Morning Brew Daily

Episode: Waymos Stall During SF Blackout & Avatar Fizzles at the Box Office
Hosts: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell
Date: December 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This holiday week episode dives into two headline stories: the failure of Waymo's self-driving taxis during the San Francisco blackout, renewing debate over the readiness of autonomous vehicles, and the underwhelming box office opening of James Cameron's third Avatar film, raising questions about the franchise’s ongoing cultural relevance. The hosts, Neal and Toby, bring their signature wit and insight to the latest tech mishaps, pop culture phenomena, and notable news from business and entertainment, rounded out with a look at Peanuts’ billion-dollar valuation and a milestone in accessible space travel.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Waymo’s San Francisco Blackout Debacle

Timestamps: 02:58–07:15

Incident Breakdown

• A massive blackout in San Francisco leaves 125,000 homes and businesses powerless, with an unforeseen effect: Waymo self-driving vehicles go inoperable and clog intersections, causing traffic mayhem.
• Viral videos showed clusters of Waymo cars stalled at key intersections—unable to navigate the city’s disabled traffic lights.

Waymo Response & System Design

• Waymo stated its vehicles are programmed to treat traffic light failures as four-way stops, yet "the sheer scale of the outage led to instances where vehicles remain stationary longer than usual." (Neal, quoting Waymo, 03:35)
• Tech experts are puzzled since Waymo vehicles are supposed to operate autonomously even without wireless networks and rely on internal battery systems.
• Toby speculates: “It was just too many cars not knowing what to do at the same time.” (05:03)

Public Trust and Data

• Stats reveal persistent skepticism: 66% of American drivers feel fearful, 25% uncertain about autonomous vehicles. (05:21)
• Neal references Waymo’s safety stats: “Waymo’s own data says that it’s 80 to 90% safer than human drivers.” (05:34)
• An earlier incident where Waymo killed a beloved city bodega cat is mentioned as a reputational setback.

Tesla’s and Elon Musk’s Response

• Elon Musk tweets, tongue-in-cheek, that Tesla Robo taxis were unaffected by the outage—even though they don’t actually operate in San Francisco.
• Discussion contrasts Tesla’s camera-based approach versus Waymo’s suite of sensors and maps, with Musk claiming his is more adaptive and scalable.

Year-in-Review Context

• Despite the debacle, 2025 was “a banner year for self-driving cars,” with several new launches. Neal predicts a nationwide expansion in 2026. (07:15)

2. Avatar 3: Fire and Ash—Box Office Fizzle

Timestamps: 07:55–12:50

Performance Overview

• The third Avatar movie, “Fire and Ash,” scored $88M domestically on opening weekend—down from $134M for “Way of Water.”
• Global performance stronger: $345M, topping every market except Japan.

Deep Dive: Avatar’s Cultural Impact

• The actual number of domestic viewers sharply declined: “Around 5.2 million saw Fire and Ash… that is a huge decline from the 8.7 million that went to Way of Water three years ago.” (09:22)
• Neal and Toby turn to online fandom as a cultural barometer:
  • Avatar subreddit: 200,000 members/6,000 weekly posts
  • Star Wars: 1.5M users/33,000 posts; Marvel: 771k users/12,000 posts
  • “In terms of true fans, Avatar doesn’t seem to have that many.” (09:55)

Quote of the Segment

• Toby, on Avatar’s cultural absence:

  “It is a fully embodied experience in the theater. It’s like a theme park ride. Could you describe what it feels like going on a roller coaster to someone? No, you cannot.” (10:42)

• Discussion focuses on Cameron’s ambition: visually stunning, but perhaps lacking in memorable characters or quotable lines.

Fun Fact

• Oona Chaplin (the movie’s villain) is Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter, providing a “through line from grandfather… still kind of carrying on this tradition of physical filmmaking.” (11:45)

3. Winners of the Weekend

Timestamps: 12:50–21:09

A. Michaela Benthouse & Accessible Spaceflight

• Michaela Benthouse becomes the first wheelchair user in space, aboard Blue Origin—a fully automated, crewless flight.
• Blue Origin, now with 92 spaceflights, is innovating in accessibility and ramping up efforts to challenge SpaceX, especially regarding lunar missions. (14:37)
• Michaela’s motivation: “Her goal was not only to make space accessible to disabled people, but to improve accessibility on Earth too.” (13:58)
• Notable Quotes:
  • “They didn’t actually have to make a lot of adjustments to the spacecraft to accommodate her… they designed the capsule with accessibility in mind.” (13:41)
• Blue Origin aims for a moon landing in 2026 and to be “your moon guy” for NASA. (14:37)

B. Peanuts: A $1 Billion Franchise

• Sony ups its stake to 80% in Peanuts, valuing the franchise at over $1B.
• The legacy:

  “You can’t imagine Thanksgiving or Christmas without the Charlie Brown holiday special or the music. And Snoopy… has taken on a life of his own.” (17:27)

• The motivation: Sony wants to build a Disney-style “entertainment flywheel” across games, TV, and merch, leveraging Peanuts’ durable IP. (18:38)
• Licensing deals keep Peanuts ever-relevant, especially around holidays—a “Mariah Carey effect.” (20:36)
• Prolific creator: Charles Schulz wrote 17,897 comic strips until his death, coincidentally the day before the final strip ran. (21:09)

4. The Week Ahead: Holidays, Wall Street, and Pop Culture

Timestamps: 21:09–25:10

• Festivus is tomorrow—the hosts riff on “the airing of grievances” and Seinfeld lore.
• Quiet week on Wall Street: Markets close for Christmas; trading expected to be thin. S&P 500 is up 16% for the year. (23:06)
• President Trump gives federal workers two extra holidays (Christmas Eve and the day after), but only for 2025.
• Sports: NBA and NFL both hosting games on Christmas Day; light jesting about Jake Paul’s boxing antics.
• Upcoming films: “Marty Supreme,” a Chalamet-led Oscar contender, hits theaters; Toby plans to play “an uncomfortable amount of ping pong” over the holidays.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Waymo’s Blackout Malfunction:
  “It was just too many cars not knowing what to do at the same time.” – Toby (05:03)

• On Avatar’s Limited Fandom:
  “In terms of true fans, Avatar doesn’t seem to have that many.” – Neal (09:55)

• On Avatar’s Cultural Footprint:
  “It is a fully embodied experience in the theater. It’s like a theme park ride… It doesn’t really spawn a lot of memes.” – Toby (10:42)

• On Blue Origin’s Accessibility:
  “They didn’t actually have to make a lot of adjustments to the spacecraft to accommodate her… they designed the capsule with accessibility in mind.” – Neal (13:41)
  “Her goal was not only to make space accessible to disabled people, but to improve accessibility on Earth too.” – Neal (13:58)

Summary Table: Major Stories & Takeaways

| Segment | Headline/Takeaway | Timestamp | |-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------| | Waymo blackouts | Self-driving cars stall in SF blackout, fueling tech skepticism | 02:58–07:15 | | Avatar 3 | “Fire and Ash” disappoints, raising Qs about franchise fatigue | 07:55–12:50 | | Space & Inclusion | Blue Origin sends first wheelchair user to space | 12:50–14:37 | | Peanuts franchise | Sony values Snoopy & Co at $1B; plans IP flywheel | 17:23–21:09 | | The Week Ahead | Holidays, Wall Street slowdown, and new Oscar contender | 21:09–25:10 |

Final Thoughts

This episode captures the unpredictability and interdependence of technology, entertainment, and business at the close of 2025—with both affirmation for how far things have come (autonomous vehicles, inclusive spaceflight) and reminders of ongoing challenges (public trust, franchise fatigue). Neal and Toby’s banter and deep-dive discussion offer valuable context and perspective for anyone navigating the week’s biggest headlines.