, you know,
00:23:52
you can get rich and screenshots of
00:23:54
people trading crypto and why go through
00:23:57
the effort, perseverance, cost,
00:24:00
showering, resilience, developing a rap.
00:24:02
You know what movement I'm going to go
00:24:03
off script here. You know what movement
00:24:05
I [ __ ] hate? What
00:24:07
>> I think the worst movement in America
00:24:08
right now besides some of the farright
00:24:10
crazy [ __ ] is the incel movement
00:24:12
and involuntarily celibate and I speak
00:24:16
to a lot of young men and some of them
00:24:18
identify as being incelss and they say
00:24:19
it as a point of pride like they they
00:24:22
have found their community and that it's
00:24:25
not their fault and they just come out
00:24:26
and say I'm an incel and they give up.
00:24:29
62% of men under the age of 30 aren't
00:24:31
even trying to date. 42% of men 18 to 22
00:24:34
have never asked a woman out in person.
00:24:37
And this movement infuriates me cuz just
00:24:40
just a heads up, a spoiler alert. For
00:24:43
99% of history, 99% of men have been
00:24:46
involuntarily celibate. And the notion
00:24:49
that somehow this is a movement. Well,
00:24:51
welcome to the [ __ ] work week. Level
00:24:53
up, [ __ ] It's been hard for all of us.
00:24:57
>> You know what? Um,
00:25:01
I I feel like there's a book in there.
00:25:04
Um, anyway, um,
00:25:07
speaking of someone I wish was
00:25:08
incelibate, um, in case anyone's
00:25:10
wondering where the defense secretary
00:25:12
Pete Hess
00:25:15
stood,
00:25:17
oh my god, stood on the Paramount uh,
00:25:20
Warner deal. Uh, we know now. uh at a
00:25:22
briefing on Friday, Hegathth, who's a
00:25:24
[ __ ] called uh that's just I mean it's
00:25:27
factual. Um called a CNN report on the
00:25:31
war in Iran fake news and said the
00:25:33
sooner David Ellison takes over the
00:25:36
network the better. Um, also Brandon
00:25:40
Carr, Morren number two, oddly enough,
00:25:43
not even as smart as Pete Heg, which is
00:25:45
an awfully low bar, is threatening
00:25:47
networks because he doesn't like their
00:25:49
coverage of the war and is calling it
00:25:51
fake news. It's astonishing that the
00:25:53
head of the FCC says these things. It's
00:25:56
actually illegal what he's saying. Um,
00:25:58
and he's threatening the broadcast
00:25:59
licenses of networks who do not comply
00:26:02
with the correct news. Um, Teamsters are
00:26:05
also, by the way, urging the DOJ to
00:26:07
block the deal unless Paramount agrees
00:26:08
to protect jobs and increase US
00:26:10
production. talk talk about this because
00:26:12
they like you'd think they'd be on their
00:26:14
back foot at this point, but they're
00:26:16
doubling down on lack of con well just
00:26:19
everything terrible. But this was sort
00:26:21
of astonishing to hear from him and then
00:26:24
followed by the FCC chairman around a
00:26:27
deal where obviously the the Ellison's
00:26:29
licked Trump up and down like it wasn't
00:26:31
even I mean they did
00:26:34
>> um they didn't even pretend this is not
00:26:36
what they were doing. They made promise
00:26:38
they're making they apparently made
00:26:39
promises well reported about CNN uh and
00:26:42
and what they're going to do there. What
00:26:45
talk a little bit about this and where
00:26:47
you
00:26:48
>> him saying the the loud part out loud I
00:26:52
guess.
00:26:53
>> Well, it's not only wrong but it's
00:26:56
stupid because it creates but it creates
00:26:59
legal. It's exhibit A in a case trying
00:27:02
to block this to say it's an unfair
00:27:04
merger and that it's not based on market
00:27:06
dynamics. is based on government
00:27:07
interference which it's not supposed to.
00:27:10
I'm not as worried and I mean you're the
00:27:12
journalist here but
00:27:14
>> I am worried
00:27:14
>> I am not as worried about suppression of
00:27:18
speech because what I see as alternative
00:27:20
media niche media thriving despite these
00:27:22
threats and it only brings oxygen
00:27:25
>> you know bull work and you know puck
00:27:30
they'll have their biggest days today
00:27:32
being outraged about this on YouTube
00:27:34
>> so I don't think I I don't think that as
00:27:37
much as these folks would like I still
00:27:39
think the courts will hold around first
00:27:40
amendment. But what it indicates in my
00:27:43
opinion is something more dangerous and
00:27:45
that is we generally decide we have
00:27:48
regulated competition and if we have
00:27:50
regulation it applies to everybody and
00:27:52
that everybody gets to play by the same
00:27:53
rules. And when the president starts
00:27:55
deciding I know how to run a steel
00:27:57
company, which microchip companies we
00:27:59
should invest in and who's saying the
00:28:01
right speech and who isn't, it reflects
00:28:04
I just think I think we're just going to
00:28:06
get and I've said this before, we're
00:28:07
going to get poorer. our earnings rate
00:28:08
at the highest price earning multiple
00:28:10
because of systemic laws where you don't
00:28:12
get on the wrong list and get the wrong
00:28:14
call. I'm not as worried about I mean
00:28:16
it's just so nakedly anti-first
00:28:18
amendment but I think it'll be slapped
00:28:19
down in court.
00:28:20
>> Yeah. But the the the tactics they use
00:28:22
is they create a problem and they get
00:28:25
slapped down in court like they just did
00:28:26
with Jerome Powell with box of you know
00:28:29
prosecutor box of wine. Uh Janine per
00:28:33
whatever box of wine lady watches strong
00:28:36
on her perfect. um you know, they do the
00:28:40
thing, create the damage, cause a
00:28:43
chilling effect, and then move on when
00:28:45
they lose in court, right? Or they get
00:28:47
pushed back, and then they're outraged
00:28:49
about losing in court, and then attack
00:28:51
the courts. I mean, it just goes, it
00:28:54
does cause actual damage to people. And
00:28:57
not just outrage, it's not just, I can't
00:28:59
believe they said that. I totally
00:29:00
believe they said it. I I I don't I
00:29:03
don't find it outrageous. I just find it
00:29:05
astonishing that they they do it in
00:29:09
order to create the kind of crisis that
00:29:12
will occupy people until they're slapped
00:29:15
back. And by the time they're slapped
00:29:16
back, it's too late.
00:29:18
the the tension,
00:29:21
the fear is that it creates a chill and
00:29:23
people think twice before writing an
00:29:25
article about the Trump administration
00:29:28
and are more promiscuous writing
00:29:30
articles truthtelling about Democrats
00:29:33
and Republicans,
00:29:34
>> we start having a chill around speaking
00:29:37
openly around Republicans. My sense is
00:29:40
that if you look at Kimmel, Cole Bear is
00:29:43
that quite frankly it's only emboldened
00:29:46
um uh journalists and institutions
00:29:50
uh to write and also I don't know if the
00:29:52
chill is working and I think it's giving
00:29:55
rise to a new set of media players who
00:29:58
can honestly say we're about truth to
00:30:00
power and we're unafraid and that
00:30:01
there's a market for it.
00:30:02
>> Well well why not just remove the
00:30:04
broadcast networks from those rules? Why
00:30:07
are they I I'm like they shouldn't be
00:30:09
bound by that [ __ ] branding car who's
00:30:12
clearly looking for his next job which
00:30:14
will be dancing with the Nazis. But
00:30:16
anyway,
00:30:19
>> it's wrong. I guess the question is we
00:30:22
always talk about the difference between
00:30:23
being right and being effective.
00:30:25
>> They're wrong and my sense is so far
00:30:27
they've been ineffective. I think the
00:30:28
best thing to happen to Co Bear and
00:30:30
Kimmel the ratings exploded when the FCC
00:30:33
threatened
00:30:34
>> threatened them. So my sense is the
00:30:36
autoimmune response of Americans who
00:30:38
value free speech is kicking in here and
00:30:41
it's working really well
00:30:42
>> perhaps. But at the end of the day, the
00:30:44
Ellison's own will own this and then
00:30:46
we'll have say over it and we'll quietly
00:30:49
do you know smother people possibly. I
00:30:51
don't even know if they will. Honestly,
00:30:53
I don't I don't care to stick around and
00:30:55
find out. But one of the things is that
00:30:57
you create a situation where where you
00:31:00
don't trust your your owners, right? You
00:31:03
don't I mean when I worked at the
00:31:05
Washington Post I mean it was there's it
00:31:08
was a different environment for media
00:31:10
and everything else but I completely
00:31:11
trusted the grams. I got, you know, I
00:31:14
didn't feel like they would toss me over
00:31:16
under a Bezos thing. Abs and I know he
00:31:19
was just there this week talking to some
00:31:20
of the reporters and was answering
00:31:22
questions which he should.
00:31:24
>> Um
00:31:25
I I can't I have no idea what they do
00:31:27
and in fact probably opt to go to Mara
00:31:31
Lago over protecting something he
00:31:33
bought.
00:31:34
>> Look, you you're going to forget more
00:31:36
about journalism than I'm going to know.
00:31:37
So I'm going to defer to you, but what I
00:31:39
see happening is the following. They
00:31:42
make these ridiculous, ownorous,
00:31:44
fascist, autocratic statements trying to
00:31:47
control the press and trying to put a
00:31:49
chill around free speech. I feel like
00:31:52
that attempt to chill free speech is
00:31:54
backfiring. I also don't have any
00:31:57
nostalgia or think that we've talked
00:32:00
about this. I don't think the CNN I
00:32:02
think CNN and the Washington Post can go
00:32:04
away and it's not going to mean
00:32:05
anything. I I just don't I I I think
00:32:07
that these folks quite frankly many of
00:32:09
them I think Freed Sakaria starts a
00:32:11
podcast and a newsletter and has the
00:32:12
same reach with a lower cost of
00:32:14
production. I think these incredible
00:32:16
journalists go to different places start
00:32:18
alternative media that quite frankly is
00:32:20
maybe more effective. So I think that
00:32:23
you're going to see a dispersion of
00:32:26
truth to power and journalism. The key
00:32:27
is as long as the courts at the end of
00:32:29
the day support those people and fall in
00:32:31
the light of first amendment. But I
00:32:33
think what happens a lot of times when
00:32:35
we talk about this is that journalists
00:32:38
and these organizations see themselves
00:32:40
as iconic and very precious. What's
00:32:43
precious is first amendment protection
00:32:46
to speak truth to power. And what I see
00:32:48
is that every person who's laid off from
00:32:50
the Washington Post or CNN who has any
00:32:52
talent now finds incredible platforms
00:32:54
and outlets and subscribers. I just
00:32:57
launched on Substack and it's so much
00:32:59
fun. you see subscribers and you can
00:33:01
make good money. You know, a lot of
00:33:03
people who've left big institutions and
00:33:05
are doing well now.
00:33:06
>> So, I I feel like the attempt to chill
00:33:10
is like when they when they hit CNN, it
00:33:13
breaks into a hundred different
00:33:15
alternative niche media companies.
00:33:17
>> The only issue with that is covering a
00:33:18
war costs money. Covering you have to
00:33:20
have a larger thing. And so one of the
00:33:22
things instead of reforming the costs of
00:33:25
something like a CNN or whoever fill in
00:33:27
the blank NBC, instead of reforming that
00:33:30
that economy, they're doing damage to it
00:33:33
so it can't revive itself in a way
00:33:35
that's cost that that those things cost
00:33:38
like that kind of thing. And so you're
00:33:39
not going to have a a a logger go over
00:33:42
to Iran and do the correct coverage.
00:33:44
Anyway,
00:33:46
>> we'll see what happens. Okay, we need to
00:33:48
take a quick break and when we come
00:33:50
back, we'll get to more of the latest
00:33:51
headlines.
00:33:53
>> Support for the show comes from Odo.
00:33:55
Running a business is hard enough, so
00:33:57
why make it harder with a dozen
00:33:58
different apps that don't speak to each
00:34:00
other? One for sales, another for
00:34:01
inventory, a separate one for
00:34:03
accounting. Before you know it, you are
00:34:04
drowning in software instead of growing
00:34:06
your business. This is where ODO comes
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00:34:50
>> Scott, we're back. Recording live from
00:34:52
South by Southwest.
00:35:01
So, Apple is entering its affordable
00:35:04
era. Affordability counts. The company
00:35:06
just introduced the MacBook Neo, a
00:35:09
laptop priced at $599, roughly half the
00:35:12
price of a MacBook Air and powered by an
00:35:15
iPhone chip. While some analysts are
00:35:17
saying this is a smart way of getting
00:35:18
new market share, others online are
00:35:20
wondering if the budget Apple laptop is
00:35:22
a quote recession indicator. talk about
00:35:25
this about Apple, what's happening uh
00:35:27
over there and where it goes as they
00:35:29
start to figure out uh their next
00:35:31
leadership group which has been in there
00:35:33
since a long forever actually since its
00:35:37
revival back 25 30 years ago. It's the
00:35:41
same executives.
00:35:42
>> So I think the strongest luxury brand in
00:35:44
the world is not Chanel or Vuitton. I
00:35:47
think it's Apple. And essentially
00:35:51
Apple says Apple is the most the perfect
00:35:55
luxury brand is one that says you're
00:35:58
wealthy, you're part of the creative
00:35:59
class, but you're not trying to exhibit
00:36:01
your wealth. When you roll around with a
00:36:04
Birkin bag, you're saying
00:36:07
I'm rich and I want you to know it and I
00:36:10
or I have such an incredible sense and
00:36:12
passion for this type of design. I'm
00:36:15
willing to sacrifice a great deal of
00:36:16
resources for it. The iPhone basically
00:36:20
the the iPhone is become so dominant in
00:36:24
identifying the billion wealthiest
00:36:26
people in the world. They're billion
00:36:27
iPhone iOS contracts
00:36:30
and the other six billion when you pull
00:36:32
out an Android it's like sending a date
00:36:35
a request or a Venmo you're not getting
00:36:37
laid. It's it's sort of
00:36:42
when
00:36:44
when you when you have an Android,
00:36:46
you're essentially saying to the world,
00:36:49
life hasn't really panned out the way
00:36:51
I'd hoped
00:36:57
and I should be starch from the gene
00:37:00
pool. Um,
00:37:03
and the pricing people don't recognize.
00:37:06
I'll go back to my subsack. Most most
00:37:09
substacks are eight bucks a month or,
00:37:10
you know, 12 bucks a month, 100 bucks a
00:37:12
year. We purposely did 20 bucks a month
00:37:13
and 200 bucks a year because pricing is
00:37:16
a signal. And one of the case studies I
00:37:17
love that we talk about in my brand
00:37:19
strategy course. The most successful or
00:37:21
fastest zero to billion alcohol brand in
00:37:24
history was Greygus.
00:37:26
Uh, and I do a taste test in class and
00:37:28
everyone thinks, "Oh yeah, you know, all
00:37:29
these young douchebags, I can tell the
00:37:31
difference." And none of them could tell
00:37:33
the difference between Smeirnoff, Sky,
00:37:36
Absolute, and Greygus. None of them,
00:37:38
like nine out of 10, not even that, can
00:37:40
tell the difference. But the owners of
00:37:42
Greygus said, "All right, the fifth of V
00:37:44
or whatever costs about 35 bucks. Charge
00:37:47
55." Because think about it, when you
00:37:49
walk into a store and you're looking at
00:37:50
anything, you're immediately sort of
00:37:52
want to check out the most expensive
00:37:53
thing. Pricing is a really strong
00:37:55
signal. And I think that Apple's genius
00:37:59
is its self-expressive benefit. The
00:38:01
strongest self-expressive benefits in
00:38:03
the world are the the country you come
00:38:05
from. I'm proud to say I'm from the US.
00:38:07
As much as as head up our ass as we are
00:38:10
right now, I still like telling people
00:38:12
when I'm overseas and I'm American. It
00:38:13
makes me feel good. The second strongest
00:38:16
self-expressive benefit is where you
00:38:17
went to college. If you have two people
00:38:20
in a mating environment and the dude
00:38:21
went to a good school and doesn't have
00:38:22
much else going on, he's like, "Well, at
00:38:24
Cornell." Um, that's the second
00:38:27
strongest self-expressive benefit. The
00:38:29
third strongest self-expressive benefit
00:38:31
is your phone because it's immediately
00:38:34
apparent and the Apple has really
00:38:36
become.
00:38:36
>> So you think this Neo is a mistake?
00:38:39
>> I would always be premium priced if I
00:38:41
were Apple. I'd always be unattainable
00:38:43
for 78 85% of the world's population.
00:38:47
>> Really? What do you think is an
00:38:48
indicator of that?
00:38:50
>> I don't know. They you know more market
00:38:52
share. They see a market for the near
00:38:54
near luxury or they want to expand their
00:38:56
market. And by the way, these are some
00:38:58
of the smartest marketers in the world.
00:39:01
Second most valuable company in the
00:39:02
world. So if it's like the strategy team
00:39:04
at Apple or Scott Galloway, you go with
00:39:06
the strategy team at Apple. But I I
00:39:08
think this is this is a luxury brand. I
00:39:11
mean, keep in mind what Apple's been
00:39:13
able to pull off. Margin is is Latin for
00:39:17
irrational.
00:39:19
When you pay a lot of margin for
00:39:20
something, it's either because you think
00:39:22
it'll make you feel closer to God, it's
00:39:24
a monopoly, or it thinks you make makes
00:39:26
you um more attractive to potential
00:39:28
mates. Margin means irrational. And the
00:39:32
irrational margins that Apple has been
00:39:34
able to garner, I was on the board of
00:39:36
Gateway Computer, remember them? Which I
00:39:37
realize is the weakest flex in the
00:39:39
world,
00:39:40
but our margins were 8%.
00:39:44
If we sold a computer for a,000 bucks,
00:39:46
it cost us 920 to assemble the thing.
00:39:49
Meanwhile, Apple was getting 30 and 40
00:39:52
points of margin because people wanted
00:39:54
to I was I remember when the the seat
00:39:56
belt light goes off, do you grab a Dell
00:39:58
computer that says you work for a
00:39:59
corporation? Do you, you know, grab an
00:40:02
ASUS, which means you work for a bad
00:40:04
corporation, or do you pull out your
00:40:07
Apple and say, "I'm in the creative
00:40:08
community. I'm interesting. I think
00:40:11
different." Right.
00:40:12
>> Right. And so what you have with Apple,
00:40:14
they have pulled off the impossible. The
00:40:16
impossible. And that is they have
00:40:19
>> I want you to say why they're doing it
00:40:21
then.
00:40:21
>> Okay,
00:40:22
>> you're in that meeting. We're going to
00:40:24
sell a $575$95
00:40:26
computer.
00:40:27
>> Just let me finish my last sentence
00:40:28
here. Apple has the margins of Ferrari
00:40:32
with the production volumes of Toyota.
00:40:34
No company has ever pulled that off
00:40:36
before. They think they're going to
00:40:37
expand share and and clear out a bunch
00:40:39
of their competition is why they're
00:40:41
doing this. and and good bad you think
00:40:43
it's a great
00:40:44
>> I think it works in the short run. I
00:40:45
think in the in the long run if Chanel
00:40:48
came out with a $400 bag they would sell
00:40:50
a [ __ ] ton of them and then over time it
00:40:52
erodess their margins and the truly
00:40:54
aspirational people stop start buying
00:40:58
you know more Hermes or what have you.
00:41:00
So, I think it's a I think it's a a
00:41:02
trade-off of market share in the short
00:41:04
run for what is the core asset and that
00:41:06
is a rational margin as the premier
00:41:08
luxury brand in consumer products.
00:41:10
>> And very briefly, how are you feeling
00:41:12
about their stock right now as as they
00:41:14
transition away from Tim Cook?
00:41:18
>> Well, I've been selling down my Apple
00:41:20
stock because I think Tim Cook is a
00:41:22
duplicitive [ __ ] who's benefited
00:41:24
from the American society and is not is
00:41:26
not giving back. Um,
00:41:28
>> okay.
00:41:31
But that's why you did
00:41:33
>> I would stock as you're investing.
00:41:35
>> I would hold on to Apple stock. I I
00:41:38
think Apple is
00:41:40
I think these are incredible companies.
00:41:42
Uh it hurts to sell the stock. I I'm
00:41:44
just trying to walk you trying to walk
00:41:47
the walk and virtue signal. So
00:41:48
>> resist and unsubscribe.
00:41:50
>> You know it.
00:41:50
>> Um anyway, we need to take a quick break
00:41:53
and we come back we'll get to wins and
00:41:55
fails.
00:41:57
>> Support for the show comes from ODO.
00:41:59
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00:42:53
Scott, we're back recording live from
00:42:55
South by Southwest. All right, we're
00:42:57
going to do one win and one fail each.
00:43:00
Um I think I am going to start. Um I
00:43:04
think um the win this week uh for me was
00:43:09
um the impression I don't know the guy's
00:43:11
name of Tucker Carlson on SNL last
00:43:14
night. If you watched it, it was [ __ ]
00:43:16
superb. And oddly enough, in some cases,
00:43:20
um, in some of the things he's Tucker
00:43:23
Holson's a terrible person. Let's I'm
00:43:24
not going to agree with him, but I
00:43:25
thought it was a beautiful rendition of
00:43:27
a lot of these sort of noisy
00:43:30
right-wing people who are parodies of
00:43:32
themselves. And I thought it was it just
00:43:34
got to the heart of the problem with
00:43:36
him. Um, that I thought was just
00:43:38
beautiful and it was highly
00:43:39
entertaining. It made me laugh. And by
00:43:40
the way, Harry Styles was terrific. And
00:43:42
I love Harry Styles so much. I don't
00:43:44
know why, but I do. I find him
00:43:45
incredibly appealing. Um the negative
00:43:48
this week was uh Elon Musk saying Grock
00:43:51
didn't quite work as planned at at the
00:43:54
same time and they're and everybody
00:43:55
leaving Grock even though it has these
00:43:57
incredible valuations. Nine of the 11
00:44:00
original founders have left. Um
00:44:03
obviously you have Mecca Hitler, you
00:44:04
have all manner of things that is doing.
00:44:06
You have uh consent uh non-consentual
00:44:09
sexual images, child pornography. It's
00:44:11
not doing great as an AI product. And
00:44:14
again, a low bar. Um, but I thought it
00:44:17
was interesting uh um that he admitted
00:44:19
what a mess it was. Um it still will not
00:44:21
have any effect on the valuation because
00:44:23
any anything Elon does, they will invest
00:44:25
in no matter what. But I thought it was
00:44:27
a moment where he sort of admitted what
00:44:30
a disaster Grock is. And I think you're
00:44:32
going to see more of that going forward.
00:44:34
And at the same time, uh, in continuing
00:44:37
disasters wrought by Elon Musk, the two,
00:44:39
if do yourself a favor and watch the the
00:44:42
testimonies, the the the interviews on
00:44:44
video of two of the Doge B bros, they're
00:44:48
worse than you thought. Like, it's I
00:44:50
couldn't believe they were worse than
00:44:51
you thought. But these were, speaking of
00:44:54
incels, like an incelled mode. I don't
00:44:56
know if they're incelss or not, but they
00:44:58
should be. Women, any women thinking of
00:45:00
dating them should watch these. Um, I
00:45:03
thought they were just sort of this
00:45:05
benality of evil kind of thing where you
00:45:07
just watch these ignorant stupid young
00:45:10
men telling you why they were cutting
00:45:13
and essentially in many cases murdering
00:45:15
people across the globe by do using
00:45:18
chatgbt and search to decide and make
00:45:21
decisions and someone I couldn't believe
00:45:23
this kid asked I mean maybe I could I
00:45:26
don't I kept thinking who raised I want
00:45:27
to find this parent and go have a
00:45:29
discussion with them but one of of the
00:45:31
things they said is why did you cut it?
00:45:34
And he's like, do you think you're
00:45:35
qualified to make the decision on
00:45:37
something that was very complex around
00:45:39
expertise and everything else? And he
00:45:42
said, yeah, I'm qualified. And he goes,
00:45:43
why? And he goes, well, you don't have
00:45:44
to read all the books to know things. I
00:45:47
was like, actually, you need to read all
00:45:49
the books to know things. And if you do
00:45:51
if you do yourself any favor, it was
00:45:53
such a failure of these obviously
00:45:55
probably very good coders in technology
00:45:58
and that had talents in a certain area
00:46:01
being being unleashed upon things that
00:46:04
took a lot more. And I don't think you
00:46:06
can't cut government programs. I'm not
00:46:07
one of those people. But the fact that
00:46:09
they made these decisions in such a
00:46:11
haphazard, ridiculous, stupid way is
00:46:14
something it's it's a real sight to see.
00:46:16
And one of the things many years ago I
00:46:18
found a column I did um that I wrote
00:46:21
about the need for ethics history and
00:46:23
philosophy courses uh with technology
00:46:26
people and vice versa by the way uh
00:46:29
liberal studies people should understand
00:46:31
AI and everything else and one of the
00:46:33
things that I thought I one of the
00:46:35
better things I think I did as a as a
00:46:36
parent and and Megan my ex-wife is here
00:46:39
too is our son Alex for example is a
00:46:41
techn is in technology but he takes
00:46:43
design he's really interested in history
00:46:46
He's he's got like a wider range of
00:46:48
interests around politics and everything
00:46:50
else. And I I don't that's not our
00:46:52
fault, but I think we encouraged him to
00:46:54
have a wider range of Louie could learn
00:46:57
more about AI. Our older son could
00:46:59
probably learn more about AI than he
00:47:01
does, but um but it was it was really a
00:47:03
moment where I thought, what are we
00:47:05
making? What kind of children are we
00:47:07
making here that they think this is
00:47:08
right? And so I thought it was a real
00:47:11
it's an eyeopener to watch these
00:47:13
testimonies and they sit there with
00:47:14
these very fresh young faces and it was
00:47:19
so disturbing to me on every level. So I
00:47:21
encourage you to watch it and be
00:47:22
disturbed yourself. Go ahead. Win and
00:47:25
fail.
00:47:25
>> I like that. Um my fail is it the Save
00:47:28
Act? The one that's trying to It looks
00:47:30
like it's going to be dead on arrival,
00:47:32
but the act would force people to show
00:47:34
up with either a passport or a birth
00:47:36
stick of it. Only 50% of Americans have
00:47:38
a passport. They cost $160 to get. A lot
00:47:42
of people have to change their birth
00:47:43
certificate because they get married or
00:47:44
they hyphenate their name. This is just
00:47:46
such a naked attempt to suppress voter
00:47:50
turnout. It's just it's it's difficult.
00:47:51
And I do it does feel like it's dead on
00:47:53
arrival, but it's difficult to imagine
00:47:55
anything more anti-American.
00:47:56
>> Yeah.
00:47:57
>> They're doing everything to pass it.
00:47:59
>> Yeah. I'm hoping
00:48:00
>> getting your senator John Cornin who is
00:48:03
just literally the wor the worst. I
00:48:05
mean, Ken Paxton's already sort of
00:48:07
criminalishious or criminal adjacent,
00:48:09
but this guy used to have values and now
00:48:12
his anything to be in office. Uh and to
00:48:16
to the other side, my win is we uh
00:48:19
interviewed uh rep state representative
00:48:21
James Talerico yesterday and he had
00:48:29
he had the most moving um description of
00:48:34
and he wasn't framing it this way of
00:48:35
masculinity. And he said that his father
00:48:38
every weekend would mow his lawn and
00:48:41
then without asking, without talking
00:48:43
about it, would go next door and mow
00:48:45
their lawn.
00:48:47
And he said that was masculinity. I
00:48:50
thought that was just so perfect. You
00:48:52
know, I struggle with trying to identify
00:48:54
it through a series of adjectives and it
00:48:56
just it just without asking mowing your
00:48:59
neighbor's lawn. I just love that.
00:49:01
That's my
00:49:02
>> You mow my lawn? I have several lawns.
00:49:04
>> I'm not going to go there. I
00:49:08
I'm
00:49:08
>> I I I I
00:49:12
>> I did walk.
00:49:13
>> Is this too easy and too wrong? I'm just
00:49:18
just season 2 Swedish US women's hockey
00:49:20
team.
00:49:21
>> All right. Uh he's I got to meet him.
00:49:24
He's the baby Jesus is very attractive.
00:49:26
>> Oh my gosh. Yeah. I really
00:49:27
>> I was planning to ask all these zingers
00:49:29
like, "Dude, we follow the same people
00:49:31
on Instagram."
00:49:33
Um you'll get it. He's supposedly
00:49:35
supposedly follows all these hot women
00:49:37
on Instagram.
00:49:38
>> I wanted to ask him if he dates and I
00:49:39
just couldn't do anything that he's so
00:49:42
>> earnest.
00:49:43
>> That's right.
00:49:44
>> He's so real and so earnest and you're
00:49:46
just looking to I'm like literally like
00:49:49
take my money.
00:49:51
>> Yeah.
00:49:52
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:53
>> Anyway, it's a real It's going to be an
00:49:55
interesting race.
00:49:58
Anyway, um, okay, we need to take a
00:50:01
quick break and we come back, we'll take
00:50:02
some questions from the audience. Scott,
00:50:05
we're back recording live from South by
00:50:07
Southwest.
00:50:10
All right, we're ready to take some
00:50:12
questions from the audience. We only
00:50:14
have time for just a few, so keep them
00:50:16
short that we can answer quickly and and
00:50:19
easy for Scott, please.
00:50:20
>> Hey guys, Melissa Richards Person and
00:50:22
I'm from Louisville, Kentucky. Um,
00:50:24
>> wow. My dad is turning 10 in three
00:50:27
months. And the reason I offer that,
00:50:29
thank you. Is that he was a civil
00:50:32
engineer and he was engineering things
00:50:34
built to last.
00:50:36
>> Got it.
00:50:36
>> And I think about us, have we as a have
00:50:39
we lost the ability to think long term
00:50:42
as opposed to short term?
00:50:44
>> That's a great question. That's a great
00:50:45
question, Scott.
00:50:48
Um well technically we're focused on
00:50:50
shareholder value and the markets
00:50:52
reverse engineer earnings way out in the
00:50:54
future. So technically these big capex
00:50:57
investments that are driving the economy
00:50:59
you would argue are actually long-term
00:51:01
investments. So I think the financial
00:51:03
markets would say no we are actually
00:51:06
still the second largest manufacturer in
00:51:08
the world. Um, I think people have a
00:51:11
fondness and a nostalgia for quote
00:51:13
unquote building stuff, but the reality
00:51:15
is 80% of Americans think we should have
00:51:18
more manufacturing, but only 20% of
00:51:20
Americans want to work in manufacturing.
00:51:22
You can't bring your dog to the factory
00:51:24
floor. So I I would argue that Americans
00:51:27
still do have more risk capital to
00:51:30
invest long term, but quite frankly,
00:51:32
just like we were talking about CNN,
00:51:34
Washington Post, we have this
00:51:36
romanticism for manufacturing, but very
00:51:38
few young people other than Kerous when
00:51:41
you ask them what they want to do say, I
00:51:42
want to I want to go into manufacturing.
00:51:44
Um, so I still think we're thinking long
00:51:46
term and make make great things. I think
00:51:48
our products are still some of the best
00:51:50
in the world. I do think we go through
00:51:51
cycles of that and I think we're
00:51:52
probably headed into a more long I think
00:51:54
especially if you if anyone who's a
00:51:56
young person they're moving away from a
00:51:58
lot of this quick fast I've noticed just
00:52:01
a little more community and doing this
00:52:04
series there's a lot more of a need and
00:52:06
a desperation for community connection
00:52:09
long-termness I picked it up and that's
00:52:12
just anecdotal
00:52:13
>> hey Cara and Scott thanks for taking
00:52:14
questions Eve Grant um Scott you talked
00:52:16
about the attempt to chill free speech
00:52:18
is backfiring I'll tend and alternative
00:52:21
media will fill the gap as long as
00:52:23
courts protect them. I like your
00:52:24
optimism. What about the Go Gawker media
00:52:26
lawsuit that demonstrated the courts
00:52:28
didn't protect them and money wins?
00:52:31
>> It's a it's a fair point. I'll I'll turn
00:52:33
to my journalist.
00:52:34
>> I think you're right. I I am much more
00:52:35
concerned. I think they can chill
00:52:37
people. Uh I I worry myself. I like you
00:52:40
think about it. You know, I don't do it.
00:52:41
I of course immediately run right into
00:52:43
the breach. But I do think it does
00:52:45
create a situation when I always like to
00:52:48
see the enemy, right? Like back in the
00:52:51
day when everyone's like, "How dare
00:52:52
these anti-gay people?" I'm like, "I can
00:52:54
see them. It's the ones I can't see I'm
00:52:56
worried about." And so I like to I see
00:52:59
what their move is. And so now it's an
00:53:02
easier person to fight when you see who
00:53:04
they are and what they're up to. And
00:53:05
what they're up to is very typical of
00:53:07
autotocracies is try to slowly bring it
00:53:09
down. I do think there's a lashback
00:53:11
because we do have so many tools
00:53:13
available to us and power has shifted
00:53:15
from uh the typical broadcast networks
00:53:18
to people like us to others and so it
00:53:21
does tend to um
00:53:24
unintended consequences of being such
00:53:27
incredible morons is is is what's going
00:53:29
to happen and again I think Brennan Carr
00:53:32
is an embarrassment and will end it will
00:53:34
end badly for him eventually just maybe
00:53:37
just because you don't know the And just
00:53:39
because you don't know the end of the
00:53:41
story doesn't mean that's how it's going
00:53:42
to end. That's how I look at things. All
00:53:44
right. Uh that's all the time we have
00:53:47
for today. We really appreciate South by
00:53:50
Southwest and we do appreciate all our
00:53:52
fans. Thanks for listening to Pivot and
00:53:54
be sure to like and subscribe to our
00:53:56
YouTube channel because we have a face
00:53:58
for radio. Uh we'll be back later this
00:54:01
week. Thank you so much. South by
00:54:03
Southwest.
00:54:17
Thanks again to ODU for supporting this
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show. ODU wants to be your ultimate
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