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Why Democrats' Trump Resistance is Failing | Pivot

March 07, 2025 / 01:06:15

This episode of Pivot covers Scott Galloway's experiences in Australia, discussions on Elon Musk and John Stewart, and Trump's recent address to Congress. Hosts Cara Swisher and Scott Galloway share insights on Australian culture, politics, and the impact of technology on democracy.

Scott Galloway shares his travels across Australia, mentioning cities like Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne. He discusses the country's diverse culture and its superannuation fund, which invests in citizens' futures.

The conversation shifts to a recent interview between John Stewart and Elon Musk, where Musk criticized Stewart's partisanship. Galloway and Swisher reflect on the role of comedians like Stewart and Bill Burr in addressing political issues.

They analyze Trump's address to Congress, noting his focus on familiar grievances and lack of new policies. The hosts critique the Democrats' response, highlighting ineffective protests during the speech.

Finally, they discuss the implications of Trump's tariffs on the automotive industry and the broader economy, emphasizing the potential long-term effects on American households.

TL;DR

Scott Galloway shares his Australian travels while discussing Elon Musk's interview with John Stewart and analyzing Trump's congressional address and its fallout.

Video

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I didn't want to see Mark Zuckerberg's chest in any way and there it
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was hi everyone this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the VOX media podcast Network I'm Cara swisser and it's
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tomorrow where I am Scott Galloway are you still in Australia I am still in Australia I am still in Australia wow I
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know I've been here a while I've been all over this amazing country I was in uh I was in Brisbane I was in Adelaide I
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was in Sydney and now I'm in Melbourne which I think is my favorite city I hate to pick one because they'll be all the
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Australians who love us will be mad at me but it's a great City it's a fantastic City it's a great City last
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time I was in Australia I traveled to New Zealand and I was driving I was driving along the side of the road and there was a guy [ __ ] a sheep I said
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you know in Australia they Shear them and he said [ __ ] you I'm not shearing her with
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anybody that's good oh my God yeah it's good oh I can't believe you have a dirty
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Australian joke this I'll I'll take it PG-13 you're coming to Texas in a few days I I tomorrow yeah mhm well I'm
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bring yesterday for to the day after tomorrow for you but go ahead sorry yeah I'm bringing cheese uh for us uh such so
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we can handle any emergency I'm calling it my Justin
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queso oh Scott oh Scott I love okay what you doing Australia I've been going on
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my book tour um I I didn't come here when my book came out last March
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books Scott we I'm literally hug we are huge everyone asked me about you it's
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really irritating um they're like when are you and Scott coming I I have sold out like major venues here just by
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myself we could sell out a stadium we could sell out a stadium for I would likes that yes they want us tomorrow
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belongs to me and they're all upset that you talk about not wanting to come there everyone would live in Australia if it
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wasn't so far it's a great country I had one of the best lights of my life and Australia it involved the ex-girlfriend
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of the drummer of nxs I'm dating myself at I was at the W Hotel was out alone
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and these two women came up to me and said hi you're alone and we they took me out we had a great time I just I had the
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best time there the water taxies that polar place with the pool and the Polar
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Bear Club whatever it's called all that I missed all that here but I was I I do a lot of walking I do a lot of walking
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and like the you know it's such a it's it's a it's a weird diverse place in you
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know there's all kinds of different um people from countries all over the world and I kind of like that it feels very
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even even the smaller cities like Adelaide um just feel just they're just really interesting and maybe because
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it's sort of a familiar environment yet it's not anyway I love it um I went and saw the Sydney Opera House I took walks
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I did the whole thing I did it I love it here I last time I was here I took my boys L uh Louie and Alex and I were here
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you had a I'm going next Christmas before or next holiday I'm taking my boys before we head back to the US it's
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um I mean it's really uh it's it's a tourism giant giant and has some of some of the best wine in the world it's got
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um the more kangaroos Than People yes I didn't see any kangaroos this visit though and they did something that I think we should do here in the US and
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that is well they're very paternal and they take some of their mineral wealth and they invest it on behalf of people
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and they have something called the uh super annuation fund and it's essentially a pension program and it has
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over3 and a half trillion dollars under it making one of the largest Pension funds in the world interesting so it's sort of see you need to come here you
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know a lot about Australia this is great oh I love Australia you know what else we could do besides going around in
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stadiums you and I go to the Outback and only one of us comes back what do you
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think it's it's not a vacation it's Survivor yeah something like that why do why do your fantasy always involv
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something where I die because it's really well because if two of us went out in the outback only one would come
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what who do you think would make it just well you always ask this question and it's obvious I I would just just honorably kill myself I would just find
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I would several pros and a bunch of Fentanyl and just say all right I'm out game over by the way some bands from uh
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Australia ACDC yeah I love ACDC in EXs highway to help those people the highway
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to help people uh that's ACDC Jesus didn't you have a childhood you really didn't smoke
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anyways yeah ACDC yeah that song I know they're fantastic Midnight Oil hugely underrated band and
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of course Men at Work Olivia yeah uh is I think Kylie
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mano's from there uh and one of the great actors one of the great actors not arguably a great guy Mel Gibson
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oh yeah lost it there he did took a little too far you know and I could say
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I would really like the only reason I want to do the Outback I'll come back and I'll go a dingo ate my Scotty so
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yeah that's mer street now the best independent film that come out of Australia this is a gorgeous little film
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that introduced Nicole Kidman and the most beautiful woman in the world is in the film uh thandy Newton it's a movie
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called flirting and it's about uh a boarding school in Australia and it is
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so touching and so well done it's really a really a wonderful film wow it's Tandy
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it's Tandy just so you know anyway back to Australia we love Australia we love Australia and
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you you and I are coming here anyway uh we've got a lot to get to I spent a lot of time apologizing for us anyway we've
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got a lot to get to today including Trump's at T roller coaster and how the Democrats resistant tactics keep falling
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flat uh kind of a mess oh we'll talk about that but first let's talk about John Stewart neon musk when we we get to
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see the two of them sit down for an interview after an ex-user suggested that you should have a conversation must said he'd be up for it if quote the show
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airs unedited after Stuart accepted and obviously the show is always unedited Elon mus proceeded to call him a
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propaganda saying he used to be more bipartisan and sort of uh backed away let's listen to steuart's Fantastic
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response the guy who custom made his own dark Maga hat that he wears to opine in the Oval
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Office with the president who he spent 270 million to
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elect thinks I'm just too partisan
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I I'm really not sure what he thinks bipartisan means but it's generally not I support Donald Trump and also
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Germany's afd party that that's not bipartisan that's just the same [ __ ] so
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uh I guess what I would say is this uh look Elon uh I do have some uh
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criticisms about Doge I support in general the idea of efficiency and delivering better services to the
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American public in cheaper and more efficient ways and if you want to come on and talk about it on the show uh
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great uh if you don't want to sure but can we just drop the pretense that you
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won't do it because I don't measure up to the standards of neutral discourse that you demand and display at all times
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yeah that was good that was good um you know who's doing really well I think Comics have like like Stewart and Bill
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Burr has been really funny and Bill Mah has kind of been up to like Chelsea
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Handler all of them are really handling it like really well I would say like in a way that's funny approachable and also
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very pointed I I just I find them I don't know for some reason quite good I
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don't know if you do yeah they've been great but the most I would argue you know comedians have always played a pretty big role in culture and
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highlighting the injustices of culture I would argue the most important in that group is Bill Burr because I think bill
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has so much credibility across the conservative ecosystem and he was constantly setting progressives hair on
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fire with very very funny provocative and you know whatever inappropriate see
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above comedian and he just gone off on musk uh and I think for me it represents
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sort of the nadir the peak or whatever where the dialogue has really really
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flipped and people are coming I I do think there's sort of been a reveal by
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the way I wonder if elon's going to bring one of his kids as a human shield to John Stewart by the way I don't Happ
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going he's saying he's too bipartisan he's so he's such a chicken [ __ ] oh yeah he such I'll fight you anywhere
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Jiu-Jitsu oh no never mind my my I have a herniated disc there's no way he's gonna go on that show no way no because
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he can't keep up se's too fast and too sharp for him he's not he's not I I
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think people should realize I me El's not he's a very smart person but in this regard he is not and Stuart would run
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circles around him in a way that would be embarrassing um uh anyway we'll see
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uh in other by the way just just because you didn't ask I've been in Barcelona Miami and New York in the last 40 hours
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you're not you're not the only one who looks 110 I saw you were at Mobile World Congress like I haven't been there in
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years unbelievable event huge event yeah I haven't been there in years I used to send reporters there and what were you
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discussing I saw you on the stage looking very comely by the way you look very fit and trim oh thanks for saying
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that um uh basically my WAP now is a cowardice Domino that is big Tech that
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these individuals don't realize the damage they're having and they're enabling you know they're the mortar and the bricks of fascism and because all
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these the biggest the biggest companies where they're sponsoring it I'm like these individuals are playing a really key and terrible role in our March
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towards Fascism and that's all we talked about oh wow yeah people are super you it's
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it's a everything is linked to Tech right now of course which puts it in our wheelhouse in a lot of ways and I think
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you know especially abroad they're sort of absolutely confused by the whole thing and they don't know what to do because you know they endured Trump 1.0
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but this is something far different for them um and even in our own country a group backed by musk is spending
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millions in Wisconsin Supreme Court election like what is he doing over there ads run by the group highlighting Progressive values appear to be coming
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from supporters of a democratic back candidate but instead come from conservatives musk's America pack uh is
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the biggest outside spender in the race the outcome of the election will have major implications Wisconsin as the core
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is expected to face issues surrounding abortion voting rules and unions liberals gained a 4 to3 majority two
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years ago if you remember that and after 15 years of conservative control um I I
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I heard from the people who are backing the the it's a woman candidate for the judgeship um uh who who are working
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really hard who won the last time they had this fight um but the money from
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musk is this is where you're going to see it uh all across the country people that that are against Trump in some way
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are going to this money is going to move in uh like uh crazy like but but there's
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a couple reveals here or points and that is one and I've said this this is one of
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my big themes for 2025 democracy and rights have now become the r is almost
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one they're almost perfectly correlated with how much money you have because in almost every election in America it's
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kind of 48% vote one way or 49 and 48 or 49 vote the other way and 1 or 2% swing
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the election and lately because of Jerry mandering it's .1% that swing the
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election and it's pretty fairly obvious that that musk and his ad targeting and
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a third of a billion dollars in key States uh leveraged by a platform he
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probably decided who was president the most he's probably decided the
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geopolitical priorities for the next four years globally so if you don't think that rights are directly correlated to money case in point Elon
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Musk and then when you look at at Doge and what he's doing in Wisconsin there are people on the right and they are
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they are intellectually honest it's about politics for them it's about a belief system whether you believe if whether you agree with them or not you
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have to respect their ideals and them putting their money their time their treasure and talent behind those ideals it has I don't think has anything to do
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with it here and that is if you look at Doge Doge isn't about fraud and waste
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the first thing they they thought they identified on their wall of receipts at 8 billion was 8 million and numbers 2
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three and four people can't even verify they seem to be false but what they've
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managed to do really elegantly is remove Regulators in autonomous driving yeah I mean is so obvious all over the place
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yeah this isn't about ideology it's about money and by the way that judge that he is trying that he is trying to
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get that he is trying to get elected Wisconsin you need an exemption to directly own car dealerships like Most
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states the The Regulators or the lobby for car dealerships have made it very
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ult for uh car dealerships to be vertically owned by the manufacturer because there's a lot of wealthy people and they think that it's good for
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competition you have to get an exemption in Wisconsin he has been suing the in
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Wisconsin for this exemption and if he gets his guy on the Supreme Court there it'll likely be overturned folks wake up
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money equals Power full stop and this guy it's all about money it has nothing to do with his views politically or this
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all reverse Engineers to I want I want my cars put on the road regardless of
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safety standards I want Verizon kicked out an AI I'm in behind an AI I would
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like this to happen yeah I agree I think people you know I mean the Coke brothers have a lot more intellectual honesty
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than this guy do they do I think they actually believe some of their nonsense anyway speaking which it's not just must
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Google is urging officials at Trump's doj to back away from breaking the company up reps from the parent company
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alphabet argue that breaking up the search engine could have National Security repercussions I'm sure that not
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as a reminder the B Administration called for Google to sell off chrome and make other business changes after the judge ruled a company uh to be an
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illegal online search Monopoly a federal judge has set to rule on what Google must change at a hearing next month um
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but it doesn't the judge is going to decide this but this is they put a donation to Trump's inauguration and you
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know these people have been running from regulation for decades two decades now and here is what I consider a minor
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thing a minor change that other other Industries um have been a have not
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been able to get out of and here they are doing the same thing so it's not just limited to musk although he's the most egregious example of it um but
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they're all sort of payto playay kind of stuff going on yeah they're doing what they're doing they're trying to figure out a way not to be broken up what
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what's what's counterintuitive is I think shareholder value would actually go up you and I both sir but but the
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problem is the people in charge want to sit on the Iron Throne of all Seven Realms just not West or o and they get to decide but alphabet while having
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probably more maybe the exception of Apple more separate independent $1 billion dollar plus independent
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companies that you could spend they probably have four or five they do have an existential crisis and that is their
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search uh share or their share of search fell below 90% for the first time and AI
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is just starting is starting to uh uh eat away at their share and it is the
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ultimate example of the innovators dilemma where they essentially invent Ed much of the original Ip yet they sat on
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their hands and as a result alphabet's Gemini their llm is vastly beaten by
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open AI anthropic and even deep seek and it's just they got to be really kicking
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themselves that how did we let everyone get out uh ahead of us in the latest uh earnings report the stock tumbled by
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nearly 9% and their revenue had growth uh the revenue growth slowed um uh has slowed
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since uh this time last year and it's so they're facing their own Sergey Bren was
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talking about everyone back to the office and we got a hardcore it he was he's the one of the founders was talking
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about the need to do that in order to Prevail in in AI he he even was sounding the
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alarms well this is I mean it really is this company is but here's the thing the ISS the
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argument they will make when they get in front of judges on earnings calls they will say temporary lag look at this
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everything's great we're amazing the power here is unprecedent when they get in front of a judge next week they're going to be like oh my God things are so
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terrible you can't break us up right now we're we're really National Security implications I mean they they it's just
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they come up with something every time like we must have strong national champions it sounds so I don't know
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Chinese nationalist I mean just just a quick definition people throw around the term fascist a lot they use it to
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describe Carter Obama people incorrectly use it to describe certain aspects of the Trump Administration fascism is
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Extreme nationalism it's a belief that someone you elect who for whatever reason your his his view of what's good
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for the nation should sup supersede the other party any governance any checks and balances even the courts even you
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don't you refuse to condemn violence against your enemies you condemn immigrants that is fascism it literally
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this kind of the current Administration and their current policies are literally the textbook definition of fascism so
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it's it's a word it's become overused but it's absolutely appropriate here one
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of the things that I was saying someone I foret to one of the questions and they said what bothers you the most I said
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well a lot of times they competed I was you know as I go look back on I'm talking about my book and stuff like
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that like they compete like like Steve Jobs competed on product right or tried to compete on the actual product there's
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so many bad products like Tesla has not innovated I said I'm offended by Elon
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because of Elon but the car hasn't in innovated right very much and there's and that's why he's losing or Google
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search hasn't innovated and and and all kinds of products aren't better right
00:18:08
there couple couple of them are are doing a better job I think Apple has come up with several new interesting
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products over the past 10 years for example airpods the watch things like that but they they're right now they're
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competing on oligarchy and access and proximity and none of it's about the
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actual product and that makes me I don't know I was like vaguely like it was irritating that they can't that this
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is the way they're going to get an advantage and I get that's why but it feels that's late stage and it it's a
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real turn for them that they can't compete on actual things they have to get whatever angle they can in order to
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stay in business like like starlink I want to I want I want to be close to pres so I can get whatever I want
00:18:53
although Canada just kicked him out that Justin Trudeau has gotten a dose of backbone have you noed no that he's very
00:19:00
he's extra adorable recently I have to say there is there is a real void that
00:19:05
people are stepping into I would say Chau I also say MRA is really stepping yeah they're looking very handsome I
00:19:12
they're looking very handsome you're you're drawn to these individuals well they are they're acting like leaders
00:19:17
they're not not just cuz I like what they say but like power as an aphrodesiac I get it I'm they're being clear and crisp and you know the real T
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are are you hot for starmer yet Kier starmer who is I think he's adorable who assembled world leaders yeah did passed
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a head up your ass n think 10,000 millionaires have left the UK in the last three months but other than that he
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looks like a leader he's got big shoulders and good hair yeah the rich people like this stuff I mean there are
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rich people there are people there are people stepping into the void um yeah uh
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you know the the leader of Denmark the leader of Finland there are people making really powerful yeah uh Speech
00:19:54
bringing them together too it's bringing them together and I'll say more about it later but I do think the EU
00:19:59
and it's a silver lining here is stepping in into the morass here or the crevice of the Void the crevice yes it's
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the crevice also there's a lovely video of Justin uh Justin Trudeau making a
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maple milkshake making out with Macon sorry that would be hot anyway all right
00:20:16
Scott let's go on a quick break when we come back Trump's address to Congress the Democrats divided response with Bo
00:20:22
of that they think were unimpressed by also John fedman was unimpressed Scott we're back with our first big story
00:20:27
president Trump delivered a joint addressed to Congress this week and for those watching it felt like yet another campaign rally he has got to get some
00:20:33
new material over the course of 1 hour and 40 minutes very long Trump touted his accomplishments Revisited old
00:20:39
Grievances and repeated lies it was V it was a good version of what he did what he does he praised Elon Musk and Doge
00:20:46
mocked Democrats and wokeness uh he didn't unveil any future policies or plans it was the greatest hits and it
00:20:52
was a good version of greatest H hits we'll get to the Democrats in a bit um what did you think about this speech and
00:20:58
I'll just note um Trump also noted in the speech that he's working to end the war in Ukraine and also say a letter he
00:21:04
got from Ukraine's president zalinski apparently now is ready to come to the negotiating table he's had to he he's
00:21:09
had to do he's had to get the lesson in how to suck up to Trump which is unfortunate um it follows this explosive
00:21:16
meeting between Trump zalinsky and JD Vance in the Oval Office last week the second most interesting thing JD Vance
00:21:22
is done on a couch uh according to the American people Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine early this week and he's
00:21:29
cut off intelligence sharing as well which is probably even more devastating um first talk about uh what you thought
00:21:35
of his speech and and then the Oval Office situation well putting truth aside and I
00:21:43
want to Circle back to truth um I thought it was a win for him and I thought it was a loss for Democrats uh I
00:21:49
thought he came across as uh Resolute as strong I thought he looked good I thought he was forceful I thought he was
00:21:56
articulate and I don't want to be one of those Nations that digresses into a total [ __ ] food fight in our in our
00:22:04
uh addresses I think that it reflects poorly on the unit to the Democrats in a
00:22:09
minute talk about him why do you think I agree with you why do you think he did well even though it was the greatest
00:22:15
hits he did the greatest hits well is what I thought well he was just he came across as forceful and we are now in a
00:22:22
situation where I have friends who have become who put out reels and just adopt
00:22:28
sted every talking point no matter how outrageous it is but just a little bit of an economic reality check he declared
00:22:34
America is back meanwhile markets are tanking and the economy is stumbling GDP
00:22:40
I know the US economy the US economy is Contracting at the fastest rate right now since the covid lockdowns the
00:22:47
Atlanta the Atlanta fed has something called a GDP now model which estimates annualized growth and it's gone from 4%
00:22:55
up which is remarkable to -2% .8 in the last month consumer confidence
00:23:02
has had its greatest drop since Co retail spending is down eggs up Trump take egg the markets are not in freef
00:23:09
fall but definitely declining the NASDAQ has lost 9% in 10 days all of the gains
00:23:15
since the Trump bump has have disappeared he has the greatest levels
00:23:20
of disapproval of any president except one other at this time in his presidency
00:23:25
and that other was Trump's first term 52% saying he's ignoring the country's
00:23:31
biggest problems and just a little Word search fun here he mentioned Greenland
00:23:36
three times more than affordable housing veterans or prescription drug cost zero mentions of healthc care zero mentions
00:23:42
of veterans or prescription D drug cost five mentions of tax cuts for billionaires five mentions of illegal
00:23:49
aliens six mentions of the Panama Canal 13 mentions of Joe Biden and three
00:23:54
mentions of annexing Greenland it was Panama it is just and my favorite was
00:24:02
the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over and then while Elon
00:24:07
Musk I know sat in the audience and oh my my second favorite oh transgender
00:24:13
mice oh Free Speech it's back forgetting that on a social media post he said he
00:24:19
would ban illegal protests at universities and that he has barred the associated PR from the Oval Office so
00:24:25
unfortunately our leadership and our polic itics and even our truth have become just who can lie the most with
00:24:32
the most confidence he was an effective liar that's what I thought I'm like he's lying excellently here and it's and it
00:24:37
was like so it was easily proven lies the transgender mice thing was insane
00:24:43
because it's transgenic mice and it they put DNA it's a it's a it's not what he
00:24:48
was describing it as but of course he wins the day because it's like transgender mice and you know it's
00:24:54
ridiculous it's ridiculous and you know what was just an just you thought the guy couldn't get any more Craven the
00:25:01
emotionally man the emotional manipulation of that that girl who had
00:25:06
her face uh her nose broken and got a concussion because of a spike from a
00:25:11
transgender volleyball player I just want to remind everybody before they clutch their Progressive pearls a couple years ago on this show I said that
00:25:18
transgender women should not be allowed to be in sports where there is money or scholarships on the line I have I said
00:25:24
that early and often much to the much to the I don't know disappo my Progressive colleagues I have said
00:25:31
that a early and often at the same time demonizing a transgender girl and and
00:25:37
emotionally manipulating and using as a prop another teenage girl to try and
00:25:43
look at her isn't she beautiful and she's a beautiful little girl and she had a concussion and by the way I played High School sports the
00:25:51
sport that has the greatest level of injury in the world is high school football and high school sports are
00:25:57
chalk full of injuries and again see above I do not think transgender women
00:26:02
should be allowed to play in collegate level you can't have a 64 swimmer showing up and saying I present as a
00:26:09
woman to take every medal get back to my point is that was just Craven to to
00:26:15
create that sort of emotional manipulation and to demonize you don't think that that transgender girl who was
00:26:22
the one who spiked the ball is probably getting [ __ ] death threats right now feel bad nobody no it's I AG no one
00:26:29
wants to hurt someone else they was just you know use kids it was a cheap shot cheap shot as they say anyway what did
00:26:35
you think of the Linsky thing speaking of beating up on someone and and planning a a ridiculous attack purely
00:26:41
orchestrated by Putin yeah purely orchestrated by Putin I mean
00:26:46
just that was planned Vance who doesn't have I mean my the only thing that gave
00:26:52
me any sort of Joy there was watching literally Senator Rubio lose all of his last bits of song specs of soul and
00:27:00
respect for himself and then he defended then he defended it knowing that Tik Tock would come up with every time he's
00:27:06
presented himself as a cold warrior and he just sat there literally uh melting
00:27:11
him and Lindy Graham lindsy Graham I can't believe I can't believe listen Fog Horn Leg Horn closeted Fog Horn Leg Horn
00:27:19
just go back to your closet that reminds me what's the difference between a garbanzo bean and a chickpea
00:27:25
what uh I'm not going to pay 50 bucks for our garbanzo to Bean on my face I
00:27:31
don't even know what that means think about it think about it
00:27:37
oh I still don't get it don't 50 bucks I pay 50 bucks for a trick to be on my
00:27:42
face really oh okay there you go we'll get you there we'll get you there I'm
00:27:48
very simple lady um yes it was depressing and the whole thing around the very many of us are go back to
00:27:53
zinsky the outfit like which with musk was there they just have no irony like they had musk there looking like a
00:28:00
lesbian from the 1980s a badly dressed lesbian from 1980s and then they're insulting I was wearing a military
00:28:06
uniform his country's military uniform we treated representatives of the Viet Kong with more respect negotiations
00:28:13
around pie of you don't provide a world leader and then Ambush them it's just bad manners and you lose CR his people
00:28:20
are like good job like good job that they they went after him and like go go
00:28:25
fella it's so ridiculous o God I it was so IR that was really and then of course sininsky had to like walk it back
00:28:32
because and say it was unfortunate and um you know when I rewatched I was like
00:28:38
was he that difficult and I just to make sure and I was like no they really egged him on you could see it happening in
00:28:44
real time he certainly got up with a big medal we we were giving you the nation's highest honor here you here you and
00:28:51
here's a here's a here's a here's a statue made out of six karat gold it's a
00:28:57
picture look how and trim you we're giving you we're giving you an honorary gold medal just for being awesome I know
00:29:04
oh it's so gross it's so by the way just just a few facts about zilinski his
00:29:09
grandfather fought in World War II he lost people in the Holocaust he's Jewish
00:29:14
they complain about a lack of free press the Brit Britain didn't allow they he has not banned any other press unless
00:29:20
it's Russian propaganda just as the UK did they wouldn't allow fascist papers to run pro- Hitler ads while they were
00:29:27
getting the [ __ ] bombed out out of them this guy the greatest Roi the greatest Venture investment in history is
00:29:33
America's mild modest 60 billion dollar 70% of which is spent in the US mostly
00:29:39
red states that has done the following it's taken out a third of the kinetic par uh a third of the kinetic power of
00:29:45
Russia it is given China pause recognizing a small motivated Army that's technically literate and backed
00:29:51
by the West think twice before you do it and it is the best thing about all of this is that it is unifying he is is
00:29:58
unifying Europe and he is saying to people around the world and by the way just a quick tangent I heard from this
00:30:04
kid okay go ahead I apologize I apologize I I just I got you're Go For It Go for I'm on a roll no this is this
00:30:10
is just Personal Privilege there was this lovely young man in my fraternity UCLA named Greg towns and just everybody
00:30:16
liked this guy we to call him towy we went to the same high school he was a year younger than me out of the blue I
00:30:21
got a message out from saying I have a friend who's a a human rights lawyer I'd love for her to come on the Pod you know you know every day people are calling us
00:30:27
with is about who they think is fascinating should come on the Pod right and I say what are you up to and he goes well I went to law school and for the
00:30:34
last 20 years I've been working for the UN tracking down and Prosecuting war criminals I mean what I remember about Greg was drinking a lot of beer and
00:30:40
listening to Led Zeppelin he's [ __ ] hunting down war criminals and
00:30:45
Prosecuting them through impressive you have impressive friends this guy I just like I was so
00:30:51
moved I'm like okay I immediately went off and said how can I party in St Barts and make as much [ __ ] money as
00:30:56
possible and he decided to go to Switzerland and get a law degree and then work with other good
00:31:03
people to try how we going to knit This Together knit it together yeah that and and try and ensure that the incentive
00:31:08
system is it think twice before you start murdering children and raping women under the context of war and he
00:31:14
tracks these people down and he prosecutes them and then the cherry on top is that funding for his entire group
00:31:20
has been stopped yep and so he's not sure what he's going to do next and you know what the majority of him and his colleagues are continuing to work
00:31:28
anyways Greg towns and good for you my brother the beating up of this guy is
00:31:33
crazy but they think it's they think it's like sport it's that and then the the language that the the that the the
00:31:39
the Republicans use people like Lindsey Graham and and Rubio who were very much supportive of this have literally lost
00:31:47
every bit of credibility it's embarrassing not to be and so they can say they were so mean to Trump they
00:31:53
weren't mean to Trump they just wasn't it wasn't but that they think this is a win is pathetic anyway speaking of
00:31:59
pathetic let's talk about the Democrats who tried all sorts of tactics during Trump's speech none of which worked
00:32:04
Congressman Al Green was removed from the chamber after interrupting the speech shaking his Cane and shouting to Trump no mandate to cut Medicaid I
00:32:11
didn't mind him as much that's fine and other forms of protest some Democrats wore pink some held up auction style
00:32:17
paddles that said Falls and musk steals a few walked out during the speech one lady was wandering around this is not
00:32:23
normal behind trump it was juvenile it was so oh they were trying to
00:32:29
make like completely the whole thing if you call someone Hitler wearing pink is
00:32:35
not the response people I'm sorry it's just not you the only person I did
00:32:41
thought think was a good job was Senator Alysa uh slotkin gave a democratic response as the speech where she talked
00:32:47
about the dangers of Elon and Doge I thought she did an excellent job let's just listen to her and then I want your
00:32:53
response of what you thought while we're on the subject of Elon Musk is there any one in America who is comfortable with
00:32:59
him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns your health
00:33:05
information and your bank accounts no oversight no protections against cyber attack no guard rails on what they do
00:33:13
with your private data we need a more efficient government you want to cut waste I'll help you do it but change
00:33:21
doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe thought she was great that was the only High Point is a really nice
00:33:27
response and a very clear Centrist very very focused on the audience which is
00:33:34
the American people so what tell me what you thought about this and what would have been an effective strategy
00:33:42
here look one of the most powerful things about the presidency is they get the
00:33:47
bully pulpit and they get to stand up in front of the vice president and the speaker and the cameras the music and
00:33:54
the majesty and they get to they get to win every time they do it and I think
00:34:00
the whole thing reflected really poorly on hakee Jeff and Democratic Leadership because they clearly have no control
00:34:07
over their constituents and their messaging is awful we looked terrible Cara we looked we looked Reckless
00:34:15
immature beside ourselves you don't think that emboldens Republicans when they see us
00:34:20
acting this way what could they do the bottom line is there's not a lot to do you sit there you're polite uh there's
00:34:27
probably a couple things you can clap for when they welcome whatever a war veteran you can stand up and applaud and
00:34:32
other than that you just sit there it or you don't go right you could fine I I
00:34:38
don't even think that's a good idea because I don't eventually we're going to digress to only half the chamber shows up for every presidential address
00:34:44
and I think there's a certain level there's a certain level of decorum but they this is again the
00:34:52
Democrats uh have consistently isown they do not have discipline and they do
00:34:58
not have leadership and they do not have uh good messaging right now they haven't gotten their [ __ ] together sign I was
00:35:05
like out ow ow ow ow this is not going to be a viral moment this is so bad it disgusted me when one of the squad put
00:35:11
up this the sign saying genocide when Netanyahu spoke whether they you just don't you don't show up with it's not
00:35:17
the place for it it's not the place for it anyway I like a good protest let me just I thought it was a loss for us so
00:35:23
what would you what would be effective in the strategy just sit there quietly or is there is there an effective
00:35:28
strategy I mean obviously some people are doing things Pete Buddha judge is appearing everywhere it seems like um uh
00:35:36
what would be an effective strategy from your perspective carville's saying do nothing play for dead for right now
00:35:42
because you're not going to win anything you look stupid that was well there's tactical and there strategic on the
00:35:47
Tactical you just show up you're polite you're the adults in the room you nod
00:35:52
you get someone fantastic as we did to give the response the response is a thankless job cuz you just just can't
00:35:57
command the Majesty or the lighting of the camera angles she did a competent SLG good job you sit there you're polite
00:36:05
you have more respect for the flag in the retunda than you do your your tribal censors and we did not do that we showed
00:36:11
that we were Reckless and we're like a kid coming home who is polite all day and then just vomits his or her emotions
00:36:18
speaking for a a friend who's a parent and give Mom and give and give Mom and
00:36:23
Dad just like who is this terrorist who just walk through the door and by the way the parent Teachers Conference everyone's he's just such a good kid I
00:36:30
literally said that to sa the other day he was like running Terror at the house I like do you do this at school he goes no and I was like they won't let me yeah
00:36:37
no yeah and then you read all these Child books and it's because they trust and love you I'm like well I wish they trusted and love me a little bit less
00:36:43
yeah agree on a strategic level you you're you pick one or two issues don't go after all these ridiculous Dei
00:36:51
transgender Greenland Panama you go after a small set of issues a surrender
00:36:57
to the American brand now means surrender measles and inflation and I would focus on those three things I'd
00:37:03
bring in experts I'd be thoughtful I'd be data driven and then I would [ __ ] shut down the government I would go
00:37:09
Upstream of Elon Musk and saying no we're not raising the debt limit no we are shutting down the government you
00:37:15
want to play hard ball fine that's what the Republicans would do that's what the Republicans would do and they did you
00:37:20
know that's what they do I agree with you I thought it was embarrassing I thought they're trying to create a viral
00:37:26
moment it was sort of like hey kids look what we're going to do and and people should be relentlessly critical um uh of
00:37:34
this of of what they're doing it doesn't have any discipline I mean in a weird way they kept shooting to Nancy Pelosi
00:37:40
who did sit there quietly by the way did you notice that she was she understands the decorum she was she she looked sour
00:37:46
definitely but I have to say I was thinking this wouldn't happen under wazzi Pelosi I'll tell you that she
00:37:52
wouldn't she was distracted she was trading options on Robin oh stop it I'm just saying she ran that place with the
00:37:58
Democrats very tight like she had them tightly organized you know what the the Republicans have that we don't have they
00:38:06
have synchronicity synchronicity between think tanks between between um the me
00:38:12
their their their media and their leadership and their talking points they are a well-oiled machine we are we are
00:38:20
flailing around we are you know we Define the term seizure we're just out
00:38:27
of control our limbs flailing in different directions and have no control of ourselves and you watch it you watch
00:38:34
what's going on our response and it's just sort of uncomfortable it's like okay we got to be able to do better than
00:38:40
this yep I agree I had a really interesting back forth with Mike bigley over this because they sent him Federman slams dem's unhinged protest during uh
00:38:48
Trump speech um and we were going back and forth but it's what Mike was pointing out when we were going back and
00:38:53
forth is they're not um they're not thinking of the audience right they aren't thinking for some reason the the
00:39:01
Democrats do not think of the audience of like what the audience is hearing and seeing and they were they they just
00:39:08
weren't thinking of you know how to hit back in a way that's effective in some fashion that shows um they feel so non-
00:39:16
genuine and it feels so it's such a weak and sad you know response I don't know I
00:39:22
just but your your your analysis is the right one and that is who is our target audience mhm and the
00:39:28
people mik a people who like a 70s something year old congressman from
00:39:33
Texas waving his Cane and walking and go yeah people we already have those people they're voting Democratic those aren't
00:39:40
the people we need who we need is the person who voted for Trump and is now having second thoughts and you need to
00:39:47
be thoughtful and you need to be measured and you need to show where the adults in the do you want measles do you
00:39:53
want these hacker kids [ __ ] with you do you like paying more for EGS you
00:39:58
knowum we're just we're we're adults we're reasonable we're going to lay out the facts we're not going to have an
00:40:04
emotional response we have emotional control because the people that loved and will applaud for this type who are
00:40:10
saying you know stand up walk out yell at them good
00:40:16
for you those people are on board with Democratic policies we don't need the we
00:40:21
don't need to convince those people of anything we got to go after the people who voted for Trump and be ubiquitous
00:40:27
with messaging I mean it was interesting I have an idea for I have an idea for KLA Harris for a podcast so I think she
00:40:33
should do a podcast called recently unemployed with Kamala haris and go around and talk to people about the
00:40:38
economy go to places she's not welcome and make herself a nuisance like in that regard like s talk to them and go around
00:40:45
but I was thinking all of them have to feel like they're listening to the American people right that they're
00:40:50
listening and they're present and they're responding and listening I know
00:40:55
it sounds like Bill Clinton really listened felt like he was listening I don't know that's yeah my recommendation
00:41:04
around what she should do is is nothing she's a reminder of how badly we [ __ ] up it would be bad I I I I'm sorry and
00:41:13
by the way I saw secretary Clinton last night at shamaro in New York um she just out of nowhere I'm like
00:41:20
I know that woman I wanted to go up and say I love did you say hi say hi to her say I'm car's I was I'm car's friend I
00:41:26
was doing myv thing I was cheing at the bar alone no joke oh my next time you're going up to her I thought that her
00:41:31
Secret Service people are going to attack like that tall weird looking dude who's aone drinking anyways but when you
00:41:38
lose uh you take a break for a while because all she's going to do is remind people quite frankly of why we lost and
00:41:45
this is what vice president Harris should do abs [ __ ] lutely nothing until we have a Democratic president who appoints her to the Supreme Court she's
00:41:53
just not from a from a from a quite frankly no mercy No Malice brand perspective she should do nothing I
00:41:59
don't agreee with you I think she was she was just beginning to be she improved a lot I don't think she did
00:42:04
that bad a job compar I think Biden was the she everything you're saying is true
00:42:10
and the reality is she's a reminder of of the policies and reasons we lost and
00:42:15
and she should just stay out of the line if in terms of just what's good for Democrats right now she should she
00:42:21
should quite frankly well a Democrat has to step up and feel ubiquitous and the very least uh you know and feel like
00:42:27
they're speaking to speaking to Americans right again I think that's Mark CU you know who's having a moment
00:42:33
and you were right on this and I was wrong is your guy fetman fetman yeah fetman is fetman is not everything I
00:42:39
that he's doing I like but yes he is well then he's let's we vote him off the island he doesn't align perfectly with
00:42:46
my ideas no I sometimes he can be obnoxious I like sometime he could be a little nicer that's all I'm saying um
00:42:52
all right Scott let's go on a quick break and we come back we'll discuss the latest on Trump's trade War Scott we're
00:42:57
back uh with our second big story us automakers got a one-month break from Donald Trump's 25 uh% tariffs on Canada
00:43:04
and Mexico the tariffs went into effect on Tuesday roiling markets and creating headaches for companies in the US and
00:43:09
around the world Canada quickly announced retaliatory tariffs with the very handsome Justin Trudeau doing it um
00:43:15
Mexico is announcing countermeasures she's also fantastic the president of Mexico uh this week China is also taking
00:43:22
action after Trump added 10% to existing teror Trump acknowledged his address to Congress that there would be a little
00:43:27
disturbance from these tariff but he's okay with that but then he he turned it around which means he only wants to sort
00:43:33
of threaten American companies it felt like he's trying to like let certain
00:43:39
people in and pay homage to him and this and that so stocks have been on a roller coaster as you noted over the last few
00:43:44
days with Dow falling almost 700 points on Tuesday the markets rebounded on Wednesday on the news that automakers
00:43:50
were getting the exemption it's such a [ __ ] game it feels so deep State and manipulative and anyway um we'll see
00:43:57
more exemptions and if you're a CEO right now it would be very hard to know what to do Target and Best Buy CE is
00:44:03
already warning about price increases um and is the rest of the world just going to start doing business without the us
00:44:09
if these terrorists continue uh Warren Buffett looks like he's sick to his [ __ ] stomach he does he first time he
00:44:16
didn't respond he he said terrorists were ridiculous and there it's attacks
00:44:21
uh on on the little guy but then when someone asked him about the economy he's like I'm not going to comment which is
00:44:27
bad news because Warren Buffett always gives the straight scoop on things what do you think put the moral arguments
00:44:33
aside we have established amazing economic trade relationships and trust and rule of law
00:44:41
and reciprocal when when I'm in the Gulf I have a speaking gig in the gulf and
00:44:48
then October the 7th happens and I make some comments that they don't they they find disagreeable and they cancel the
00:44:55
speaking contract we have a contract and nowhere in that contract did it say you're not allowed
00:45:01
to say certain things and then we point it out and they say you're right we respect rule of law we've got a great
00:45:06
trading relationship we're going to come to a settlement we have established really strong economic relationships
00:45:14
with the world's largest economies over the last 80 years that benefits them and benefits us and one of the key tenants
00:45:20
of American capitalism democracy is we believe in lifting up people all around the world that economic prosperity
00:45:27
if it's shared we all do just much better and we have amazing trading
00:45:33
relationships with the world's largest economies and we are taking them and
00:45:39
saying to those economies figure out alliances and relationships and trade routes and Supply chains and legal
00:45:45
agreements with each other and go around us and exclude us and be less inclined
00:45:52
to trade with us moving forward because even if he drops these tariffs they can't trust us they can't go they
00:46:00
can't start clearing off all Jack Daniels off of all shelves and figuring out how on Earth are they going to
00:46:06
reconfigure the supply chain of cars by the way with these tariffs cars are going to cost if these tariffs hold an
00:46:13
additional $122,000 each car people don't realize
00:46:19
cars General Motors cars those big American trucks the parts go back and forth across the Mexican and Canadian
00:46:25
borders numerous times so you're talking about another another $112,000 more than
00:46:32
half of America's produce comes from Mexico everything's about 99% of shoes in America are imported you're going to
00:46:38
see this everywhere there was what was it sledgehammers um it was like a bunch of like something else that was so
00:46:45
strange and I was I had no idea it was made in Canada besides maple syrup I I got that one the average US household is
00:46:51
going to see prices go up by $1,200 each year and when you're the average household makes was it 68 or $70,000
00:46:58
call it 55 after taxes that's a difference between being able to go on vacation or not yeah so this is when I I
00:47:06
was so what about these exemptions because a lot of people feel that he is he is sort of trying to get companies in
00:47:13
line with him like make sure you're on my side mob boss mob boss that's what it feels like deep State mob boss like hey
00:47:20
you know you pay me and by the way it started with Tim Cook who kissed his ass and all of a sudden the iPhone was EX
00:47:28
CS so basically what he's doing he's saying okay who's willing to give me money who's to kiss my ass and then I'll
00:47:34
figure out a work around for you this is this is what a cpy is this is corruption
00:47:40
not Innovation again not Innovation not making better cars or making better anything it's this ridiculous [ __ ] I
00:47:47
mean the face of Buffett really haunted me when he when he was talking about it like he's not a young man and he's like
00:47:54
it was like are you [ __ ] kidding me I'm a 100 years old and you're pulling this [ __ ] it's just like I was a
00:48:00
graduate student instructor in macroeconomics for uh Professor Christina RoR at Berkeley back in the
00:48:06
90s and we used to talk about tariffs is like an obvious example of just how
00:48:11
stupid we were we'd bring up tariffs in the early part of smooth Hol and we'd
00:48:17
all it was just so funny this we would kind of laugh at like okay this is wait hold on kids this is what they decided
00:48:23
to do this is like a little e economy Professor joking as if we had gone it
00:48:29
was like we literally tariffs were the economic equivalent of uh in the world of Medicine of leeches like can you
00:48:35
believe they did this can you believe they thought this would work and here we are again makes Absol [ __ ] L you know
00:48:42
you know what's going viral is the from Ferris buer you know they had the smooth Holly section anybody anybody anyway
00:48:50
there's a great scene that's going around where he talks about smooth Holly and uh it was a disaster and this is
00:48:56
going to be a disaster and then they're going to do exemptions and then it doesn't matter and then they're mad at us and it doesn't matter the whole thing
00:49:02
is just it g just it just is so embarrassing it's just embarrassing right so I mean it's going to this is
00:49:09
where speaking of rubber meets the road when these prices go up it's going to be problematic and again Democrats need to
00:49:16
focus on that guess who did this Donald Trump guess why eggs are more exp he tried to put the eggs on Biden but he
00:49:22
gets the eggs Trump take egg is is the other meme by the way the viral me um
00:49:27
around thing anyway I the world the world will move on without us is what they'll do Jack Jack Zang uh I think
00:49:35
it's Zang he's a professor at the University of Kansas summarize it perfectly with respect to be tariffs are
00:49:42
essentially yet again another regressive tax because lower middle income
00:49:47
households spend 100% of their paycheck on these products so again they're the ones that get hurt the most and he
00:49:53
summarized it perfectly he said it's a rich man's War and a poor man's fight
00:49:58
these these tariffs yet again really Target lower and middle class uh homes
00:50:05
it is a regressive tax it it low-income Americans spend all of their money on
00:50:11
these on think about this produce saving for a car eggs I mean these are the
00:50:17
people that get hit cherry tomatoes apparently there was there was a whole bunch of really interesting that I had
00:50:23
no idea to learn about anyway it's a bad idea we think it's a bad idea I I and aswat I had ASAT on talking the same
00:50:29
thing every smart person I know is like this is and now it's being run badly the tariffs are even being run by by letting
00:50:35
people out putting people in and that means you don't have any credibility about it it's a stupid negotiating
00:50:42
tactic and you think it'll work and same thing happened with zalinski where he threatened him and now zsky has to
00:50:49
apologize that's not a good outcome it doesn't matter that zinski folded the fact that he had to fold is pathetic the
00:50:55
same thing here the fact fact that they put them out and then take some back it's it's not a good tactic moving to
00:51:01
facts all right we get outraged it's extortion that we're demanding Rare Earth minerals from Ukraine okay I get
00:51:08
it but now let's quickly pivot to facts Trump has said he wants $500 billion do
00:51:14
worth of rare earth minerals from Ukraine in exchange for continued military and political support all right
00:51:20
let's just a couple facts the entire Global Market for Rare Earth minerals is 10 to 14 billion rare Earth mineral mind
00:51:28
takes at least 10 years to spin up so let's just look at okay well you're
00:51:35
right it's extortion let's get angry but let's look at the actual data and show just how ridiculous this is this makes
00:51:42
no sense you know getting back to that thing a lot of his points during that
00:51:47
thing were things that sound good in concept but aren't ever going to happen and it's it's not it's it's lies
00:51:53
ultimately anyway uh it's time for uh last week's poll results by the way we asked each of you which of our hosts
00:52:01
would end up dead on a season of White Lotus oh this is going to be a shocker I know this is going to be a shocker by
00:52:08
the way did you did you see my did you hear my did I did I watched it on the plane I was very pleased I was very
00:52:13
proud of you I was very like I was very proud you did a great job and you're reading J thank God Jason helped you on
00:52:19
that onek God um thank God but the answer was 56% of you said Scott would
00:52:25
end up dead on a season of White Lotus 33% of you said both of us and only 11%
00:52:32
of you said n no surprise there um moving along it's time for this week's
00:52:38
threads poll do you guys in the audience think Elon will end up doing an interview with John Stewart he should we
00:52:45
think you should Elon go ahead go into that go into that Lion's Den it'll be just fine anyway if you got a question
00:52:51
of your own you'd like answered send it our way go to nymag.com Pivot to submit a question for the show or call
00:52:56
5551 pivot all right Scott one more quick break we'll be back for wins and
00:53:02
fails okay Scott let's hear some wins and fails I shall go first um I'm gonna
00:53:08
say uh I was going to talk about there's a really great um column by Mike maznik and Tech dir talking about how he writes
00:53:15
about tech a lot of the time and he he he he's he's written a wonderful piece about how he's now a democracy blog and
00:53:22
he was talking about the importance of tech reporters to really explain what's happening and I agree with that I think
00:53:27
W's doing a great job I think the Wall Street Journal uh has done a great job New York Times has and a lot of
00:53:33
Publications big and small so I think that's thing but actually I'm going to actually some something I watched on the
00:53:39
plane I binged watched it it's called Running Point our friend Justin thorough is in it he's fantastic but the star is
00:53:45
Kate Hudson and this most astonishing group of very funny people it's about basketball essentially it's about um
00:53:51
it's a group called the LA waves it's about a basketball owner and it's kind of like silly and stupid and a bit of an
00:53:58
ad for how good sports is kind of a feel-good comedy and critics don't like it cuz it's not mean and how terrible it
00:54:06
is but I loved it and I think Kate Hudson is the most adorable person ever and it's very very very funny to me I
00:54:12
love this show it's on Netflix again and I get it I get why critics don't like it because they're snotty [ __ ] but I had
00:54:19
a great time um at watching it and I watched I binge watch the whole thing and again Justin is amazing in it among
00:54:25
the many Act s in it who are amazing every single person is U but he does he wears a a I wrote him I said your scarf
00:54:32
work is excellent he plays a bask a basketball owner um basketball team
00:54:37
owner um anyway I love it it's really fun um my my negative uh I'm trying to
00:54:44
go between I try not to talk about people's outfits but it's very hard this week I'm trying to go between elon's New
00:54:49
Haircut which um is again a very lesbian level haircut of from the 80s and
00:54:55
Zuckerberg uh wearing Benson Boon's powder blue jumpsuit for his wife Priscilla's birthday party I I I try
00:55:03
Scott but they need to stop these people need to stop because I can't contain myself I think it was so performative
00:55:10
everything is so performative with these people and I want them to go away like go away from us and stop posting
00:55:17
themselves doing wacky crazy things and it feels a lot like Rome is burning and they're they're fiddling so that's why I
00:55:25
think it offends me in so besides being so awkward it's painful um I didn't want to see Mark Zuckerberg's chest in any
00:55:32
way and there it was and it was hard to avoid anyway yours go for it um I just
00:55:38
have a a win I'm trying just because I'm such a glass up empty kind of guy I'm trying to focus on or having some
00:55:44
discipline around if you look at the world actually the world over the medium and long term despite some severe
00:55:50
hiccups in the short term the world gets better and so it's your default setting
00:55:55
should be or you're you should always have in the back of your mind what could go
00:56:01
right because generally speaking over time the world has gotten better and I'm trying to think looking at this mess and
00:56:07
how upsetting it is uh what could go right and I think what could go right here is that I do
00:56:14
believe a real silver lining the size of the cloud here is I do think that Europe is threatening to be an actual
00:56:20
Union and if you look at uh most recently the European commission president Ursula verion I think is I
00:56:29
like how you say that go ahead she unveiled a historic 840 billion dollar
00:56:35
plan to increase EU defense spending and they're now looking at going past the 2%
00:56:41
number they're looking at coordinating and what they've decided is is that and this is kind of the
00:56:46
unintended consequence of recognizing they can no longer depend upon American
00:56:52
consistency and the military umbrella uh what it really doesn't make any sense that Europe would and they're
00:56:59
re recognizing this that they would need to back down to the to Russia because
00:57:04
Russia's um GDP is about two trillion the combined member states of the EU is
00:57:10
19 trillion uh you know Germany France and
00:57:16
England all have bigger economies Russia is just barely ahead of Spain it's smaller than Canada both Britain and
00:57:23
France have nuclear arsenals they have very sophisticated manufacturing intellectual property they have decent
00:57:30
AI they have fantastic Communications technology and I believe and this is
00:57:36
kind of links to um uh Investments if you look at European stocks European
00:57:43
value stocks on a scale of 1 to 100 one being the cheapest they've ever been 100 being the most
00:57:48
expensive us grow stocks are at 98 and that is only 2% in history only 2% of of
00:57:55
time have they've been more expensive than they are now European value stocks big companies like Mercedes L'Oreal are
00:58:03
at 2% meaning 98% of his of time they've been more expensive I think that Europe
00:58:10
is finally saying okay we believe it we can't count on our Rich crazy uncle he's gone just [ __ ] insane we can't count
00:58:16
on him but we as siblings are actually very strong when we coordinate and we're
00:58:21
a bigger economy we have fantastic technology and they have already Ste kept up they've they immediately called
00:58:28
a meeting in in uh the UK they're about to call another one in Brussels and
00:58:34
Europe is really stepping up and my this really goes to not only my win but my prediction and that is I think you're
00:58:40
going to see the European economy in European stocks rip because if you look
00:58:46
at military spending there really is some spillover in terms of Technology the most valuable companies in World
00:58:51
Cara are basically thick layers of innovation on top of Technologies developed in the military apple is a
00:58:58
function of a cold war technology where we wanted to make sure we could put a missile in someone's pocket in terms of
00:59:04
GPS accuracy all of the internet was the Americans trying to figure out a
00:59:09
nodeless or hubblet Communications Network post a nuclear attack from Russia the Drone technology coming out
00:59:16
of Ukraine could be could have unbelievable applications in the consumer economy as could AI anyways my
00:59:23
win is that Europe is finally becoming a Union commanding the space it occupies they're going to massively increase
00:59:29
their coordination and their military budget and I believe the stimulus of that spending and the new technologies it'll
00:59:36
spend over to the consumer economy are about to set European markets on a tear and it's already happened they're up 12%
00:59:44
this year largely on the back of European Defense contractors that their stocks have accelerated while the US is
00:59:51
flat so I think this is I think we're about to see my win is the is that Europe is finally a union and that I
00:59:58
think it's going to have huge economic uh benefits both stimulative and in terms of Technology spill over all right
01:00:06
and that's it that's all I that's good that's good that's just in case so all right okay all right very good 10K so oh
01:00:13
my God are we gonna we're going to Austin we're going to Austin are we gonna have a good time that's my win you
01:00:18
and me in Austin I miss you there we go we're going to have fun we're having fun we're going to hang out there's a party
01:00:24
we're going to do a live pivot I have also interview um Chelsea Handler who is the number one book in the country right
01:00:29
now um and Elizabeth Warren yeah I'm doing two live things there um that's
01:00:35
two great I didn't see going together they're not going together they're separate although I could put them together couldn't I no I'm not going to
01:00:41
do them and do s anyway elsewhere in the Scott and Cara Universe this week this week in profy conversation Scott spoke
01:00:47
with Dr Anna lmy professor of Psychiatry at Stanford and author of dopamine Nation let's listen drugs in all their
01:00:55
forms are the great human replacement addiction is a disease of
01:01:01
loneliness even if we have a lot of great people in our lives if we are if
01:01:07
we get addicted we will isolate and we will use our drug to replace that human
01:01:13
connection so and I say that because we sometimes talk about loneliness as the
01:01:18
cause of addiction but more often than not what I see is that the addiction
01:01:24
causes the loneliness oh I like that that sounds F she was can I can I goant
01:01:29
here I've been thinking about this a lot that a lot of people came up to
01:01:35
me uh at Mobile World Conference to talk about this and there's a specific addiction that I haven't spent much time
01:01:41
thinking about because there's not a lot of good research on it and in the last two weeks I've had three men two young
01:01:48
men old one older man and I had the most recent was at mobile War conference this kid came up to me and kid he's like 34
01:01:53
he's killing it great family married two kids just killing it
01:01:59
professionally and uh he said would you Mentor me and I'm like boss I don't Mentor people who have their [ __ ] going
01:02:05
well the kids I Mentor are really struggling and really need it you don't need it and he's like well I have an addiction problem and three men have
01:02:12
said the same thing to me and I said what's your addiction and he said porn oh and it's really interesting porn is
01:02:20
probably the least studied addiction because uh there's very little peer review or AC research because very few
01:02:26
people want to be known as the porn professor and it you could do that you could fill that space but go ahead I'm
01:02:32
not sure that's a good idea saying um I am doing a lot of research um it's on
01:02:37
brand go ahead but it really is something that we don't talk about a lot and I could see all three of these men
01:02:43
when they said it to me there was real shame in their voice and there it's like if there's much more shame if you say I
01:02:49
have an addiction to alcohol it's kind of like okay if you say you have an addiction to porn people are a little
01:02:54
bit scared of you they're like keep keep their kids away from you anyways the and
01:02:59
I've been thinking a lot about young men and where I go to around this is I think
01:03:05
that um and this is more advice is that I think the best thing in life hands
01:03:10
down you know Economic Security relevance that's all important but it's a means to an ends and the ends in my
01:03:16
view are finding someone in having kids and having a loving a loving prosperous
01:03:22
family that is the whole shooting match and that starts with in my view for for
01:03:28
a lot of men with wanting to have sex and uh and I think that's a wonderful
01:03:33
thing and I think we've pathologized it I was thinking I wouldn't have graduated from UCLA if I didn't think there was a
01:03:40
non-zero probability I might meet someone on campus and eventually have sex with them and I know that sounds crass but it was the truth it was a big
01:03:46
motivator for me to get out of the house take risks endure rejection if I'd had
01:03:52
porn on my phone and on my computer I'm not sure would have gone on campus every day and that's what young men are deal
01:03:59
that's what young men are dealing with and that is a total loss or near total loss of Mojo and risk-taking to develop
01:04:07
the skills they need here's the problem you don't know what you know is is that your son and young men and some older
01:04:14
men aren't getting out of the house as much aren't taking risks aren't developing skills humor kindness
01:04:20
demonstrating excellence and as a result it's this low low risk low entry means
01:04:26
of a reasonable fact simile of a relationship called porn and it creates unreasonable
01:04:31
expectations on women it creates an elcer vision of what a relationship actually is and you don't and I think about it I
01:04:40
spent so much time enduring rejection from women and developing skills such
01:04:45
that occasionally I could get lucky and taking risk and guess what those skills have served me well my entire life it's
01:04:51
also you know it is and it's another thing I've been talking about here it's frictionless right it creates a lack of
01:04:56
friction and friction is good for and tech people constantly talk about frictionless experience they want
01:05:03
everything frictionless so that you just sit there and and don't go anywhere and it creates growth for them and it
01:05:09
creates friction is the best thing that can happen to people like problems friction mistakes and stuff so anyway um
01:05:16
thinking of just just speaking of Kate Hudson the reason romantic comedies are two hours and not 15 minutes is this
01:05:22
[ __ ] is hard and it's worth it and where I end up with is where I tell young men modulate I can't tell young men not to
01:05:28
engage in Port but modulate it such that you have the fire to develop the Mojo
01:05:33
the effort the skills and willingness such that you can make your own bad porn that's the key porn is great as long as
01:05:40
you're involved with another being great is it great well you know what I mean sex and we have to a certain extent
01:05:47
we've sort of we've sort of demonized or chastised or pathologized young men
01:05:52
wanting to have sex that's a great thing it want sex I'd rather have them have sex than have porn that is absolutely
01:05:59
true anyway here we are anyway and Kate Hudson's adorable she really is she is adorable okay Scott that's the show
01:06:05
thanks for listening to Pivot be sure to like And subscribe to our channel uh we'll be back next week

Episode Highlights

  • Scott's Australian Adventure
    Scott shares his love for Australia, recounting memorable experiences and the beauty of its cities.
    “It's a great country; I had one of the best nights of my life there.”
    @ 01m 55s
    March 07, 2025
  • Elon Musk and John Stewart's Showdown
    Elon Musk's comments on bipartisanship spark a heated exchange with John Stewart.
    “The guy who custom made his own dark Maga hat thinks I'm just too partisan.”
    @ 06m 05s
    March 07, 2025
  • Trump's Address to Congress
    Trump delivers a lengthy address, revisiting old grievances and praising Elon Musk.
    “It was a good version of greatest hits.”
    @ 20m 52s
    March 07, 2025
  • Trump's Speech Analysis
    The speakers discuss Trump's speech, noting his forcefulness and the Democrats' ineffective responses.
    “He came across as forceful and we are now in a situation...”
    @ 22m 15s
    March 07, 2025
  • Emotional Manipulation in Politics
    The use of a teenage girl in political discourse is critiqued as craven and manipulative.
    “The emotional manipulation of that girl was just craven.”
    @ 25m 01s
    March 07, 2025
  • Democrats' Lack of Strategy
    The speakers highlight the Democrats' failure to connect with the audience during Trump's address.
    “The Democrats do not think of the audience.”
    @ 39m 01s
    March 07, 2025
  • The Value of Friction
    Friction creates growth and is essential for personal development.
    “Friction is good for growth.”
    @ 01h 05m 09s
    March 07, 2025
  • Romantic Comedies Explained
    The length of romantic comedies reflects the complexity of relationships.
    “[ __ ] is hard and it's worth it.”
    @ 01h 05m 16s
    March 07, 2025
  • Sex vs. Porn
    Encouraging young men to engage in real relationships rather than consuming porn.
    “I'd rather have them have sex than have porn.”
    @ 01h 05m 52s
    March 07, 2025

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Australia Love01:55
  • Musk vs. Stewart06:05
  • Trump's Speech20:52
  • Trump's Forcefulness21:49
  • Emotional Manipulation25:01
  • Democratic Disarray34:07
  • Friction and Growth1:05:09
  • Sexuality Discussion1:05:52

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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