--:-- This episode is brought to you by On Investing, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. I'm Kathy Jones, Schwab's Chief Fixed Income Strategist. And I'm Lizanne Saunders, Schwab's Chief Investment Strategist. Between us, we have decades of experience studying the indicators that drive the economy and how they can have a direct impact on your investments. We know that investors have a lot of questions about the markets and the economy, and we're here to help. So download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash on investing or wherever you get your podcasts. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start? Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin? Or what that clunking sound from your dryer is? With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top-rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews all on the app. Download today. The time of my life. I never felt this way before. From building timelines to assigning the right people and even spotting risks across dozens of projects. Monday Sidekick knows your business, thinks ahead and takes action. One click on the star and consider it done. And I owe it all to you. Try Monday Sidekick, AI you'll love to use on Monday.com. The bottom line is if I have fucking money, I want to fuck you face. Hi, everyone. I sent her a note saying, I took real notes from that because I have yet to find the confidence to actually say that I don't know and that everything doesn't demand my judgment. Anyways, Adi Cornish gets co-host or gets substitute host of the week. How are you, Kara? Did you miss me? I did. I need you to explain where you've been to people, sir. Well, Kara, I was presented with an opportunity to bring potable water to the good people of sub-Saharan Africa. No. Try again Which is Latin for I have had cosmetic surgery Kara And essentially I just wanted to look natural And I guess if looking natural means looking like you're surprised all the fucking time and your nose looks like a minivan from the 80s, we've achieved that, Kara. We have liftoff. So the camera is off. Sorry, folks. I'm confident enough to be transparent. I'm not confident enough for the comments that we would receive right now. I have seen the pictures. Scott kindly sent me a picture. And at first I was like, oh, come on, how bad could it be? And then I'm like, oh, no. And there was no response. You usually respond within like 10 seconds with something really crisp and funny or supportive. People don't notice about you. You're a very loving, kind friend. People don't get that vibe. And you were just silent for 15 minutes. And I'm like, is she going to respond? Anything? Oh, you're off the tramadol by then. I told my doctor, I said I wanted to look, people have compared me to Ryan Reynolds' older brother. And I'm like, that's the look I'm going for. And I do look like him, but I look like his grandfather after he's gone into witness protection from literally trying to flee narco-terrorists and has had bad cosmetic surgery in Brazil. This is good. I hope it's good. We're going to see what it is. But when you have the big reveal or something like that. I love you to actually talk about it because men don't talk. Most people don't talk about their plastic surgery or whatever. And there's been a huge boom in men doing this. Huge. It's the fastest growing part of the market. Yeah. Explain why you did it. I have never had plastic surgery. I do not judge it. A lot of people I know have it. A lot of blephs. That's what they keep saying, the word bleph to me. That's what I had. I had blephs. I don't. My mother had it. Like, tell me. It's mostly women. I don't know a lot. I mean, I do know some VCs who have gotten it, and I can't say this was many years ago. It worked well. I am glad to be back with these questions. Masquerading as virtue signal. What is this not being able to make a shit ton of money because you're not so fucking talented thing that people complain about? You are so going under the knife. Give me a fucking break. I am not. By the way, you were asking me questions. I never will. Never, never. Well, anyways, the honest answer, Cara, after having a lot of Xanax and opiates to think about it, is I cannot, for the life of me, figuring out the fucking hole I am trying to fill here. Honest I think it comes from a lot of places I was very insecure about my looks growing up as I think was probably natural for a teenager And then in my 20s and 30s when I put on some weight and we talked about this and my skin cleared up I then got a lot of confidence from my looks And I really liked that part of the program and also I think in a little bit of my business, I have felt, I don't wanna call it ageism, but I've been really cognizant of my age recently. A lot of people online are referencing my age to criticize me, like, what does this guy know? And also I think just more practically, I've been on TV a lot because of the book tour and I've just noticed the dark circles under my eyes. And also to a strange extent, I'm kind of interested in the technology. Oh, all right. And also, the bottom line is, if I have fucking money, I want to fuck you face. Yeah, okay. So you said something really interesting. You said it's mediation, not renovation. Although these doctors are very convincing, right? You weren't going to do as much as you did, or were you? Well, I mean, it's very easy to get. I was just going to do my eyes. I didn't do a lot, but you add on stuff because— Can you explain what the eyes is? Well, the circles around your eyes. You have dark circles under your eyes as you get older. Or hooded, when people have hooded. Yeah. And what they do is very simple, is they transfer fat from other parts of your body into the soft tissue that creates the dark circle. And the temptation to keep adding stuff, if you're not careful, is appalling. Everything heals at the same time. And if you're going under the knife, you just start thinking, yeah, sure, I'll have fat transferred from my hips to my chin. You just, they will add on stuff. I had some crazy fucking laser that they wouldn't dare. Do you have any fat? You're so skinny. You're such a skinny man. Yeah, I'm entering that nice part of my life where I'm skinny yet fat at the same time. Okay, all right. Which is really attractive. But yeah, it's easy to get upsold. And I find the whole thing fascinating. I, of course, made friends with my surgeon and his team. And I'm being serious now, the most inspiring part of the whole process was I went to this place called Pearl Recovery. And it this amazing family business where they take over a floor of what is a fairly mediocre hotel and they have nurses around the clock looking after you And I had you know through the different shifts four or five different nurses and they were all out of central casting They were all the same person in the sense that they were all immigrants in their 30s and 40s all single mothers and all working their ass off and the loveliest, most talented women. It made me feel so good about America. It made me realize how important, again, not that I need to know this, immigration is. These women are all women working four to six 12-hour shifts, all with a single, all with a kid, all come to America, all making a good living. They do get paid well. I think nursing is actually a fantastic profession. It's something that will probably survive AI for a while. And they just couldn't, they brought expertise, empathy, humanity. They were great interacting with me. They had great leadership skills. Occasionally I'd be like, no, I don't want to sleep upright and they'd be like, get your ass upright. I mean, they were fantastic. They all Google you. They all like, who is this? Is this a star? Because they can't tell. Oh, right. Yeah. And they'd be coming and they'd be like, so I listened to your podcast. I'm like, oh, really? What'd you think? I'm like, sit down. I'm going nowhere for the next two days. Sit down and tell me what you think. And they were just such lovely women. It was really- You had this international experience while you got your face. Oh, it was fantastic. Can I ask you just one more question? We'll move on. We're going to have a big reveal. We talked about whether you should say anything, and I said, I am not going to pretend if it looks really different. And it does. It looks slightly different, I would say, from what I can tell. We don't know. I'm really swollen right now. The reality is we have no idea. Your nose is very swollen. Yeah, we have no idea. Yeah. I mean, when people get their eyes done, there is a refresh, and you assume that's what it is. But what they've done today, everybody looks pretty good, unless it's like, you know, some people it hasn't worked well. This guy is known for, I said the following thing. I said, I want modification, not transformation. And if we're going to err here, and I kept saying this, we're going to err on the side of underdone, not overdone. I see. And I think most surgeons probably say this, but they say the key is that people think you look good, but they don't know how you've had anything done. I see. It looks—it's—Chris Jenner sort of is, like—you see, you remember once we were joking about Jennifer Grey. We were joking about Jennifer Grey. Everyone noticed it immediately because she changed her entire look. And she got piled the fuck on. I thought that was very unfair. She wants to do that. You're a public figure. If you're known for your looks, you're going to be known for your looks. That's the bottom line. Yeah, well, that's what you're known for. Yes, that's right. That's right. Well, I don't want to have any facial surgery done. I don't. Cara, it's not easy being a four. And you know what's so scary is last night. I always spent a four. Last night, I was looking at Ferraris. Save me. What? I was looking at Ferrari. I don't know. I don't know. I really don't know. What is next? I don't know. ED drugs. That's what's coming next. Yeah. I'm trying to think. Oh, my God. No, definitely. Oh, God. Well, you'll be dating the guys from Heated Rivalry soon enough. That's where we'll go. Jesus, those dudes are great actors, and they're hot. They're hot. Oh, my God. I could have won the award for visual effects last night. I just should have showed up and accepted the rush to the stage when they said, and the award for visual effects. And then would have figured out it was me. Our podcast would be number one right now. We should have won that. Because I was staying at the Waldorf, which is next to the hotel that was having the visual effects. And I walked around with all this plastic surgery. And it was really strange. It was like having a credential badge. They let me go wherever I want. Because if you have plastic, clearly you have just had a nose job. They're like, oh, they must be a star. Let them in. Right. So I could have rushed the stage and picked up the award, and I decided definitely it would have been the award for visual effects. We deserve the podcast award, honestly. Amy Poehler is very nice. That was a weird dog's breakfast of a group of podcasters. None of them were like each other. I thought, you know what, though? I got to give it to the Golden Globes. I read the list of nominees, mostly because we weren't on it. But I thought they did a great job. I thought all of those podcasts, Mel's great. I love Dax Shepard. Was Jay Shetty in there? Who else was it? It was NPR, Steve Inske. Fantastic. Yeah, Steve Inske, Amy Poehler, obviously. Fantastic. The guys from Smartless. Those guys are amazing. I thought, wow. And by the way, I've been on every one of them except for Call Me Daddy and Amy's. I've been on Amy's. I don't know about you. I was a little bit, I don't know what the term is, a little bit, I don't want to say resentful. My understanding of Amy Poehler she a lovely person and I haven listened to her pod people love it but I was kind of bummed that it was someone who felt like they were late to the game who got it I was kind of hoping one of the original gangsters would have got it Yeah, the smart list guys. But I thought, actually, you know what? It's interesting. That's a big moment. I think that's a big moment for podcasting. Here's the only thing. There was an interesting article in the New York Times. It's like, all the others are so disparate and everyone's in their place. You can't really put, like, they didn't have any narrative podcasts, which sort of began this. They should have more podcast awards. That's all. Well, that's what they'll do eventually. They'll have best crime drama, best episode, best host. But they already do that. I mean, we're up for Webby's again. Yeah, there are a couple. Everyone wins a Webby. Everyone's like, you know, best male co-host who's going through the mother of all midlife crises. It's like they've decided, the webbies and the streamies have decided they need to make money. Yeah. So they charge you and they have a million categories. Yeah. Well, that's fine. I think it's a huge, it's a $2.4 billion business now. I mean, it's really- It's the fastest growing media. It's growing now faster than Google or Meta off a smaller base. But we've said this before, it's because of the audience we're attracting. We're geniuses. Now we're going to have plastic surgery. What do they call it now? Is it plastic surgery? Cosmetic surgery. Facial cleaning. I don't know. I like you doing it because I'm living vicariously through you because I find out all manner of nonsense. Do you want to drive my Ferrari in Palm Beach? Wait, did you buy a Ferrari too? I think I, the fact I'm even looking at one. Right now, I don't own a car. Right now, I don't own a car. I literally, I take the tube. Oh, you're coming back to the U.S. I take the tube and I take this amazing ride hailing service called Wheelie. And when I'm in the U.S., I take Lyft because I like the CEO. He's very spiritual. I would like him to be my rabbi. But no, I haven't owned a car in a bunch of years, but I'm seriously trolling Ferraris. Oh, no. They're so beautiful. I think they would say that I'm refined and elegant, and young lady, you should have a random sexual experience with me. No, I don't think so. I think you should think about a Chevy Bolt. Yeah. Hasn't even entered. Like, you literally, I don't know what you could do. I don't know what the opposite of an ED drug is, but that's what the term Chevy Bolt is for me. I am telling you, look how well I'm doing with my Chevy Bolt. I'm successful. I have a beautiful wife. I just don I think you have all of that despite the Bolt No it not In spite of the Bolt I am looking I think the Bolt does say you know what I don care Yeah I looking at the new Rivian It's really cool. Oh, those are great. The new one, it's smaller. That is the Aspen car, by the way. And then I'm not looking at the Rivian. You say that? When my house was ready in Aspen, you're literally, my house in Aspen, you're literally going to be like, hey, just FYI, I'm swinging by Aspen. And no pressure at all, but I'd like to stay there for the spring. I would like to stay there. I'd like to stay there for the spring. The entire spring. No pressure. You can say no, but I'd like to meet Jeffrey Swisher and my uncles and cousins in Lucky for the spring. That is so coming. It's true. So do not mock Aspen. It is so true. I am waiting for that. I think Aspen is a little too much now. I used to like it. It seems like something Pompey-ish. A little too much. Awesome. Awesome. All right. Okay. I do. I'm putting in my reservation now. All right, we're going to move on from Scott to Jennifer Gray. We didn't want to do a Renee. Welcome back. Audie Cornish. Audie Cornish. Audie Cornish. Audie Cornish is not at plastic surgery. She has perfect skin. She has perfect skin. That's what happens to me at plastic surgery. You're sitting there wrapped up like a fucking mummy going, Audie Cornish has perfect skin. That's my week. Can I tell you, we want to thank everybody who filled in for you during this time of trauma for everybody. John Lennon, Camerly, Stephanie Ruhle, and Bill Cohen. Thank you. She was spicy. I figured out Stephanie's, I came to so many observations under the influence of opiates. Stephanie's peanut butter and chocolate is she is smart and spicy. She's smart and spicy. She's like hot, but irreverent and smart. Yeah. Oh my God. Where are you now? You had to skip TV appearance? Oh my God, I had to fly back from LA last night. I had to try and pretend to sleep. Oh, you had to show your face. Hello, Lunesta. And then I'm going, after this, I go to Miami for a speaking gig, which should be interesting with this. I was just there. With this face. Yeah, my friend said he saw you. Yeah. And then I have to come back for another speaking gig on Wednesday. And then I go to Davos on Sunday. You also are being interviewed by me, so we may have to rethink that. Why am I not being interviewed by you? Yeah, for my CNN thing. We're doing a follow-up on our soundbar. Is that how poorly the show's going? I'm on twice? No, it's going great. I'm on twice? No we just wanted you to talk about we need someone to talk about loneliness and digital One of the things you been talking about on your book tour is you linking it to everybody in isolation So I think it's important. It's supposed to be on Colbert Thursday night. Let's get back to me. Let's get back to me. It's supposed to be on Colbert Thursday night. I think I'll talk. You know where I am right now? Where are you? Morgantown, West Virginia. I'm going to film at my dad's grave today. But how do they relate that to health? Or is it just what it's like to... It's about longevity. I hate to say this, but one of the feedback from the stuff we've filled the forest. Is he a void of all emotion or humanity? Take her to her father's grave. She needs a facelift. She needs a facelift. She refuses to get her eyes done. Take her to her father's grave and wide angle, focus back. Focus back. We have, speaking, we have so much to talk about. There's, you missed quite a bit, let's just say. Oh my God. Like crazy on your tramadol journey. First time in my life I was scared to look at the news. I know. Literally scared. I'm like, you know, I think I'm just going to ignore the news. Yeah, which you can't, actually. And watch hot white butt sex off the ice. Okay, let's start that. The Justice Department has opened, this just happened yesterday, has opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the central bank's renovation of its headquarters and whether he lied to Congress about it. The inquiry includes analysis of Powell's public statements and spending records. Powell called the investigation unprecedented in a video released by the Fed on Sunday. Let me say, he's finally said enough is fucking enough. Let's listen to the clip. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president. This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation. This guy's a fucking corrupt octopus. When asked about the investigation, not Powell, Trump, President Trump said he didn't know anything about it. He's a liar. Powell's term as chair ends in May, and his term as governor, though, runs through January 2028. What in the world is he doing? I bet they've been lowering interest rates. I think they were going to keep them the same for this particular next session. But what in the world? He's going to get his guy in May. What he actually pointed Powell, but let's move on from that. Thoughts? Well, before Chairman Powell released that statement, there was a 15% likely likelihood that he would resign before August. point of Powell, but let's move on from that. Thoughts? Well, before Chairman Powell released point of Powell, but let's move on from that. Thoughts? Well, before Chairman Powell released that statement, there was a 15% likelihood that he would resign before August. By the end of his statement, it had dropped to 5%. And that is the market where the wisdom of the crowd said, this guy's going nowhere. He's very good. He nailed his speech. He did exactly what he needed to do. He wasn't defensive. He just stated the obvious. This is prosecuting or criminally pursuing your political enemies. And I think even most Republicans deep down acknowledge that. Also, Republicans who are supposed to be the ones that are more fiscally responsible recognize that one of the keys to the most prosperous economies in the world and the majority of Western economies that grow their economies while not risking spiraling inflation have one thing in common, and that is they have an independent equivalent of a monetary association or a federal reserve that is independent because of the following. Presidents are under huge pressure to perform. And usually there's term limits and they're only there for a limited amount of time. So it would be almost near impossible for them not to believe that it would be good for them, the country and the world to lower interest rates. Because people don't typically realize lowering interest rates is full stop putting more money in people's pockets. If you lower interest rates, you pay a lower fee on your credit cards, your mortgage, your auto loan, your student loan. If you take mortgage rates, or excuse me, if you take interest rates from 5% to 2%, you're putting somewhere between a few hundred dollars or a few hundred thousand dollars every month in the pocket of consumers, corporations, CFOs. Everyone in the short run is happy. But the problem is you risk having too much money facing few two products, the supply chain doesn't increase, and you end up with upward spiraling inflation. And the thing about inflation going up is that if people get to a point where they start panic buying, and that is they don't hold the currency and they constantly transfer it into goods, it can spin out of control. And a lot of revolutions start because of inflation. The primary job of an independent Fed is to say, look, we're going to appoint you for 12 years, and your job is not to listen to anybody but the data and make sure this entire society doesn't crumble under massive spiral inflation. And just a few data points on Chairman Powell, he had an unprecedented increase in rates when he saw inflation peak at 9 and he brought it down to about 2 He will go down arguably as one of the most seminal figures positively in terms of the U economy The inflation has mostly moved towards its target. He avoided a deep recession. He pulled off a Mary Lou Retton-like sticking the economy landing. Yeah, there was a little complaint about a little too much. Remember that part when they were doing- Everyone was complaining when he was doing it. The far left is like you're hurting Americans. The far right was you're hurting corporations. But this is the bottom line. He managed to cool inflation massively while avoiding a recession. Yeah, he did. People don't- I mean, before this, what is it called? He kept something going too long. Easing? Quantitative easing? Yeah. Well, Janet Yellen basically said, and I've made this argument, we pumped $7 trillion into the economy and 85% of it wasn't spent. It's impossible to argue we didn't overdo it. Her viewpoint is the risks of overdoing it are far outweighed by the risks of underdoing it. If you look at the real economic strife throughout our society, it's when the thing that took the Great Depression and turned it in from a Great Recession to a Great Depression is we decided to tighten rather than loosen. Anyways, also he's done, including up until the point of the speech yesterday, the Fed has maintained institutional credibility and independence. The piece of insight is I think everyone realizes this is prosecuting or pursuing your political enemies. I'm sorry, James. Those cases are all falling apart, by the way, but go ahead. They couldn't even get an indictment against her. Yeah. The evidence, the grand jury or the evidence presented, they said it's not even worthy of an indictment. The piece of nuance that I found interesting here, the little bit of insight that people may not know is the following. This isn't about trying to intimidate him into resigning. That's not what this is about. This is about trying to intimidate him into resigning from the board of governors because his role on this board, basically on every board, this is the dynamic. There's 12 board members, say, on a board, a public company board. It's usually less than that, but let's say it's 12. There's everybody speaks, everyone nods, and then there's one or two people. When they speak, everyone fucking listens. You gotta believe that when Chairman Powell is just, is no longer chairman, but the governor, when he speaks everyone gonna listen He gonna have huge influence And Trump Trump wants him off Trump wants someone Trump wants a board of governors that is not independent that will take interest rates way down and give him the sugar high he wants And if Powell is still on this board what we are going to have is a much safer much more robust economy Yeah, well, he's not going anywhere. This isn't... Well, even... He's done in May. This is about trying to get him to say, No, I get it. I'm just saying, he's not coming off the board. This is like... I don't think so either. Oh, I think he's... He wouldn't have... This is not a man who makes a video. This dude does not scare easily. No. He didn't get on there and start being defensive about the actual thing he's been accused of. He's like... He's basically said, this is nonsense. And anyone with half a brain isn't even going to get near this. Even Fox News, I don't think, is going to go after him. They realize, okay, this is a bridge too far. The whole thing is so cockamamie. Like, well, everything they're saying now is coming out of their mouths is a lie. So, I mean, what's really interesting was this video that he— Fine, there's a lot of sudden pushback in lots of different places you're starting to see, including Republicans voting against him. Oh, the ACA subsidies? Yeah. Yeah. I have to say this was, this is such a, like a signal of, you know, what's incredible to me is he's very active and everything he's doing to me is, I think it's this one reaped of desperation because he can't, this is not going to work. And it makes Powell stronger. That is my feeling. Like, this gives him much more credibility to influence the Fed, even after he's gone. You know, he's going to, whoever he picks is no match for Jerome Powell, even if he's not the Fed chair. I have never been more confident about a future recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom than Chairman Powell. Yep, yep, 100%. I mean, he kind of, right now, he kind of defines leadership in our country. Maybe Ms. Machado will give him a piece of it. Oh, God. Anyway, let's go on a quick break when we come back. The ongoing fallout from the ice shooting in Minneapolis. Support for this show comes from Delete Me. The new year can be a perfect time to get your digital house in order. And a great way to do that is by making sure your data is protected. 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You can take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me. Now at a special discount for our listeners, get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to joindeleteme.com slash pivot and use the promo code pivot at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to join delete me.com slash pivot and enter code pivot at checkout. That's join delete me.com slash pivot code pivot. Support for today's show comes from Upwork. If you're a small business owner, inbox is in the double digits before you even logged on, it might be time to bring in some help. Even though it may feel like it, you don't have to be the CEO, CFO and COO. Upwork says that With their help, you can start hiring top candidates and stop doing everything yourself. With Upwork Business+, you don't need to spend weeks sorting through random resumes. You can source and vet a curated shortlist of proven candidates for skills and reliability. Upwork Business+, gives you instant access to the top 1% of Upwork's talent in fields like marketing, design, AI, and more, all ready to jump in and make your life easier. Upwork Business+, gets rid of the hassle of hiring and sends top talent right to your inbox. That way, you're never stuck spinning your wheels when you need a skilled pro and your projects don't stall. You can visit Upwork.com right now to post your job for free and connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's U-P-W-O-R-K.com. Upwork.com. Support for the show comes from BetterHelp. The new year doesn't require a new you, maybe just a less burdened you. Therapy can help you figure out what's weighing you down. with professional help you can head into the new year with a clear-eyed picture of your relationships motivations and emotions with better help Finding that help doesn't need to be complicated better help is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms having served over 5 million people globally They have over 30,000 therapists so you can find the right match All you need to do is fill out a short questionnaire to identify largest online therapy platforms, having served over 5 million people globally. They have over largest online therapy platforms, having served over 5 million people globally. They have over 30,000 therapists, so you can find the right match. All you need to do is fill out a short questionnaire to identify your needs and preferences. And with more than 12 years of experience and an industry-leading match fulfillment rate, they usually get it right the first time. But if you realize you want to switch therapists for any reason, you can do that easily at any time. Don't let last year's baggage hold you back from this year's growth. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash pivot. That's BetterHelp.com slash pivot. Scott, we're back with more news. Thousands of people across the country took to the streets this weekend to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. This as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says she's sending hundreds more federal agents to Minneapolis. this week. The Trump administration also cut state and local officials out of the investigation into Good's death, leaving it all to the FBI, which minimizes credibility. A new cell phone video has spread across social media showing the moments for the shooting from ICE officers' perspective, which is quite damning to the ICE officer. Vice President J.D. Vance and others are arguing that the footage supports a claim of self-defense. Most people don't, well, most people aren't lying, don't agree with that. Meanwhile, Good's wife spoke out saying on Wednesday, January 7th, We stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns. You shared your thoughts with me. And, you know, this is a terrible thing. And, of course, you know, I think people rightly point out that it gets an enormous amount of attention. and this is a white woman coming back from school. I mean, the narrative is really quite something, but it still has sparked protests everywhere. And especially when it's combined with all these videos of these thugs going around with masks on, you see reaction from sheriffs and local police who don't like it. They don't wear masks. Talk a little bit about what you think is happening here right now. Well, I just want to acknowledge the point you referenced, that the black community is like, yeah, welcome to our world. Look the very founding of America the very principles and the reason why people took so many risks and brought together such thoughtful people to start this new experiment called America the very cornerstone of why America was founded was to avoid this shit was they didn want an autocrat with unchecked power They could harm them. And so this, in so many ways, is just a violation of everything we're supposed to stand for. And the worst thing you could say about Ms. Skud is that she was, I don't even say fleeing the scene, but leaving a controlled environment without permission. That is absolutely the worst thing you could say about her. But Department of Justice policy clearly states you cannot discharge a weapon or use lethal force when someone is fleeing the scene. And I'm not even sure it qualifies as fleeing the scene. But take the worst interpretation of what she was doing. You still cannot justify what this agent did. And also, if you're in front of a jury talking about situations like this, and look, federal agents and police deal with very hot, in the moment, complicated situations. And a lot of it goes to what they refer to in court as state of mind. Let me give you this guy's state of mind. Fucking bitch. Thank you. Put three bullets in the torso and face of a woman who was not physically threatened him and then decided after she had clearly been killed and ran off the road to say, fucking bitch. That was his state of mind. This is a tragedy on a meta level for American principles. It's obviously a huge tragedy for her and her family. What was even more disappointing and salt in the wounds of the current state of America is conservative media, including Fox, used a lot of code words when describing Miss Good, and I'm sure you saw this. First off, a self-proclaimed poet. Bullshit. She was an award-winning poet. A divorced person. Oh, divorced people aren't as worthy. And then the one I'm sure you noticed they kept referring to her as a lesbian. Yep. Okay, the guy who shot her three times in the face, I would bet 95% probability he sleeps with women. That makes him no more or no less guilty. And the fact that she sleeps with women makes her no less or more guilty of anything or no less a tragedy or a victim And when Fox consistently describes her as a lesbian activist what they saying is dear viewers, we think you are such raging fucking homophobes that if we highlight that this woman sleeps with other women, you will have an easier time justifying the murder of this woman because being gay is a bad thing. In other words, dear viewers, we think you too are homophobic. And we took out a mouthy lesbian. That's exactly what they're doing. All of this coded language is basically an acknowledgment that the viewers of whatever conservative media starts using those words. It makes no – if we ever get to a point of America, it makes no sense in any trial or jury to talk about someone's sexual orientation. I have long said, and also I think the left sometimes has a problem with wrapping virtue around people if they're of a certain special interest group. No, they're no better and they're no worse. This had nothing to do with that. It was terrifying as a, you know, because I think it was someone who has, there's some personal thing happening here with him and gay women. Well, supposedly he'd had another altercation with a car, right? Yeah, I don't know, something else. Her heirs are going to be rich. Fucking bitch says a lot to me. Like something else was going on. Yeah, 100%. And so, you know, really, look, this guy is clearly a thug, right? And this is what they hired. The people that killed all those people in Germany were thugs. Hitler did not kill everybody. He hired people who did so. And one of the things that you notice from this is the reaction from people who know better, the J.D. Vances, the Christie Gnomes, et cetera, and Trump himself, who immediately, you know, decided she was guilty, no matter what, and kept pushing this thing before any investigation. The only person who tried to say, well, let's just wait and see, was, of all people, Tom Homan. And then he was slapped back. Like, it was incredible. He had the correct response, which is, let's wait and see. Let's wait and see, yeah. You know, and of course, now we're living in an era of video. And when they released that thing and let fucking bitch out? Like they think that helps their case. It sounds like this guy was in a rage from someone and she, her last words of her of her life were I not mad at you dude like honestly the juxtaposition and her name good Um it was and it so clear what happening in that video I think what really going to what grotesque is and I have to give credit to Jake Tapper for writing Kristi Noem about this which was how can you she showed pictures obviously of January 6th where they were squeezing a police officer hitting them with pipes and flags and squeezing one officer officer in a door and they got pardoned, you know, and she was like, everyone gets the same law. And he's like, but they don't. And she goes, everyone gets the same law. And then he shows the pictures again and says, he's saying, I'm not mad at you, dude, and driving away. They are attacking police officers. You cannot say this. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, Kristi Noem needs to be impeached and hopefully go to jail. But J.D. Vance is particularly loathsome in this thing. And That, to me, was sort of a shock, this idea of, like, trying to impugn this victim long before there's an investigation and then not letting the state also be participatory. This is not going to end well for any of these people at some point. Well, the administration has been consistent. It's the Roy Cohn communication strategy. Double down, deny, attack, attack, attack, never admit any guilt. guilt. If they'd had a really talented communications person with the presidency, what would have actually helped the administration is if the president had done the following. I saw the video, quite frankly, I found it very upsetting. Americans, you know, ICE is there for a reason. I need to review this. I need to see what the full investigation says. But I found what I saw disturbing and then say nothing else. I think that actually would, quite frankly, have given ICE more cloud cover and license. If he had just said that, I don't know if you remember when George Bush, they had video of when Saddam Hussein was hanged. And I remember him saying, yeah, I watched the video and quite frankly, I found it very disturbing. And it was a real moment where you said, okay, I feel better about this guy being president. As angry as he was, as much military hardware as he'd committed, He knew he had been sentenced to death, but he just said, I found the whole thing disturbing. They would have helped themselves if they had just said, we need to have a full investigation. Anyone who saw the video, including us, found this disturbing. And we need to investigate it. We need to investigate it. Yeah. And we'll see have a full investigation. We need to have a full investigation. Anyone who saw the video, including us, found this disturbing. And we need to investigate it. Yeah, and we'll see what the full investigation turns out. These people are out of control. I mean, I've talked to a lot of, this is him unhinged with people, you know, essentially his low rent versions of the SS with them. That's what it feels like. And my heart goes out to the children of this woman, which is to drop the kid off at school. She had stuffed animals in her glove box. I mean, there was a dog. This is not a dangerous person. Yeah, driving a Honda Pilot. It was like something out of a... Speaking of great cars. But he's also trying to roll over big oil companies. He says they'll invest $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry. But executives do not say this. And they did not say it in public. at a White House meeting. Oil companies expressed interest but didn't commit to spending, which means they don't want to. And I have talked to several people and they do not want to with Exxon's CEO calling Venezuela uninvestable under current conditions. Trump is now saying he's inclined to keep Exxon out. I guess he's doing them a favor. They don't want to be there. He's also turning up the heat on Cuba, warning the country will receive zero oil and money from Venezuela and telling them to make a deal before it's too late. I mean, this guy is like a mobster. If you were an oil company, executive. I mean, most of them are like, no matter what he says, they're not going to waste their money on things. They've already lost. As correctly, these oil executives pointed out, they lost money there. It's sunk costs that they're never getting back. And they've written down a lot of these. They had to explain a lot of this to him, you know, because he just didn't have any idea, seemed not to have any idea what had happened in Venezuela. So what do you think about this, that was really interesting for the Exxon, the biggest oil company, to say, yeah, no, I don't think so, right in public and at the White House. I know what's going to happen here. The oil companies will just, you know, give them a handjob, say they're very interested in looking at it, wait them out. But economics are going to win here. And the economics at a very basic level of the following, the type of oil that Venezuela has, and it does sit on the largest untapped reserves of oil in the world, but it's heavy crude. And heavy crude requires special chemicals and more efforts to extract. And basically the cost And the fine Yeah that right But the cost just of extraction are 70 to 80 bucks a barrel And right now in the open market it about 62 bucks Now they continue to do that because they have fixed costs they need to cover But right now in the current marketplace it just doesn make an economic argument for any incremental investment In addition, big oil companies have made massive multibillion-dollar investments in Venezuela twice, and each of those times, their assets have been seized. So they're kind of like, okay, fool me once, fool me twice, fool me three times. We don't need it. They don't need it. Well, there is something, and I will come back to Venezuela because I have a lot of thoughts on it, and I was jonesing to talk about it. But what I do think Rubio, but the president doesn't seem to understand, is that while oil has shaped the world, where it is now is that it's not about the amount of oil. The U.S. is a net exporter. We have more oil than we need. On an inflation-adjusted basis, oil is cheaper than it was 50 years ago. But the control of the flow of oil is actually very important because you can, in fact, shut China off without... So 90% of their oil experts from Venezuela were going to China. There was a shadow fleet coming in and out of Venezuela, and it was going to the people, quite frankly, that we don't like. So the ability to turn off that tap... If you were able to basically sequester China from supplies of energy, they'd be out of business in about six to eight weeks and cannot wage war. Whereas the US is energy independent. That is a big, big deal. But for Exxon or Chevron or name your fossil fuels company, they have shareholders. And on a risk adjusted basis, they look at this thing. It might be worthy of some incremental investment if they get guarantees or backstops from the government or something like that to upgrade certain facilities. But be clear, this isn't going to be a massive, it just doesn't pencil out when oil is at $62 a share. Now, if oil goes to $110 a share, then they're going to get their wallets out and say, okay, we'll buy futures to lock in that price. And we'll make sure that the president gives us a sweetheart deal and security guarantees from the Venezuelan government. But the old regime was wildly corrupt. Guess who's there right now? The same regime So we not going to see I don see in the near future a wave of additional incremental investment capital Where you could see massive investment capital is Chipotle and the Four Seasons There a lot of companies that are probably interested And I actually more optimistic about Venezuela than I am say about Iraq or Afghanistan where you had basically these countries that are a mishmash of different tribes with borders drawn up by the British Venezuela has been a democracy many times. It's a homogenous population. I'm actually quite optimistic, not with this administration, but I'm optimistic in general about the prospects. Anyways, I'm getting off track. We're not going to see big capital investments in the short term from oil companies. No, but it's true. And you have to think about the economic benefits of this country, right? I mean, in terms of what he's done here. And it was really interesting. I think he expected them all to follow the script. and as the tech bros tend to do. And they absolutely didn't, which when he said that, my head jerked up. I'm like, oh, wow, that's a big word, uninvestable. Like, it wasn't like, oh, it's problematic, but we'll figure it out. It was sort of very clear. And he was obviously irked by that. But leaving them out, listen, he's not gonna be able to leave them out if they wanna be in there. They're the oil companies, they'll do what they want. As much as he thinks he controls everything as he likes to say that. The more he says, I control everything, the more I know he doesn't in so many ways. We don't have an embassy in Caracas. We don't have boots on the ground. I'm not exactly sure, other than the threat, I'm not exactly sure how we control it. Nobody wants to go there. Do you think Americans want to go there? Especially his base. They absolutely don't want to go there. I think Venezuela could be one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world if this is handled rightly. This is, and again, and this might have been me thinking about this under the influence of opiates. I think the analogy I would use is a Bond film. And that is Bond films always have amazing openings. They always nail the opening. But then it goes on to be great, good, or awful. There's been some awful Bond movies. There's been some great ones. Whenever we do these adventures and overseas conquests, it almost always starts really well. We were able to do, when I say we, I'm talking about the best performing organization in history, the U.S. military, we were able to do in 35 minutes what Putin has not been able to do in 35 months. I mean- In Ukraine. You're talking about in Ukraine. Yeah, I'm sorry. In Ukraine. Thank you, Cara. This was such a flex and an extraordinary demonstration of skill strength and bravery from the U military I mean just absolutely extraordinary Now If they hadn't won, though, come on. It's Venezuela. Sorry. Okay, but hold on. Not a single U.S. fatality or casualty. If there had been, I would have been like, what in the hell? How did we lose one person in this? Oh, God. Of course not. You have mercenaries all around them. No, I get it. They know they're coming. You would have thought, supposedly, the people on the ground there didn't even hear them coming. Right. This was such an unbelievably massive flex. The problem is the administration has not taken a note out of the most obvious and best-written geopolitical strategy in history. And it's the following. The Marshall Plan. All right. We have the Imperial Navy, which was shooting surviving sailors in the sea. We had the Third Reich, which obviously did some terrible things. So what did the American people in our leadership decide to do? Give them money. We invested in their nations. Yeah. And we weren't punitive. We invested. We rebuilt. And what do you know? Germany and Japan, 80 years later, are amazing allies. Well, we're turning on them now because of Greenland. Well, hold on. Let's just stick with Venezuela. The opportunity to not say, give me your fucking oil and more deeply impoverish them and have a transition government and then have international voting oversight, free elections, have our great institutions, our great companies encourage investment in Venezuela, give Venezuelan people a shot, show them why democracy and capitalism is so wonderful, create an amazing ally in Latin America. Yeah, you're talking about the wrong presidents. The movie could have been so... This is a Bond film. It started amazing. Now we're going to find out this may not be a great movie because already he's saying, give me the oil. Yeah, pretty explicitly. So that's, you know, related is both Greenland and Iran. President Trump is considering very strong options to intervene in Iran amid a violent crackdown on anti-government protests. He likes to help protesters in other countries, but human rights groups say over 500 people have been killed in the last two weeks with over... 10,000 arrested, other estimates are much higher. People are saying reports are coming out much higher than 500. Internet access has also been shut down, telephone service. Iran's foreign minister just said a while ago that the country is ready for war, but prepared to negotiate. than 500. Internet access has also been shut down, telephone service. Iran's foreign minister than 500. Internet access has also been shut down, telephone service. Iran's foreign minister just said a little while ago that the country is ready for war but prepared to negotiate. Obviously, most smart people on this issue, whether it's Farid, there's all kinds of people talking about it. This regime is facing some, you know, they have, this has happened before, but most people feel this is really bad for the regime, which is good for everybody. But Taking military action again is, oh, quagmire, feels quagmire and rather dangerous. Although it's maybe the point to attack because this country is on the brink, I think, from what I can read from experts. I can't think of a military operation that has a higher ROI for the world and for women and for feminism right now. We have been here before where it looked like the regime was going to fall. and because of the IDF and the U.S. Air Force, we have taken out around Zair defenses. It is clear that the Mossad has penetrated the highest levels in terms of soft assets and espionage. We should absolutely be supporting incredibly brave young women and men who are risking their lives every day and we should be striking civilian support centers. We need to help these folks finish the job. We are on the precipice, Cara, of what is arguably the greatest unlock for women's rights and to unlock what is an incredible civilization and turn and stabilize the Middle East for decades. In my opinion, there is nowhere in the world that connotes a better reason and a bigger opportunity for why we spend more than the next 10 militaries combined. We should be coordinating with our allies in the West, although they're not going to coordinate with us anymore, but Israel will coordinate with us. And we should absolutely be providing military cloud cover and on-the-ground assets to make sure that this isn't the 11th hour for the regime. This is lights out. Right, lights out. So, again, as you noted, this has happened before. There have been protests across the country. And they beat them back. And they've managed to tamp them down over and over again, this regime. But so many people still suppose that I read this morning that 2000 people have been have been murdered The best way to end a war is to win it We have the resources They have no air defenses We have assets Russia is preoccupied I mean I a hawk I don think there's any reason to spend $1.1 trillion on the U.S. military and then not use it in situations like this. So what does that look like? Does it look like, again, I mean, does it have that Bush feel to it that, of course, I suspect much regret for the United States' involvement there, whether it was Afghanistan or Iraq, et cetera? I think that's a fair question because the reality is we are very good, and I think it would not incur much danger to our men and women to foment regime change here. The problem is when we decide to start trying nation-build. But Iraq, I think that there is an infrastructure and a populace. And everyone's excited about the Shah's son potentially coming back. And he has said the right language. He wants to be a transition leader to free and fair elections. But what we know is the current state is not good for the people of Iran, especially bad for the women of Iran, who have been subject to what is arguably one of the worst gender apartheids in the world. Keep in mind, Iran just a year ago was considered the superpower of the Middle East. In addition, I mean, when you look at geopolitics, you're not only going to look at what's happened, what's not happened. Have the Houthis been causing problems in the Suez Canal? No. Has Hezbollah been firing rockets into their neighbors? No. We need to finish the job here. And just personally, having grown up at UCLA and having friends, David Asil, my mentor Hamid Moghadam, Bitaq Basiri, Alex Desili. I have never met a group of people who are more American than Americans, than Iranians. And I think they could actually be an outstanding ally for us. I think the cultures are much more similar between the U.S. and Iran than a lot of our existing allies. Well, then weigh in what the hell he's doing with Greenland then. That news conference. I'll tell you exactly what's going on, Cara. It makes absolutely no sense. It's all downside. Anything that we say we want, they're like, fine, put military bases here. Do we have rare earths? We allowed to as I agree with David Sanger We can put them there Rare earths sure What your idea Instead we want to go to war with NATO I mean this one is really out of a Maybe you done some reporting here or talked to someone This is what people around... He just wants to take land to show he'd be the first president to do it since, I don't know, Jefferson or whoever. Like a real estate deal or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he's, someone was speculating, you know, the map, it's called the Mercator map, shows Greenland is enormous, but it's actually not. It's not as big as, just because the way maps are made. It's a real estate deal that he's obsessed with. And of course, it'll create so much damage to our relationship with Europe. If we start attacking a NATO ally? Yeah, I don't... This makes... I got to think even the administration would go, what are we going to do? No, they seem to be going along then. They seem to be... Like whatever crazy shit comes out of his mouth. But we'll see. Do you think he'll take military action here? It's a prediction, Scott. I don't. Yeah. Well, let me go this way. I think they would just show up. This is Greenland, but in Iran, yes. I am really hopeful. I think this is why we have him. I think if we're really serious, I was trying to find what Secretary Clinton thought about this, because the thing about Secretary Clinton was she was always pragmatic, was always willing to exert U.S. force. She loved a bomb drop. And she never forgot where she came from, and that is she always in the back of her mind said, we are here for a lot of reasons, but we're here to protect and advance the rights of women all over the world. And there's a double whammy effect there because the rights of women are largely a forward-looking indicator of your economic growth, prosperity, and your move towards democracy. So there's a lot of reasons to just champion that. Yeah, because Trump is a well-known feminist. We are on the verge of such an enormous unlock by toppling the Islamic Republic. And unfortunately, I didn't watch the Golden Globes, but I doubt there was very many mentions of Iran. They didn't mention, Scott, let's be fair to them. There was no political. There was hardly any. Yeah but quite frankly I would argue you tell me I would argue the amount of mentions around Iran is vastly underproportionate or underwhelming relative to its importance And this will trigger a lot of people but I want to spicy come back and I decided my theme for 2026 is zero fucks given It because of the moral color code And that is the media and progressives on our side of the aisle, especially the far left, get moral paralysis when the oppressors are brown. And the number of people that, I don't see any flotillas. I don't see Greta Thunberg. I don't see actors talking about what has been one of the most oppressive, misogynistic, anti-democratic. Cara, they blind women. I am aware of also many of those countries which they have protested against. Come on, Scott. I mean, even if they're going in the right direction, that government should be eradicated. Let's stop there. And the way we do that is just as we should be supporting the unbelievable bravery of the Ukrainian people with our military hardware and intelligence, we should be supporting the brave men and women of Iran right now. And we have the ability to do it. We have intelligence and technology from the IDF, and we have the muscle. It is time to move to the next stage of this incredible multi-thousand-year civilization. And the potential— I get it. I get it. We got to move on. But let me just say, if the goal is to do that, threatening our allies over Greenland is not— No fucking sense. No fucking sense. I agree. No fucking sense. All right. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, here's something else you'll have an opinion on. 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All that on Version History, wherever you get podcasts. Scott, we're back with some more news. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are cutting some business ties with California ahead of a proposed billionaire wealth tax in the state. They aren't the only ones plotting for a way around it. Silicon Valley leads have been privately organizing to block the tax through a signal chat group called Save California The tax would be a one levy on people worth more than a billion dollars It a couple hundred people actually It not that many people But some of them are not having a problem with Jensen Wong so he's perfectly happy to pay it. At the end of the day, I'm not so sure these people will cut ties. They all seem to come back to California over and over again, and that's happening right now, as you saw. San Francisco is sort of back baby kind of thing. in general. I know you have an issue about this, the ballot passes, but a lot of, it's not a great look. And I suspect, this is my feeling, and I've been talking to some of these people, is they'll have some sort of, I think the smart ones understand the jig is up on them being rich, like behaving the way they're behaving, and the image of Silicon Valley. And they know they need to do something to, because I think they feel, smart ones do, feel that there is a real backlash against enormous wealth and the gimmies they get. And so I suspect behind the scenes, there's a deal at play here. But I know behind the scenes, there's a deal at play. But thoughts that you have on this? I mean, I think these, the Google guys benefited from California, so did all these billionaires, the wonderful state of California. And it's not a great look the way they're behaving. At the same time, they can move anywhere they want. So if the objective is to signal to billionaires that income inequality is out of control and their weaponization of the tax code has really damaged America and created income inequality that threatens and tears of the fabric of our society, and you want to reduce receipts from the California government, then this is your bill. because this is the bottom line. Regardless of what you think is right or ethical, billionaires are the most mobile people in the world. And this has been tried before, and whoever wrote this bill has just not done their work. One of the people who's senior in this effort reached out to me thinking that I would get on board with it. I said, there's no reason to do a call because I'm against this. In 1990, there were 12 European countries with wealth taxes. And now only three remain. France repealed its wealth tax in 2017. Sweden repealed it in 2007. Finland, 2006. Denmark repealed its wealth tax in 1997. Ireland repealed its wealth tax in 1978. Austria repealed its wealth tax in 1994 Where I living now in the UK they have a non Act And ethically and logically it makes a lot of sense For a long time if you moved from Dubai or Hong Kong to London and you were paying zero taxes there, you got to bring your zero tax status to London. That's kind of unfair if you're using the UK infrastructure. So they said, buck that. You've been here five years. You got to pay UK taxes. Makes all the sense in the world. Over a thousand million, 10,000 millionaires have left. The UK government is going to collect less revenue this year, not more. Ethically also, or principally, I'm against it because I think once you get through the gauntlet of taxes, it's private property. And I think one of the things about the West is we respect private property. I don't think you can go after people's assets retroactively. What they should have done or what they should do, and I love tax policy, They should have an AMT. We don't care who you are and how many tax goodies you've come up with. You're going to pay at least 40% above a million dollars AMT. Do away with the inheritance tax deduction or vastly reduce it. Raise corporate taxes. There's better ways to do this. But impossible, by the way, because they have all the money to stop every single one of those things. I don't mind the signal here to these people at all. And I think it is a signal. I'm not so sure. And I know there's some that- I think higher taxes are coming for the wealthy. You are, it's enough with you people. And I think the signal is enough to begin the discussions. And they, listen, they don't look good. Like here's, especially the Google guys, they made their fortune in California. So did Elon, by the way, all of them did. And to like kick it on the way out is such a look of greed. And it was really interesting that Jensen Wong, because he probably knows it's not going to really. Jensen doesn't think this is going to go through. That's right. So he's saying, I'm a good guy. I'm one of you. I'm in favor of this. He's not worried about it. He's not worried about it. But he also knows he understands what's coming. See, I find him much more canny. They're just so fucking dumb and greedy. Like, they just always have to react when anyone wants them to do the right thing. Like, whoa, I don't want to have to do what I want to do, that kind of thing. And so I think there's a real interesting interplay here with these wealthy people, because I do think brand Silicon Valley is not good It not Oh no shit You know so they they need to make a deal here The UK is talking about UK Australia and Canada are talking about banning X And it's only going to get worse. I think Europe is probably going to consider banning Meta if this shit continues with Trump. But just going back to tax policy, a better tax policy that would be more effective. I mean, this is the problem, is this with this ballot and some of the conversation we're having here is something I've struggled with my whole life professionally. The difference between being right and being effective. Billionaires paying more tax in California to support the incredible infrastructure, the Cal State, the UC system, the hospitals, the environment. Absolutely, that's right. But the question is, how do you be effective? How do you actually increase the treasury to invest in the middle class and the infrastructure that made these people rich? And one thing you could do, it's boring, but it would be effective, is the following. You get taxed when you recognize a capital gain based on where the wealth was accreted. So when Bezos accretes whatever it is, $80 or $120 billion in wealth, and then he recognizes it, the tax authorities go, okay, we estimate that 90 of that $100 billion was accreted while you were a resident of Washington State. And so you are going to pay Washington state taxes on $90 billion instead of like, you know, I'm thinking about selling my stock. I'm going to piece out to Miami and shitpost San Francisco and then pay and pretend that I'm seeing my father. I couldn't handle San Francisco politics or homeless anymore. So I'm piecing out to a zero tax state and you can literally be there for 12 months and then recognize the entire capital gain without paying anything back to the great infrastructure. I think there are much more, much more elegant ways. No, I think this is the beginning of a dialogue. I just, I don't know, but I have a, let me just tell you, they can walk, you know, do their angry walk out of California, but they're coming for you folks. You're not, nobody likes you. And they don't think you're heroes and they don't think you're great. And they don't think what you've done is great. And so if there's one brand that's been more, has shot itself in the foot more, it's Silicon Valley. Not everybody, but a lot of people. Anyway, one more quick break. I wrote this book because I believe everyone book, Well Endowed, hitting shelves February 3rd. I wrote this book because I believe everyone deserves to build wealth that actually works for their life, not just follow some cookie cutter financial advice that wasn't made for us. I'm sharing the real strategies for building generational wealth, investing with confidence, and creating the financial future you actually want. This isn't just another personal finance book. It's a roadmap for taking control of your financial destiny and building the kind of wealth that gives you options, freedom, and peace of mind. Pre-order Well Endowed now wherever books are sold and get ready to transform your relationship with money. Listen to this week's episode wherever you get your podcasts or watch on youtube.com slash yourrichbff. Okay, Scott, let's hear some wins and fails. Okay, my win is actually, The U.S. military that executed the capture of Medora, Delta Force, First Special Forces Operation Detachment Delta, which is an elite army special unit that led the direct raid and the apprehension of Medora, the 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment. And then there are these quiet helicopters, just night prowlers. And then supporting our brave men and women on the ground there were elements from multiple units, intelligence, mobility, the United States Air Force, United States Navy, the Marine Corps all had a role in this. I just think if you think about kind of soft power, if you think about America's influence around the world, of the 7 billion people in the world, 6.7 billion don't live here, and 6 billion are never going to come here, and 4 billion are never going to have any interaction, or 3 million are probably never going to have any interaction with an American to an extent. So our ability to do business, to continue to attract the best and brightest, to convince them maybe not to cooperate with people planning to come here and harm us is based on our brand. And part of that brand should be soft power in a positive way. And that's why the cancellation of USAID was so terrible. But also some of it is quite frankly as Madeleine Albright said Secretary Albright said our reach is far and our memory is long The brand message of this military flex and how it was executed has sent a chill down the spine of every adversary globally Jesus Christ did you see what they did and how easily they did it? I think that the win here, and I'm actually in favor of the operation. U.S., Russia, and China were operating a shadow fleet. We also actually didn't get enough press, we seized a Russian tanker like it was wiping sweat from our brow. They did it so elegantly, even though it was being shadowed by an Akilo-based or class Russian sub. It could be an amazing ally. Anyways, we talked about this, but my win is the best performing organization in the history of the world, and that is the U.S. military. I'm just fascinated by what people... My loss here is the moral color code of America, where unfortunately my business, academics have created a zeitgeist of oppressor and oppressed. And we've decided the shorthand for that is the color of the skin of the oppressor. And we go into moral paralysis, whether it's in Sudan or Afghanistan, or in this case, Iran, when the oppressors are brown. and I just am disappointed that there's not more attention to what, I don't think you can call yourself a feminist if you're not talking about excited and very supportive of robust action to overthrow what has been one of the most oppressive regimes globally and I just don't see that nearly the type of coverage that some other conflicts have received and I think it's because in America we do have what I would refer to as a moral color code and that is the damage done to the oppressed, the violation of human rights, the pursuit of democracy, the out-of-control misogyny are not what dictates our response. What largely dictates our response is the color of the skin of the oppressor. That's my fail. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't credit a lot of my thoughts around this to this really impressive woman who I had the pleasure of meeting, a woman named Elika Laban. And if you're not following her, you should. I think she's just so brave and so thoughtful around issues as it relates to Iran and other conflicts around the world All right It kind of funny you say that because there was a story on Fox about wine moms white wine moms being dangerous Oh my God I love that Mouthy lesbians and white wine moms. The women of white wine. Oh, my God. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. That got started with that justice's wife who had drank wine and hung the flag upside down. Yeah, well, she's a different white wine mom. She's on the other side. Let me do my fail first. What's happening with Grok? And the fails are Apple and Google and, of course, Grok, as always, is in terms of allowing child abuse and misogyny to just thrive and pretending it's free speech. Back in the day, I feel like child pornography was something we all agreed shouldn't happen. The fact that these companies haven't thrown Grok out or demanded changes or anything, been vocal about this issue. And maybe they are behind the scenes, but I don't care. they should say publicly, about what Musk has been doing at Grok, which is disturbing. There were pictures of the woman who was killed in Minnesota with bikinis on in his spicy mode. Look, people are going to make these things stupid anti-women things all the time, but this is really repulsive when it comes to children. And this is something we shouldn't, I'm going to do a whole show on it because I'm just so tired. And I don't think the media has paid enough attention to this, but I don't think it's the media's fault, so I'm not going to slap the media for it. I think Apple and Google have some influence here in terms of the App Store and everything else. And I know, for example, that a federal judge just ruled that the lawsuit against OpenAI should go to trial, and that's perfectly fine. But the behavior of Grok is really pretty heinous. And so, and if they're never going to do something because it's Elon Musk and he has no values whatsoever at this point, but Apple and Google certainly should and stand up. And the lack of standing up by many companies these days is pretty disturbing on every level. But this, this to me is the most disturbing that I've seen so far. And my win is, my win continues to be people that, you know, that are standing up, whether it's Jerome Powell, whether it's even the Exxon executive, he just said the truth out loud about things. This is an administration of cronies and hacks and terrible people that are still doing damage even if they incompetent And so anybody who speaks out and says things I really and Jerome Powell this week sort of gets that for me, absolutely, even in a small way. I don't love when actors do it from stages, and I thought actually Jean Smart, besides saying she's a greedy bitch for winning three times, which was very funny, was really, did it well. Like she said something very clearly, And at the same time, she understood. She's like, I understand that people don't like to hear actors talking about these things, but I'm a citizen in this. We have to do the right thing. I thought she did it in a really classy way. So that was a small way. I think Jerome Powell is doing the same thing. And I think everyone who calls attention to all this fucking nonsense and also Jake Tapper for doing that excellent interview with Christine Ohm deserves credit for just saying, oh, come on, fucking enough with you people. Anyway, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business tech or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com slash pivot to submit a question for the show or call 855-51-PIVOT. Okay, that's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot. And our new Scott Galloway, she's so pretty. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on Friday. Scott, welcome. Stop laughing. Stop laughing. I just, I love everything. It's lucky it's not at my expense. I got to say, everyone's like, why Scott out? And I'm like, uh, and they're like, facelift. No, it wasn't a facelift. Whatever, that was what they said. That's coming. That's coming. All right. Read us out, you pretty little lady. Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie and her dad engineered this episode. Rich Shibley edited the video. Thanks also to Drew Burrows, Miss Savera, and Dan Chalon. And Shaq Kroaz, Vox Media's executive producer of podcasts. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thank you for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at edmymag.com slash pod. We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. I asked the surgeon just to look natural, and I think he misheard me and said, I want to look naturally surprised. I'm looking at Ferraris, Kara. I'm looking at Ferraris. What is the hole I'm trying to fill here? What is the hole? Oh, it's a big one. It's a big one.
