We’re Going Back to the Moon & TMZ Exposes Vacationing Politicians

Summary

Morning Brew Daily – Episode Summary

Episode: We’re Going Back to the Moon & TMZ Exposes Vacationing Politicians
Date: April 1, 2026
Hosts: Neal Freyman & Toby Howell

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Episode Overview

In this lively and sharp episode, Neal and Toby take on a packed news cycle, discussing NASA’s historic return to lunar missions, a blockbuster food industry merger, TMZ’s disruptive entry into political reporting, Apple’s 50th anniversary, and more. As always, the hosts mix wit, business savvy, and cultural insight, bringing nuance and personality to the week’s biggest stories.

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Key Discussion Points

1. NASA’s Artemis II: The Moon Mission Returns ([02:33] – [08:08])

• Mission Details:
  NASA is preparing for its most ambitious mission in over 50 years: the Artemis II crewed lunar orbit, which launches tonight. This marks the first time since 1972 that humans will travel beyond low Earth orbit, using the Space Launch System (Boeing) and Orion capsule (Lockheed Martin).
• Significance:
  • Tests life support and critical systems for future landings.
  • Sets up Artemis III (rehearsal for lunar landing, dock with lander) and Artemis IV (2028, planned return to the moon’s surface).
• Public Skepticism:
  Despite the technological achievement, surveys reveal Americans view moon missions as a low priority compared to, for example, asteroid monitoring.
• Astronaut Milestones:
  • Reed Wilson: First navy pilot, oldest to leave low Earth orbit.
  • Victor Glover: First Black astronaut to travel beyond low Earth orbit.
  • Christina Koch: First woman to go beyond low Earth orbit.
  • Jeremy Hansen: First non-US citizen and Canadian in deep space.
• Geopolitical Stakes:
  The US is in a new space race with China—planned Chinese lunar landing by 2030 makes American leadership urgent.
  “This is just the Space Race 2.0.” — Neal ([05:14])
• Economic/R&D Incentive:
  Speculation about mining lunar minerals like helium 3, valued at $20,000/kg, and triggering a future lunar economy.
• Budget Issues:
  NASA has spent over $50 billion developing Artemis hardware; each launch is $4.1 billion.
• Public Sentiment:
  Americans are more interested in asteroid defense than moon exploration. “People just want to survive a potential apocalyptic asteroid…They don’t really care about helium 3.” — Toby ([06:24])

Notable Quote

“I’m a romantic about it...it does feel very integral to humanity to always strive and always explore. That being said, it does cost a lot of money.” — Toby ([07:48])

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2. McCormick’s Mega-Merger: Buying Unilever Foods ([08:08] – [12:09])

• The Deal:
  McCormick, famous for spices and condiments, is buying Unilever’s food portfolio for $45 billion, including brands like Knorr and Hellmann’s Mayo.
• Strategy:
  • McCormick shifts from small “bolt-on” acquisitions (Frank’s Red Hot, Cholula) to a huge global bet.
  • The rationale: increased scale, shelf space, and cross-selling.
• Industry Context:
  Unilever, focusing on health and wellness, is offloading its food assets following prior divestments (e.g., ice cream), mirroring a broader industry move away from “be everything to everyone.”
• Concerns:
  McCormick has little experience integrating such large acquisitions, leading to skepticism given other food conglomerate missteps (e.g., Smucker’s overpaying for Hostess).
• Global Scale:
  “Please put some respect on Hellmann’s name…$2.4 billion in global sales…sold in over 65 countries.” — Neal ([09:18])

Memorable Moment

“If you went to a desert island and you could only bring one spice with you, what would it be?”
“Oh man…cumin. That was the first thing that came to mind.” — Toby ([12:09])
“I’m going with salt.” — Neal ([12:21])

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3. TMZ Goes Political: Politician Paparazzi ([13:05] – [16:18])

• New Tactics:
  During a partial government shutdown, TMZ called on citizens to snap photos of vacationing politicians—photos of Sen. Lindsey Graham at Disney World went viral.
• Cultural Impact:
  • Widely praised for shifting its tabloid focus onto political accountability.
  • “TMZ can be so powerful when it chooses its targets correctly.” — Online user, cited by Neal ([13:55])
• Media Implications:
  • The possibility that TMZ becomes a true force in D.C. media, challenging legacy publications with grassroots photojournalism.
  • Owned by Fox, making this a Murdoch-linked move.
• Political Responses:
  Some lawmakers remarked that meeting people “where they are,” even through TMZ, is vital to reach voters (Lauren Underwood, Sarah McBride).

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4. Apple’s 50th Anniversary ([18:38] – [24:23])

• From Garage to Trillion-Dollar Titan:
  Celebrating Apple’s journey from the Jobs–Wozniak garage in 1976 to a $3.5 trillion global behemoth, with 2.5 billion devices and $416 billion in annual revenue.
• Cultural Icons:
  • AirPods, iPods, MacBooks, and of course, 17 iPhone versions.
  • Historic commercials (“1984” Super Bowl ad, Mac vs. PC), a hallmark of brand cult status.
• Attention to Detail:
  Face unlock tested at Harley Davidson rallies and by special effects artists:
  “These are layers you don’t necessarily think about unless you are extremely committed to making sure every single user has the best experience available.” — Toby ([21:04])
• Missteps:
  Vision Pro headset not gaining traction, “$700 Mac Pro wheels,” iTunes U2 album woes.
• Crossroads: AI Future
  • Apple is a laggard in AI spending ($14B vs. $650B+ by Big Tech rivals).
  • Still earning $1B in AI-linked revenue—mainly via App Store cuts.
  • Key question: Can Apple dominate the next wave (AI wearables, smart glasses), and who succeeds Tim Cook?
• Moat:
  “The thing about Apple was it didn’t really invent these particular products…It just took someone else’s breakthrough and then made it very useful for people and ended up squeezing out the competition.” — Neal ([20:32])
  • Could Apple’s ecosystem-centric approach outlast technological shifts?

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5. Other Headlines ([24:23] – End)

A. Stock Market Volatility

• War Impact:
  Markets were up sharply yesterday—best day in 10 months—after President Trump said the U.S. would resolve the Iran war soon. Overall, Q1 was bleak for most sectors except energy (oil +71%).
• Outlook:
  “If a prolonged conflict means that we never get any more oil out of the Gulf, we will absolutely have a global recession.” — David Kelly, cited by Toby ([25:12])

B. Whoop: Fitness Wearable’s Meteoric Rise ([26:47])

• Raising $575M at $10B Valuation:
  Whoop wristbands grow popular with elite athletes and wellness fanatics alike. Business model: $200/year subscriptions rather than one-off device sales.
• Competition:
  Oura ($11B), Apple, and Google eyeing the healthwear space.
• The Future:
  Whoop aims to evolve into a true medical device, predicting serious events like heart attacks.
• Host Banter:
  “I’ve gotten hooked on the data, even though I do have a gnarly tan line.” — Toby ([27:03])
  “I don’t want to know my sleep score. I know it’s bad. I know when I’m tired.” — Neal ([27:45])

C. World Cup Shock: Italy Misses Tournament Again ([28:59])

• For the third straight time, Italy fails to qualify—an unprecedented occurrence—with significant cultural and economic impacts.
• “The way I’ve seen fans coping is by saying they’re boycotting this World Cup…That is one way of framing a failure to qualify.” — Toby ([29:01])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Great moments are born from great opportunity…This is our time, MBD.” — Toby, rallying Webby votes ([01:16])
• “We don’t talk about that. But it’s a fine phone, and anyone who has one is cool.” — Neal, on owning a Google Pixel ([20:32])
• “He who controls the spice controls the universe. Or at least Unilever’s food business.” — Toby, nodding to Dune and McCormick merger ([08:08])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Artemis II / Lunar Return: [02:33] – [08:08]
• McCormick–Unilever Food Merger: [08:08] – [12:09]
• TMZ Exposes Vacationing Politicians: [13:05] – [16:18]
• Apple’s 50th Anniversary: [18:38] – [24:23]
• Markets, Whoop, World Cup Headlines: [24:23] – [29:19]

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Tone & Style

True to Morning Brew Daily’s brand, Neal and Toby deliver rapid-fire dialogue peppered with humor, snappy analogies, and sidelong references. Their exchanges blend business news with pop culture, delivering a show that balances serious insight and entertainment.

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For listeners or non-listeners alike, this episode stands out for its big-picture takes on space, tech, and media—with more than enough personality and memorable moments to keep things engaging.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Good Morning Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.

[A]

And I'm Toby Howell.

[B]

Today why TMZ is putting politicians on blast.

[A]

Then today humanity goes back to the moon. It's Wednesday, April 1st. Let's ride.

[B]

Good morning and happy April Fools. I promise you this is not a prank. We were nominated for an award, Best business podcast by the Webby's, which recognizes the quote, best of the Internet. They're very democratic minded over there at the Webbies, so they've handed over the decision making to you, the fans. Which is why we're asking for your help. If you have a spare minute today, we'd very much appreciate you tallying a vote for Morning Brew daily because Toby's 5th grade soccer participation trophy is a little lonely on the shelf right now.

[A]

I'm not going to lie, folks. Our backs are against the wall, but great moments are born from great opportunity. That's what we have in front of us. If we went up against the Pivot podcast 10 times, they might win nine. But not this award. Not this Webby. This is our time, mbd. Now go out there and vote at the link in the show description. Just a quick heads up. The Webby's does make you sign in via email to vote. That's just to prevent one person from voting a million times because they're very democratically minded over there. If you bear with the slight annoyance though, Valhalla awaits on the other side.

[B]

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[A]

Yeah, I had a bunk with a guy who snored so loudly.

[B]

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[A]

This installment takes place in the mountains above Malibu for an annual company retreat. The catch, the company Rockin Grandma's Hot Sauce. And all the employees are actors except one.

[B]

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[B]

T minus 10 hours or so until NASA launches its most ambitious mission in more than five decades. At 6:24pm Eastern, four astronauts are scheduled to launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral in a mission around the moon, the first time humans will have visited the moon since 1972 and the furthest humans will have ever traveled from Earth. In terms of hardware, the flight will consist of the giant Space Launch System rocket, built by Boeing, and the Orion capsule, where the crew will hang, built by Lockheed Martin. Make sure you tune in because the launch pad will be scenes. Together, the rocket and Orion stand taller than the Statue of Liberty. A successful flight would mark major progress in returning Americans to the moon in over 50 years. The Artemis 2 mission, as this one's called, is intended to test life support and other key systems on the Orion capsule, or Artemis 3. Up next, we'll have the crew dock with a lunar lander to rehearse the meetup in space. And then Artemis 4, slated for 2028, will be the culmination of all the test flights plunking humans on the lunar surface. For NASA, tonight's mission isn't just a technical breakthrough, but also an opportunity to sell its moon vision to a skeptical public. For many Americans, surveys show returning humans to the moon is just not a priority. And they think that the tens of billions spent on spaceflight could be better put to use on earthly issues. Once those astronauts blast off, NASA hopes the wonder and spectacle of venturing into the unknown will change hearts and minds.

[A]

Let's give a shout out to some of those astronauts. We got Reed Wilson, who's the commander. He is a former Navy pilot and he will be the oldest person to leave low Earth orbit on this mission. That is one of a couple of firsts on this mission. Victor Glover, the pilot, will be the first black astronaut to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Christina Koch will become the first woman to leave low Earth orbit. And then Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist. He's Canadian and will be the first non US Citizen to travel beyond low Earth orbit. So a bunch of firsts. How will the ride be? What's it like going back to the moon for the first time in 50 years? It will be very cramped, actually. The capsule where they will kind of spend the majority of their time has the interior volume of about two minivans. So it's spacious, but not spacious enough to have your own privacy. So they are going to get to know each other Quite well to they are going to see parts of the moon that have never been seen before. Never been seen by human eyes at least. Remember the Apollo missions were times so they were landing on the near side of the moon. This mission will travel around the dark side of the moon. So maybe we'll see some aliens, maybe some cool stuff over there and then it's going to slingshot home around the moon on what is known as a free trajectory. That is when you just use the moon's gravity to your advantage. You don't even have to fire any thrusters to get back home. But that's generally what's going to be happening up there and who's going to Two parts unknown.

[B]

Why are we doing this? Why are they spending all this time in the cramped too minivan space to go to the moon? Well there are three reasons that NASA has laid out basically that why why we're going back to the moon, number one is lead to new discoveries. So learning things about science in space, that's pretty self explanatory. The other is countering geopolitical ambitions of China. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman put it pretty plainly. We find ourselves with a real geopolitical rival challenging American leadership in the high ground of space. China is planning to go to the moon in 2030 and America wants to get there first. You could say this is why we went to the moon in the first place to beat the Soviets. This is just the Space Race 2.0. And then finally it's to spark a lunar economy. There are potentially riches to be had on the moon like rare earth minerals. And one particular element that people are foaming at the mouth to get is helium 3. It's an isotope of helium that is used to operate small compact nuclear fission react fusion reactors. And here on Earth it trades for $20,000 per kilogram. So NASA thinks that by going to the moon it could lock up billions and trillions of dollars worth of value,

[A]

which it kind of has to because it's been very expensive to get back to the moon. Over the last two decades, NASA has spent more than $50 billion developing and building the Space Launch System, the Orion capsule and just all the systems that you need to send a rocket back to space. Each launch of the Space Launch system costs about $4.1 billion. So we kind of got to get this one correct. And you did mention that. Does the public actually want to do this and survey says not really. Pew did a survey of more than 10,000Americans about space in 2023. The top priority the Top thing that people had on their list of why we should go to space was monitor asteroids and other objects that could hit Earth. People just don't want to be hit by asteroids. Near the bottom was send human astronauts to explore the the moon. That was next to last in terms of importance. So really, people just want to survive a potential apocalyptic asteroid. They don't really care about helium 3 that much.

[B]

And this has been consistent throughout the decades. Even when there was the fervor around the first moon missions, the Apollo missions in the 60s and 70s, and poll after poll, a majority of Americans said that the program was not worth the cost. There was only one exception. When they did the survey in July 1969, that was the precise month that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were actually landing on the moon. Only then, 53% said that Apollo had been worth the money.

[A]

I'm a romantic about it. I mean, I just saw a hype video of the rockets firing and like the old Apollo mission, and it got me pretty fired up because it does feel very integral to humanity to always strive and always explore. That being said, it does cost a lot of money.

[B]

It looks like 80% chance of the weather being favorable. So 8 out of 10 chances they go up this afternoon.

[A]

All right, he who controls the spice controls the universe. Or at least Unilever's food business. Spice maker McCormick just made a blockbuster deal for Unilever Foods portfolio, valuing the unit at nearly $45 billion. For Unilever, the move lets it shed some calories to focus on its faster growing personal care segment, a pattern from the company after it also spun off its ice cream business back in December. McCormick, on the other hand, is after spicy mayo. 70% of Unilever's food sales comes from just two brands, nor, which makes soups and stocks, and Hellman's, which makes Mayo. McCormick, in addition to spices, also owns Frank's Red Hot Cholula and French's Mustard, which means they've pretty much got all the condiments sorted at the cookout. Now it's a big bet for a company that until this point, has mostly shunned the mega merger side quests their peers have gone on. Kraft and Heinz tied up in what looks to have been a mistake. JB Smucker overpaid for Hostess, right as healthier snack foods became all the rage. And clearly Unilever wants out of the food business altogether. But McCormick has global aspirations and decided to take the swing. But, Neil, that is a lot of money for mayonnaise.

[B]

Well, I Cannot wait for Old Bay Mayo. Can you imagine dipping your fries? It's going to anything else. Also, please put some respect on Hellman's name, please. It was doing $2.4 billion in global sales as of 2022. It's being sold in more than 65 countries. And as for nor the other big product in this portfolio that McCormick is buying, it's basically a household name in more than 90 countries, has more than 5 billion customers. So that's really what McCormick is going after.

[A]

It's out of character for McCormick though, because until this point, they have excelled by focusing on what is called bolt on deals, which are they're buying smaller brands and just gradually amassing a food empire. That was the story with Frank's Red Hot with French's Mustard with Cholula. These are some of the stars of their portfolio. But now they're going for the opposite approach in taking this very big swing. I mean, this is a massive food merger. Shares of McCormick have been down 35% over the past year. So maybe this is a time where they think that, hey, this is, we have slower growth ahead of us, we got to do something. This is the swing that we're taking. The strategic case for the deal is that it would give you bigger scale. Whenever you have bigger scale in the food industry, that means you have more leverage with retailers. You get more space on the shelves. And hopefully too, it draws people back to the kind of inner aisles of the grocery store instead of the outer aisles. There's cost saving measures, there's cross selling opportunities. These are all the things that you say when you strike a merger of this size. But it is a little bit out of the blue for McCormick, who has never taken a swing quite this large.

[B]

It's also instructive to see what Unilever is doing because this is emblematic of the broader food consumer goods industry. Well, at one point recently they sold, they sold everything from Dove soap to Vaseline and then also mayonnaise and ice cream. The idea was just to be everything everywhere all at once. For people entering a supermarket or a retail store, well, that strategy is gone by the wayside. Every single big conglomerate that sells all this stuff is, is shedding that particular strategy of just scale for scale's sake. Sold off its ice cream business, it got rid of the mayo, and now it's really focusing on what it thinks it has a comparative advantage in which is this health and wellness space. Diving into soap, Vaseline, things that stock your bathroom rather than your kitchen.

[A]

I'm just a little bit nervous for McCormick. They've never integrated a business with with this level of global size and they really have avoided the huge bets that seem to have not paid off for Smuckers and Hostess. This actually does feel a lot like JB Smuckers overpaying for Hostess brands based off of very large expectation for one brand, which is Twinkies. What if Hellman's mayo just goes out of the zeitgeist? What if people don't want a old bay mayo like they are so excited they do. I think they do too. But when you have a Unilever foods unit so dominated by one or two brands, if those brands fall by the way side, then you're looking at a pretty bad bet.

[B]

If you went to a desert island and you could only bring one spice with you, what would it be?

[A]

Oh man. I mean, I just think cumin. That was the first thing that came to mind.

[B]

It's versatile.

[A]

It's versatile.

[B]

Yeah, I'm going with salt. Hey everyone, it's Neil coming to you in a pre recorded secret message. Toby has no idea about this. As you know, it's April Fools and I want to play a prank on Toby, but I need your help. Basically, I want to make it seem like he said something super weird, unusual or awkward on this episode. So I'd love if you could fill the comments section on YouTube or on Spotify with vague things like Toby, can't believe you'd say something like that. Or Toby, that was the most insane take I've ever heard. Get creative, but nothing truly mean spirited. He checks the comments religiously so he'll be very confused and try desperately to figure out what he said that sparked all the comments. It's going to be amazing. Thanks so much. Now back to the podcast. Okay, moving on. TMZ has begun to torment politicians the way it does celebrities, and people are loving every second of it. Last week, the celebrity tabloid put out an unusual call. It asked Americans to send in pictures of politicians vacationing while the government is partially shut down, which it still is in its request, TMZ wrote, as TSA officers are selling their blood to keep a roof over their heads. Members of Congress are packing their bags for a two week vacation, and we want the picks. Well, the pics are flooding in and have already spread widely. The most shared online was South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, pictured at Disney World with a bubble wand, which TMZ tossed up under the headline Living in Fantasyland. As government shutdown drags on. Though, TMZ has been criticized for its morally questionable approach to celebrity reporting. It's being showered with praise for unleashing its paparazzi army on politicians. One user wrote online, sometimes TMZ clocks in and decides to go after the government rather than Britney Spears. And in those moments, we know peace. Another added, tmz can be so powerful when it chooses its targets correctly. Toby I think on one hand, people find it amusing to see pictures of Lindsey Graham on TMZ feed alongside the mugshot of Tiger Woods. But it doesn't seem like TMZ is doing this for laughs. It actually wants to be a force in DC Media.

[A]

Yeah. TMZ put a statement out on their website. Since compromise isn't working, maybe some shame will. So that was the direct approach of this. And everyone's like, did this just end kind of the partial government shutdown? Did TMZ actually do this? And it was a little tongue in cheek, but many senators were kind of put on blast for, you know, going on vacation during this very critical moment. TMZ was bought by Fox in 2021 for $50 million. That was the other subtext beneath all of this, is that this is a Murdoch owned operation challenging the administration right now, almost punching above its weight for a relatively smaller news outlet. It did give a little bit of a peek into maybe a future where it starts becoming a much larger player because it can amass a lot of, you know, citizen journalists. It can amass people at Disneyland to tag TMZ in the photos of Lindsey Graham going on. It's a small world. It is a powerful force.

[B]

And they got people in airports, they got people in hospitals like they are everywhere. And for many years they've set their sights on celebrities. And now if they're turning to politicians, who knows what they could dig up in Washington D.C. because it invited a very interesting debate about whether if TMZ really leaned in to this congressional reporting, could they be an actual force on, on Capitol Hill and put some of the more DC focused publications like Punchbowl and Politico on notice and start to make them actually sweat? It's not going to be particularly easy. They're already making some mistakes in showing the challenges. They showed a photo of lawmakers in Scotland while they were on vacation and they pointed out three. But there were actually a lot more representatives in that picture that more veteran D.C. reporters at TMZ. You should probably know this. And at the same time they've been doing, they've been, they've been dabbling in more congressional reporting, not just this over this week. But in the previous months and they're they've done lawmaker interviews and those have just been doing okay. Neither of any, none of these videos that they posted online had had registered more than 5,000 likes. But then when they put up Lindsey Graham picture it was viewed more than 4 million times. They're still still finding their sea legs here.

[A]

In general though, I think lawmakers are weirdly for it because a lot of other outlets reach out to About TMZ foray into politics said you have to meet people where they are. That's from Lauren Underwood, a rep from Illinois. Representative Sarah McBride from Delaware said if we aren't talking to people where they are outside of exclusively political news spaces, we're going to miss a lot of voters. And TMZ is one part of that equation. So essentially they're welcoming in a more populous approach to political reporting. All right, we're going to take a quick break and come back with a story about Apple right after this. Neil, you can start calling me Mr. Worldwide because I know how to manage a global team.

[B]

So that name is definitely taken.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

It can even make the hard parts of global work disappear. So scaling Worldwide feels easier than it should.

[B]

Head to d e l.com/morning brew to book a demo. That's deal.com/morning brew.

[A]

Neil, it's dangerous to do your taxes alone.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Visit taxact.com/admin-knight for details. That's taxact.com/admin-night.

[A]

Neil, are you risk averse?

[B]

Yes. It's why I won't even get in a bathtub if there's not a lifeguard on duty.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Get $1,000 of Vanta today by going to vanta.com/morning brew. That's vanta.com/morning brew what do Tiger Woods,

[A]

Leonardo DiCaprio and Apple have in common? They all turn 50 this year. Founded 50 years ago today by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Ron Wayne, the company ushered in the personal computer revolution from humble beginnings in Jobs's family garage. Today, Apple is a three and a half trillion dollar company with revenue of $416 billion and more than two and a half billion active devices worldwide. Along the way, it's brought us AirPods, iPods, HomePods, iPads, MacBook Pros, Minis, and Airs, and of course, 17 different versions of the iPhone, with the first one unsurprisingly snagging the top spot in the Verge's rankings of their favorite Apple products ever. It has left an indelible mark on culture, too. Its 1984 commercial chains, super bowl ads forever. Who can Forget the Mac vs PC series? And I still have that Godforsaken U2 album on my phone. A run of transformational products under Steve Jobs eventually gave way to the more steady handed guidance of Tim Cook, whose supply chain foresight and pivot into services turned the business into a financial juggernaut. Investing in its own chip fabrication turned out to be especially prescient and has led to once unthinkable products being released, like the $599 MacBook Neo, the cheapest laptop Apple's ever produced. There's been missteps along the way, too, most recently the Vision Pro, whose pricey AR overlays never quite caught on with consumers. And no one needs to talk about the $700 Mac Pro wheels that Apple sold. The latest threat it faces is the AI revolution, a revolution that it has mostly sat on the sidelines for. Siri still stinks. Apple intelligence seems rather dumb, and while Apple is rarely the first to enter a new market, the road it chooses to travel at this technological crossroads could decide how influential it is over the next five decades. Neal Hard to imagine a world without Apple, even though you owned a Google Pixel for like eight years.

[B]

We don't talk about that. But it's a fine phone, and anyone who has one is cool. Now Apple has a lot to celebrate. On its 50th birthday, they made dozens of beloved products that people don't just use but absolutely adore. And the thing about Apple was it didn't really invent these particular products. It came along and absolutely Perfected them and then made them available to billions of people. Didn't invent tablets, invent smartphones, PCs, MP3, but they just took someone else's breakthrough and then made it very useful for people and then ended up squeezing out the competition.

[A]

Over many years, Apple has become a cultural icon because of a culture that is very, very focused on two things. One, there's privacy and security and then two, they are very focused on just the customer experience. They've always built with that in top of mind. One anecdote that I found when researching this story about their obsessive attention to detail is when they were developing face unlock technology, they realized that your face is not always going to be completely available. So they went to Harley Davidson motorcycle rallies and saw if they could unlock it with a helmet on. They went to Hollywood special effects artists to ensure Lifelike mask couldn't spoof its facial recognition system. So these are layers that you don't necessarily think about unless you are extremely committed to making sure every single user has the best experience available. So those are some of the moments that you point to and say, I understand why this company has endured for 50 years.

[B]

I said we love, we've looked back when in terms of Apple, let's look forward. How is it going to negotiate this AI revolution? I think for a couple of years since Chat CBT was released, the general thought was that Apple is way behind. As you mentioned, they couldn't get Siri right. Apple intelligence is not doing well. They haven't really incorporated their own AI into phones. I think over the past few months that narrative has completely shifted and we're all of a sudden looking at Apple and saying, wow, they're actually extremely well positioned for the revolution. Number one, they are not spending anything on capex compared to their rivals like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet. Those four companies are planning to spend more than $650 billion combined on AI infrastructure. That's 94% of their free cash flows. Meanwhile, Apple is planning to spend just $14 billion in 2026. We'll see. That's. It's a completely diverging strategy from the rest of big tech and we're going to see how it plays out for them.

[A]

Apple just makes money always. It seems like they have made $1 billion in AI revenue this year, primarily from the 30% app store cut that they are taking. Again, Apple has been afforded this position as becoming, as being the de facto platform that everyone has to distribute their apps on. So they get to take their cut of revenue from that. What is Coming next though is what if the platform changes? What if smart glasses become the dominant form factor of the next 50 years? What if AI wearables overtake the smartphone? Those are the big questions. And Apple is kind of dabbling in potentially looking to release products in those categories because what happens if you just the iPhone disappears? It seems unthinkable right now, but you know, there wasn't an iPhone 50 years ago. What if there's not an iPhone in another 50 years? The other big question mark hanging over the company is what happens if Tim Cook and when Tim Cook steps down, he's 65 years old. There is rumors that he's going to be phased out eventually. So who is going to take over the helm? Is it going to be a more hardware focused person like has been floated. John Ternus is probably the de facto CEO in the waiting right now, but maybe he doesn't helm the company as well as Tim Cook has over the last couple of years. So there's definitely question marks. It is just an iconic company. When it turns 50 years old you got to talk about it. Maybe if we're doing this podcast another 50 years, we'll get the 100 year anniversary.

[B]

Neal okay, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. Well, here's something I haven't been able to say in a while. Stocks absolutely popped off yesterday, posting their best one day gains in 10 months after President Trump said the U.S. would resolve the war in Iran. In two to three weeks, the Nasdaq rose a stunning 3.8%, the S&P 2.9% and the Dow 2.5%. Still, it wasn't enough to salvage a dreadful Q1. With the books now closed, stocks had their worst quarter since 2022, with nearly all industries taking a hit mostly from the economic impacts of the war. According to the Wall street journal, through Monday, 10 of the S&P 11 sectors were down in March by an average of 8.3%. The only sector that was in the green energy, which makes Sense. Oil prices spiked 71% in Q1, the largest quarterly percentage gain since the Gulf War of 1990.

[A]

This has been a weird first quarter because it looked like all the stars were aligning for what was going to be a pretty blockbust to the year. But now investor psychology has kind of shifted a bunch of times where in the opening weeks of the war, people were kind of keeping the market afloat because it seemed like it was going to be a relatively short conflict as it is entered a second month now you are having to consider a much more darker timeline. The taco playbook hasn't necessarily played out as much as people were hoping for, so there are some pretty dire warnings out there. David Kelly, the chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, said, if a prolonged conflict means that we never get any more oil out of the Gulf, we will absolutely have a global recession. So those are the, that's the vibe right now, even though again, yesterday the stock market kind of popped off. But it just, it hasn't been a ton of bright spots outside of energy over the past three or four months. Moving on. Whoop, there it is. The Fitness Wearable company Whoop just raised $575 million at a $10 billion valuation as people clamor for data to confirm how badly they slept after three hazy IPAs last night. Will Ahmed, a college squash player at Harvard, started the company when he was still in school and has turned it into a favorite of high performing athletes around the world, including Michael Phelps, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and Toby Howell. Whoop is a wristband that measures biometrics ranging from heart rate variability to sleep stages. It gives you a recovery in strain score every day, making it a useful tool for elite athletes managing their bodies during training. But it's popular with normal people too, especially those obsessed with biohacking and wellness and longevity. That obsession has helped Whoop double its revenue to $1 billion last year. Neil I wear a whoop and admit that I've gotten hooked on the data, even though I do have a gnarly tan line.

[B]

They have stumbled into this very lucrative business model and I should say they didn't stumble into it. They created it. But they charge about $200 annually for their least expensive wristband, which gives you a fitness band and a tracking app. So that's just annual recurring revenue as opposed to maybe another hardware company like Apple we were just talking about where they just sell you the device once and that's it. But yeah, what a juggernaut. Started in a Harvard dorm room and they just, they are the right product for the right moment in terms of longevity and they have all of these little features that will help you keep track of your health and how long you're going to live. There's something called a Whoop age which tells you whether you're aging F or slower.

[A]

22 years old. What is it, Toby, 22 years young over here?

[B]

Well, my sleep scores are just, that's the thing. I think a lot of people don't like these devices myself Included, because I don't want to know my sleep score. I know it's bad. I know when I'm tired. I know when I'm alert.

[A]

So I was worried about that too because maybe the numbers starts dictating how you feel, but it is just a reflection of how much you slept. Like, you know that you slept poorly. Now you have a number to quantify it. I've been rocking like 7 straight days of sub 50 sleep scores. Not good. We're going to lock it. We're going to lock in for the rest of the week.

[B]

I mean, this is not the only product or company in this space too. There's Aura, which makes the ring. They're valued at $11 billion. You know that Apple and Google are waiting in the wings, which is why Whoop is trying to transition a little bit from a wellness, wellness device into a medical device. Ahmed says that eventually he wants your Whoop to be able to tell you when you're going to, when you're going to have a heart attack before you actually get one. Finally, six more teams punched their ticket to the World cup last night, finalizing the field of 48. Italy wasn't among them. For the third World cup in a row, the soccer loving nation failed to make the tournament after losing in penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina, ranked 71st in the world compared to Italy's 12th. Toby, it's inexplicable. Italy hasn't played a World cup knockout game since the iPhone was invented.

[A]

First former winner to fail to qualify for the World cup for a third time in a row. It's never, ever happened in history. The, the way I've seen fans coping is by saying they're boycotting this World Cup. Actually, they boycotted Russia, they boycotted Qatar, and now they're boycotting the United States as well. That is one way of framing a failure to qualify.

[B]

But they're saying there's going to be, you know, a big economic impact as well, because where Italy would be playing, there's probably a lot of, you know, Italian Americans, Italian Canadians, where, where Italy would be playing these group stage matches. So there's a lot of fans not traveling to the stadium. It's just kind of crazy that Italy won't be in the World cup for the third straight year. Meanwhile, Turkey is now made the tournament and now they're in the US Group, which makes getting out of that group a lot harder, especially with the way we're playing. I believe that is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with US Have a wonderful Wednesday. If you'd like to reach us, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom or DM us on Instagram at me Daily show let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our supervising producer. Raymond Liu is our senior producer. Our producer is Olivia Graham, and our associate producer is Olivia Lake. Uchenawa Ogu is our technical director. Hair and makeup is not fallen for any pranks. Devin Emery is our president, and our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[A]

Great show today, Neal. Let's run it back tomorrow.