Are Universities Going Broke? | May 18, 2026

Summary

Macrodosing Podcast – "Are Universities Going Broke?" (May 19, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this episode of Macrodosing, hosts Arian Foster and PFT Commenter (Connor), with the regular cast, dive into a surprisingly broad set of topics. Although the headline theme is the financial health and future of American universities, the show, as ever, branches out: youth sports culture, college debt, AI’s economic impact, Pizza Hut nostalgia, sports parenting, and even bioethics papers about making people allergic to meat. The conversation is free-flowing but always anchored in cultural trends and personal perspective, managed with the irreverent and humorous tone Macrodosing fans expect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Are Universities Really Going Broke?

• Declining Enrollment & Financial Strain
  • Connor lists stats: major debt and cuts at Clemson, Duke, UNC, Indiana, and Vermont; declining enrollment linked to falling fertility rates.
  • Discussion of the causes—falling birthrate since 2007 (now at 1.6 children per woman, below replacement rate of 2.1), rising college costs, and changing job market needs due to AI.
  • Quote (Connor, 49:06):
    “There is an interesting… theory with some evidence to back it up that college might be in some trouble generally.”
• Cost vs. Value
  • Aran questions the sustainability and value given the expense: “It is egregiously expensive.”
  • 529 plans for saving; prepping for daughter’s college.
  • Speculation: Will dropping demand finally drive college prices down?
• Sector Survival
  • What actually is thriving in the US economy? Discussion shifts from higher ed to the wider consumer sector: besides entertainment, sports, and AI, most sectors (housing, restaurants, retail) are struggling or on the verge of downturn.

2. Youth Sports Culture & The Business of Kids’ Athletics

• Rise of Professional Training
  • Aran details training his son in basketball—strength and endurance foundations, importance of structured sports coaching now commodified (“it’s an industry now” 33:58).
  • Connor notes: Families invest huge sums in travel teams, often without any return in recruitment or scholarships.
  • Pressure on parents and “meal ticket” aspirations critiqued.
  • Quote (Aran, 36:46):
    "Odds are your kid is NOT going to be a pro... Just enjoy the experience and let your kid be a kid."
• Travel Sports Episode Tease
  • Announcement: Upcoming episode will tackle the youth travel sports industry, possibly with guest Greg Olson.

3. Ethics in Youth Sports – Taunting and Sportsmanship

• Viral incidents discussed:
  • Young baseball player’s extreme bat flip and taunting divided public opinion; Aran supports healthy competitive “chirping” within limits (41:17–42:24).
  • Track & field DQ: State-winning hurdler stripped of gold after a “taunting” gesture—hosts agree the punishment is absurd even if the warning was clear (43:45–44:19).
  • Connor sums up the dilemma: teaching both confidence and humility.

4. Generational and Cultural Trends

• Parenting & Memory
  • Aran’s relaxed attitude toward personal milestones—doesn't remember details of his wedding, but values the feelings and connections instead (24:45–25:59).
• Choices, Restaurants, and Overload
  • Menu overload metaphor: More options aren’t always better; applies to modern life, not just eating out.
  • Connor: "I think a place does something well if they only have five things" (10:42).
• Nostalgia for Simpler Times
  • Pizza Hut’s revival: New investor restoring classic Pizza Hut with salad bars, red cups, arcade games, the Book It! reading program (66:47–69:58).
  • How overabundance (easy delivery, endless options) has diluted the excitement once felt for pizza nights as a kid.

5. Public Health Morality: The ‘Alpha Gal’ Debate

• Bioethics Paper: Genetically Engineered Ticks to Make People Allergic to Meat
  • Connor summarizes a real paper suggesting it’s "morally obligatory" to spread meat allergies via genetically modified Lone Star ticks, as a form of “moral bioenhancement” (57:42–59:12).
  • Hosts shred the logic: They can understand the moral discomfort about meat (Aran admits it's "morally abhorrent" even though he eats it), but see the proposal as deranged and totalitarian.
  • Aran: “That’s some psycho shit. Absolutely” (64:28).
  • Memorable quote (Connor, 64:48):
    “I would argue it is morally impermissible to intentionally genetically modify ticks to hopefully spread disease to people.”

6. Golf Culture (With a Side of Venting)

• Golf Length & Accessibility
  • Ongoing debate: Should golf be shorter (13 holes)? Aran—a “lifer”—wants more, but most recreational players burn out after 13–14 holes (16:36–19:38).
• Pace of Play & Private vs. Public Courses
  • Public courses are slow, crowded, and expensive; private courses offer calm and solitude but are elitist.
• Spectator Etiquette
  • Aran’s major pet peeve: People who yell “mashed potatoes!” or similar after tee shots on TV, calling for a ban or ejecting offenders (71:22–77:59).
  • Rooted in John Daly-era fans, gets Aran’s top “teed-off” of the episode.

7. Rap Beef, Drake’s New Album, and Hip-Hop Fandom

• “Iceman” Album Breakdown
  • Both hosts underwhelmed by Drake’s new album; Aran respects his talent but finds the street persona forced and unrelatable.
  • Reflects on hip-hop fanbase polarization—comparing it to older Jay-Z vs. Nas beef, but on steroids (80:24–82:55).
  • Discusses age appropriateness (both for music and artists) and how tastes shift with adulthood and responsibility.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamped Moments

On College Decline (49:06, Connor):

“There is an interesting… theory with some evidence to back it up that college might be in some trouble generally.”

On Youth Sports Parenting (36:46, Aran):

“If you have a kid on the court, SIT your ass down and watch the game… Odds are your kid is not going to be a pro. Odds are your kid is not going to play college sports. Just enjoy the experience and let your kid be a kid.”

On Parenting & Memory (25:06, Connor to Aran):

“I bet if I asked you about a football game in 2012, you’d remember it.”

On Menu Overload & Simpler Times (10:42, Connor):

“I think a place does something well if they only have five things, as opposed to... you can get the lobster or pancakes.”

On 'Alpha Gal' Tick Syndrome Paper (64:48, Connor):

“I would argue it is morally impermissible to intentionally genetically modify ticks to hopefully spread disease to people.”

On Golf Fan Annoyances (71:22, Aran):

“The amount of disdain that I have for these… incalculable. The motherfuckers that yell after tee shots. ‘Mashed potatoes.’ Yeah, Sasquatch, get in the hole. Shut the fuck up.”

On Drake & Hip-Hop Polarization (82:55, Aran):

“That’s what I feel about this. Like, Drake and Kendrick went at it, they sparred. I felt like Kendrick got the best of him. It didn’t change the way I felt about Drake music... You can like both of them. It’s okay.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• College Finances & Demographics: 47:53–53:59
• Economy & Surviving Sectors: 53:59–56:48
• Youth Sports Culture/Training/Tournament Economy: 31:10–38:47
• Ethics in Youth Sports (Taunting DQs): 41:17–46:44
• Pizza Hut Nostalgia / Menu Overload: 66:46–70:47
• Alpha Gal Meat Allergy Paper Debate: 57:42–66:44
• Golf Annoyances & Culture: 71:22–77:59
• Drake’s New Album Discussion: 79:35–91:59

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Memorable Moments

• Aran’s honest (and comical) inability to recall his Hawaiian wedding location, leading to a playful group roast (24:44–25:59).
• Planning a future youth sports episode, possibly with Greg Olson.
• Aran's impassioned rant about golf spectator decorum—the “mashed potatoes” crowd.
• “Book It!” nostalgia, and how childhood incentives to read have changed.
• Detailed, reflective take on Drake’s hip-hop legacy, the culture of “picking sides,” and why adults’ tastes change.

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, unfiltered, and always veering into philosophical or comedic observations.
• Blend of irreverence (e.g., mocking sports parents), cultural critique, and genuine self-reflection (especially from Aran).
• Frequent light-hearted ribbing among co-hosts, particularly around memory, generational divides, and fandom.

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In Summary

This episode is peak Macrodosing: ostensibly a serious topic (university finance crisis), regularly drifting into lively and rich branches—sports culture, economics, pop culture feuds, restaurant menus, and food nostalgia. Highlights include critical takes on youth sports, honest discussion of cost vs. value in college, a comically passionate attack on golf “yellers," and thoughtful analysis of rap’s generational feud culture. For listeners new or old, it’s an apt showcase of how cultural commentary and personal authenticity can coexist, with every detour ultimately serving the episode’s exploration of the American moment.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

Hey, macrodosing listeners. You can find us every Tuesday and Thursday on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

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[Connor]

In a few weeks. I'm playing Royal Hawaiian Golf Course and Turtle Bay. You should look those up.

[Aran]

I know Turtle Bay. Yeah, I played at Turtle Bay.

[Connor]

Oh, really?

[Aran]

Mm. I think I got. Who was it? Did I get married in Turtle Bay? Yeah, I got married.

[Connor]

Got married in Hawaii.

[Aran]

Yeah.

[Connor]

And you don't. You don't remember where you got married?

[Aran]

Well, clearly the marriage didn't last, but

[Connor]

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[Aran]

All right, welcome back. Welcome back. Hope your Tuesday's starting off amazing. It is. What is it?

[Connor]

May 19th.

[Aran]

May 19th. The whole famous 19th. You know what happened May 19th?

[Connor]

I do not.

[Aran]

I don't know either. Probably nothing. Probably everything.

[Connor]

Let's look it up.

[Aran]

Any Famous significant event May 19th. I. I was in high school forever. Made me remember the 19th Amendment, though, because our quarterback was number 19, and our history teacher was like, Ryan is. Do you know what the 19th amendment is? And he was like, nope. He's like, well, you should. He's like, why? Like, what number do you wear? She's like, 19. Like, well, you should know this one. She got mad at him. It's the woman's right to vote. I'll never forget that one. Because of that cold, class laughed at him. Shout out to Ryan. Hope he's doing well.

[Connor]

On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, was beheaded for adultery. I've been to the spot where that was in 1963. Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham jail was published.

[Aran]

Oh, that was banger. Have you read that? I'm sure you've read that.

[Connor]

Yeah. I don't know if in totality, but yeah, in school we got you. In 1999, Star wars, episode one, the Phantom Menace was released.

[Aran]

Okay.

[Connor]

Ho Chi Minh was born on this day in 1890.

[Aran]

Ho Chi Minh. Are you.

[Connor]

You're not familiar.

[Aran]

I am, but the audience. You gotta give the audience.

[Connor]

Yeah, he was the Vietnamese guy. He was like their leader.

[Aran]

Ah, the Vietnamese guy.

[Connor]

Andre the Giant was born on this day in 1946. Archie Manning in 1949, Kevin Garnett in 1976. But yeah, Anne Boleyn, the wife, she was like, 15, I think, or something, maybe a little older. But they have the spot in the Tower of London where they killed her and they tell you all about it. Very cool tour. If you're ever in London, the Tower of London. It's awesome.

[Aran]

So they offed her because she committed adultery.

[Connor]

She was accused of that, I don't think she did it. And then when they. When they were about to kill her, she said something to the effect of, I didn't do this, but if it helps the king to kill me, if that is his will, then I will submit to it.

[Aran]

Damn. She had a writer.

[Connor]

Yeah. Let me find the quote. Before her execution at the Tower of London on May 19, 1536, Ambaland delivered a poised diplomatic scaffold speech to the gathered crowd. She praised King Henry VII as a merciful prince, deliberately avoiding angering the king to protect her daughter, Elizabeth.

[Aran]

Wait, he. She. So she. She bit the bullet to protect her daughter from what?

[Connor]

I guess if. If she raised a stink, maybe she thought they would kill her daughter, too.

[Aran]

Oh, that's a heartbreaking way to go out.

[Connor]

Her last words were recorded by Edward Hall, a chronicler of the time. She said, quote, good Christian people, I have not come here to preach a sermon. I have come here to die. For according to the law, and by the law, I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I come hither to accuse no man. I pray God save the king and sent him long to reign over you. Who for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there ever. Kneeling at the block, her final prayer was, to Jesus Christ, I commend my soul. Lord Jesus receive my soul. I don't know if I'd. If that's what I'd say about the guy that was killing me.

[Aran]

That's a writer, dog. That is a writer. She.

[Connor]

I mean, surely she. She didn't believe that she was trying to. To protect her daughter.

[Aran]

Yeah. The crazy part was he was definitely cheating. You know, he was getting all the.

[Connor]

Oh, he had, like, 10 wives or something.

[Aran]

Oh, it was legal back then. That's cool.

[Connor]

Yeah, I think that's. That's what the king did. I think that's what it was.

[Aran]

It's like, all right, I can get. You can't handle. That's just how this goes.

[Connor]

Oh, by the way, she was 29 when she was killed. Not. She may have been married at, like, 15, I don't know, but she was young.

[Aran]

If you go. If you. Asides from Jesus, if you go back to any historical moment, what would you go back to?

[Connor]

Moment? So just, like, one.

[Aran]

One day, like, you like. I would watch that. I'm gonna go back and watch that. I want to see what happened.

[Connor]

Yeah, I mean, that. That period is interesting. Obviously, they're like, Maybe World War II, maybe Civil War. Go watch, like, Gettysburg or Something.

[Aran]

Excuse me, A lawn chair on the hill. Just watching them.

[Connor]

I think people used to do that.

[Aran]

Like the little cosplay Jones.

[Connor]

No, no, no, no, no. The actual war. Like, there would be battles in people's backyard, and they'd go out there and sit and watch it.

[Aran]

I know people used to, like, have, like, cameras and out there, didn't they? Or am I imagining things?

[Connor]

I don't know. Maybe by the time they came around, I'm not sure, but I'm. I'm pretty sure people would go. Like, there would be a battle in your farm and people would just go watch it

[Aran]

and be me. Dope.

[Connor]

Let me. Let me make sure that's accurate. Yes. Civilians frequently watched early Civil War battles. The most famous example is the first battle of bull run in 1861, where Washington elites, politicians and reporters rode out to Virginia expecting a quick, entertaining union victory. They brought opera glasses and picnic baskets, earning it the nickname the picnic battle. I guess if you didn't have TV or radio or video games and you were like, hey, there's a battle happening down the street. I might go watch.

[Aran]

Yeah. And you had, like, severe psychosis. The.

[Connor]

Yeah. I mean, maybe, but, like, what else?

[Aran]

It's a Tuesday. Let's go watch the slaughter. You down? Yeah, I'm down. I ain't got up.

[Connor]

I mean, they didn't even have baseball back then. Like, what. What were they doing?

[Aran]

They used to go to, like, Blaze and. Right.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

Like, plays. Plays were big.

[Connor]

Shout out. Lincoln.

[Aran]

Music. Music was a thing. Yeah. Lincoln. Lincoln. Let's see. I mean, I don't know. What did people do for fun? I imagine it's probably a little funner, honestly. I read the study a while back that people are more like. If you're to order from a menu. If you go to a menu or like a restaurant, you go to a menu and there's like, three things. Big bow, little bowl, small bowl, medium bowl, small bowl. Right. That genuinely is more pleasing to people. Like, then you go to, like, a Cheesecake Factory where there's thousand things to choose from. You're more happy with just the little amount of choices. So I think back then they may have been a little bit more, you know, relatively anyway, just by. By choices. This is the. The influx of shit nowadays. Can. I can see how that can debilitate people. It's kind of why I've stepped back from everything and take a mental health reset. I have. I haven't been in the culture for a minute, man. I've kind of just been out of it.

[Connor]

I am also going to your restaurant. Example. I am more inclined to think a place does something well if they only have five things, as opposed to. You go to a diner and they're like, oh, yeah, we. You can get the lobster or pancakes. And it's like, okay, I don't trust that. Your pancakes are very good if the guy making them is also making the lobster. But, like, raising canes. They sell chicken fingers. That's it. They're a $5 billion company.

[Aran]

I'm in agreement. It'd be them.

[Connor]

Like, one thing.

[Aran]

The mom and pops, too. Ramen shops. Ramen shops that are like that. Those are the best ramen shops for all my ramen connoisseurs out there. The best ramen shops are the joints that you just walk in. They're like, yo, we got spicy miso or we got takatsu. This is a ramen shop. All we do is rame that them be the ones that be the ones. Yeah. How's everybody? It was. How's your weekend, man? Mine was pretty low key. Nothing significantly was in. I didn't get impacted that. Oh, I, I, I lied. This was a, A big weekend for me, actually. The. What is it? Oh, the pj. The pj. Did you. I'm sure you didn't watch it. Did you watch it?

[Connor]

I considered watching some on Sunday, and then I just kind of looked at the leaderboard, and none of the names were interesting to me, so I just didn't watch it. I saw Aaron Rise putt. That was sick.

[Aran]

Yeah, that was dope.

[Connor]

I, I didn't watch any live.

[Aran]

Yeah, it was. It was dope. I like seeing new blood get some. Get some spin in the major scene in the major circuit. I'm not a fan of Rory as, like, a human. Excuse me. Not like, you know anything personal, but it's like some of the. Kind of like a little.

[Connor]

That sounded mildly personal.

[Aran]

Well, no, no, no. Not like I don't know him. You know what I'm saying?

[Connor]

But I just hate his character.

[Aran]

The, the way, the way he be like, so when Autumn cats went to live, right? He was one of the ones like, oh, he's just like, chirping on him and harping on him, like. And to me, that's weak. That's like, how you gonna say what another man does to feed his family, right? I've always been like that. Like, regardless. And he just, he's just always kind of like. Kind of like a little crybaby dog. But I love. I'm a huge fan of his game So I don't really give A. What he does off the. Off the course. Honestly, I'm always kind of rooting for him on. On the course. And so I was. He, you know, he made a little push that was. That was fun to watch. Really, really, really dope major. I like. I like seeing, like, John roms is my favorite golfer out right now. He made a little push, too, But Aaron R. Had a good one. So it was fun to watch that. I like. I like them battles, man.

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[Aran]

Anything else?

[Connor]

I had a. A golf experience this week. And I'm curious what you would have done in this situation.

[Aran]

Run it.

[Connor]

And you don't have this problem. Because you play at a private club. How long does it take you to play 18 holes?

[Aran]

It depends. I typically don't play weekend golf because it just be too packed. Even on some of the. Not my course. My course is still kind of. It'll be a little thick out there on the weekend, but for the most part, during the week, I mean, there's rarely anybody on the course. But sometimes we'll go every now and then. And foursome anywhere from four to four and a half hours.

[Connor]

Oh, still that long?

[Aran]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Connor]

So I was playing golf Saturday With a friend who, you know, and we got to the 14th tee, and we had been playing for four hours. And he was like, I got to get back to, like, my dog. And I was like, bro, I'll leave right now. Really? I was like, I will not stop you. We will turn this cart around right this second. And so we did. We turned around left. Because we were going to be there for five and a half hours.

[Madeline]

I think golf should be, like, 15 holes. Like, 18 is too many. But, like, nine is not enough.

[Connor]

Madeline, what did I tell you before they came?

[Madeline]

I say it every time. I don't play 18 often, but when I do, I'm like exhausted by really

[Golf Enthusiast]

Big T told me. Oh, sorry.

[Connor]

I want to make. I. Arian, tell me if you, if you're interested in putting some capital towards this. I think this is a. I think this is a business waiting to boom.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Big T told me this 20 minutes ago.

[Connor]

I want to make a 13 hole golf course.

[Madeline]

Yes.

[Connor]

And I want to put a nice like, restaurant and bar in it. Like a, like a topgolf style type deal. But then it's a real golf course out there. It's 13 holes. The halfway house is as at six, you. Because when you play nine, you're like, I could go a few more. But then when you play 18 and you've been on the course for four hours and 20 minutes and you're on the 14th hole, you're like, when can I get out of here? So I think 13 you could talk me into 14 is the sweet spot. And I think we just build a 13 hole golf course.

[Aran]

I think. I don't, I don't have this opinion. Cause like, I'm a lifer, so this game got me for life and I. I can't be on the golf course enough. I've. I've.

[Connor]

But again, you're good though.

[Madeline]

Like an average. You're good though. So you're getting done quicker most of the time than like an average person. Like when. If I'm playing bad, which I normally am, I'm like so bothered. I'm like, I just want to be done.

[Aran]

So this is what y' all should. This like. I'm gonna address your point, but this is what I think. I think recreational golfers, right. Because I was there. There was a point where it's like you line up and you don't know where your T shot's gonna go. No clue if I hit it good. Cool. But for the most part, right, I. I play the brand of golf where it's like, I know my shot shape, right. I know I'm going hit a fade off the tee. Sometimes I hit a pool, my hips too fast, whatever the case may be like. But that's fun. I'm actually playing the course. That's when golf gets really, really fun. But for recreational golfers, I would advise you to don't, like, pick up the majority of the time.

[Madeline]

Oh, well, yeah, I do that.

[Aran]

Yeah. Yeah. So like, if. Or if, like if somebody in the group play a shamble, like if somebody in the group hits it. Yeah, somebody at a group hits a Good drive. Everybody drop from there and just play there. Play from there. Like, play. Play games, like, make it fun. Because, like, if you say. If you're out there counting score, like, there. Because there are times where I would be. Even me. Like, I'm a. You know, I'm okay. If I, If I, if, if. If my score is getting to the high 80s, low 90s, I just won't. I stopped scoring and just play the course and just forget. Forget, like, just don't, don't worry about the score. Like, there's just. There's still times where I play, like. But I would. I would do that. But to your point, I think you go. I think that would be sexy to the average golfer. I do, actually. But for people who play this, it won't. You're gonna have. You're gonna have people with the shrink, the game. You heard?

[Connor]

But those are all the people who are. Who are on the course for six hours.

[Madeline]

I think there's more people that exist like that than, like, people who love golf so much.

[Aran]

Yeah, I see both sides. Yeah, I see both sides. I understand just wanting to go out there and vibe. You know what I'm saying? But if I go dolo and it's just me or just me and a buddy, I'll finish in, like, hour and a half, two hours easy.

[Madeline]

18 holes.

[Aran]

Yeah, yeah, but it's just like, me, Me and maybe one other person. But, like, if it gets 4. I usually pay for money games. We always betting that takes a little longer because we play by real rules. You gotta drop two clubs. You know, if you, if you. If you hit it at a hazard, two clubs back up, put a T down, drop it. Like, we play Rick real. For real, but not everybody can, can or should do that. So I. I mean, I feel. I feel you. I feel you, man.

[Connor]

I don't know if I think it's a.

[Aran]

If I pay. How much was. How much was the. The. The fees?

[Connor]

It was $77.

[Aran]

See, now you're pushing it to. I mean, that's. That's a pretty. That's a muni.

[Connor]

It was. It was Cog hill. So it was like a good public course.

[Aran]

Yeah, I don't know. I think I finished around just on the strength. Like, if it was like a, you know, 30 course for it. All right, whatever. You get 70, 80, 90. I'm gonna play this.

[Connor]

And I'm. I'm generally like that. But once it. It's hot, you're out there. You're just standing at the tee box waiting for People the whole time. And. And I wouldn't have proposed it, but when he was like, man, I kind of need to get home, I was. I'll. I'll go right now.

[Aran]

What. What time you tee off?

[Connor]

11:30.

[Aran]

Ooh. See?

[Connor]

And we left at 3:45.

[Aran]

Another pro tip. Summertime, you got snagged in morning tee times.

[Connor]

I'm. I'm all about. I'll go at 6:30.

[Aran]

Yeah, just. Just for the vibes as far as like, temperature so it's not hot. You finish around like 11:12. Perfect. You still got the whole day ahead of you. You can sit in the clubhouse, you have drinks, food, or just going about your day. In the summertime, you got to grab or you do the Sundown Jones where it's like you tee off at like 5 or 4:30 or something like that.

[Connor]

But see, then it's still hot. And it's like, I don't like those.

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[Golf Enthusiast]

I have a golf question.

[Aran]

Shoot.

[Golf Enthusiast]

If you. So, like, Aryan's private club versus, like, Cog Hill, can Aryan. Can you just play? I know you have to play like a foursome at a public course all the time. Like, you get matched up with random people. If you don't have four, can you go out there by yourself and no one else goes with you on your private course?

[Aran]

Yeah.

[Golf Enthusiast]

So, like, if it was just you, like, no one's gonna join you.

[Aran]

Nobody will. I mean, somebody could. They could ask because, like, there's only 300 members, right? So it's not a lot of people. I mean, and like, everybody's in and out. So like, majority of the time, like, if you go. Like, if I go, today's Monday. So if I go there, if I go there and I don't. Like, we don't even really book tee times. You do, but, like, they're more for the weekends when there's more people. Yeah, there's more people. But like, if I book an 11:30 on a Monday, odds are there's gonna be like seven people there. And. And usually they're just hitting the range or something. Like that and, like, sometimes, like, you start to develop, like, friendships and stuff with the. With the other members. And, you know, I'll hit balls and like, hey, man, I'm about to go shoot nine. You want to run? And they're like, yeah, I'll pull up, right? If not, nah, I'd be out there by myself.

[Golf Enthusiast]

I think I'd like that better.

[Aran]

It is a more enjoyable experience. And that's what you pay for. It is. It's an egregious amount of money for a game, but, I mean, you know, can't die with it. You know, I'm talking about.

[Golf Enthusiast]

True. Thank you for answering that, Aran.

[Connor]

I just booked yesterday. In a few weeks, I'm playing Royal Hawaiian Golf Course and Turtle Bay. You should look those up.

[Aran]

I know Turtle Bay. Yeah, I played at Turtle Bay.

[Connor]

Oh, really?

[Aran]

I think I got. Who was it? Did I get married in Turtle Bay?

[Madeline]

You?

[Aran]

Yeah, I got married.

[Connor]

Got married in Hawaii.

[Madeline]

You don't remember and you don't.

[Connor]

You don't remember where you got married?

[Aran]

Well, clearly the marriage didn't last, but

[Connor]

I think it would be something you'd remember.

[Aran]

No, I'm not. I don't care about shit like that. Like, I just.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Wait. I'm even.

[Madeline]

At the time you did, though, I assume. No, no, it was, like.

[Aran]

Not.

[Connor]

I was gonna say. Don't make him answer that.

[Aran]

No, I mean, I'm very upfront, honest. I was way too young to get married. I was not in the mental state to get married. I was a stupid move on my part, but I just. I just wasn't. Like, I. And. And now looking back, I'm not the type to get married. Like, I would love it in theory, but I just don't know if that's in the cars for me. But anyway, I'm not, like, a stickler on details. Like, y' all know this better than anybody. Honestly, I don't plan a lot. Like, I kind of just fly by the seat of my cuff. And so if. If I'm with somebody, usually if I. If I got a girl, something like, I'd be like, yo, book all this. Handle all the. Handle all of that stuff. Just tell me what time I gotta be at the airport. Like, I don't like getting into the details of where we're going, What's. What's there, how much does the plates cost, and all of that. I don't like that. That's not for me. I get, like, anxiety. It's not. It's not. It's not something I enjoy.

[Connor]

Do you remember the general, like, air. You don't know where you got married. This is a bit.

[Aran]

Think. I think. Why would it be a bit. I think it was Turtle Bay, if I'm not mistaken. I think.

[Connor]

Think the, like the resort there?

[Aran]

I think so. It was. I got married in 2000. What, 12. That was 15 years ago.

[Golf Enthusiast]

That's not that long ago in the

[Madeline]

grand scheme of things.

[Connor]

Yeah. I mean, I bet if I asked you about a football game in 2012, you'd remember it.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Yeah.

[Aran]

You remember. You was kind of tripping you, because I. I don't know none of the stadium's names.

[Connor]

What, like in the dozen? Yeah, like, different. This is again. I. I do feel like it's your wedding. I understand it didn't, you know, work out.

[Aran]

Yeah.

[Connor]

But it seems like an event you would remember.

[Aran]

I remember the event. Yeah. I could. I could tell you everything that happened.

[Madeline]

Like, he danced with his mom, too.

[Aran]

Yeah, yeah. See, I remember. I remember the, like, I'm like, details are. Have never been important to me, like, ever. Like. Like, that is.

[Connor]

I. I can attest to that.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Didn't you wear, like, a white suit? Like a bright white suit?

[Aran]

Cute. Yeah. I think I have a picture of me dancing.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Wait, you have a wedding picture?

[Aran]

Well, it's because I'm dancing with my mom. It's a picture of me.

[Golf Enthusiast]

No, it's not. Like with you and your ex wife.

[Aran]

Boom. No, see, that's me and my mom.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Oh, yeah.

[Connor]

Very nice.

[Aran]

See, like that matters to me. But, like, that's cute, the place that it's at. Why would that. I don't. This is not something I pay attention to like that because I didn't. I didn't book it. It wasn't like. And the. The marriage didn't last, and so it's not. It doesn't, like, hold a special place in my heart. You know what I'm saying?

[Connor]

Like, fair just feels like something you'd remember.

[Golf Enthusiast]

But it was for sure. Hawaii.

[Aran]

Huh?

[Golf Enthusiast]

It was for sure. Hawaii.

[Aran]

It was for sure. Yeah. Of course. Yeah.

[Connor]

I mean, if he had that wrong.

[Aran]

No, no, because. Because I. I was. That was the one thing I did have a hand in. I was like, I want to make it where if you want to come, you got a plan and go out your way to be there. I don't. I don't want you to just pop in and I got to buy you a plate, like, if you want to come. Like, you got a plan. And so it was a nice little, like 40, 50 people. I didn't need that many people.

[Connor]

Did you stay there at that resort? Assuming that's where it was. Okay, I'll be there in a little while. That's where they film. You must have been right on the heels of. It's where they filmed for getting Sarah Marshall.

[Aran]

I came here to murder you.

[Connor]

It was really hot back then.

[Aran]

Another funny part of the Turtle Bay.

[Connor]

Believe it's a. It's a Ritz Carlton now,

[Aran]

I think. Oh, the Google Maps only shows me a picture of the street or the website. Good. It's a good question. I don't know. I don't remember.

[Connor]

Man, you should find that out.

[Aran]

It's not going to change my day one way or the other.

[Connor]

I'll. I'll send you some pictures and see if it rings any bells.

[Aran]

Yeah, I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think if there's anything I. I remember there was a drink I liked at the pool. Lava Flow. Lava. Lava Flow.

[Connor]

I write it down.

[Aran]

Lava Flow was extremely good. Very, very sweet. But it was like, yo, this is hitting. Had some, I think rum in it. See, I remember detail that. But I don't know, I just. I've never been a stickler for those kind of details. I guess it's selective memory. You remember what you want to remember.

[Connor]

Yeah, well, I'll be there in a month. I'll. I'll send you some pics, see if

[Aran]

golf course you remember being there.

[Connor]

Okay.

[Aran]

I didn't play then. I played. I had later went back to that resort, which is why I rung a bell. Other than where I got married and I played there. It was nice. You should have a great time.

[Connor]

Was that Pro bowl or just hanging out?

[Aran]

That's what, that's. That's what. That's in my mind, what I'm struggling with now. I remember Turtle Bay. I don't know if I was there for the Pro bowl or the wedding. I don't remember.

[Connor]

Okay. Yeah, I feel. Where was Aloha Stadium? Was it in. It was in Honolulu. Right. Which is like the other side of, I believe the island. So it probably wouldn't have been for Pro Bowl.

[Aran]

There you go. Deductive reasoning.

[Connor]

I think it's only like an hour, so it still might have been.

[Aran]

But see, I think the thing is I don't ever book none of my. That's what it is like. One of my favorite hotels of all time is the Brooklyn one. The one hotel in Brooklyn. I used to book it when I used to go to New York with the New York offices when macro was There. And I remember that hotel because I was the one that we book it. Like, I think that's it. I think I just don't book my shit. Like just tell me to show up and I'll be there and whatever happens, happens. I just, there's no significance. It doesn't, it doesn't resonate with me.

[Connor]

Anyway, Hope is the, is the 1 hotel brand. Is that like the only people I ever hear talk about it are people I know that are wealthy. So is that, is that a very preferred brand?

[Aran]

I can't speak for other ones. I've only been to that one. And what I liked about it is every New York hotel is fucking tiny. Everything is so tiny in New York. You go to that one and there's finally room and space in your room. That's what stood out to it for me. And it's very like, like modern, like little like hipster vibe, but very, very like spacious and very clean. I loved it. And then you get the whole Manhattan, you get the whole view of Manhattan right there because you read across this the, the Brooklyn Bridge. This is fire. Anytime I go to New York, I go to that one. Now free promo shout out to one hotel.

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[Aran]

Oh man, I am tired. As I was working, working out my son at 5am we started his training. Proud of little man.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Training for, huh? What's he training for? Oh, basketball, yeah.

[Aran]

Basketball, yeah.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Like are you training like basketball drills or like working out like life?

[Aran]

No. So how, how you do it is like if you want to build an athlete, right, you have to build a foundation, right? And so the foundation right now is strength and endurance, right? And so it's like the first. A lot of people and this is just for anybody, right? If you just like trying to work out, a lot of people just like go to the gym and they just walk around and don't really know what to do. And so if you, if you want to build out and have like a goal for your body, you have to build a foundation. And right now, like as a kid, he's 13 years old, just turned 13, he doesn't know how to run. Most people don't know how to run. You don't know how to run. You don't know how to breathe when you run. You don't know how to breathe when you. When you train. So we're building a foundation. I'm getting them strong, a little bit of a weight. A little bit of weight training. And then we are gonna build his, like, his core. And then we're gonna build the structure on how to run. That's in the, in. In the. In the morning time, and then at night time, we do all basketball drills. And one of the. One of the trainers that trained deer and fox, I got him to come work with him. So we gonna. He gonna. He gonna be gonna hate me in about two, three weeks. But I hated my dad, too. But now I'm retired, so. Shout out to.

[Connor]

Is this going all summer?

[Aran]

All summer long? Yeah. I'm. I'm delaying all my summer plans. I told him I'd lock in with him.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Is it also. Isn't it like AAU season right now, too?

[Aran]

See, that's the thing. Kids love, like, AAU ball and stuff like that. And so I was. I told him, I said, listen, let's take a year off AAU and let's. Let's train you. No, no, no. AU basketball. And he was hesitant at first, but I was like, like, it's. It's better to train. And because it's. It's an industry now. I said this a while ago and I saw an article about it. I said this years ago on this podcast that nowadays it's different than, like, when we was growing up. When we was growing up, it was talent. And then you got coaching and training. That was what was kind of like unique about my position was my. I. I had talent as a kid, but my dad played college ball, and so he knew how to train. He knew what to do, especially with my body type. And so it put me ahead of the curve a little bit. Now it's an industry, like child training, like getting kids.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Aran]

It's a huge industry. And so what's happening is you're having kids that aren't as talented, but have the means to train. And right wrong or different. If you outwork people, you will get better than them. They always used to say talent has a shelf life. And so now what you're seeing is kids with, like, resources, they're getting coaching really early, and it's putting them in positions to succeed at a way higher rate, and that's only going to continue to grow because the industry is getting so big. And so I. He. He said he wanted to. You know, this is what he wanted to do with his life. You know, I used to be a professional athlete. I know how to train. I know how to work. He's in a unique position because we have a lot of resources. And. And I don't mean, like, money. I just mean, like, I can go talk to, like, a Jamal Crawford or whatever, all the connections I made over throughout my lifetime, and like, really get real knowledge about this game as. As well as the shit I know. You know, I used to ball. Big T. That was my Jamal Crawford. Yeah, that's my dog. Oh.

[Connor]

Loved him when he was on the Hawks.

[Aran]

Yeah, that's my dog. Greatest ball handler of all time. Great. I argued this with Clyde Drexler not too long ago. I don't give a fuck what he says. I know he's a Hall of Famer, but I think he's stuck in his era. Jamal Crawford runs circle. He. He thinks it's Isaiah Thomas. I'm like, come on, dog. He does make a good point, though. But he says. He's like, yo, false, man. They changed the rules. The rules are different. So, like, when we was playing, you couldn't have the ball. You couldn't have had a ball on the side that was carrying, like.

[Connor]

Oh, they'd call a carry on your ass.

[Aran]

Yeah. And so he's like. He's like, we had to. We had to dribble like that. So, like, when you see them old cats and you know what I'm saying, like, he's like, we had to dribble like that.

[Connor]

I was like, that makes sense.

[Aran]

I understand what you're saying. But when they changed, Roy took it to another level.

[Connor]

Yeah. Some of the videos of carries in the 80s, it's like. It's nuts. You wouldn't even look at it now.

[Aran]

Yeah. Allen Iverson used to get called for carried a lot when I was. When I was growing up, and now it's. I don't. Do they even call that shit anymore?

[Connor]

It has to be egregious, right? And even then, they usually don't. I. You. You talking about that, though. I can't believe we haven't done this. I want to do an episode on, like, youth travel sports. Because that. That deal is insane now. Even from when. From when I was a kid, you know, Which, I mean, now was a long time ago, but, like, they still a kid, man. You can. You have to pay to, like, watch those games online, like your kid. And they're charging 30, $40 to get into tournaments and, like, the money people spend on it is crazy.

[Aran]

Wow, bro, this. I remember last season in my son's AU tournament. I'm the type of parent, which I advise all you parents to be this type of parent, bro. If you have a kid on the court, sit your ass down and watch the game, dog. Stop yelling at the refs. Stop yelling at the coach. I don't give a fuck what your pedigree is, dog. Shut up. Nobody wants to hear that shit, dog. Odds are your kid is not going to be a pro. Odds are your kid is not going to play college sports. Just enjoy the experience and let your kid be a kid. Like, the only time I'll talk to my son is if he looks at me in the crowd for advice, you know what I'm saying? Like, sometimes he'll look at me and he'll be like, you know, what do I do? And I'm like, okay, hey, you gotta box out. I say, hey, watch his left hand. You know what I'm saying? I'll give him little advice like that. But these parents, though, I remember one time last year, they kid is balling and this motherfucker's running up and down the sidelines talking shit to all of us, the parents. And I'm like, dog, it's not even close to that crucial. Then they start to yelling at the kids. Kids. Kids can't even enjoy their experience. It's. It is. I don't know if it was like that when I was a kid because I was always locked in. In the game, but it. It is. It is gross, dog. It is. It is not. It's not a pretty sight, man. I think a lot. That's what it is. A lot of these parents, like, want. That's their meal ticket. They want their kids to be their meal ticket, bro. Let these kids be kids, man. It is. It is. Yuck.

[Connor]

I want to get a good guess for that. So I don't know if we could do it by Thursday, but I want to do an episode on that because I think some of the stuff that's going on, interesting and crazy, like, people will go into tens of thousands of dollars of debt to. So their kids can play, you know, on the best travel team or whatever, and then they don't. They don't get recruited at all. Like, no. And football. Football is the one sport where you. Not only do you not have to do that, you can't really. There's no. Like, there isn't AAU football, like, it's, you know, you just play in high school and that's kind of it. But like, basketball and baseball and soccer and like, those youth teams are money printers.

[Aran]

Yep. It's been like that for years for baseball. I know them cats. Autumn Puerto Rican cats, them South American cats. They. I think the MLB actually, like, subsidizes a lot of that shit. Right?

[Connor]

Like, they have, like, academies and stuff.

[Aran]

Yeah, yeah.

[Golf Enthusiast]

You know who would be a good guest for that is Greg Olson.

[Aran]

Yeah, I was supposed to be on his podcast.

[Golf Enthusiast]

I know you were.

[Connor]

Well, can we. Can we do a home and home.

[Madeline]

We can get him.

[Aran]

I'll be down.

[Madeline]

Probably not this week, but.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Yeah, all right.

[Connor]

Yeah, we'll get.

[Aran]

And then.

[Connor]

But then you've got to. You've got to do us a solid and go back on his.

[Aran]

Yeah, yeah, I was totally. I was. I was totally down. It's just that, you know, the scheduling conflicts.

[Golf Enthusiast]

But I. That's just the first person that came to my mind because that says, like, he talks about all that.

[Aran]

Yeah.

[Golf Enthusiast]

And how detrimental it can be for kids.

[Aran]

I feel like you gotta remind me. There's two. There's two. I wanna ask you about Connor. The first one was. I don't know if you saw. It was a while back, there was this little kid who, like, hit a home run and he flipped his bat and all the kids were, like, around and they were surrounding. Joe Painter was all happy. There was people that were like, lambasting this little kid saying, where are the parents? And blah, blah, blah.

[Connor]

I know the video you're talking about to. So I know. I think I know what you're. You're going to say. To be fair, I wish I knew the name of the team or. Some people should go watch the video. He did more than flip the bat. He was like. He was. I think if I recall correctly, he was like, kind of taunting the pitcher as he was going around the bases. Like, he was doing a lot. He was doing a lot.

[Aran]

Yeah.

[Connor]

And he was maybe 10, 11 years old, I think. So you're going to say that you're. You're fine with that.

[Aran]

Hell, yeah.

[Connor]

Yeah. And I. Listen, if you're. If you're playing high school baseball and in the state tournament, you hit a huge home run and you're, you know, fine. I mean, don't. There is an element of respect in baseball that kind of like unwritten rules and stuff that. That people don't, like, violated. But I am generally of the opinion, if you had a home run, you know, shouldn't Let him hit a home run. But when it's 11 year olds, I think you, you should be teaching them like, hey, that, that's not. You don't do that. If you, if you get to the big leagues, go fucking do that. You know, if you had a home run off a major league pitcher, do cartwheels around the bases, but when you're 11, you have a little bit of respect.

[Aran]

I understand. I, I like if, like, if it was my kid, right? So, so one of my sons plays ball and he liked to talk shit a little bit, right? And if he plays bad and he talks after the game, I say, you can't be talking if you stinking up the court, like, lock in. You know what I'm saying? It looks bad. Don't do that. If he's talking and then he gets mad at the other team talking. I was like, dog, don't talk if you can't give it. You know what I'm saying? If you can't take it. If you can't take it, don't pop. And at the end of the game, you shake hands and you show love because it's not, it's. Y' all are competing. Y' all are in the middle of the game. Hey, so I like to be a little chippy chirpy, I'm okay with that. But like, I'm always like, yo, there's a certain level and so, like, I understand what you're saying as far as like flipping the bat and like, if it was my cow, like, hey, I'll be like, yo, good shit. But like, maybe tone it down. I understand, I understand that. But if my kid was the pitcher and my kid was mad that he flipped it back, that's when I'd be like, don't throw, don't throw him high fastball.

[Connor]

And there is an element of that. But again, when it's 11 year olds and even if you just toss the bat with a little stank on it, like, okay, whatever. I, if I recall correctly, they, that team was wearing like GoPros on their helmets. Like, it was a whole organizational thing. Like, yeah, like, that shouldn't be what you're, what you're teaching kids.

[Aran]

So the second one I want to, I wanted to ask you about was this was, this was recent. There was a kid at a track and field. Me. Did you see these?

[Connor]

No, I don't think so.

[Aran]

So look at this. Look at, see if you can find a video. There's. There's a, There's a kid at the track and field Meet who won. I think it was 300 hurdles. And he was kind of did like, what Usain Bolt did. He was like, you know what I'm saying? And it's a state championship, mind you. And he. He kind of taunted a little bit. And then they told him after that race, if you do that again, you're gonna get DQ'd. And then he had a 4x4 team. 4x4. And he was the ankle leg. And at the end, he just. Hold. He just held up his hand as he's passing the line, and they DQ'd the whole team for a state championship. And to me, that was. Oh, weak as hell.

[Connor]

Okay, I found it.

[Aran]

All right, you look at the video and tell me.

[Connor]

So I don't see the first one you're talking about. I just see him holding up the hand.

[Aran]

Yeah, I mean, the first one was very similar to that. It wasn't much more than that.

[Connor]

So you're so. But. But you're saying he had been warned.

[Aran]

Yeah, he got warned.

[Connor]

So. So in a vacuum, I don't. I don't find this to be egregious, but I do think pragmatically, if you had been warned about that and you still did it, then, like, I mean, that's very. A very dumb thing to do. I don't. But, like, the holding up the hand, it's not. I'm not offended by. Just seems like it. If I was one of that guy's teammates and they had said, like, hey, knock it off, and he did it again, I would be very pissed off.

[Aran]

I would be mad at the second place team. If I was a teammate on the second place team, that's what.

[Connor]

I would be mad for accepting it.

[Aran]

I'm like, y' all gonna hand us that? I'm like, I'm like, I don't want it. That's just how. I'm like, I can't. How.

[Connor]

All right, but then they say. They say, no, we don't want it. And then they what, go to the third place. Eventually somebody's gonna. Going to say, all right, that's.

[Aran]

And that's where you show your solidarity. Nobody accepts this. They won this. Give it to them.

[Connor]

But it's not like, I mean, you know, if it's not going to go in the record book, they all know who won.

[Aran]

But this is a state championship. It's not like a regular track. Regular.

[Connor]

I understand.

[Aran]

That's.

[Connor]

To me, that's like, they know they want. It's like Louisville, the basketball title that they won, that the NCAA took away. Like I was at the game against Michigan. I saw him win it. Well, everyone knows they won. Like you can say, okay, you didn't. But at some point, like, what does that do?

[Aran]

I agree. Which is why I'm like, the whole DQ for taunting is ridiculous anyway. Taunting is.

[Connor]

If that was the only thing he did, I would say that's insane. I, I don't know the first one.

[Aran]

It's not much more than that.

[Connor]

It seems like a, like a bad decision to have made, even if the conduct is not. Like, that wasn't near to the level of what the, the other thing you were talking about, the baseball kid did.

[Aran]

Nah. Yeah. No, I just, I mean, two different levels, but I just want to get your opinion on those. I'm all for. I mean, there's a fine line. Like I saw pictures of these one or videos of these one kids, this one group, basketball kids. I mean, it was balling though. But they was talking the most, doing layups on cats and then doing a little, you know, too, too, too small thing afterwards. There was this jaw.

[Connor]

See, that's the kind of stuff you can't do. Like, that's why you have to teach the kids a baseline of like, okay, have some respect. And then, you know, if you're a senior in high school and you're beating the hell out of somebody, like, you can talk to them.

[Aran]

Yeah, it's a top down thing. I, I don't, I don't ever mind talking. But there, there's a, there's an art to it. There's an art to it. There's, there's a way to do it that's a little tasteful, you know, but if you, if you whooping somebody has ain't no reason to talk shit. Like if you dogging somebody ain't. Yeah, yeah. But anywho, useful.

[Connor]

Yeah, I want to do that as an episode.

[Aran]

Yeah, I think that would be a dope. A dope episode. And yeah, that would be dope to have Greg Olson on, man.

[Connor]

Shout out.

[Aran]

Greg. No, you got.

[Connor]

Huh said shout out.

[Aran]

Just shout out.

[Connor]

This episode's brought to you by Shopify. Starting something new isn't just hard, it's terrifying. So much work goes into this thing that you're not entirely sure will work out. And it can be hard to make that leap of faith. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all E commerce in the US get started with your own design studio. With hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you Build a beautiful online store that matches your brand style. Accelerate your efficiency whether you're uploading new products or trying to improve existing ones. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. Best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond. Sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.comdonose go to shopify.comdos e that's shopify.comdonose all right man, let's go

[Aran]

down your list of, list of things.

[Connor]

So I guess while we're on the subject of youth, there's an interesting thing going around right now. I don't know how much you've seen of this. I'll just read this tweet. This is from Anthony Bradley. Clemson is $1.5 billion in debt. Syracuse is closing or pausing 93 programs. University of North Carolina plans to cut spending by $89 million over the next three years. Duke recently let 600 employees go in a $350 million budget cut. And Indiana Public Colleges announced a plan to eliminate or merge 580 programs statewide. Then here's another tweet. The University of Vermont lost 7% of its incoming freshman class year over year. And next year they're projecting it's going to be 15% lower. And then here's a chart of the fertility rate in the United states that in 2007 just goes basically straight down when obviously kids born in 2007 are all going to college right now. So there is a, an interesting, you know, theory with, with some evidence to back it up that college might be in some trouble generally.

[Aran]

So this is just not sports.

[Connor]

This is the entire, no, this is like student body. Ironically, at the same time college sports are exploding monetarily, the colleges themselves are in trouble.

[Aran]

Is there any follow up information as the reasons as to why?

[Connor]

I mean, I think it's that, I think it's a confluence of the birth rate went down, right. It was a perfect storm of technology, exploding financial crisis, more dual career households. All of that happening in 2007. And if you look at the birth rate, it was, it was 2.1 in 2007. Right now it's 1.6. I don't know what those numbers. Oh, that's babies per woman. So we're down, we're down half a baby per woman since 2007. So I think there are fewer people. The cost of college has also risen Dramatically. And now you have AI and things like that that are taking away jobs that you would have needed to go to college for even five years ago. So I think just all of that combined, like, I think there's going to be a pretty steep decline in enrollment.

[Aran]

Babies per woman.

[Connor]

That's what it says. Let's see, it says 2.1 is replacement rate. So I guess that's what you need to, to maintain the population.

[Aran]

That's interesting. I think, I mean I hear a lot about it about the, the gen. The, the generation below me are just, they're just not having kids. They're just. People just don't want to have kids. I haven't looked much into it though. That's interesting.

[Connor]

So of course the, the three of us, other than you, will have gone to college at the, the perfect height of the, the deal. I'm very thankful to have paid all my student loans back quickly. But like, maybe this is what will finally drive the cost of college down. People just stop going,

[Aran]

yeah, it is egregiously expensive. I, My daughter's a junior and we have a 520i gotta look back into. That's been a while since I looked at it, but I had a 529 plan for all my kids when they were born. See how much that covers. But it's about to be a nice little chunk of change about the handover. Interesting.

[Connor]

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, we'll monitor over the next five, 10 years what that kind of amounts to. I just thought it was very interesting

[Aran]

that

[Connor]

college seems to be not doing great despite the cost rising.

[Aran]

What is doing great? I mean, everything's expensive. What is do. What is doing good right now?

[Connor]

Everything is expensive. But there are still industries that like, like I think Disney World just raises their prices every year and people keep going.

[Aran]

Yeah, I'm, I'm saying outside of like entertainment, I think sports is always going to do well. Entertainment, I was going to do well because people needed like some kind of escapism from their reality. I think that's always going to be the case. But like what is there an industry that is actually, aside from Lockheed Martin,

[Golf Enthusiast]

I hate to say it, but like

[Connor]

AI, but that's all propped up by like fake money. We don't know how well that is doing.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Yeah, I would say, I would say off of the AI thing. Like because, because of AI, I think like the power industry and the energy industry.

[Connor]

But Aaron, you're saying like a consumer good sector.

[Aran]

Yeah.

[Connor]

Which I don't. I mean if you, if you classify you know, all of that is entertainment. Like, there's only so many other ones. Like, I think restaurants are down.

[Aran]

Mm.

[Golf Enthusiast]

I saw that. Nike's down quarter over quarter right now.

[Connor]

Yeah, I saw their. Their stock was not doing well.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Yeah.

[Madeline]

Maybe like Amazon. Yeah, doing well.

[Aran]

That's like a, like, umbrella for.

[Connor]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, they own everything now.

[Golf Enthusiast]

What about, like, skin care? I'd be buying.

[Connor]

I would. Just as a. Purely a guess, I would imagine it's. It's down just as people try to spend less money, but I don't know.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Are we in a recession?

[Aran]

Technically, no, I don't think, like, technically, no.

[Connor]

Yeah, I'm not.

[Golf Enthusiast]

I mean, I understand it's not great. That's not what I'm. But are we technically in a recession?

[Aran]

Not to my knowledge.

[Connor]

I think you would be well aware if we had hit the benchmark for it, they'd be touting it all the time. It's two consecutive quarters of GDP loss. Is that what it is?

[Aran]

So here, the overall scale OpenAI. This is just chat. GPT overall scale OpenAI is roughly 25 billion in annualized revenue as of February 2026, generating about 2 billion per month. That covers consumer subscriptions, business products, and API usage combined. I think they're kind of throwing all of that stuff. Subscriber base. There are around 50 million total paid subscribers across the Plus, Team, Enterprise and Pro tiers, including over 7 million Enterprise Workplace seats. So they are generating profit. I think they're just losing on how much they're investing back into it. As far as, like, data centers are concerned.

[Connor]

Well, they literally can. They can keep losing money. And then people are like, but this is so you know, we estimate. We. We have decided the value of this is $40 trillion or whatever. And then they just keep getting infusions of cash.

[Golf Enthusiast]

And then doesn't Sam Altman just wants. If something crashes, he just wants a government bailout.

[Connor]

Yeah. And he wants it to be a utility.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Right.

[Connor]

Scumbag.

[Aran]

The headline number people usually want is that 25 billion annualized figure. But the cleaner answer for just consumer subscriptions is harder to pin down publicly because OpenAI doesn't break it down cleanly. It estimates around 8 to 12 billion dollars annually from, like, subscriptions that they're actually taking in. That's a lot of bread, though.

[Connor]

But yeah, I'm trying to think if you. If you just classify a bunch of stuff as entertainment, I guess you would say the housing market for sellers is doing well right now. But I think that is about to change because I Just saw we have the largest delta of sellers and buyers that we've ever had. Like, prices have gone up so much that now there are too many people trying to sell their houses and not enough people who can afford to buy one. So those prices should seemingly come down at some point soon. So even, like, that is gonna flip. So I don't know what sectors of the. The consumer economy you would say are doing better than normal, other than entertainment, which will seemingly always just go up.

[Aran]

Yeah. Damn. I don't know much about the housing market. I. I stopped paying attention after I got my house.

[Connor]

Yeah, you got in at the right time.

[Aran]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What's up, guys? It's PFT here. Grit Week is here. We're back on the road, and you already know that we're bringing Twisted Tea along for the ride as the official drink of Grit Week. The new Twisted Tea summer party pack is 5% alcohol. It's realized tea, no carbonation. It's perfect for long days, longer nights, and whatever happens after practice interviews. Plus, you've got multiple flavors in the pack, including a hard lemonade that's made with real lemons, and the can turns blue when it's ice cold. So you can always tell when it's ready. Grit Week. Twisted Tea Tea time. Let's ride. Twisted Tea Brewing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. Please drink responsibly.

[Aran]

Well, what else you got on your list, man?

[Connor]

Have you been following Alpha Gal Syndrome at all?

[Aran]

No.

[Connor]

Alpha Gal Syndrome to his credit.

[Aran]

Didn't Billy do a video on it?

[Connor]

Billy Football was early on this.

[Madeline]

I was like, where have I heard that before?

[Connor]

So, yeah, he was early on this, and it's becoming a problem. So there's these ticks, they're called Lone Star ticks, that spread this disease called Alpha Gal Syndrome that makes you unable to eat meat. And there is a paper that was written by two medicine professors at Western Michigan University who published it in a journal. And they say it is, quote, morally obligatory to genetically engineer Lone Star ticks and spread them across the country to infect people with Alpha Gal Syndrome because it is morally indefensible to eat meat. So they say, therefore, it is obligatory to infect people with this disease. They call it a moral bioenhancer.

[Aran]

God, this just sounds like a boogeyman. There's no way that they. They said this. That is real.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

Where's the paper? This is the tweet. I need to. I need the paper. Okay, here. This guy says, read it yourself.

[Connor]

It's called beneficial blood sucking. Is the title of it Beneficial Blood

[Aran]

Sucking by Parker Crutchfield and Blake Hurth.

[Connor]

The abstract says the bite of the Lone Star tick spreads Alpha Gal syndrome, a condition whose only effect is the creation of a severe but non fatal red meat allergy. Public health departments warn against Lone Star ticks and ags and scientists are working to develop an inoculation to ags. Herein we argue that if eating meat is morally impermissible, then efforts to prevent the spread of tick borne ags are also morally impermissible. After explaining the symptoms of AGS and how they are transmitted via ticks, we argue that tick borne AGS is a moral bioenhancer. If and when it motivates people to stop eating meat. We then defend what we call the convergence argument. If X ing prevents the world from becoming a significantly worse place, doesn't violate anyone's rights and promotes virtuous action or character, then xing is strongly pro tanto obligatory. Promoting tick borne AGS satisfies each of these conditions. Therefore, promoting tick borne AGS is strongly pro tonto obligatory. It is presently feasible to genetically edit the disease carrying capacity of ticks. If this practice can be applied to ticks carrying ags, then promoting the proliferation of tick borne AGS is morally obligatory. Well, they start from a premise that is wholly incorrect and then go from there.

[Aran]

What's the, what's the incorrect premise that

[Connor]

eating meat is morally impermissible?

[Aran]

I don't, I don't, I'm not for this, don't get me wrong. But, but I do think like, I always think about, like, okay, we live in a time where we feel like it's, we're on pretty firm moral ground in juxtaposition with our historical ancestors. So I always try to think, okay, what are we doing now that 200 years from now they'll be like, how the, did those savages even live like that? I do think, I do think eating meat is, is morally abhorrent. I do.

[Connor]

But you, you do it in spite of that.

[Aran]

No, I do it because I grew up in this culture and I don't think twice about it. But like, when I what I like, I can't, I can't morally defend it like I think your argument would be. And correct me if I'm wrong, but your Lord and Savior bestoweth upon you a higher hierarchical structure of we are the most important beings in the land, therefore we need to eat to be fruitful and multiply.

[Connor]

Go, Peter, kill and eat. Yes, but also saying that it's morally impermissible is a factual statement that you can't. It's an opinion.

[Aran]

Well, do you think, do you think it's morally reprehensible for humans to kill dogs?

[Connor]

You can say reprehensible. You can't say impermissible. You can have the opinion that it is reprehensible. But to say impermissible means it is factually true and agreed upon that that is not to take place.

[Aran]

Well, this is why I think that he's correct that I do think it is immoral.

[Connor]

Because you can think again. You can think it's immoral, which I would also disagree. We're the only species that like goes out of its way to, to kill things humanely. And a whole, you know, every other animal is not going to stop eating meat. But that's beside the point. You can think it's. It's reprehensible or whatever word you want to use, but when you say it is impermissible, that means everyone agrees that cannot occur. Which is just.

[Aran]

There isn't a moral stance on Earth where everyone agrees on anything moral.

[Connor]

No, but there are things we all agree on there. What, like two plus two is four? That's a fact.

[Aran]

But we're talking about a moral for my kind of.

[Connor]

I agree. You cannot make an irrefutable moral statement such that you claim it is okay to then genetically engineer insects to spread a disease to people.

[Aran]

So you're saying. Okay, I go to.

[Connor]

Yeah, like it's impossible for there to be something that is. There are things that we might all agree are morally impermissible but that other cultures do not.

[Aran]

I guess I just don't. Impermissible, not allowed, unallowable or forbidden typically describes an action, behavior or rule that violates established guidelines, laws, or social norms. Yeah, maybe that's not the best word.

[Connor]

And this is something that, I mean, what percentage of the population eats meat? 80, 85? 90?

[Aran]

Probably more than that. Yeah.

[Connor]

So to say it is impermissible is. And again, even if, say you grant them that, which I certainly do not, then. Then it is morally permissible to. Not only permissible, but necessary to spread a disease to people.

[Aran]

No, it's some psycho shit. Absolutely.

[Connor]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Even if you, you grant their premise, which is wrong, their. The rest of their thing is still insane.

[Aran]

Yeah, no, that's wild. I was saying, I do think it's immoral, but like. Nah, dog. Can't. Can't.

[Connor]

I would argue it is morally impermissible to intentionally genetically modify ticks to hopefully spread disease to people.

[Aran]

I think you would be correct in that assumption. You should write a paper, a response paper. What journal was this published in? This is ridiculous.

[Connor]

Bioethics, it looks like.

[Aran]

Is that like a. I don't know enough about.

[Connor]

Bioethics is a medical ethics journal that combines biomedical and social sciences to tackle the moral aspects of topics such as organ transplants, aging, some other stuff. But yeah, it's a. It's a journal.

[Aran]

So I don't think that they actually want to do this. I think they're just so. In the conclusion, it reads, importantly, the convergence argument is not necessary for to be pro tanto obligatory to promote tick borne ags. Our argument is intended to satisfy philosophers of different normative persuasions. If any of the converging moral theories is adequate, then some argument can be made for our claim. Our argument is perhaps stronger than it needs to be because all it takes for one of all. All it takes is for one of consequentialism, rights based. Rights based deontology or virtue ethics to be an adequate first order theory. For example, if we relied entirely on consequentialism, one might object to our argument. So, yeah, I don't think that they want to do it. I think they're just, they're just a.

[Connor]

I think they're hedging their bets. But in order to write something this insane, you have to want to do it.

[Aran]

I don't think they want to do it though.

[Connor]

You can't, you can't argue this like if, if you're not in favor of it.

[Aran]

Yeah, I don't know what else you got into. This fucking. That was. That was Psycho dog.

[Connor]

All right, I've got a fun one for you.

[Aran]

Run it.

[Connor]

You grew up in the era of the golden age of Pizza Hut, some might call it.

[Aran]

Absolutely.

[Connor]

So there is a. There is a company and Tim Sparks is the guy who, I don't know if he. The owner, CEO, whatever of this company that has purchased 80 pizza huts around the country and they are restoring them to their former glory. He's bringing back the salad bar, the red cups. I think he's putting Pac man in them and he wants to make Pizza Hut great again, as it were.

[Aran]

I mean, I'm all for that. I don't know how that's gonna last though.

[Connor]

Oh, I think this is, this is a killer business idea. I think people are going to go nuts for it.

[Aran]

I think it always has been. I think the reason that they went away from it was because of the resale value of the property. If the business goes under in that Particular location. So like if, if, because you still have to sell, you have a harder time selling to build the building to business if it's shaped like a Pizza

[Connor]

Hut, you'll be like, oh, you're saying here the businesses that you can tell used to be a Pizza Hut?

[Aran]

Yeah, like yo, where's the, the car wash that used to be a piece? You know what I'm saying?

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

It's just a harder sell in this, in this beautiful economy of ours.

[Connor]

I don't even care about the exterior, but I would. There is, there's still one Pizza Hut buffet left in Nashville that I go to maybe once every couple years. And

[Aran]

I think my favorite part was a kid was growing up watching the pizza get made when they used to roll the dough and you could watch them. Yeah, pizza has lost, I mean pizza in general has lost his fervor. To me, like with the kids, like with this generation, like pizza used to be like a treat. I think, I think now it's just, it's just a part of like I said this a couple times. I was positive, like that was the only food that used to get delivered to the house.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

Like that was, that was like pizza deliveries. Yeah. I don't even really do Chinese too much. But like pizza was the thing. Like it got delivered or like at school we used to have Pizza Fridays. If you, if you, if you act well, teachers order pizza. I think now ordering is just so prevalent that it's kind of watered down. The surprise pizza's here.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

Yeah, that would be dope.

[Connor]

This would kill. They're also bringing back the summer reading program.

[Aran]

What was that called when we was growing up?

[Connor]

Book it.

[Aran]

Oh, he had another one. What was it called?

[Connor]

I forget what it was.

[Madeline]

A.R.

[Golf Enthusiast]

accelerated reading.

[Connor]

Oh, I was a menace on the accelerated reader program.

[Golf Enthusiast]

I was a menace for Book it. I was getting free personal pizzas. Like it was my day job.

[Connor]

Yeah. When I would go to my grandparents house in the summer, they, there was the Pizza Hut thing and then their local library had a reading program where you could get, you know, shitty little toys and stuff. So I would double up, I'd read a book and I'd turn it into Pizza Hut and I'd turn it into the library.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Yeah.

[Connor]

And then you two for one.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Did you guys have at your local Pizza Huts? The buffet?

[Connor]

I don't remember having it as a kid. But like I said, there's still one in Donaldson in Nashville.

[Golf Enthusiast]

The Pizza Hut buffet by my, in my suburb growing up where I would turn in my book, it Tickets had pudding. Really, it was. I think about that pudding more often than I should. It was such. I'm sure it was just like snack pack pudding thrown into the, the tub. It was so good. And so you'd have like pizza and then pudding and it was awesome. And I don't know if any other Pizza Hut buffets had pudding, but I loved it. I love Pizza Hut.

[Big Cat]

Hey guys, it's Big Cat. When you're on a long road trip traveling between cities, anything can happen. Flat tires, endless traffic, stopping to see a 50 foot wooden alligator. But I suspect everything actually happens for a Reese's. Like, is Grit week really a time to visit different training camps or is it just an excuse to check out different places to get a recession? And when we stop to fuel up or are we really stopping to refuel on a recess after countless miles thinking about chocolate and peanut butter, it all starts to make sense that everything happens for a recess.

[Aran]

Hard pivot. I have a teed off.

[Connor]

I'd love to hear it.

[Aran]

And I should have said it earlier, but I just forgot I. The amount of disdain that I have for these, though, incalculable.

[Connor]

The motherfuckers don't know who we're talking about.

[Aran]

The motherfuckers that yell after tee shots. Mashed potatoes. Yeah, Sasquatch, get in the hole. Shut the fuck up.

[Connor]

And you want to know something?

[Aran]

I hate them.

[Connor]

Those are the, those are the, the parents and former 11 year olds who were running around bumping their chest around the bases. That, that's the culture that has permeated.

[Aran]

I don't know, man. Maybe. Whatever, whatever. That's going to stop. That I'm with. And if it's euthanizing our youth that

[Connor]

you don't got to do that. Just.

[Aran]

I'm with it. If it stops, if it stops the yelling at the T shots, I'm with it. I can't stand. It's not like it's like, you know what it is. It's like when kids, like if you're in a kid's class, like in a classroom and the teacher sits down and somebody does the fart noise, it's not funny.

[Connor]

Yeah, it's, it's attention they want. They just, they need attention.

[Aran]

Funny to like the two or three delinquents that may think that's. But it's that weak. It's whack. It's not funny. It's not clever. I hate it with a pat, like, with a passion like PJ should make a rule like kick the motherfuckers out or let somebody run a 1v1 fade on. On if they do that.

[Connor]

And you would think most courses would. Obviously, nobody can replicate the magic of Augusta, but you would think most courses would want to be. You know, they see the decorum and that kind of thing that the mystique that Augusta has and you don't want your course to become. Aside from the waste management, which, like its whole branding is kind of the debaucherous nature waste man in his track. Sure. But if you're, you know, what was the at ironic. What was the name of the course this week? Something like that.

[Aran]

Don't know.

[Connor]

Yeah, yeah, something like that. Like, you would think you would want your course to be known as, like, hey, this is a nice place to come watch golf. And like, people are respectful and you would think they would discourage that kind of thing.

[Aran]

When did this happen? When did this start? Like, I don't. I don't. Like, all of a sudden, it just became normal. I don't remember when it started. I can't. I don't remember it when Tiger was playing, but maybe I just want paying attention like that. Like that era of golfers. Tiger, vj, Phil, Democrats. I don't remember it like that, but it could have been. I don't. I don't know.

[Connor]

Madeline, check me on. This was the first, like, kind of time this happened. I remember people would yell Baba Bowie. And isn't that a Howard Stern thing?

[Aran]

I don't. I don't.

[Connor]

Was this a Howard Stern creation?

[Aran]

Baba Booie.

[Golf Enthusiast]

I'm getting Ba Ba Booie is Gary Della Betty. Which.

[Connor]

Yeah, he was a Howard Stern guy.

[Golf Enthusiast]

He was a Howard Stern ep.

[Connor]

So I remember, like, that used to be the thing people would yell. Right?

[Aran]

I remember. I think the first one I heard was mashed potatoes.

[Golf Enthusiast]

I've heard of Baba Booie. I don't know if they're saying it on the. The golf course like that, but Baba

[Connor]

Buoy is a common, often criticized shout made by spectators at PGA Tour events immediately after a golfer hits the ball, originating from a Howard Stern show fan attempting to be heard on tv. So I think that may have been like, the first.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Like a meme that they.

[Connor]

One of the first ones. I could be wrong about that, but

[Aran]

okay, I. I was dead wrong. I. Yeah. I asked our beautiful AI companion, and it said the post t shot yelling era usually traces to a fan who thought it was funny to. Y' all getting the whole off the tee on a par 5. Before that, getting the whole reserve for chips, long putts. Yada yada. The accelerant was John Daly. In 1991, the behavior took off when John Daly became a star after unexpectedly winning the PGA Championship, bringing lots of new people to tournaments, many of whom knew nothing about the sport. And all they cared about seeing John Deadly put the ball in orbit so they could yell, you the man or get in the hole. Baba buoy, Light the candle, mashed potatoes. Yep. And I guess it did happen at Tiger Area. I just didn't. I just didn't catch it. But this is. It's so corny, dog. It's. It's weak. It's weak, man. It's weak. And I know there's gonna be some defenders of this shit, but get the fuck out of here. I hate it. I don't even feel like. I only feel like this is an old man take. I feel like it's just like, yo, shut up. Like, it's like a. Like if children were doing it, I'd be like. I mean, your kids, you know, I mean, they'll be like grown men sitting next to their wives. Shut the fuck up, bro.

[Connor]

Now, I don't. I. I agree with you. It. But it is interesting to me. You started playing golf, what, two or three years ago?

[Aran]

The three. It'll be four years in August. Okay.

[Connor]

And now you're a big. You're a shrink. The game guy.

[Aran]

No, no, no, no.

[Connor]

You're like, too much is being allowed now.

[Aran]

No, no, I'm not a street. Because apparently it's been around since before I was even into the sport. I'm not. I'm not sure I would. I would love to grow the game. I want to get different demographics in the game. I want to make it more accessible to people who can't afford it. Because this is a. This is a wealthy man sport. Like, you got to have money to play, right? I want to. I want to grow the game, but I. There are just certain customs to me that are lame. Like, lame. That is. That is.

[Connor]

I don't disagree with you.

[Aran]

Yeah, I think that is corny, dog. It's just. It. I do love the beauty and the purity of the sport. Who was it once that was saying if you go and make noise, make noise throughout the entire swing, right, it won't fuck me up, but if you do it, like, a little bit, then it fucks with me. So I'm like, either allow all noise or no noise.

[Connor]

Well, that'll. The all noise will never happen.

[Aran]

I think that would be dope. I think. Was it Siwu or Tom? Tom came One of them cats like before some of his tee shots, if there was a lively crowd, he'll be like, hey, get it up, get it up. And he'll hit his shot during while everybody cheering and shit. That's fire to me. That's dope. But just the single, it just doesn't mean anything. It's so, it's so pointless though. You hate it. It's just dumb. It's dumb. But anywho, that's my attention.

[Connor]

It's these tick tock kids.

[Aran]

I think they grown men sound like grown men. Like somebody my age, maybe a little younger. 20s. They in their 20s.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

It's your generation.

[Connor]

I know, I know.

[Aran]

You've been off your generation for a while though.

[Connor]

Always. I'm, I'm getting, listen, I'm, I'm closing in on my, my target age of 42. So far from that, a little while to go.

[Aran]

But we're 12, 12, 13 years from that.

[Connor]

Yes.

[Aran]

That's a whole lifetime, dog.

[Connor]

Yeah, but like 13 years ago I was 16 and I feel like I wasn't 16 that long ago.

[Aran]

It, it does find my, my grandpa used to say, said the older you get, the further down the road you see.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

R.I.P. grandpa Carl, man, that's my dogs.

[Connor]

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[Aran]

What else, what else you got on your list?

[Connor]

That's pretty much it.

[Aran]

Did you listen to the Iceman album?

[Connor]

So. Yes.

[Aran]

Okay.

[Connor]

And I don't listen to rap very much anymore. I listened to rap that was made between 2006 and 2017. That, that's my, my range. I did on the way to the golf course the other day. I did put it on and there were a couple songs. I was like, okay, I, I can, I can vibe with that. But I was not, I was not overly impressed. Now I do understand there are two other albums that I Did not listen to. So I can't speak to those, but I was not. And I'm curious to hear your thoughts because I know you're a. I don't know if you're a Drake hater, but you're a Kendrick lover.

[Aran]

Like, super duper Drake fans. If you don't love everything he dropped, then you're right.

[Connor]

And I have one of those in my life.

[Aran]

Not, not, not me, though. Drake is in all of my playlists. A bunch of my playlists. I love Drake's music. The. The battle has poisoned the minds of the Internet. When either one of these two artists come out with, with music now, like, there is a sensible way to talk about these cats. Like, and, and for whatever it's worth now they're forever tied to each other. I hate that. But I think that's just the, the nature of the Internet. Like, when Jay, when Jay Z and Nas went at it, right? Ah, I think like, Nas is in my top five. Jay Z's in my top five. And when they went at it, my generation was like, they took sides, they picked sides, but it was never this. Like, they, if, if Drake drops, it's immediately like, where's your boy Kendrick at? If Kendrick comes out, then it's like, what was. What's Drake doing? Like, ah, we. We up. We. It's just so dumb. It's just like, it's, it's ridiculous. I remember because Nas, I, I favored Nas when that battle went on. Nas and Jay Z, that was probably the second biggest, second or third biggest hip hop battle of all time. Like, Nas was probably one of. Had. Had. I had Nas up on in, in that battle. But like, it, it did nothing to my appreciation for Jay Z. Like, zero. Like, they, they went at it, they sparred. I felt like Nas got the best of them in his story. It is what it is. This is what I feel about this. Like, Drake and Kendrick went at it, they sparred. I felt like Kendrick got the best of him. It didn't change the way I felt about Drake music. Like, I, I got still, I think he's one of the most melodically talented rappers for sure. But like, just musicians that we've seen in a long time. I love, I love it. He's super talented. But to get to the album, it, I, I, this has kind of been my gripe with Drake for a while is I just don't. He don't make music for me. Like, and that's fine. That's just, I don't expect that. It's just Like, I, I, he'll make some very catchy, some stuff that sounds good. He can rap his ass off like he's down. It is what it is, but it's just nothing that like, I, I'm about to be 40. I ain't trying to, I ain't trying to listen to. How you gonna.

[Connor]

So is he though?

[Aran]

Yeah, that's, that's what I'm saying. Like, that's, he's not like, as I'm growing, like, I used, I grew up in the NWA era, where gang banging, all wax, that type of it. I was with it, I wanted all the smoke, I wanted to hear all of that. It's what I, that's what I was into. But as a 40 year old man with kids and you know, I mean, I'll be golfing and I can appreciate the vibes in the background. But as far as like something that I sit down and like, really that resonates with me, it just doesn't. Like, it doesn't. Especially as the odd thing about Drake to me is this like the majority of street dudes that I know, and you met some of them right when he was in San Diego. And what was the sentiment you got there, right? They ain't still trying to do that, right? Like, if you was born in it like you do, if you smart, you do your best to get out of it, especially as a sensible man with kids. And what's, what's weird about Drake to me is like, you weren't born in, in that life, right? Like, you may have had some struggles growing up or whatever the case may be, but like, you weren't a street dude. Like, very obvious, but now you are like, it's like you want, you, you went backwards. And I don't understand, I don't understand that. Like, like, this is your Iceman album, right? A lot of this music is like, how you a mob boss and you're gonna take people out. You got money on people's head. It's like, why I don't want to be around that. Like, I got a couple homies who are still industries and if we ever do do something, I'm like, bro, I'm not going nowhere with you if you want that. Sorry, I can't. But I look like if I'm not fighting with you, I'm not, I don't want no problems. I want a peaceful night out. I'm gonna go watch jazz and drink wine, dog. I'm not with that. That's your life. I don't, that's What I don't understand about Drake is, is why is that lifestyle appealing to you? Now you are a billionaire, presumably you have every access to anything that you want in your life, and you have all of this animosity built up and want to play mobster. I don't understand that.

[Connor]

But do you think it's a. I mean, it's a projection, right? Like, he's not doing any of that?

[Aran]

I don't know. I hope not. That would be dumb. As if he is. I think, like, I know some of the cats that he rolls with, and some of them are from Houston, J. Prince in them, and J. Prince is known to be like that. And I. I just don't like who. You shouldn't have any issues with people like that. Like, if you got a problem like, with, with, like, when it, when it comes to rap, just keep it. Just keep it rap. Like, you don't have to do, like, I. I just don't understand that. And then, like, fans will. They'll. They'll back that. And again, you can say this about plenty rappers out there, and I do, and I will. It's just that. That's not that appealing to me. It's just not like. So I don't know. I. I thought it was an okay album. It's nothing that I'm probably gonna like double back too much. There were some really dope songs on it. Like, there was this one too Hard for the radio. The first half, I loved it. That, that was. Was fire. Second half, he. He switched it to the west coast beat because he was. He was definitely trying to get back at Kendrick on this because Not Like Us was a very west coast inspired jam. And that beat switch to me was, I like the beat, but I ain't feel like he caught the pocket on it. Just my opinion. But, yeah, I don't know, man.

[Connor]

You know way more about this than I do because I just. I saw a tick tock with all the lyrics he had in the album that were, like, responding to things that Kendrick said. Did those land for you at all? Or, like, does that even matter anymore?

[Aran]

Well, not. Nah. Like, I don't think. I was not looking forward to Drake responding about the beef that happened two years ago. I was not, but you could. Like, this is why I feel like he had an opportunity, like, to show, like, real personal growth is now granted. I can't relate to being called a pedophile by everybody in the world. Damn near, because that song was huge. Can't relate to that.

[Connor]

Fair preface.

[Aran]

Yeah. So, like, it's that's gotta be. That. That shit probably hurt, right? I think instead of expressing that in a way that I feel like would have been productive, I don't think he did. I think he just took more shots which could open the can back up. I don't. I don't know where Kendrick at with it. My, my. My thought is he'll leave it alone. That shit is dead. But yeah, I can't relate to. To that. So, like, those feelings and aggressions he had, he still. He took shots at a lot of people and he feels like everybody came at him. So. Yo, fair enough. Like the opposite of that though, right? Because when he. I don't know, we get into deep hip hop lore. Follow me, Big T. But when we, when he. He had a beef with Pusha T, right? This is a while back, and Pusha T was the one that kind of revealed that he had a son, right? Which was like, yeah, after that, his next. I think his next song that he came out with after that battle, he lost that battle right after that. After that, he came out with the. That Kiki, do you love me? He just continued doing him and it was all good. Like, it is what it is. I feel like this, this cut him a little differently and he's like, kind of like it hurting, man. And you can tell I hurt him. But again, I can't. I can't relate to being. Being mopped like that. And, and those, those are some wild allegations that we don't. That we don't know are. Are 100% true.

[Connor]

The other thing is, and, and we talked about this earlier with the diners. If you release three albums, number one, I'm not listening to all that.

[Aran]

I only got through Iceman, by the way. I couldn't.

[Connor]

Right. I'm less inclined to believe that you think all of that is good. Like you're just putting out everything you've got. Give me 13 really good. Morgan Wallen does this. He has 30 song albums with a ton of great songs on them. But then if I ever go back and I'll just hit shuffle on the whole album. I've never heard this song in my life. You totally forget some of the stuff that's on there. It's like give me 13 to 16 very good songs. And the other ones, don't worry about it.

[Aran]

I'm with you a thousand. I've never liked the. There's one exception. Tupac. And I'm clearly biased with that. That was my favorite of all time. Tupac came out of double disc all eyes on me. I was also a kid, though, so I was like, give me all the Tupac. I feel like maybe this is how people feel about Drake. That's fine. I'm with you, though. And this is why I kind of like favor Kendrick's approach is because, like, he'll pop up every two or three years and give us a little bit and then just go away. But to Drake's defense, I think this album release was, this was the discussion is, I don't know. You know, he's in the lawsuit with umg, and he's in a contract with ung, and I think, I don't know how much truth is, but this is what the Street's saying, that he released three albums to satiate his, his obligation to umg, the contract with umg. So maybe after this he's independent. That's. I haven't verified it if it cared enough to verify, but that's what they saying. But to, yeah, to your point, I, I, I, I don't know that I'm gonna like, I'm not in a hurry to listen to the other two. I'm just like, I am a Drake fan. Like, I do like his music. I With his, especially his old. My. I was planning to pick up my son up from school, and he gets in the car, he's like, oh, please turn that off. I was like, I say, you're not, you're not with it. He's like, man, it's so bad. I was like, I was like, let me, Let me just. I guess I gotta, I'm listening out of respect, man. Let me listen to respect. So he, so we finished it and then he was like, I made a whole old Drake playlist just because of this. And I was like, okay, let's, let's butt it. So, So I gave him the ox and we started listening to a lot of the old Drake be hidden.

[Connor]

I was gonna say, play him some find your love. You know? Where did that go?

[Aran]

That shit's hard, dog. That is hard. You know, the other one I take care was that I take care with Rihanna, man. I jammed that like a few, three, three or four times. I. With Drake, dog. That's, that's what we. When this whole thing Shout out. Back when I was on Twitter, like, a lot of the Drake fans were like, oh, just Kenny standing, bro. Yeah, I am. But I like Drake too. I like both of them. You can like both of them. It's okay. It's cool, man. You could like both of them. But overall, six out of ten.

[Connor]

Yeah, it was. It was unoffensive. That's fine.

[Aran]

I was whelmed. Yeah, I was whelmed. Not. Not my favorite. He's done. But, you know, if it's for you, it's for you, dog. Can. He can't even knock it.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Aran]

All right. That will be nano. Docent for the day. We're gonna have a voicemails episode for Memorial Day, so be on the lookout for that unless there's anything else. Man. It's been a pleasure seeing you again, my brother. Connor.

[Connor]

You as well, big dog.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Leave your voicemails at 347-560-0401, please.

[Aran]

All right, number one more time.

[Golf Enthusiast]

347-56-00401, 0401.

[Connor]

Leave them before Wednesday.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Leave them before Wednesday, please.

[Connor]

We'll get to all of them that we have for an episode for next week.

[Aran]

Yep.

[Golf Enthusiast]

Gracias.

[Connor]

And then after that, Eric will be back. He's out with his. His more successful family.

[Aran]

Yes, he's out with his real family. And that's okay. You know? It's okay. All right, y'. All. Peace, love. Don't murder anybody. Goodbye.