Economic Protests, Social Media on Trial, and Big Tech Earnings

Summary

Pivot Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: Economic Protests, Social Media on Trial, and Big Tech Earnings
Date: January 30, 2026
Hosts: Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway

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Overview

This episode tackles the intersection of consumer activism and economic protest, the mounting consequences for tech and business leaders amid political turmoil, and the latest developments in both Big Tech lawsuits and corporate earnings. Hosts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway offer their trademark incisive—and irreverent—takes on how protests are evolving, the rising scrutiny on tech giants, and what ordinary people can do to make an impact.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Economic Strikes and Consumer Action

(Start around 01:53)

• Background: Following recent violence in Minnesota, the hosts address calls for economic protest, including withholding income tax, divesting from companies associated with ICE detention centers, and more broadly, how individuals might wield economic pressure.

• Listener Involvement: Kara and Scott read and respond to audience suggestions, with particular attention to divesting from financial entities enabling ICE abuses.

• Vivian Tu’s Tips:

  • Change W4 withholding: Delay tax payments for personal benefit, though not evading taxes.

  • Pay local, pay cash: Supports small businesses and possibly saves money.

  • Redirect “boycott” savings: Pay debt, support causes, aid immigration/human rights efforts.

  • Scale over spectacle: Boycotts must be prolonged and widespread—small, short strikes are ineffective.

    “The main takeaway is this: economic boycotts do not work if a small population stops spending cold turkey for one or two days. ... We’re actually going to need a critical mass of people to scale back their consumerism over weeks and months.”
    — Vivian Tu (03:21)

• Scott’s “Resist and Unsubscribe” Initiative:

  • Targets Big Tech (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Meta, etc.) to hit companies that meaningfully move the market.

  • Provides links and instructions for unsubscribing from major tech and media services.

  • Also lists companies working with ICE, dubbed “blast zone.”

  • Emphasizes sustained, collective, and social action (“it’s not forever… you’re giving people tools”).

    “The most radical act in a capitalist society, hands down, is non-participation.”
    — Scott Galloway (10:31)

  • Website to launch soon with detailed unsubscribe instructions.

2. Personal Impact & Family Dynamics

(12:31–13:36)

• Scott and Kara share how scaling back digital services sparked real, sometimes uncomfortable family discussions—providing opportunities to teach kids about economic power and collective action.
• The hosts urge listeners to evaluate where their money goes and how to align spending with values.

3. Kara Swisher’s Upcoming Show

(14:43–21:19)

• Kara announces her CNN show, Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever, focused on demystifying longevity, health, and wellness—debunking tech-bro nonsense.

  “For far too long, the longevity space has been captive to rich tech growth hack dude influencers, nonsense sellers of useless supplements, and some lady who sells candles named after her private parts. … I’m going to show you the way for the rest of us.”
  — Kara Swisher (15:13)

• Top longevity takeaways:

  • Socioeconomic status (“don’t be poor”) is a major health factor.
  • Sleep, diet, exercise, and “real” scientific advances (AI in cancer/drug research, gene editing, GLP-1 drugs, vaccines).
  • Social connections (“The number one thing both scientifically and causally … is friends and family a hundred a million percent.” — 20:31 Kara)
  • On wellness fads: cautious about peptides, red light, and cold plunges (“hot sauna, yes; cold plunges—maybe problematic”).

4. Political Escalation & Big Tech’s Weak Responses

(23:28–41:42)

• Latest from Minnesota and the Trump administration: escalation of force, attacks on Democratic Representatives, and infighting within GOP and DHS.

• Noted political and civic turning point: government asking public to disbelieve their senses.

  “The last act of the government was to ask us to ignore or deny what we saw and what we heard.”
  — (Paraphrased from Orwell) Scott Galloway (25:46)

• Critique of Big Tech leadership’s tepid responses to events—specifically Tim Cook (Apple), Sam Altman (OpenAI), and other CEOs’ “weak sauce” statements and public appearances with the Trump administration.

  “Tim Cook is the new Bob Iger: he’s going to take an incredible career and put a giant shit stick at the end of it.”
  — Scott Galloway (34:12)

• Discussion of how consumer attachment to brands like Apple leads to heightened feelings of betrayal when values are perceived as compromised.

• “Resist and Unsubscribe” is positioned as a low-sacrifice, high-impact form of protest aligned with consumer frustration with performative corporate statements.

5. Social Media Lawsuit: Addiction on Trial

(45:23–49:29)

• Huge trial in LA: Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube sued for product addiction/harm, especially to minors.

• Scott argues social media is more toxic for youth than alcohol or cigarettes.

  “Letting a 16-year-old on Snap or Instagram or TikTok is probably more harmful than if we’d let 16-year-olds smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol…”
  — Scott Galloway (46:38)

• Both hosts detail personal and family struggles with device addiction and foresee damning Big Tobacco-style revelations in trial evidence.

6. Big Tech Earnings & AI Arms Race

(52:42–61:06)

• S&P 500 reaches all-time high; Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon report blockbuster AI-driven quarters.
  • Meta: 24% YoY growth, massive AI spend.
  • Microsoft: $37.5B in capex; some concern over OpenAI exposure.
  • Tesla: Profits and margins down sharply, pivoting away from cars to robotics/AI; skepticism over its prospects.
  • Major layoffs at Amazon and Pinterest driven by AI-related workforce reductions.
  • The “S&P 10” now dominates the broader market.
  • Scott’s big prediction: AI is “corporate Ozempic”—driving efficiency, layoffs, and fattening profits.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The most radical act in a capitalist society… is non-participation."
  — Scott Galloway (10:31)
• "The number one thing, both scientifically and causally, is friends and family a hundred a million percent."
  — Kara Swisher (20:31)
• "Tim Cook is the new Bob Iger… going to put a giant shit stick at the end of [his] career."
  — Scott Galloway (34:12)
• "Letting a 16-year-old on Snap or TikTok is probably more harmful than if we'd let 16-year-olds smoke cigarettes."
  — Scott Galloway (46:38)
• "Flat is new up" (on corporate headcount in the AI era)
  — Kara Swisher (60:40)
• Scott, joking about the harsh family pushback over canceling most streaming platforms:
  "It just caused a near riot. ... Memo to self, smother dad in sleep." (13:04)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:53: Kara updates on DOJ Epstein files, previewing listener economic protest discussions.
• 03:21: Vivian Tu offers concrete financial activist tips.
• 06:54–10:31: Scott's economic strike blueprint; “Resist and Unsubscribe” concept.
• 12:31–13:36: Family debates over which streaming/music services to cut.
• 14:43–21:19: Kara announces TV show, longevity talk, and health advice breakdown.
• 23:28–41:42: Minnesota crisis, government gaslighting, tech CEO criticism, moral leadership.
• 45:23: Massive social media addiction lawsuit, parallels to Big Tobacco.
• 52:42–61:06: Big Tech earnings, AI investment, industrial robotics, layoffs, strategy implications.

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Tone & Style

• The conversation is sharp, unsparing, and spirited, with frequent asides, banter, and dark humor.
• Both hosts are unfiltered, alternating between deep analysis, sarcasm, and personal anecdotes.

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For Listeners Who Haven't Heard the Episode

This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in the evolving power struggle between citizens and corporations, the challenge of holding Big Tech accountable—financially or politically—and how social media, AI, and market dynamics are reshaping both activism and daily life. "Resist and Unsubscribe" offers clear, actionable frameworks for economic protest, while discussions around tech lawsuits and earnings underline the persistent tension between tech innovation, profit, and public well-being.

Transcript

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Reader]

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[Scott Galloway]

Close your eyes, listen to Monday.com Feel the sensation of an AI work platform so flexible and intuitive it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes, go to Monday.com, start for free and finally breathe.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm going to stuff your corpse and have it next to me.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm doing taxidermy.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm doing taxidermy. Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.

[Scott Galloway]

And I'm Scott Galloway.

[Kara Swisher]

Before we do anything, I'd like to point out that as of this episode drops, it's been 42 days since the deadline passed for the DOJ to release all the Epstein files, though we do have an update. DOJ officials said in a court filing this week that they expect to release the files quote, in the near term, but they did not provide a specific date. Pam Bondi get on it. Anyway, Scott, after Sunday's bonus episode about the violence in Minnesota, we've gotten a mountain of responses to our discussion of the economic strike that you've suggested. I know you're working on something and we'll talk about that in a minute. But first, here's what some of our listeners have to say.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm seeing online some suggestions of people stop paying their income tax by updating their W2.

[Kara Swisher]

I and many of my colleagues are watching with sadness, a lot of anxiety and anger at the escalating violence. And I keep wondering what, if anything, people outside the US like me can do that's actually useful.

[Scott Galloway]

Reportedly, Vanguard BlackRock and Fidelity hold half of the shares in two companies, Geo Group and CoreCivic, which run nearly 90% of ICE detention facilities. If investors divested from these collaborators and others, could that put a stop to ICE's worst abuses?

[Kara Swisher]

And given a lot of you have been writing in wondering what you can do personally, we asked financial educator Vivian Tu, host of Net Worth and Chill, to give some tips on how to make an impact. Let's hear what she had to say.

[Vivian Tu]

Hey Scott and Kara, Heard you guys were talking about an economic blackout. I've got a couple personal finance tips for our friends. With a lot of financial discipline, you could consider changing your W4 withholding for your taxes. You'll pay fewer taxes throughout the year and then pay them all in one lump sum. Come tax time, you're not going to get to pay fewer taxes overall. But why let the government hold your money and do stuff with it for longer than they need to? Make sure you are taking advantage of time value of money. Up next, everybody talks about shopping local versus corporate, but another thing you can do is pay in cash. These local businesses oftentimes might even give you a small discount for doing so because then they have to give less up as well. Wink wink. And last but not least, for the economic blackout money that you aren't spending on buying stuff, make sure you're putting towards a really smart strategic cause. Things like paying down your debt so you aren't heavily tied to financial institutions, but also causes that you care about that might support things like immigration or human rights. The main takeaway is this economic boycotts do not work. If a small population stops spending cold turkey for one to two days, what we're actually going to need is a critical mass of people to scale back their consumerism over weeks and months. And even if they can only do it to 70 or 80% of their ability, that is going to have a bigger impact.

[Kara Swisher]

Scott, you should know Vivian's upcoming book is called well Endowed. I thought you'd like that.

[Scott Galloway]

There you go. She did not interview me. She did not interview me.

[Kara Swisher]

So tell me you tell me. We talked about this and a lot of people were talking about it. Go for it.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, last night I was about to make love to my sweet, sweet lady and she put my penis in her hand and then it was dark out and she said, I'm sorry, don't smoke. National economic strike.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, great, you're stepping on your penis there, Scott.

[Scott Galloway]

My bluff has been called here and that is I think that America feels a lot of anxiety around its government not providing security and prosperity, but terror and anxiety. And I've thought a lot about this and if you look at where Trump and the administration respond, they don't respond from citizenry, co equal branches of government or even the Supreme Court. Where they do respond really crisply is from markets. And within 24 hours he backed off of terrorists annex in Greenland. Pressure on interest rates, tariffs. When one thing has happened, the S and P has gone down or the bond market has started to get wobbly. So then the question becomes if that's the fastest blue line path to getting ice out of cities or to putting in more protocols or just flexing that we're watching. The fastest way to do that is what you want is the most impact with the least amount of sacrifice from the citizenry to make it easy.

[Kara Swisher]

To make it easy, make it easy.

[Scott Galloway]

And also maximum impact. I think not buying groceries is not a lot of impact because these companies are very low margin. They're not company CEOs that he listens to or cares about. So I bifurcated it into two types of companies. What I call ground zero. Big tech controls 40% of the S and P. They are growth companies. They're very, very highly valued right now. So any, any slowdown in growth could potentially have a disastrous effect on them. So that's kind of the soft tissue of the economy right now. And where our consumer economy, which is 70% consumer spending, could have the greatest impact with the least amount of effort. So I've listed a series of big tech companies and launching the site probably on Sunday.

[Kara Swisher]

What's it called?

[Scott Galloway]

It's called, thank you for asking.

[Kara Swisher]

Well endowed.

[Scott Galloway]

It's called, it's called resist and unsubscribe. Oh, like what we're saying, don't like and subscribe. Resist and unsubscribe. I've also got the URL unsubscribe February because to Vivian's point, it can't be one day or a week. It has to be sustained and there has to be a viral component to it. So the companies in what I call ground Zero are Amazon and I have instructions on how to subscribe from Amazon Prime, Audible, Amazon Music, Prime Video, Anthropic.

[Kara Swisher]

So you could pick what you want, right? You could pick.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, hopefully all and only that. I don't want to tell people what to do and what to do exactly. People have different point of. Yeah, people have different means and ideas on how they can participate. And I'm not going to tell anyone to not buy groceries or not show up for work. But if you want to have the biggest impact possible, I've tried to identify those companies. Disney, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, OpenAI, Uber and Meta.

[Kara Swisher]

And then you've given the argument why? Why what they've done so you can decide what you think is acceptable or not.

[Scott Galloway]

The reason why I really do think this idea is so powerful is you get a couple free gifts with purchase. Not only do you achieve the economic slowdown, but you have an outsized impact on subscribing specifically from these companies that are driving the market right now. 2. It just so happens that the majority of the CEOs of these companies have been especially sycophantic and played a really large role in enabling all this bullshit. Whether it's Tim Cook showing up and prostrating himself for the Melania documentary, whether it' Amazon Green Lighting a $30 million documentary that made no fucking sense, it was just pure grift or bribery, whether it's obviously Meta, whether it's Satya Nadella sitting there and trying to communicate to people, I don't like it, but I'm going to continue to do it. Just want to remind everybody that back in the early 30s, Hitler's rise was largely enabled by corporate CEOs who basically said if you destroy our trade unions, we won't speak up against this democratic slide into fascism. And once it got out of hand, it was too late for them to do so. We have been to this place before where people use the excuse of shareholder value to enable and basically not provide any friction to what is the type of terror and anxiety being levied?

[Kara Swisher]

Can I ask you a question? Because I think a lot of people want to decide. One of the things that's good is Scott's. I've seen some of it is going to give you information to make your own decisions. For example, with me, I got rid of Arcade. I got rid of the one thing I got rid of a bunch.

[Scott Galloway]

Buying an iPhone, not buying an iPhone. So canceling Apple Music, whatever it might be.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, whatever. But if you want to do that and keep Apple Music, like we don't want. We don't judge you. It's just here's your. The tools, right? Here's the tools. Stop doing prime. If maybe if you don't want to cancel prime completely, you can stop buying on it for like people should decide. People should decide what to do. And it's not forever by the way. It's not I shall never use it again. Right. Like orange juice people still drink after the boycott of Anita Bryant. That's a hundred years ago, kids. But that's what you're trying to get at is giving people tools. Does it have links to where you. Where you can do these things or just a company?

[Scott Galloway]

All the different services you can unsubscribe to a link to where you unsubscribe. The unsubscribe page and a brief prescription of why we're doing this. So the the ground zero is big tech companies. And also the truth has a nice ring to it. I'm going from 2 LLMs to 1. I don't need anthropic and OpenAI. I'm going and this is the one that hurts. I'm going from six streaming platforms to one. I'm not giving up on all streaming platforms but I'm going to pair it way back. And the free gift with purchase here. When you start looking at this stuff, I found out, for example I have three HBO Max accounts. I didn't realize I had three. It's not a bad idea to take some time to think where am I just spending money every month unbeknownst to me where quite frankly, I probably could pare back a little bit. So there's the ground zero. That's the big tech companies that will have an outsized impact on your absenteeism. By the way, the most radical act in a capitalist society, hands down is non participation. And then the second group of companies I list is called the blast zone. And these are companies that are directly working with ICE. AT&T awarded 90 million to provide ICE with IT and network projects. Comcast, Charter Communications, Dell Technologies, Deloitte, FedEx, UPS. I list how you can, how you can leverage your economic muscle against them and what how they are participating. You may decide that this is, you know, not for you or it's too big to give up. But I'm giving you a ton of options. There's ground zero outsize impact and then there's the blast zone that is companies directly working on them. And I want to be realistic. I am not going to give up telco but I've switched to noble mobile from AT&T. I'm going to go from five streaming media platforms to one. And I think you can have a lot of impact here. I'm trying to make it as social as possible and hope that people join in. But I think if we're looking for the lowest tax way on citizenry to get the administration to pay attention, it's about markets, it's not about ideology, it's about math, and it's about not participating. And it's the easiest thing I could come up with to have an outsize impact.

[Kara Swisher]

This is great. We get a lot of stuff about people not knowing what to do. And maybe they don't want to go to protest or fly to Minneapolis if you don't want to do that, or you don't want to just sit around and doom scroll and hacktivism. This is one of the many, many, many ways. And I think it's great that you're doing this, Scott. Good for you. What streaming service did you keep? Netflix?

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, I can't say. But I. I was, I was talking. We had a family. You know, one of those family meetings. I don't want to play favorites because I've already heard from some of the CEOs of these companies. Word is already out. And they're. By the way, they're not thrilled about this.

[Kara Swisher]

No, they're not. I've gotten some.

[Scott Galloway]

I've gotten some questions, but that was the only. That was the really aha moment. We had a family meeting and I said to my kids, we're going to cancel all streaming. Streaming media platforms. And I literally got that look like memo to self, Smothered dad and sleep. So I said, we can keep one and it's only for February. And there's a huge argument. Cause one kicks into Premier League football and that's Paramount plus. And the other's like Paramount Plus. Are you fucking high? I mean, it just caused a near riot.

[Kara Swisher]

See, I had a discussion with one of my children about Apple Music. I'm still in the middle of the discussion about it. I was like, oh, yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

So they're like, okay, I'm off Apple Music, Amazon Music, but they're keeping Spotify. It was interesting consumer preference. It came down to Netflix or hbo. Max was the two we distilled down to. And I won't tell you which one we picked.

[Kara Swisher]

All right, okay.

[Scott Galloway]

But it's interesting to think about how to prioritize. It is.

[Kara Swisher]

It is. I was surprised by the pushback from one of my children. They're like, wait a minute. On my list, I was like, oh, you know. But anyway, you have those discussions. It's actually then it ended up being a really interesting discussion about economic boycotts and what you can do. So it's a great opportunity to talk to your kids and your. And your spouse or whoever about the economic choices you make in life in general. Anyway, to be clear, the site is. Isn't up today, but Scott will let us know over the next couple of days. And we will note activists around the country are calling for no work, no school, and no shopping today on Friday, January 30, urging people to stop funding ICE. There'll be lots of activities like that, but not just Scott Galloway, the great economist Scott Galloway, but Robert Reich is talking about this idea. It's really catching on, the idea of it. And it's well beyond just a temporary thing. It's like show. You take a minute and look at your life and where you're putting your money. And your money is important. Anyway, I have an announcement now onto me. Guess what we have named my show on CNN that is coming in the spring. I can't say that date. Well, it's called Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever. What do you think?

[Scott Galloway]

I think the tagline should be, oh, fuck, is it really Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever?

[Kara Swisher]

It is.

[Preet Bharara]

It is.

[Kara Swisher]

It's called Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever.

[Scott Galloway]

But what if you have a stroke in the middle of the show?

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Exactly.

[Kara Swisher]

It's brilliant, don't you think? That's what Amanda said. Amanda said that too. Like she's like, oh, well, then more people would watch it. Right?

[Scott Galloway]

I think it should be what if we Live Forever question mark with Kara Swisher? I wouldn't make it.

[Kara Swisher]

Ah, well, it's already done, done, done, done.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, well then I love it.

[Kara Swisher]

I love it, I love it. Anyway, well, let me just say. Let me just very briefly say, for far too long, the longevity space has been captive. This is the idea behind it, of rich tech growth. Jack, dude, influencers, nonsense. Sellers of useless supplements and some lady who sells candles that are named after her private parts. Sorry, Gwyneth, but you started it. Well, after.

[Scott Galloway]

She's lovely, by the way.

[Kara Swisher]

I know, I know you talked to her, but I'm taking. I'm. There's a new sheriff in town. After enduring endless conversations over the years how to live forever. I can't tell you how many dinner parties I've been in with tech bros telling me all manner of things, none of whom are doctors. I want in, except I'm going to show you the way for the rest of us. It will be grounded in science and facts about the best and most, most affordable ways to stay healthy, happy and smart. Also, I took ketamine, so you don't have to. And Scott takes a nap in it. Just so you know, that's what's coming for you. So.

[Scott Galloway]

So a couple things. One, I think the market was screaming for another person without medical training to tell us how to live our lives.

[Kara Swisher]

Excellent.

[Scott Galloway]

I think that's what the market was telling us.

[Kara Swisher]

But I talked to experts.

[Scott Galloway]

Unlike some of these people, I talked to experts.

[Kara Swisher]

I.

[Scott Galloway]

But the second thing is an honest question. Say you're not. I'm all over this shit because I have. I now have too much money and too little time.

[Kara Swisher]

I've never noticed that you like to focus on your health and beauty.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm way too into this. And so the question I would have is, assume you're an average income household, you know, 80, 90 grand.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

Maybe living in a city, maybe doing a little bit better than that. And you have insurance, but you don't have a ton of money to spend on this stuff. What are the two or three biggest learnings around changes in lifestyle that you would recommend to just the average American?

[Kara Swisher]

I'd be happy to. Just so you know, it's only six episodes. Maybe we'll have another season because there's so much stuff out there and there's so much bad stuff. By the way, I was hoping it was five. No. Karis Fisher wants to live forever anyway.

[Scott Galloway]

Garris Fisher wants. Everyone else wants this series to end anyway.

[Kara Swisher]

That's okay. You can make fun of it. I love. I love it. I would say, well, obviously the main thing about longevity is don't be poor. Like, I hate to say that, but it matters a lot.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, that's good advice. That's not gonna make anyone feel bad.

[Kara Swisher]

Okay. Well, it's not. But I'm just. Longevity is now going up.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Make more money.

[Scott Galloway]

It's the same advice I've gotten from every girl I've met at the Four Seasons bar. Make more money.

[Kara Swisher]

So one of the main things, oddly enough, you know, sleep is important, obviously, diet and exercise are important, important. And there's lots of things that everybody understands. Fermented foods, stuff like that. And eating the protein debate has gotten out of hand. Those are around the edges of saving you minutes of your life. I think one of the things I took away was one, there's amazing stuff going on around cancer research, using AI, cancer and also Mobility robotic stuff where people are going to be outfitted and the addition of AI is going to change drug discovery, cancer research. It's astonishing. That is really gene editing. All that stuff is really moving fast and that will make a big difference in longevity or at least health span. Right. That you'll live longer and not die of these terrible diseases. The second one is. This is the science part. GLP1s Scott I think you had one of the early people to this but the benefits around just obesity is what.

[Scott Galloway]

I think it's a miracle drug.

[Kara Swisher]

It's a miracle drug and every doctor we talked to talked about this and it now has follow on advantages and so you know in very small amounts too. And that talking about microdosing people I.

[Scott Galloway]

Know microsing, I know a bunch of people do microsing.

[Kara Swisher]

Microdosing GLP1 yeah, I'm going to start doing that related to my stroke actually which is interesting. So anyway there's a lot of around GLP1 is really important and everyone vaccines and MRNA vaccines. I know they're controversial but they're not. They're going to have a vaccine for cancer. That kind of stuff is really amazing. But I have to tell you, the abs and there's all that other nonsense, the red lights, none of that works really. Some of the stuff you do doesn't work. But fine, whatever.

[Scott Galloway]

Can I go through the stuff I do and you tell me what you think?

[Kara Swisher]

Okay. I didn't do everything so I may not have an answer but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

Testosterone therapy probably good for you. This is that thing they did with Peter Atia red light. You don't.

[Kara Swisher]

No, there's no scientific.

[Scott Galloway]

Vitamins, A vitamin supplements.

[Kara Swisher]

Some of them, Some of them and some not like vitamin D, vitamin K, Some of the super EPA stuff. Yes. Creatine? Yes. Some of them ridiculous.

[Scott Galloway]

I do creatine every day.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, creatine is very good. What else? Yes.

[Scott Galloway]

What about nad? Either infusions or the pills.

[Kara Swisher]

Most people think there's no scientific. Yet. Yet. Not to push them out. Not to push them out. But you know, peptides is a big moment here but unfortunately a lot of people are using them ineffectively or dangerously.

[Scott Galloway]

But is there evidence that peptides might.

[Kara Swisher]

We don't know yet. We don't know. Not yet. Not yet. That's a nice. Like there's a lot of stuff like. We'll see. It's just how you use it and how it's deployed. Like at the beginning of GLP1s a lot of people were getting shitty compounds and getting really sick Right. Don't do. Compounded these things. Compounded. So it's a matter of the one that is. Keep going. Go ahead. What else? Masturbation. Great. Good for you.

[Scott Galloway]

Cold sauna or cold plunges or sauna.

[Kara Swisher]

Sauna. Hot sauna. Yes. Cold plunges. There's a lot new science for it may be really problematic on people. Although I know all the bros love it. But there's all these issues around the shock and different things. Hot saunas. Absolutely. One of the things, let me tell you the number one thing both scientifically and both causally and correlation is friends and family 100.

[Scott Galloway]

I want to come back to that. So next one. Getting plowed by six hockey players and rethinking everything. Just rethinking everything. Kara, is that good for my health?

[Kara Swisher]

It is good for your health. Just be careful.

[Scott Galloway]

Just rethinking. But you mentioned the one thing. The only thing I would add, the absolute key to longevity. You just referenced it. It key to good health and longevity. Relationships.

[Kara Swisher]

Relationships 100amillion percent. And related to that is the use of social media and synthetic relationships. Lack of friction. Wrongly. Lack of friction for your brain. Brain plasticity. Play games with people, do different things, talk to people you don't know. It has real health effects. Argue you and I are gonna live forever of our relationship. You know, I'm just saying that's. It was really surprising. The number one thing. And I'm not trying to be like all be friends, talk to people you don't know. Do things that challenge you. Be involved in the community. The more you are in the online space with synthetic relationships, the quicker you're going to die.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. I interviewed Timothy Snyder yesterday, the guy who's a protest expert. And we were talking about. And I challenged him. I said our protests, the new door knocking, and that is they're losing effectiveness. And he pushed back really solidly. He had a couple really strong points. He said, one, when people organize, it creates an infrastructure for other activities. He said, what's happened in Minneapolis? People organize and then they get a database of people. They figure out how to communicate with each other. And they've been turning out on a dime to observe ice raids. And a lot of that is because the infrastructure that's been built through protest. And he also said something very powerful, very simple. He said, you feel better when you do something with other people. And it was so simple but so puncturing. You feel better when you do something with other people.

[Kara Swisher]

Yep. And it's good for your health. As it turns out. It's very good for your health and it's great to bring back community and again, neuroplasticity. Anyway, moving on, we've got a lot to any. We're very excited. Scott's site, what's the name of it again?

[Scott Galloway]

Resist and unsubscribe or unsubscribe February if you like this idea, don't like and subscribe. Resist, unsubscribe and also please post I'll be posting my receipts.

[Kara Swisher]

Ideas.

[Scott Galloway]

Please post your own ideas, your own receipts. If you've unsubscribed from Amazon prime for the month or whatever it might be, please post it to your social and try and drive people to the notion of resist and unsubscribe.

[Kara Swisher]

Yes, you can do something and mine is Kara Swisher wants to live forever.

[Scott Galloway]

There you go.

[Kara Swisher]

Only Megyn Kelly thinks that's not a good thing. Anyway, moving on, we've got a lot to get to today, including big tech earnings and major social media trials going on. So let's dig in. White House border czar Tom Homan, he of the Bag O money just gave a presser and Minneapolis a little while ago, noting he's on the ground to quote, regain law and order. Tom says he's made a lot of progress since he got there like three days ago. This follows Trump saying he would de escalate a little bit earlier in the week, but the violence hasn't stopped. Representative Ilhan Omar was attacked with an unknown substance at a town hall on Tuesday. It's the latest instance against a member of Congress. Representative Maxwell Frost was physically assaulted at Sundance last week. And both are Democrats, just so you know, and quite more on the liberal end of everything. Meanwhile, the two federal agents who shot it out, Alex Freddy, have been put on administrative leave. Border control Commander Greg Bovino has left Minnesota, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is hanging onto her job for now. She's now there's a lot of pictures of her and a head of lettuce going on and there's a lot of infighting in between. And among all those people, three quarters of House Democrats are backing her impeachment and a couple of Republicans in the Senate are calling for her ouster. Thom Tellis, who's leaving, doesn't give a fuck anymore, has finally found his balls. What do you make of the changing of tact? And also note, Amy Klobuchar is just officially announced your bid for Minnesota governor. Your thoughts?

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, it's interesting. I didn't know that Senator Klu is running for governor. I think That's a great idea. I think. You know, I've called this before, and I've been wrong. I do think this is a turning point. And when I was in high school, my mom gave me a bunch of John Irving books, according to Garp. And they made me feel for. They made me just feel a lot better about myself when I realized everyone else is fucked up and erotic and having weird thoughts. And it had a big impact on me. One of the books that also had a big impact on me was George Orwell's 1984. I think in some ways, it kind of might be the reason I kind of went down the progressive path. But there's a line in there, and I'll get it wrong. But it's basically. And the last act of the government was to ask us to ignore or deny what we saw and what we heard. That basically, all of a sudden, the government had gone. To no longer trust your faculties of observ.

[Kara Swisher]

It was the last and most important.

[Scott Galloway]

There you go. Thank you. And you always have to one up me.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm just saying I read one.

[Scott Galloway]

Why does Charisfish want to live forever anyways? So.

[Kara Swisher]

So I can be with you.

[Scott Galloway]

But that. Yeah, there you go.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm gonna stuff your corpse and have it next to me. Like, I'll just like a. Like a pop.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm doing taxidermy.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm doing taxidermy to you. Go ahead, Go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

But that moment that literally, that quote just popped into my mind when Kristi Noem or Secretary Noem got up. Right. We generally have these Judeo Christian values, and I imagine there are also other religions. I don't mean to limit it, but that says when someone dies, you don't desecrate them. And when she got up and was so disrespectful of Alex Pretty and then also claimed he was a domestic terrorist.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, that's what he did.

[Scott Galloway]

And that he was there and that he was there to massacre. He was brandishing a weapon and was there to massacre federal agents.

[Kara Swisher]

I think that was Stephen Miller.

[Scott Galloway]

That was. That was a moment where I thought, oh, my gosh. I've never seen. I've seen people spin shit. I've seen people exaggerate. I've seen them lie. But I've never seen the administration feel confident that it could just look people in the eyes and say, ignore your faculties of observation and just believe what we say. Because we're saying it. That for me was. That felt very weird and chilling and like a turning point. And I think if you look, to Americans credit, the majority of people and a lot more Republicans have said, okay, this has just gone too far. And you know how far it's gone when all of a sudden. When all of a sudden a guy who took $50,000 in a brown lunch bag feels like the adult in the room. He does, people are relieved that he's there.

[Kara Swisher]

I know when he said regain law and order, I actually think he's probably talking about the cops themselves or these border Patrol people with the masks. Let me just say I had a very interesting discussion with my mom. Of course, I turned her to CNN because she decided Caitlin Collins dresses well and she likes it and thinks she's adorable.

[Scott Galloway]

I think that's a good reason to watch it.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm so. One of the things that was interesting is she did not like those things. You know that. And one of the things that bothered her was the meanness. It was. I don't know. My mother could be very mean. She didn't love it. And one of the things I'll tell you is she zeroed on none of the masks. Why are they wearing masks? And I said, no, police don't wear masks.

[Scott Galloway]

The military, judges that put away cartel.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. She was asking a question, you know, and I was like, well, because they're private police and they want to hide. And she's like, well, they're worried about people knowing who they are. I said, yes, because of the things they're doing. And so it was an interesting conversation.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, it's. I mean, think about. Think about how ironic it is. We're now deploying and coordinating unbelievable firepower and assets in Iran or in the Gulf, claiming that, okay, we need to do something because the government is executing people in the streets. Well, our government is executing people on the street. So that irony, granted, it's not on the same scale, but that irony is not lost on.

[Kara Swisher]

No, no, Let me point something out. They're headed to Ohio to do this with Haitians. They're not stopping. They raided an election site to try to pretend that the election was stolen in Georgia. Very dangerous. They're going to do this thing in Ohio. These people aren't going to stop. I just don't. I know. We're like, finally, we've got him. This guy. Finally. Never get him. Whoever's controlling him, and I think he's not, from what I understand, he doesn't work very much during the day. Someone high up in the Trump administration told me he works five hours a day. So another 19 hours is someone else. And so I think that they're going to keep going. They're going to go. Stephen Miller has no shame and they will go to Ohio. And J.D. vance has talked about this.

[Scott Galloway]

But I'd love to. When I think about this on a mental level, I think about the Trump administration of maga. A key philosophy or cornerstone is that they believe if we could just turn back the clock and go back to 50s America where white people and males were largely in charge of everything, that this would be a better place. And they're just uncomfortable with the Browning of America. They're uncomfortable with more progressive values. They're uncomfortable with women's rights and they just want to take us back. Back. And it's almost sort of poetic's the wrong word, but ironic. But look at the two famous or you know, Renee Goode and Alex. Pretty. So okay, what do we have here? I mean it's just so. I don't know if you've noticed this. We have. And I don't want to be reductive, but I'm going to be really lovely. Gay parents and a male ICU nurse. It's almost as if they said how do we find what represents the future and push back on it in the most heinous way possible? I mean these two people in a lot of ways and isis ability to sniff out really good people. There was a story about Renee Goode and her partner the day before circling the school block two or three times because their kid struggles with social anxiety and waving at the kid to make the kid feel more comfortable. The send off the video you found of of Alex Preddy. I mean these are really good. They're not only really good people, but in a weird way I look at them and I think that's the future of America and that's what MAGA hates.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, they will keep going and let me just say they do in particular, let's not take the focus. They have been targeting people of color like the immigrants who are hardworking. They're going for the Haitians now. The people they're trying to weed out are very hardworking.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I think this was accidental or not strategic. They didn't say go find a white ICU nurse. But doesn't it find you? Doesn't it strike you as just very ironic and almost like out of a play kind of.

[Kara Swisher]

It does. The picture that got me the most was that kid. I think his parents were the five year old was just like his parents are immigrants. And that got me the most. I have the hat and then sitting. They're Just they're so inhuman that it's really. The visuals are quite something. Now, there have been visuals before, whether it was the attacks during the civil rights era, if you remember the dogs and the hoses on people of color down in the south. And then there was the Vietnam photo of the girl running.

[Scott Galloway]

I was just thinking of that corpse.

[Kara Swisher]

Is this that moment, the one the child dead on the beach? There's a lot of very strong images. Yeah, there's a lot. This is coming at you so hard. That's what I was talking about this week, is that. But speaking of photos and impact, Tim Cook is finally speaking on a Minnesota call calling for de escalation. Thanks, Tim. It's like as bland as the quinoa you enjoy. After facing a backlash for attending the White House Melania premiere the same day as Alex Preddy, the shooting, Cook noted in an internal memo that he had a good conversation with the President where he shared his views. Sam Altman also weighed in, telling OpenAI's that Ice was going too far. You think, though, he said, president Trump is a very strong leader and I hope he'll rise to the moment, unite the country. Both of them had to compliment Trump and spent very little time talking about the victims. In fact, not at all. So very, very, I think weak sauce responses from. And Altman managed to get a slap in at Zuckerberg at some point in one of his statements. Talk a little bit about this because I'll tell you, internally at Apple, it's crazy. People are really furious. I can tell you that from talking to lots of Apple employees and all levels of this company. And I think of all the companies, it's really interesting. Apple feels the most betrayal. If you look online at least, and know that doesn't represent everything. But it certainly is not a good look for him to be standing next to Brett Ratner, who has his own issues, and in a tuxedo at the White. Just the whole thing. By the way, no one's ever going to see this Melania. One of the more enjoyable things is people showing pictures of theaters that sell zero tickets. Because Amazon. Why aren't they more mad at Amazon, who paid $40 million, spent $35 million marketing this? And there were two. There was several Amazon executives at the event. But what do you think about this? I think we love Apple. That's why, right? I guess. I don't know.

[Scott Galloway]

I think Tim Cook is the new Bob Iger and that is he's going to take an incredible career and put a giant shit stick at the End of it. There is an unfortunate but necessary lesson in life around the intersection between your participation in time and other people. And that is the last five minutes are the most important. Five minutes. Minutes. When you're at a party and you're leaving, do your best to be as charming as possible and go around and say, hi. There's that famous study where they're giving dudes colonoscopies, and one is just 45 minutes and the other is 50 minutes. But the last five minutes, they don't move it around, so it's not as uncomfortable. And the men who had the device inside of them for 50 minutes said it was much more pleasant because all they remember is the last five minutes, which was not that unpleasant. When you leave an organization, when you quit or you've been fired, tired, you swallow everything, and you could not be more charming because that is how they will remember you.

[Kara Swisher]

Shockingly, that's how I leave places. But go ahead. You think I know. How dare you?

[Scott Galloway]

Or just on a more serious level, if you're getting divorced, do everything you can to be as gracious and generous as possible on the way out, even if it means taking some lumps, being treated unfairly. If you've been married 5, 10, 40 years, everyone your partner, their parents, your friends, your kids will remember who was the bigger person. And Tim Cook, unfortunately, he's been an amazing CEO. And I also, from everyone I know that. From everyone I know that knows him, including you, I don't know them. They say he's a good man. But here's the thing. This will be this small period towards the end of his tenure where he shows up to the White House for a ridiculous premiere where he says he can't wait to spend time with Melania, when he shows up with a handwritten disk drive and literally just is a sycophant to the president.

[Kara Swisher]

And then in the statement adding the.

[Scott Galloway]

President, that's how he's gonna be, unfortunately.

[Kara Swisher]

Why couldn't he even put that in? Why could he just. Not this time. That to me, I was like, oh, come on, leave that out. That one sentence. I just talk. What did you call our relationship with Apple in that book when I met you? What was Apple? Our lover.

[Scott Galloway]

All right, Google is God. You know, you pray to it, ask it for an answer, comes back with something. Amazon is your gut never consumption. You know, more for less. Apple is your genitals. When you, the billion people have iOS are the most attractive potential mates in the world. It's the most subtle way of saying you should have sex with me.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, I would argue more. So people love Apple.

[Scott Galloway]

Like incredible products.

[Kara Swisher]

No, but they have a relationship with it. The whole Think different. They have marketed to you in a values. Way.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Way.

[Kara Swisher]

Right. Privacy.

[Scott Galloway]

He added more shareholder value than any individual in his history, with the exception of Jensen Huang. And unfortunately.

[Kara Swisher]

But I'm just saying people have. That's why people are like, why do you attack Apple when Meta is. I was like, because we don't like him. We like Apple.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, this feels like more of a betrayal.

[Kara Swisher]

Yes, that's right.

[Scott Galloway]

We thought if there was one person who was going to stand up and say, I have been a huge beneficiary of rule of law and the progress of rights in America, and Apple's been an enormous beneficiary of competition and rule of law. And what's going on here is directly contrary to everything that's given me incredible opportunities and created $4 trillion in shareholder value. We are not down with this. But instead he's like, well, I'd love to hang out with Melania. Just make sure that we're exempt from those. Those China. Those pesky China terrorists.

[Kara Swisher]

And de escalate the word. This. This statement was such weak sauce. It was de escalate. Like I also thought. And as Stephanie Rule actually correctly pointed out, it was bland. And the one from the Mini Minneapolis Commerce, it was like, let's. Yes, let's all get along. I'm like, there is a side here, and it's not with the police at this moment or not the police. The police are doing great in Minneapolis. It's these thugs from. And they have given Tim Cook and the rest of tech a very easy way to say, how dare you talk about people like that? Which you were just talking about. Kristi Noem. They have gone to a gulist place. And one person who did speak out, let me just say Vinod Khosla went distant himself or something Keith Raboy was saying about the shooting. Because Keith was wrong, as always. And he also got into a beef with Elon Musk, very public, about racism, which I'm not surprised Vinod is like that. But like, it didn't cost Vinod anything to do that. And Vinod and I don't agree on lots of stuff. Right. Sometimes he says things, I'm like, are you kidding me? But he was a person, right? And these statements by Cook and Sam Altman and the rest of them, you're not people. Stop acting like you're not people. And that's like having to throw in President Trump as a Very strong leader or I had a discussion with President Trump. How rich do you have to be that you can.

[Scott Galloway]

What's the point of having all this power?

[Kara Swisher]

What is the point of being this powerful and having to be such a just a weak person and a weak moral person? That to me, I just don't understand.

[Scott Galloway]

People keep. People ask me, like, what job is safe from AI? And I say, I personally think if I were to bet on one job that's only going to increase in importance. It's things around communication, strategic communications, investor relations, pr. And the two biggest communications mistakes of the last probably quarter happened in the last week on a corporate level. Whoever the fuck didn't literally bodybuild block Tim Cook from not only going to that dinner, but getting a picture with Brett Ratner. And I'm not. I'm not going to make a judgment on Brett Ratner's past.

[Kara Swisher]

Please go read about it.

[Scott Galloway]

That's just not. But that's just not a. That's just not a good look to be at the Melania premiere taking. I mean, it's like the. Any PR person who has any intelligence in Apple thought, okay, I'm about to get fired and I deserve to be fired. And the second biggest communications mistake or rookie move was for the administration to create a talking point that, oh, you show up with a gun, you're looking for trouble at a protest. It's like, well, let me get this.

[Kara Swisher]

Kyle Rittenhouse.

[Scott Galloway]

When Kyle Rittenhouse shows up with an AR15, he gets invited to the Republican Convention. And also the NRA came out and said, look, and there's some data here. If you have the training that Alex Preddy had, and you have a license to carry and conceal, and you've never committed so much as a misdemeanor, you're seven to 10 times less likely to commit a crime. There is something to the notion of safe, well trained, registered, you know, carry laws. And for them to come out and say anyone going to the protest is looking to get in trouble is like, okay, so you're denying people's right to protest, and you're saying that First Amendment, First Amendment. And now you decide in one fell swoop to talk about violating the Second Amendment, claiming that people that have guns are looking for trouble and more deserving. The ent. Second Amendment is meant to prevent this. We need to arm as a citizenry in case tyranny takes over from the government.

[Kara Swisher]

But that's not what he was even doing. He wasn't even brandishing the word brandish. He was brandish. I think Gnome said that she was brandishing a gun. He didn't brandish anything.

[Scott Galloway]

He never touched his gun, brandished a Christie. But that was just such a huge error on their part because quite frankly, when the NRA weighs in and says this is bullshit. Yeah, you know, it becomes a very bipartisan issue.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, in any case, Tim Cook, bad show, Bad show all around. I think you should do an interview with Kara Swisher and then see if you can make it through that. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, Big tech goes to court over addictive products.

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[Kara Swisher]

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[Scott Galloway]

Therapy might be only part of the answer.

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[Kara Swisher]

Scott we're back with more news. This is a really interesting big tech trial taking place that we haven't really paid attention to. It's kicked off in LA this week where a plaintiff is suing Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube claiming personal injury through addictive products. The claims features like infinite scrolling and algorithm recommendations lead to compulsive use resulting in problems like depression and anxiety. Executives including Mark Zuckerberg are expected to testify. With nine cases likely to be heard. TikTok and Snap settled with the with the first claims for the trial. Trial began it's kind of a little bit of a big tobacco moment and I know these trials, you never know where they're going to go, but really people have not been paying attention to this trial and it's in an area you and I talk about a lot and there's plenty of plenty of texts back and forth about obsession and Addiction. And there's a lot of discovery here. That should be really interesting of these executives talking about what they're doing. Very similar to big tobacco. Yeah, we know when they smoke it, they love it. Like we know they're addicted, that kind of stuff. So I think it should be a really revolution. I mean we know they know this and someone like Tristan Harris has been talking about it for years. I've been talking about it, you've been talking about it. And now it's got to the dangers of suicide with young people too. So any thoughts?

[Scott Galloway]

We're going to look back on this era and decide that letting a 16 year old on Snap or on Instagram or on TikTok is probably more harmful than if we'd let 16 year olds smoke cigarettes or drink a alcohol. Six percent of teens qualify as being addicted to drugs or alcohol. 24% qualify as addicts to social media. And the heaviest users are twice as likely to have suicidal intent. They're also the group in the highest usage, are more likely to express poor body image more than the lowest use group. The bottom line, this is to say this is like kids smoking is unfair to tobacco. Tobacco. When, when I, I mean this is gonna sound. I've said this and I got a ton of for it a few years ago and it was the first time I was featured on late night tv. Not in a good way. Oh, let's say it again.

[Kara Swisher]

Let's say it again. Go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I said I'd rather give my 16 year old a bottle of Jack and some weed than a TikTok.

[Kara Swisher]

Now I agree with you, but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

And. And they played that and said that was so ridiculous when I, I didn't. I hung out with a Mormon kid all through and a, and a, and a great athlete in high school and neither of them drank. I actually think from easing into alcohol. Anyways, this social media, I've said this. The thing we're going to regret most, we're going to look back and think how did we let this happen to our kids? And even outside of hardcore addiction, I'm not exaggerating. 60%, maybe 70% of the family anxiety my family registers. Arguments between me and the kids, arguments between the kids and their mother. Arguments between me and their mother revolve around the fucking phone and social media.

[Kara Swisher]

I feel you. I feel you, Scott.

[Scott Galloway]

And when we leave our kid alone and we go on vacation and we're checking Custodio and he calls us and he's not at school and we find out he was on Social media all night. And people say, well, that's bad parenting. You're in control. Yeah, that means you don't have kids.

[Kara Swisher]

Exactly.

[Scott Galloway]

It's not a collective moment movement. If you take your kid off a snap, he is then further depressed because he's ostracized. Because this is how these kids communicate with each other. It needs to be a collective action. There should be no synthetic relationships.

[Kara Swisher]

Collective actions. Can I add, I have to say, one of the greatest moments of my parenting is when my son, without been unbeknownst to me, used Amazon to order a box to put his phone in. Alex did it and lock it away to do his homework because it was distracted. You know what I mean? Like, he this when he was in high school, I was really proud of him. Like, he understood the issue easily. And one of the things that's really hard is including for adults. I was at one work meeting and I made everyone put the phone in the middle of the table. It was very uncomfortable.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm addicted. Let me be clear.

[Kara Swisher]

I was like, put them in the middle. Don't touch them. Don't touch them. Like, oh, I have to. My kid. I'm like, it'll be fine. Nobody's gonna get an emergency. And if it is, I'm sorry. And if it's advance, but it probably isn't. Let's pay. We're going to pay attention to this trial because it's really important, but we're going to read out some of the texts and emails that these people know exactly what they're doing. And they relish it. They relish the hold they have on people. They relish the hold they have on teens. And they are very aware, just like Big Tobacco, of what they're up to here. And no matter what they say in public. And so. So that will be stuff. We'll be doing dramatic readings of that. All right, Scott, let's go to on a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk big tech earnings.

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[Scott Galloway]

You get your podcasts.

[Megan]

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[Repeat Nino]

Repeat Nino here this week on A Touch More Trinity Rodman is officially staying with the Washington Spirit in the NWSL as the first player to benefit from the NWSL's new High Impact Player role, aka the Rodman Rule. What does this mean for the rest of the league? Also, in light of the potential Caitlyn Clark Paige Becker's rivalry on the horizon, we want to talk about rivalries in general, how they're formed in and what they mean. Plus, Deanna Flores, Flag Football's biggest advocate and Mexico star player, joins the show to tell us why the future is Flag Football. Check out the latest episode of A Touch More wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.

[Kara Swisher]

Scott, we're back with more news. The S&P 500 crossed the 7,000 mark for the first time ever on Wednesday ahead of major tech earnings. Tech, of course, fueled it. Let's walk quickly through the results. Meta posted a strong quarter with fourth quarter sales up 24% year over year. That's really impressive. Its AI spending spree continues with a projected capex of up to 135 billion in 2026. Probably a lot of that will be dedicated hopefully to advertising for them because that's where they'll get the most bang for their buck. Microsoft also shows no sign of pulling back on AI, spending $37.5 billion on capex in the latest quarter, 66% increase from last year. The picture was less rosy for Tesla, which reported a 61% drop in net income for down 46% of the year. The stock is still soaring inexplicably Tesla's also scrapping the Model S and X cars, using the factory space to build robots. He's going all in on robots. One thing I say about him is when he goes for it, he goes for it. And I've heard some of his robotic stuff is very impressive, but nonetheless he's betting the farm on it. Again, it's investing about $2 billion in XAI. The combination of robotics and AI to me is really important. I've talked about this before. Also there's layoffs at Amazon and related to AI and Pinterest, very large layoff. They're all sort of using AI to cut labor costs. What jumps out at you the most?

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I think AI is going to add a lot of shareholder value, but not where we think it's going to add the most value. I think the AI native companies are overvalued right now. I think the Nvidia is the OpenAI. The anthropics of the world are probably overvalued. Where I do think you'll see an increase in shareholder value is the application of it, specifically autonomous. I think Waymo's going to be a trillion dollar company on its own. Targeting of ads and making the consumer experience better and creating a better advertising stack. I gotta be honest, I think Instagram and threads get better every day. I think they're fantastic. I think the consumer experience and also.

[Kara Swisher]

So does Gemini on Google. By the way.

[Scott Galloway]

I've done a little poking around around how an advertiser. I just don't see. I can't imagine what it's like to be selling ads for MSNBC right now. When the person from Meta or Google show up and show you what they can do. Oh, you're targeting kids who just got their driver's licenses in Montclair, New Jersey. No problem. We can reach them one at a time.

[Kara Swisher]

And with perfect ads that are AI.

[Scott Galloway]

At the right moment it ends up people want to buy life insurance and you know, at 7:00pm right after, I mean, anyways, um, so Meta's earnings, incredible revenue, up 24% year on year.

[Kara Swisher]

It's a big company that's.

[Scott Galloway]

And not only that, their employee base wasn't up 24%. I don't have the number, but I think it was barely up. And then the one that was down 6 or 7%, they were up 7%. The one that was down was Microsoft because Azure didn't lit up, its cloud company didn't. It had growth of 39% which still topped analysts expectations. But unfortunately the new Expectations is that you blow away expectations. But still Azure cloud computing, the demand is so great that Microsoft's backlog of commercial bookings were up 110% to 625 billion. There's some concerns about over reliance on OpenAI, where it's. A whopping 45% of this backlog is attributed to their quarter of a trillion dollar agreement they made in October. And also its gross margins because of the increase in capex is the lowest it's been in three years. Coming in around 68 spook some people. Tesla. I can't even. I can't even begin to understand what the fuck is going on there. I think this stock should be down 90%. It's become a meme stock. It's just.

[Kara Swisher]

That's all I have heard. I suspect he's just decided cars aren't the way to do it. And then he has some advantages in robotics. And several people who have called me and said, actually he's doing a lot of really innovative stuff around robotics. It's just he's betting the farm on that. Everyone wants to have an optimus robot in their house, I guess. But you know, he's, he's done it before. Like, that's the only thing I would say, but he hasn't shown. The other thing he's done before is say we're going to land on Mars, we're going to. He makes promises he never. His mouth makes promises he can't keep in reality. So the question is like getting rid the Model S and X cars were made by Rivian and Lucid and the Chinese. Right? He's gotten out of this business. He's not in the car business anymore, it seems like. And so the question is, can this robotics business, business meet the challenge? We'll see.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, to be fair, they did beat expectations, but let's talk about what those expectations were. The revenues are down. Of all the companies we talk about, no one is down. What? Met is up 23%. And then overall, a horrific quarter. Their operating margins, and that is the amount of money you get to hold onto was 7.2% in last year. In the same quarter this year, it was down to 46%. That's like a, that's a meltdown. The free cash flow decreased 30%. Their GAAP net income decreased 61%. They realized they got a half a billion dollars in automotive regulatory credits that are going to be running out thanks to the big beautiful bill.

[Kara Swisher]

People still believe in him. They're giving him money for X. I think he's going to merge it into X. Like I keep saying, he's now using.

[Scott Galloway]

Tesla as kind of nutrition for Xai. They disclosed that Tesla invested 2 billion in Musk's company X AI I so this is, you know, and he needs a new vision, a new distraction. And as you said, he's gone all in on Optimus which I think is going to compete with the Cyber truck and the Segway and the Palm is the biggest flops in history or maybe the mixed reality headset. The other thing that struck me was the layoffs in Amazon.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

And then they laid off 16. Yeah, but it's for different reasons. Pinterest is doing it because Pinterest is fucked. And subscale. I like Pinterest. I like the people there. It's subscale. It's going to have a very difficult time. Amazon laid off 16,000 people in their corporate workforce, which doesn't sound like a lot because I employ 1.6 million people. But the majority of those people are in their factories. This is probably close to 10% of their corporate staff. And this really is. I've said for a long time that AI is corporate Ozempic. All these guys are going, you know, I mean Amazon has said they're going to double their top line retail revenue in the next five to seven years. Years without a single increase in the number of head count. That's AI. And then also I think the place and Amazon's my big tech stock pick for 26 the the collision. And you've referenced this of AI industrialized robots of which Amazon has a million industrialized robots and the total number of industrial robots in America outside of Amazon is 400,000. So they have gone. Just, just is Musk is going all in on robots. No fucking sense. Amazon, Jaffe and Bezos are going all in on AI driven industrialized robots, which is champagne and cocaine.

[Kara Swisher]

But they were there before. They bought a company called Kiva many years ago. But just so you know, recent Amazon layoffs plus October layoffs is 10% of the company. It's a pre. They had one.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, is it?

[Kara Swisher]

Thank you.

[Scott Galloway]

The UPS cut 30,000 jobs. I mean these guys.

[Kara Swisher]

Industrial robotics.

[Scott Galloway]

I interviewed David Solomon from Goldman Sachs on Prof. G and he said, I mean they're planning to grow their revenue substantially the next two or three years. Goldman's in a great spot right now. Great leadership, they're doing well. But he admitted employment will begin to flatten. You know, no CEO is going to come out and say I'm going to reduce 10 or 20% of my workforce, right? No, they can't say that because then everyone, the best people start leaving. But what he did say is it's going to flatten. So what we're looking at here is.

[Kara Swisher]

Flat is new up, right?

[Scott Galloway]

But this takes their earnings and absolutely makes them go crazy. And then when these companies do well, everyone, you know, the S and P does well because the S and P is now kind of the S, you know, the S. It's not The S&P 500, it's the S&P 10. Anyways, these companies on the whole continue to just be extraordinary. And that is until this movement called Resist and Unsubscribe came along.

[Kara Swisher]

Anyway, one more quick this is absolutely true corporate Ozempic. Take it away. We'll be back for predictions.

[I]

Is the fatal shooting of Alex Preddy by federal agents in Minneapolis a moment that changes politics or a moment that changes what people tolerate?

[Scott Galloway]

Trump always chickens out when he meets a force he cannot overwhelm. You cannot overwhelm 70 to 75% of America seeing these videos, hearing blood turtling justifications for the execution of the kind of American you know would be shoveling the steps outside your house.

[I]

I'm Preet Bharara, and this week Financial Times editor Ed Loose joins me to discuss the aftermath of the shooting and why it might mark an inflection point. The episode is out now. Search and Follow Stay tuned with Preet wherever you get your podcasts.

[Preet Bharara]

This week on Net Worth and Chill, I'm revealing the exact playbook rich people use to set their kids up for financial success and how you can do it too, even if you're not a trust fund baby. From adding your newborn as an authorized user on your credit card to give them a near perfect credit score by the age of 18 to opening a 529 account that saves you thousands in taxes on everything from books to college tuition. Plus, I'm answering your questions about whether your debt transfers to your kids tax credits worth thousands that new parents are missing out on, and how to give your children money completely tax free. Whether you're expensive, expecting already have kids, or just want to understand how generational wealth transfer actually works, this episode will show you how to break the cycle and build a legacy. Get ready to give your kids the financial head start you wish you had. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouTube.com YourRichBFF.

[Kara Swisher]

Okay, Scott, I'm gonna make one quick prediction. Okay, if you don't mind, the super bowl is just a few weeks away and go Seahawks. But I've already have a prediction for the best ad. Lady Gaga. Did you see that? Singing Mr. Rogers, beautiful day in your neighborhood in an ad for Redfin and Rocket Mortgage. I don't really care about the ad, but they, they released a teaser clip and she sounds amazing singing.

[Scott Galloway]

She's got incredible voice.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, it's going to be the best ad. I'm going to. We'll talk about the ads later because that's always.

[Scott Galloway]

That was not the prediction I was expecting.

[Kara Swisher]

Okay.

[Scott Galloway]

It's very similar to mine and that is we're about to engage in military strikes against Iran. So very similar predictions.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

Okay.

[Kara Swisher]

Lady Gaga.

[Scott Galloway]

It's just so strange that the Epstein files are now a distraction for many. It's like the behavior keeps getting more and more depraved that we have the.

[Kara Swisher]

Safest thing in America are the Epstein files. But go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

No, I've made this prediction before and I'm just making it again. It feels like I follow this. I love this guy. The Geo Hussar on TikTok and I'm sold. I'm just fascinated with military equipment. And it appears that all our assets are being coordinated in the Gulf for a pretty obvious reason. And I don't know if Trump is doing it for the right or the wrong reasons, maybe as a distraction, but I think he absolutely loves the Tarzan flex of leveraging the best organization in history. And that's the military. And it appears to me that they are absolutely. Even the planes that are deploying to the area are like giant gas stations in the sky. I think Israel's on board because I think they think it would be good for their brand. So I think you're going to see a coordinated, some sort of coordinated strike in Iran in the next seven to 14 days.

[Kara Swisher]

I think you're going to see a coordinated strike against Ohio or wherever they're going to attack the Haitians who are not eating the cat. That's where I think you're going to see the next strike.

[Scott Galloway]

Do you think? So you, you don't think they're going to pull back at all?

[Kara Swisher]

No.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, you're probably right.

[Kara Swisher]

Not these people. Anyway, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com pivot, submit a question for the show or call 85551 pivot. Okay, that's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot. Be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back next week. Scott, read us out.

[Scott Galloway]

Today's show is produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Undertod engineered this episode. Manola Moreno edited the video. Thanks also to Drew Burroughs, Mia Sverio and Dan Shalon. Nishat Kuros, Vox Media's Executive Producer Podcast make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thank you for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the [e-mail] pod we'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business care. Have a great weekend.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Reader]

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[Kara Swisher]

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