Trump’s Controversial Picks, Bluesky’s Pop, and Spotify’s Subscriber Jump

Summary

Podcast Summary: Pivot – "Trump’s Controversial Picks, BlueSky’s Pop, and Spotify’s Subscriber Jump"

Hosted by Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway from New York Magazine, the episode dives into the latest developments in politics, social media trends, and business growth within the tech industry. Skipping over initial advertisements and light-hearted banter, the hosts delve into substantial discussions around Donald Trump’s cabinet selections, the surge of BlueSky amidst user exodus from X (formerly Twitter), and Spotify’s impressive subscriber growth.

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1. Donald Trump’s Controversial Cabinet Picks

Timestamp: 35:31 - 44:32

Kara Swisher opens the discussion by highlighting Donald Trump’s latest cabinet announcements following his election victory. Notable figures include:

• Matt Gaetz as Attorney General
• Pete Hegseth, a Fox News weekend host, as Secretary of Defense
• Vivek Ramaswanis leading the Department of Government Efficiency
• Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence
• Kristi Noem for Homeland Security

Scott Galloway expresses skepticism about these appointments, particularly Matt Gaetz, describing him as an "unserious candidate" (35:58). He criticizes the overall strategy, suggesting that these picks are more about loyalty than competence. Galloway also touches upon Trump's diminished influence as a "lame duck president," asserting that his ability to enforce policies like the TikTok ban is limited (40:22).

Notable Quote:

“I now believe that TikTok... one of his biggest donors is one of the biggest shareholders in TikTok. And he hated TikTok until he liked it.” – Scott Galloway [20:29]

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2. Market Reactions and Media Dynamics

Timestamp: 08:03 - 17:08

The hosts transition into discussing the broader media landscape, particularly focusing on the decline of traditional cable networks. Don Lemon laments the potential departure of media figures like Chris Wallace to podcasting, emphasizing the economic struggles cable TV faces with declining viewership.

Scott Galloway analyzes CNN's strategy, predicting cost reductions and questioning the effectiveness of moving towards a subscription-based model. He underscores the challenge for cable networks to adapt in a digital age where platforms like Netflix and Spotify dominate consumer subscriptions (12:13).

Notable Quote:

“The most valuable consumers are getting harder and harder to reach because between Netflix and Spotify, there's nowhere to find them with your ad.” – Scott Galloway [12:13]

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3. BlueSky vs. Threads vs. X: The Social Media Shift

Timestamp: 48:01 - 59:43

Following President Trump's activities, the conversation shifts to the social media arena. Don Lemon notes that BlueSky has gained over 1.2 million new users amid users leaving X due to Elon Musk’s support of Trump and recent changes in X’s terms of service.

Scott Galloway shares his skepticism about BlueSky's potential to rival established platforms, expressing trust in Don Lemon’s endorsement but remains cautious about its overall impact (50:52).

Key Points Discussed:

• BlueSky’s Growth: Surging user numbers indicate a significant migration from X.
• Threads’ Dominance: With 275 million users, Threads outpaces BlueSky's 15.2 million, making it a formidable competitor.
• Advertising Implications: Advertisers are contemplating where to allocate budgets, with Galloway advocating for Meta's robust ad stack and Threads’ efficient targeting capabilities.

Notable Quote:

“If you're betting on advertising dollars and efficiency... Threads is immediately going to the first quarter that Threads really get serious about monetization.” – Scott Galloway [55:11]

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4. Spotify’s Impressive Subscriber Jump

Timestamp: 23:18 - 31:30

The episode highlights Spotify’s recent success with a 12% increase in total paid subscribers and a 17% jump in its stock value. Galloway likens Spotify to the "Netflix of music," emphasizing its near-monopoly status in the streaming music industry. He contrasts Spotify’s growth with platforms like Apple Music and Amazon Music, asserting Spotify’s dominance due to its comprehensive content and user-friendly AI features.

Don Lemon shares his personal preference for Spotify over Apple Music, citing its superior AI DJ feature, while Galloway points out Spotify’s strategic investments and market consolidation efforts that have solidified its position (27:21).

Notable Quote:

“I think Spotify is the Netflix of music.” – Scott Galloway [27:32]

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5. Disney’s Market Performance and Streaming Success

Timestamp: 24:08 - 26:43

Don Lemon discusses Disney’s recent financial performance, noting a 14% increase in shares driven by growth in its streaming services. Galloway attributes Disney’s success to its strong intellectual property (IP) and effective consolidation within the streaming market. He praises Disney’s clean family-oriented positioning and anticipates continued growth despite the unpredictable nature of movie revenues.

Notable Quote:

“Disney has a really unbelievably strong positioning in the marketplace.” – Scott Galloway [24:48]

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6. Predictions and Future Outlook

Timestamp: 64:23 - 75:06

In the episode’s closing segments, Galloway shares his predictions:

• Local News Decline: He forecasts the end of lucrative periods for local TV stations as capital shifts towards digital platforms like podcasts. Galloway believes that political advertising will increasingly favor podcasts over traditional local news channels (66:18).

• Trade Tariffs: He predicts that the anticipated tariffs Trump might impose on China will not materialize on the scale threatened, citing reciprocal actions by China and the practical challenges of such economic policies (66:22).

Don Lemon echoes the sentiment regarding the potential decline of traditional media outlets and the rise of alternative digital platforms.

Notable Quote:

“The market should move based on the consumer economy, not on the expectations of a kleptocracy at right.” – Scott Galloway [60:44]

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7. Final Thoughts and Word of the Day

Timestamp: 74:11 - End

Don Lemon introduces the word of the week, "kakistocracy", defined as government by the least suitable or competent citizens. Both hosts reflect on the term's relevance to the current political climate, emphasizing their frustration with perceived governmental incompetence.

Closing Remarks: The hosts encourage listeners to engage with their content on platforms like BlueSky and Threads, underscoring the importance of diverse social media experiences amidst the shifting digital landscape.

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Notable Quotes Throughout the Episode:

• Scott Galloway on kleptocracy and market influences:

  “What used to drive the economy was consumer spending. Now what's driving the stock market is the expectation of kleptocracy for people who are on the right side of Trump right now.” – [19:57]

• Don Lemon on media strategy:

  “What do you do now? You need to make great content because that doesn't die.” – [13:17]

• Scott Galloway on Threads’ potential:

  “If you're betting on advertising dollars and efficiency... Threads is immediately going to the first quarter that Threads really get serious about monetization.” – [55:11]

• Don Lemon on social media transitions:

  “All you journalists, I'm sorry your girlfriend became a junkie. I don’t know what to tell you.” – [59:17]

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This episode of Pivot offers a comprehensive analysis of the intersection between political maneuvers, shifts in social media usage, and the evolving landscape of digital streaming services. Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway provide insightful commentary, blending expert opinions with real-world implications for businesses and consumers alike.

Transcript

[Scott Galloway]

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[Kara Swisher]

Support for Pivot comes from AT and T. What's it like to get a new iPhone 16 Pro with AT&T next Up Anytime? It's like when you first light up.

[Don Lemon]

The grill and think of all of.

[Kara Swisher]

The mouth watering possibilities. Learn how to get your new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence on AT&T and the latest iPhone every year with ATT. Next up anytime ATT connecting changes everything. Apple Intelligence is coming in fall 2024 with Siri and device languages set to US English. Some features and languages will be coming over the next year. $0 offer may not be available on future iPhones. Next Up Anytime feature may be discontinued at any time, subject to change additional fees, terms and Restrictions apply. See att.com iPhone for details.

[Scott Galloway]

Support for Pivot comes from Huntress. Huntress is one of today's fastest growing cybersecurity companies. His platform is designed from the ground up to work for small to medium sized businesses and promises enterprise grade security driven by the technology, services and expertise you need to defend against today's cyber threats. All at a price that makes sense. Today it seems like even the most sophomoric hackers can still do a ton of damage to your small business. That's why Huntress built a fully managed, highly sophisticated security platform for its customers to guard against potentially devastating threats. Plus, you can rest assured knowing that the elite human threat hunters running their 247 security operations center will offer real protection all day, every day. So if you want cutting edge cybersecurity backed by experts who monitor, investigate and respond to threats with unmatched precision, you can visit Huntress.com to learn more and start your free trial.

[Don Lemon]

All right, I'm gonna go make some tape back behind me. Get to see my underwear.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh Jesus Christ. Kara.

[Don Lemon]

Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast network. I'm Kara Swisher and I'm still not over my cold. Scott, I'm really sorry.

[Scott Galloway]

I apologize and in a Twist of fate. I'm the one that's gonna file the sexual harassment suit. We have had to watch you walk around in briefs or underwear or whatever the fuck that is. Brief.

[Don Lemon]

Men's briefs. I wear men's briefs. Oh, God.

[Scott Galloway]

Men' briefs.

[Don Lemon]

Jesus, Kara, I love them. They're like shorts. Yeah, it's like a bathing suit.

[Scott Galloway]

That's something. That's something to be enjoyed when the camera is off.

[Don Lemon]

I understand, but you demanded that I get make myself tea. So I don't sound quite as bad, but it's very early in the morning. I'm in San Francisco. That's where I am.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, you actually look nice. You look spry.

[Don Lemon]

Thank you. I am spry. It's. I think I'm still on east coast time, though, so.

[Scott Galloway]

Speaking of spry, I'm in New York. Yeah, back to me. Okay, I'm in New York.

[Don Lemon]

Are you wearing underwear?

[Scott Galloway]

I am wearing underwear.

[Don Lemon]

Okay, good.

[Scott Galloway]

I don't go commando. Big Ed and the twins need a little support anyway, so.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, don't do commando. It's such a mistake.

[Scott Galloway]

Always come to New York, you know, London, five hours ahead. So I discovered something I just didn't think existed, and that is people are actually up at 6:00am and at Equinox. I went to Equinox at 6:30, 11:30, my time. Oh, all of these horrible people that are super productive. And get up. The gym was packed of these handsome, these gorgeous gay men who clearly have jobs. So I didn't know those existed in New York. I thought everyone just had rich parents or like, I don't know, was writing a script or something. The gym was packed. There are morning people out there, Kara.

[Don Lemon]

There are. Why did you go? What was going on? Did you just have nothing?

[Scott Galloway]

I'm jetlagged. It was 11:30, my time. I'm like. I couldn't sleep. I'm up at 5am and I'm like, what I'll do? I'll go to the gym.

[Don Lemon]

So what did you do? What was your routine?

[Scott Galloway]

My routine? I do these lame old. Two years ago, I was literally doing CrossFit. Now I'm like, have one of those things that goes around your waist and jiggles you. And I use a little arm roller on my arm fat.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, I love those.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. I'm joking. I don't do that. But I can't. It's hard for me to do weights now. I do a lot of band work, which is sort of lame, but good for my shoulders. And I do. I row a lot. And then I try and do like, you know, some. Some dumbbell work. I love. The thing I miss most is I love pull ups. And it's hard for me to do pull ups now anyways.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, yeah. Cause your shoulder. It'll knock your shoulder out. Do you still have trainers and things like that in London?

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, Kara, I have an army of people trying to keep me alive.

[Don Lemon]

Trying to keep you young.

[Scott Galloway]

I am supporting the UK economy, whether it's my NAD treatments or someone to come over and like my physical therapist or. Yeah, no, I'm a big.

[Don Lemon]

Keeping Scott from falling apart.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm a big fan of the services industry. They're basically paid friends. They talk to me like, how are you doing? Or they're really supportive. They're like, oh, I saw you on the Daily Show. You were genius. I'm like, what's that? I'm sorry, come again? They're just really supportive, nice people.

[Don Lemon]

Do you remember in Florida when Alex worked out with you? Now he's really built. Alex is like, built like you can't believe.

[Scott Galloway]

Now he's white. LeBron. The guy's a fucking specimen.

[Don Lemon]

I know. He really is. Like, he works out now. He does, but they have a little gym in the bottom of their frat. That's where he. And he does it by himself. Just.

[Scott Galloway]

I love it, though. He looks. And by the way, there's a lesson here. I really do believe that any man under the age of 30, our bone structure, our double twitch muscle, and then this amazing substance called testosterone flows over it. I think any man under the age of 30 and Alex has leaned into this, should be able to walk in any and know that if shit got real, they could kill and eat everybody or outrun them.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, okay. I don't want my son to do that.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I'm not suggesting you do that, but men who are really physically fit, if you ever see a guy break up a fight at a bar, it's the strongest guy in the room.

[Don Lemon]

Well, sometimes. Sometimes it's the strongest guy. Some of those boneheads that are all jacked up causing it too, right?

[Scott Galloway]

I have found the opposite, that when you get strong, you become more kind. And I think this has a lot to do with masculinity. I think real men defend their country. They don't shitpost it. Notice all the people that are trying to be macho by show me someone. Let me put it this way. What do you think Stephen Miller looks like naked?

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. Not kidding.

[Scott Galloway]

He looks weak.

[Don Lemon]

Why did you put that in my head? Why did you just literally put that.

[Scott Galloway]

In my head, look at all these tech bros who talk all big and macho and tough, you know, what do you think? What kind of shape do you think they're in when you get strong?

[Don Lemon]

They're no Arnold Palmer. That's what I would say. They're no Arnold Palmer.

[Scott Galloway]

When you get strong, I really do believe this. I think you become more kind because you feel better about yourself and you're less insecure.

[Don Lemon]

I have to say, I encourage Alex to work out and, you know, it's just good for his mental health, for young people's, I think, to have 100%. But not just that, but just have other hobbies, do other things that aren't work.

[Scott Galloway]

And by the way, be more attractive to potential mates because, well, he's a girlfriend. It's not just much that, you know, big biceps when you're physically fit. It says to potential mates, friends and employers, I show up, I'm disciplined, I can commit to something. So I'm a huge fan.

[Don Lemon]

I am too. I a trainer. I go three times a week, I.

[Scott Galloway]

Go, I know you do. I love that. The first thing I saw, Alex, we got on a boat and the first thing I said is like, dude, take off your shirt. And he's like, gun shows in town.

[Don Lemon]

Listen, Matt Gaetz, he didn't even.

[Scott Galloway]

He didn't even think that was weird that an old man was saying, take off your shirt. He's like, ripped it off and he's like, gun shows in town.

[Don Lemon]

He did think it was weird. He's just super polite and stuff like that. So, you know, by the way, oh, did you hear about my Chris Wallace situation? He left the network in a flurry of flouncing.

[Scott Galloway]

So Chris. Yeah, I heard Chris is out and that he's. He's going into podcasting. Like, come on in, Chris. The water's fine. Come on in.

[Don Lemon]

Anyway, they have us, they're pretending to dive to tape tomorrow, and they're pretending it didn't happen, which is why cable has a problem. I was like, I'm gonna say, chris, come over to podcasting. It'll be fun, Good luck, we'll kill you. But they don't want me to say that.

[Scott Galloway]

Okay? So I have no inside information. I just know what's been reported. First off, let me say, they're too expensive.

[Don Lemon]

They're all too expensive. He's a great journalist.

[Scott Galloway]

That's ex. Exactly right. Chris Wallace is an icon. He's had an amazing career. And my understanding is, based on what I've read in the trades, is that When CNN was a thing and they wanted to bring him over, plu, cn plu, they were, they're paying him 8 million bucks a year. And I bet they decided, this guy's an icon, he's amazing, and given the environment, we can pay him a million a year. And I think this is a conversation that is happening all across cable TV right now is when people's contracts are coming up. I think they're saying the following. Hoda, we love you. We need you to take an 80% cut and pay. And Hoda's like, what? I'm going to go drink white wine and start a podcast.

[Don Lemon]

How can I keep up with my NID supplements?

[Scott Galloway]

That's exactly right. So I would imagine, and I don't know this, they said to Chris, we love you. The economics of this business are just. Do you realize? And I met with another guy who used to run CNN and lovely guy, and he said that 2020 versus 2024, viewership at CNN and the cable networks is down 50%.

[Don Lemon]

It is, it is. The numbers are tough.

[Scott Galloway]

It's been cut in half. Cut in half, Kara. Oh my God. I mean, a 50% decline in viewership and I'm still just blown away by the fact that MSNBC, the typical viewer is a 7 year old white woman.

[Don Lemon]

It's like, okay, you know what's interesting? I was just thinking, I'm thinking that a lot because I was irritated because they're like, we're not going to discuss it on the show. And I was like, why? It's funny, it's interesting. It's a cool topic.

[Scott Galloway]

Where are you going, Chris?

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, where are you going? Like, it's so stupid. And they're pretending like we don't break the fourth wall is what I've been told. And I'm like, well, I do.

[Scott Galloway]

What's the fourth wall?

[Don Lemon]

I have no idea. It's like the wall. I was like, you can't have relationship with viewers unless you tell them what's going on. Right? Including about yourself. And it's a really cool discussion to have if you're honest with yourself.

[Scott Galloway]

100%. Super interesting.

[Don Lemon]

Interesting, right? And they're like, don't say anything. I'm like, oh my gosh, whatever. It's your station if you want to run it that way. But put, you know, file it under death of cable television. But, but one of the things I think is interesting. Do you remember when television only had one way to go and then they went into streaming in all kinds of ways? I think that's where you are with cable. You can make interesting shows that become digital. I think Thompson has a very difficult situation ahead of him and continues to, as do all the cable companies, cable networks. But remember when TV was dying and it was declining? It was broadcast television. But television wasn't. Right. Particularly. Right. Video wasn't. So how do you translate something like a CNN into something that's popular again? Right. How do you get it to the right people? It's not like all the content is bad, some of it's ridiculous. But how do you do that? That's what's interesting to me. Does it have the same trajectory that broadcast television does, which has never been more vibrant? Right. Netflix is worth a fortune. Blah, blah, blah, stuff like that. I don't know. It's just an interesting. I think about this a lot.

[Scott Galloway]

CNN is going to increase in value over the next two to three years because what they're probably going to do is reduce costs by 20 to 40%. And my fear, my cautionary tale. And Mark Thompson has not asked me this, but CEOs tend to look at their most successful season and try and replicate it, not recognizing the world has changed. And I'd be shocked if Mark Thompson wasn't thinking the following. I'm going to try and find, find and or create a bunch of incremental content that I can put behind a paywall. Because he's going to take the playbook that was very successful from the New York Times, where they built a really nice subscription business by moving the paywall increasingly forward and having more subscription products. Cnn. I don't think that's the right strategy. CNN still has the most traffic news site in the world. That's worth a lot.

[Don Lemon]

He talks about that a lot.

[Scott Galloway]

And because everyone has gone behind a paywall because they listened to the market that valued every dollar from subscription at 3x what they were valuing like a Netflix like thing.

[Don Lemon]

Right.

[Scott Galloway]

100%. So unfortunately, though, the consumer has been trained that for every dollar a month you pay in subscriptions, you should get a billion dollars worth of content, whether it's Netflix or Spotify. You want to talk about consumer value? Wait. I get $18 billion of content for 12 bucks a month. And I get. I don't know, I don't know how you measure the dollar value of Spotify with every single podcast or music ever song ever written for whatever is $8.99 or 10 bucks a month. That is the measuring stick for a consumer. Now what has happened? And this is the opportunity and this is why, you know, we Decided every six months to say no to. The idea of putting pivot behind a paywall is that advertisers still need a way to reach consumers. And the most valuable consumers are getting harder and harder to reach because between Netflix and Spotify, there's nowhere to find them with your ad on the release of Wicked or the new Range Rover or the new Air Jordan, whatever it is. So if you're in the business of good content that is ad supported, I think it's actually a pretty good time because all of these companies still need to find these consumers.

[Don Lemon]

I agree, I agree. I find it really. There's a whole new way once you begin to cut there. Obviously there's rumors of layoffs, but then these spin offs are interesting and then everything gets real. That to me is like, once we understand the economics, we can figure out what's great. Right? That doesn't. Instead of being like bemoaning the end of like 7 to $10 million anchor salaries, which just. I just sat there, I was like, all of you, like, not just Chris. He's a great journalist and everything else. And that was the way it was. But it's like, what can we do now with this? Right? I see opportunity if you start to cut costs and just accept what's happening and then create great content. Because that doesn't die. It just reminds me of what happened to broadcast television in news, I guess, if that makes sense because it's still valuable. We're rising like crazy on the charts. Lots of news, commentary. And all of them, if you look at these new commentary, podcast, not just podcast, podcast slash video, podcast, charts. They are all independent, every one of them, practically. It's not from. You see an NBC News in there or something like that, but you largely see entrepreneurial efforts, which is especially from the right wing.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, but Chris is such a. You know him better than I do. And by the way, thank you because I know Chris Swisher. He featured me in his show look who's Talking to Chris Wallace, which I think had about 14 people watch it because they stuck it on HBO. But that was. I really enjoyed it. He's a fantastic interviewer. His voice is wonderful. He's smart, he's really an icon. It would just be so interesting, I think, you know, it would be great content.

[Don Lemon]

What would be his podcast? Would you put him with a black lesbian from San Francisco? What do you do? What do you put him.

[Scott Galloway]

No, no, no. Just a lesbian. I don't want to play identity politics. Just a lesbian.

[Don Lemon]

Okay.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyways, don't go there, Scott.

[Don Lemon]

Don't go there.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyways, but the most interesting content you could have on Saturday morning was you guys asking Chris what happened. And him in a transparent, authentic way, going through exactly what happened in his thought process and what he's planning on doing next. Because this is where Chris is. He's highly prestigious, top of his game, but he's effectively a pilot for Pan Am airlines in the 70s.

[Don Lemon]

He'll like that.

[Scott Galloway]

And it's like, what do we do next? We're the man. We're banging stewardesses where people think we're really interesting. We're making $500,000 a year in the seventies.

[Don Lemon]

He's banging Stewardess.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, you get what I'm saying, right? It was good to be a pilot in the 70s with, like a mustache.

[Don Lemon]

I did look good in that outfit.

[Scott Galloway]

A mustache. And people would say, oh, you look like Clint Eastwood or James Coburn. Jimmy C. Big hero. Those guys had a good life. But they saw the writing on the wall. They're like, okay, in about 20 years, I, or someone like me is going to be making $68,000 a year flying fucking Spirit Airlines with people getting off, bitching about what a terrible experience this was. The news anchors, I think, are literally pilots for Pan am in the 70s that they know. And these are smart people. They're really talented. They know their best days from a compensation standpoint are behind them.

[Don Lemon]

They don't, though, Scott.

[Scott Galloway]

I think they do.

[Don Lemon]

They do, but they don't like it, I'll tell you that.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, of course. No one likes it. No one ever. It's really interesting. No one ever. I've never. I've done, I don't know, 1500 reviews. And when I say review at the end of the year, we give people bonuses. Right?

[Don Lemon]

Right.

[Scott Galloway]

No one ever says realistic. I've never heard anyone say, you know what? On a risk adjusted basis. Looking at my skills in the marketplace, I'm probably overcompensated. And mathematically, 50% of your people are overcompensated and 50% are undercompensated. Unless you can perfectly figure out what someone's worth is in the marketplace, which no one can. No one has ever said, oh, yeah, they're always.

[Don Lemon]

It's always backward looking.

[Scott Galloway]

Everyone's like, oh, in 2007, I was overcompensated. Know what they think is, in 2009, I got ripped off by these suits who aren't paying me as much. Everyone will anchor off the High Point, and they think that is the world's natural Order the year I made the most money and everything else is an anomaly or injustice. No, you were overpaid.

[Don Lemon]

Well, there you have it. This is the interesting discussion we should have been having on cnn. Anyway, thank you, Scott. I was glad to hear your analysis because I was irritated. All right, we got a lot to get to today. Donald Trump, speaking of crazy cable shows, it's like Dancing with the Stars. But Freak show has raised eyebrows with some of his cabinet pics. And his best friend Elon gets a new Doge King. Whatever. Plus, as X users flee the platform, Blue sky is reaping the benefits. And so is Threads, by the way, number one and two on the app list. But first, President elect Donald Trump will reportedly deliver on his campaign promise to stop the TikTok ban. Though how do it is unclear. He's just saying it. The federal law passed in April by Congress, Both houses, says TikTok must be sold by January 19, the day before the inauguration, or face a ban. If TikTok doesn't sell by that deadline, Trump could call on Congress to repeal the law or ask his attorney general for selective enforcement, whoever that is. We'll talk about that in a second. And remember, TikTok took the government to the US Court of Appeals back in September to overturn the ban. Depending on the decision, the case could still go to the Supreme Court. There's probably a deal to be had here, right? I mean, I would assume if he goes the non enforcement route, which by the way, Andrew Jackson did, a whole bunch of presidents have done that. It puts Apple and Google in a tricky position because trusting Trump, they won't be penalized for distributing TikTok in their app stores. It's really an interesting, it's actually fascinating because he could non comply, I guess, right? That's correct. With anything the Supreme Court or the Congress has put out. Any thoughts?

[Scott Galloway]

Well, one of the many things that is disturbing, that's being normalized is that the last week has been basically updrafts in the market. And for what I'll call a legitimate reason in that is the markets hate uncertainty. And even if you don't like the outcome, the uncertainty of the presidential election has gone away. People now are sort of no longer holding their breath, getting on with business, getting on with making their, you know, making, making investments. And the market's gone up. The other component of the market is much more troubling, and that is Tesla stock is up whatever, 20, 25% since Trump won, or 20%. And is it because demand for EVs has gone up? Is it because there's some new innovation? Is it because they've announced, I don't know, a new model? No. The reason why Tesla stock has gone up is because Elon Musk went all in on one candidate, gave him $119 million. And there's a natural assumption that we are now in a kleptocracy. And this company will get ridiculous subsidies or be able to control regulation that hurts its competitors. So what used to drive the economy was consumer spending. Now what's driving the stock market is the expectation of kleptocracy for people who are on the right side of Trump right now. And that's just not how markets should be run.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. All right, so we're going to get to that in a minute. But so what's going to happen here specifically?

[Scott Galloway]

I now believe that TikTok. I'm going back on a prediction because when the data changes, I change my mind. I now doubt it'll be banned because it's Occam's Razor. The most obvious explanation is the right one here. And that is one of his biggest donors is one of the biggest shareholders in TikTok. And he hated TikTok until he liked it. And so I think he's now willing. He's now gonna not ban it because I think it was this straightforward. And a lot of people will.

[Don Lemon]

What can he like? He can say it, but these are things he can't do. At some point, he may not have the power to do something.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I don't know the semantics of how enduring Biden's executive order is.

[Don Lemon]

It's a congressional law. It's not an executive order. Remember, it was passed in Congress.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, it was approved by the Congress.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. So now it's in court. So it's then got to go to the court of Appeals in Supreme Court. But he doesn't have to enforce it as a law.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, but if his new Attorney general, Matt Gates.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, we'll get to it. We'll get to it. Hold it, hold it, hold it.

[Scott Galloway]

New Secretary of Education, Joe Exotic.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, my God.

[Scott Galloway]

This is fucking Dancing with the Stars. Not a presidential cabinet.

[Don Lemon]

It is, it's. Yes, it is. That's what I said. The Star wars cantina, Some people are using that thing. We'll get to that in a minute. So he could. He. He is going to try to make a deal here with TikTok. I assume that's what we think. Correct.

[Scott Galloway]

I. It sounds to me like the market, which has been eerily right, is predicting that we are now full kleptocracy. And that if a big donor has a big stake in TikTok, the president is going to figure out a way to pay him back. And what, to be fair, what a lot of people in the Trump administration or cynical voters will say is, Scott, that's always happened. It's just not happening as elegantly as you would like. And let me use an analogy here that I think is apt. Becky, Aunt Becky Lori Loughlin didn't go to prison for giving USC a half a million dollars to get her daughter in or paying a consultant. She went to jail for not giving USC 2 or $3 million directly.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. To buy a lot there.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. If she had done maybe even a million dollars and gone through the front door, the development department and had the Laughlin School of Creative Arts, her daughter would have got in. But because she tried to cheap out and only spent a half a million dollars on a consultant, they basically put her in prison. And that's what's happening. That's effectively what's happening here. And that is. Or that's what people would say. I said, Scott, you're angry because you want them to go through this opaque lobbying infrastructure where a bunch of lobbyists and congresspeople get supported by the national association of Pharmaceuticals and get their campaigns. Instead, people are just going have cut out the entire infrastructure of the lobbying, K Street, whatever they call it, and are just going direct to the president. And that's what you're. The same thing has happened. These people are just being more transparent and more direct and more efficient about it.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, that's what's going on. We think they'll do some deal. Interesting. Speaking of the market, Disney shares are up 14% at the time this taping after narrowly beating estimates with the help of its growth in streaming. Revenue for the company's Entertainment segment increased 14% year over year, fueled by record numbers from Inside out too, which was a surprise hit, I think, and Deadpool and Wolverine. Disney's sports segment revenue, which is primarily ESPN, was flat, but profits fell 6%. The company says expects a double digit percentage growth in its Entertainment segment in 2025. And separately, Spotify shares are up 17% after the company reported a 12% jump in total paid subscribers. You recall a couple last week, Snapchat. Snap did really well. The streamer's total revenue was up 19%. Is on track to have its first full year of operating income profitability. Wow. Wow. That's amazing to think about. The company also seems to be ready to take on YouTube and video podcasting, announcing a new program that will pay creators a cut of subscription earnings and ad revenue for videos. I guess it's a Daniel like second try at the podcast business, which you failed relatively miserably and except for the Joe Rogan thing, did well. It might, might be part of this. Will, will this make any notable dent for YouTube or are they far too far ahead? So talk first about Disney and then Spotify.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, the tail that's wagging the dog in terms of the market's reaction to Disney stock is streaming. People think, okay, that's the future. And its streaming business delivered a $321 million in profit, which is about a seven fold increase in the last quarter. So some of the consolidation that's happening in the streaming market and also the pricing power that the market now has, looking at Netflix, raising the prices and also just the unbelievable content of IP of Disney.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, we always suggested that, that they were one of the ones standing.

[Scott Galloway]

Survivors. Yeah, they were one of the survivors. And also their positioning is really clean. Their positioning is family. And I just can't imagine any household.

[Don Lemon]

Can I just interject? We use it every single day of the week practically. I'm sure it's so worth the money. It's so worth the money. And not just my older kids use it for the Marvel stuff and we use it for like Agatha and you know, there's something on it for all of us. And now that they've integrated Hulu, it's really, it's a must have in our house for everybody.

[Scott Galloway]

If you have kids, it's child abuse if you don't take them and wait in line for three hours to do Avatar and spend $900 a night on a shitty hotel room called the Disney, whatever it is, Princess Hotel.

[Don Lemon]

Yes, I've been there. Kara's been there.

[Scott Galloway]

But Disney has a really unbelievably strong positioning in the marketplace. And I remember when I signed up for Disney, and by the way, the signup was a fucking nightmare. It was like five or six years ago, maybe eight years ago, because with whatever they were 10 and seven at the time, we had to see the first episode of the Mandalorian. We were going to spend two, four, eight hours trying to figure out how to sign up for Disney to watch the Mandalorian. So they're streaming. There's consolidation in the market, there's weaker players cutting back their spending. For the first time two years in a row, Disney, or excuse me, Netflix, has not increased its content budget. The market is rationalizing Consolidation, cost cuts and Disney is reaping the benefits with great ip, very singular positioning. And the market, the market has, I mean, yeah, they want the parks to do well. This is their cash generator. The movies are important. Unpredictable business though. But I think the real white meat, if you will, for the markets is what's happening with streaming. And you know what? I really like this because Bob has announced a successor or that they're.

[Don Lemon]

They will. Yeah. By 2026 it's going to be really.

[Scott Galloway]

Nice for Bob to go out again with a medal pen. He's going to return from his second tour of Afghanistan with another medal on his uniform. He's going to leave on a high note here. So I'm happy for him and the company.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, they may go outside. There's rumblings and you and I have mentioned some possible candidates, but there are rumblings of outside. The guy who's conducting the search is apparently quite serious.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, they always have to have consider outside candidates if it's a good board.

[Don Lemon]

Anyway, what about Spotify?

[Scott Galloway]

Well, the interesting thing here is Spotify Netflix, but five years behind and that is Spotify lost a ton of money, made huge investments to basically consolidate the music market. Netflix controls 7% of all streaming video. I would imagine Spotify has near monopoly power on streaming music. I mean I just don't see how you're into music and you don't have Spotify also.

[Don Lemon]

Well, Apple puts on a pretty good fight, but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

I think any 19 year old claims to be into music has an account on Spotify.

[Don Lemon]

I got to say my sons use app like Apple Music better and I use Spotify more.

[Scott Galloway]

I think Spotify is incredible. I'm using their AI dj.

[Don Lemon]

Okay.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh my God, it's so good. I mean granted it's just, it's just B52 REM and Calvin Harris songs.

[Don Lemon]

I know you've been. You have a lot. But what about the video? Going into video podcasting and stuff like that.

[Scott Galloway]

I always thought, I always thought quite frankly that now that the FTC and dojo. I always thought that Ted should buy Spotify. I thought if Netflix and Spotify merged and it was the ultimate content streaming subscription program, it'd be just irresistible.

[Don Lemon]

It would be.

[Scott Galloway]

But Spotify turned profits. Their Stock is up 2.5x over the year. Revenue growth up 19%. Paid subscribers grew 12%. They have essentially pulled off a Netflix and that is they have so massively spent on content, consolidated the market. Now they have quote unquote Netflix like pricing power and I would argue near monopoly. Power. People say Amazon music, Apple music. I don't buy it. I think if you're into music, you gotta be on. I think Spotify is the Netflix of music.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, I just don't think they can adjacent. They had a real. Didn't have success. I mean, when like you and I think about stuff, what do we need them precisely for? I guess the audience. Right, but do we people find us anyway? I don't know. I just feel like YouTube is the place that's gonna dominate this for.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, you're talking about too. Okay, so when it comes to podcasts, the new primary means of distribution is not Apple podcasts. It's not Amazon podcasts or Spotify. It's YouTube. And that is. Okay. 15 million downloads of the Joe Rogan interview of Trump. 40 million views on YouTube. Right, so. And the most, quite frankly, the most impressive podcasters, a guy like Stephen Bartlett, Rich Roll, what do they do? They're video first podcasters. Their audio is perfect, but the way they differentiate yourself. Rich Roll demands and I didn't want to do this. Lex Friedman does the same thing. Rich Roll said to me, I want you on the pod. I'm like, I love Rich Roll. I don't know if you watch him, but he's this great, smart, soulful, handsome dude that uses kind of his experience through recovery to talk about life. He's really just like, it's a great podcast anyways. But he's like, do you want to be on him again? He's like, well, let me know when you're in la. His studio's in fucking Agora Hills. Yeah, and Steve Bartlett sets.

[Don Lemon]

Bill Maher has a whole studio system there too. So does Howie Mandela. I know it sounds crazy, but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

Howie Mandel. That's a synapse that hasn't fired in a while.

[Don Lemon]

I'm just telling you, I was there. It was interesting, but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

Howie's in podcast now. Well, maybe he'll rent some space to Chris Wallace.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

That was good. Even hungover. By the way, I've switched to tequila. I'm now Justin. My good, good friend Justin Thoreau said I should start drinking tequila. So now I'm drinking tequila.

[Don Lemon]

You should. Are you going to look like him if you do that? Seems doubtful, but anyway, you know, if.

[Scott Galloway]

That'S true, we're going to see tequila sales.

[Don Lemon]

Boom. Okay.

[Scott Galloway]

If word got out that I could look like Justin Theroux by drinking tequila, Casamigos would be worth more than Tesla tomorrow.

[Don Lemon]

Everyone you went out with last night is handsomer than you are. I'm sorry. To get information.

[Scott Galloway]

How do you know who I went out with last night? I don't like to drop names as much as you. I do like to drop names. How do you know who I went out with last night?

[Don Lemon]

I just know. Do you? We can say who it was, but it was all. It was very handsome men. You went out with three kids a night.

[Scott Galloway]

You know, I don't. I just think it's tacky to brag about. I think it's tacky to brag about your friends. I don't. Have you seen George Hahn or Anderson Cooper recently?

[Don Lemon]

No. They were out doing tequila shots with you. But here's what. Listen, speaking of people, we met. You and I met Barry Diller the other night. We had a nice drink.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, my God, we are so full name dropping right now.

[Don Lemon]

We're so full name. We're literally like, no, but this is why something he said was the most interesting, which was, there's a different experience with the audio and the video, and so there's different businesses in the same. That's why podcasting is so interesting, because there's lots of ways to eat the apple. Right? That's what's interesting. I wouldn't say now it's all. I think if people that go now it's all video podcasting are wrong. It's like all of. All of the above, as you always say. That's my feeling.

[Scott Galloway]

Let me interpret. First off, Kara is really generous with me. She wanted to introduce me to Barry, so I went out late and traffic. Anyways, whatever.

[Don Lemon]

Barry Diller.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyways, so. But those were really loving, supportive messages I got from you. Like, you're standing up someone who is so much more important than you, Scott. This is pathetic. Anyways, so let me summarize. Let me think.

[Don Lemon]

I said, if he eats your face, I will not stop it.

[Scott Galloway]

Let me summarize my conversation with Barry. I'd say something, you know, my, like, whole, like, innovation ramp and this podcast and going. And as delicately and as elegantly as possible, he would basically say to me, but, Scott, you're a fucking idiot.

[Don Lemon]

And here's for us.

[Scott Galloway]

And this is what really is happening.

[Don Lemon]

And he was right.

[Scott Galloway]

Kept doing that over and over.

[Don Lemon]

And he's right.

[Scott Galloway]

By the time I walked out of there, my whole worldview was in doubt. I'm like, oh, well, you know why?

[Don Lemon]

Because he's done this. He's created networks.

[Scott Galloway]

He's smart.

[Don Lemon]

No, but he's also done it. He understands and he's curious. He's one of the most curious. He never.

[Scott Galloway]

He is an impressive man.

[Don Lemon]

He's curious to the new things. That's why I like him.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyway, he looks good too. I love that. Hanging out at the Carlisle. I literally felt like Woody Allen and Angie Dickinson were going to walk through the door. That is so old. I felt so old and so white and so rich. I don't like to go above 14th Street. The Carlisle.

[Don Lemon]

Carl.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, my God.

[Don Lemon]

Do you know what I was telling him? That's where. When Lucky. When I came out, my mother was screaming at me. At her. She had a penthouse around the corner and I made her meet me at the Carlisle because she wouldn't scream there. And that's what. So when I walked in there, I was like, oh, my God. This is where I talked to my mother about being gay for one of the first times. And it has such a memory. I was like, I hate this place. It was even forgotten that that was where it took place.

[Scott Galloway]

Now I can see Barry Diller there, like in Tom Worst. Like me and me and Jimmy Garner used to pick up chicks and head to Cuba.

[Don Lemon]

But I gotta tell you, Barry Diller's on top of the fucking. He's so smart. He's so. He's just very smart. In no way antiquated.

[Scott Galloway]

We're totally name dropping and like talking about how awesome we are. But I have.

[Don Lemon]

But.

[Scott Galloway]

But more importantly, back to me. I now have friends. I love this. All of these people. This is the best thing about last night, Kara. Okay, everyone, every dude has to find a posse of guys that all came together. I'm not exaggerating. I had nothing to do last night. So I texted Justin. I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, I'm on my way to this event for the Hyundai Genesis. And he's like. He's like, it'll be lame, but you want to join me? I'm like, I'm in. And I'm there 10 minutes later. And then we text George Hahn and we're like, what are you doing? He's like, nothing. Like, come meet us. And then I text Anderson. I'm like, we're out drinking. And he's like, I'm in a car. I'm on my way. So many people. So many people have fucking nothing to do when you least expect it. And all of us just came together on like 5 minutes notice. It was very rewarding. Anyway, so I have my new drinking friends now. One of them doesn't drink, but no, it's the best.

[Don Lemon]

I love that. I think it's important for you to have your man friends anyway. All right, let's get to our first big story. Donald Trump is back at the White House this week, meeting with President Joe Biden and promising a smooth transition, unlike what he did, by the way, Trump has also been busy with lots of announcements about his cabinet advisors. The one that is they started off normal. Susie Wiles, Marco Rubio. And now we're at the Matt Gaetz pick for Attorney General and Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. We'll get to Elon Musk and Vivek Ro Swanis leading the Department of Government Efficiency, or as I'm calling it, the Department of Grotesque Egomaniacs or the Department of Grandstanding Edge Lords. I don't this is like gets weirder and fucking weirder. Also in the mix, Russia's best friend, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. And Christy Noem, killer of dogs for Homeland Security. Secretary Chuck Todd posted these confirmation hearings may just save cable TV for the short term. He got sort of dinged for it. But I would have to agree first before whether they'll make it through. Overall thoughts?

[Scott Galloway]

Well, he's made there's some additional announcements that have come out. He's announced that Sue Sylvester, Jane Lynch's character from Glee, is going to lead the Department of Performing Arts. Also, I don't know if you heard the most recent one. Gob Bluth from Arrested Development, Will Arnett's character is going to be the new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. And also Baron Harkonnen from Dune will head spice production on the planet of Arrakis.

[Don Lemon]

Nice. Nice. I like it.

[Scott Galloway]

I now believe that the appointment or the floating of the idea of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General within about an hour, Lisa Murkowski or Senator Murkowski, who I love, basically said that Matt Gaetz is an unserious candidate and I look forward to vetting a serious candidate. I think this was, you're a loyalist. Give them something. And what they've done, I think, is run cloud cover for just a shitty pick as opposed to a fucking crazy, stupid pick. And that's what Matt Gaetz is. To be ag, that just makes no sense. And then if you really want to.

[Don Lemon]

Talk, well, it's been called a loyalty test for Senate Republicans and their newly elected leader, Senator John Thune. They all were pushing for Rick whatever, the Florida idiot, Rick Scott. Rick Scott. He was the one that MAGA was pushing? Absolutely.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. I don't think Rick Scott is an idiot. I don't love his politics, but.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, my God, he made a mess of the Senate committee he was running. Are you kidding?

[Scott Galloway]

But he's at least competent. He's elected. I don't know. Look, perfect is not on the menu here. I mean, when Senator Rubio looks like a thoughtful pick with gravitas or Secretary of State, everyone's just hoping for someone who has some administrative and some leadership experience. But my favorite is that there are not one, but two heads of a committee on efficiency. I mean, that kind of tells you.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, I know, I know.

[Scott Galloway]

This makes no fucking sense.

[Don Lemon]

Are you kidding? It's such a ridiculous. It's like the Grace Commission, right? Do you remember the Grace Commission under Reagan? He was going to drain the swamp. And he created that commission of leaders to cut everything.

[Scott Galloway]

The Private Sector Survey on Cost Control to reduce government waste. Clinton had it launched, the National Performance Review. W had the President's management agenda. Obama had efficiency reforms. And Trump created the Reform Task Force to eliminate inefficiencies. He attempted unsuccessfully to shut down 19 agencies. And this is a popular political move. Two thirds of Americans think the federal government is wasteful and bureaucratic. But let's just look at some data here. Trump is by no means our most efficient president. Federal employment Under Trump rose 3.4% during his first term, compared to an increase of 1.3% in Obama's second term. It did increase. Federal employment did increase by over 6% under Biden. Despite all the rhetoric, the US government spends less as a share of GDP than its peers. US government spending is projected to be about 38% of GDP. That's less in Japan, which spends 42% UK 43%. In Germany at 48%. The US public sector, which they claim is overstaffed, well, they do more for.

[Don Lemon]

Their citizens, but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

True. The US public sector employs 14% of workers, which is more than Germany's 13% and Mexico's 12%, which connotes based on what you said, is probably inefficient, but less than France's 21% and the UK's 23%. Now, let's just specifically go to the pick of Elon or First Lady Alania to head in. Efficiency. Let's just talk about efficiency. At Tesla, the automobile industry revenue per employee is 1.07 million per employee. Of BMW GM 1.02 million per employee. Ford $980,000 million per employee. Mercedes Benz 950,000, Toyota 760,000. And pulling up the rear as the least efficient of these companies is Tesla clocks or registers revenue of 740,000 per employee. So the least efficient car company revenue per employee is Tesla. So, anyways, I find the whole thing. It'll be very interesting. They claim they're going to cut this thing by, I don't know, $2 trillion. Which means they'd have to, like.

[Don Lemon]

No, but he didn't mention it in the press release. No numbers. Like, he went on and on. On Twitter. But of course, like, that's just nonsense. It's just nonsense.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyways, I'm finding this thing is. So if you're going to be dumb, don't be dumb. Be outrageous. No one's really taking this seriously because it just seems so outrageous.

[Don Lemon]

No. Even congressmen were like, yeah, he can ask. We're not doing it. Even the Republican ones. The Gates nomination is interesting only because what's interesting about this is, of course, his behavior with young women. Women underage. He resigned from Congress.

[Scott Galloway]

Alleged.

[Don Lemon]

Alleged. Whatever. Resigned from Congress on Wednesday, days before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on releasing a highly critical report of their investigation into him. Kevin McCarthy said this on the record about his behavior essential. And the resignation, it ends the investigation. But they can still release it, from what I understand. So I don't see how they get this thing through. I just don't. I mean, it would be ridiculous for this clown to be a Anything.

[Scott Galloway]

What is your take? I agree with you that I think. I just think there's a lot of Republicans. First off, the thing I don't think the market or people have absorbed is, as of today, Donald Trump is a lame duck president.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, that's what I mean.

[Scott Galloway]

And he's not going to. He's not gonna have nearly the power to intimidate Republicans. And I gotta think it's gonna be very tempting for Republicans on a pick like this to go. No, this. To basically pull a Murkowski and say, this is not a serious candidate. I gotta think the Trump administration realized he probably wasn't gonna be able to get Gates through, but they did it anyways. What do you think they're trying to do here? What's their endgame?

[Don Lemon]

I don't know. Because they're frittering away an amazing victory. Right. You know, it seems like now they're like, now we're like, oh, God, the idiots are back. Like, I don't know. He has such an opportunity to not fritter away what was a spectacular return to power, and now we're talking about Matt Gaetz and jail bait. That's what we're talking about now as opposed to what he could be doing. And Elon doing these stupid. He's gonna. He's calling it the Manhattan Project of our time. It's gonna blow up in their face. That's why it's a Manhattan Project of their time. It's such a waste of opportunity here. And largely because I think he is of the mind is I'll say something crazy and then I'll say the next thing that's crazy and the next thing that's crazy. But I'm talking about being effective and this is not effective in any way. If he really, you know, maybe over to the right they're like going to be deporting people and hoping that people don't notice that if it's particularly ugly looking. And so honestly, I think there's no planning here and I think they're just letting people in. Interestingly, you know, I think the Doge thing is just fucking nonsense. It's just ridiculous. And you know, you can't really. There's not going to be a government department which is kind of ridiculous and you need to be created by. With Congress's authorization. They're not wasting their time on that. And they're not. They're going to cut what they want. Right. So one of the things that's interesting is that he's been down in Mar A Lago and as I said was an issue. Everyone's now reporting how irritating he is. And NBC News quoted a source saying Elon is behaving as if he's co president. People are irritated by him. The guests that won't leave, I think this is just. They're frittering away. Was a clear and definitive win. And I'm not sure why they're doing it. Suicidal nature. I don't know. I have no idea.

[Scott Galloway]

I don't know. I do think that the appointment of the bass pro shop swimmer guy as head of U.S. fish and Wildlife Service makes sense. I know just. Oh, and Roman Roy will be the new deputy Administrator of NASA.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

I just don't. I don't get Hannibal Lecter is the new Secretary of Health and Human Services. I don't get. By the way, I'm so on buzzfeed right now.

[Don Lemon]

Kristi Noem. What a laughable, ridiculous personality she is. They're all Fox News people.

[Scott Galloway]

It's like, you know who I like though? Who's now the new Senate Majority leader is Soon. Soon.

[Don Lemon]

He's very reasonable.

[Scott Galloway]

I like him. I think he's reasonable.

[Don Lemon]

And not only that, he pushes back on Trump.

[Scott Galloway]

And not only that, he's very handsome. Kara.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. You like? Did you go out for drinks with him?

[Scott Galloway]

I don't know if he'd be up for impromptu drinks with me and George Hahn. I'll try, but I'm not sure.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. All right, I'm going to give you a word of the day. It's called kakistocracy. Government by the least suitable or competent citizens of the states. A state or society governed by the least suitable or competent citizens. It's the modern regime is at once a plutocracy and a kakistocracy. That is the word of the day here at Pivot.

[Scott Galloway]

Okay, no joke. I heard that word an hour ago. Scott Burns, who's the showrunner and the writer on this show I'm working on, was talking about rebranding the Democratic Party and someone suggested kakistocracy, and he's like, are you crazy? No one can spell that word. Anyway, I. No joke. I feel like I should throw salt over my shoulder or whatever it is you do when you're, I don't know, superstitious. But I heard that word, no joke, 90 minutes ago. Kakistocracy.

[Don Lemon]

It's the word of the day. It's the word of the week. Well, we'll see what happens. All right, let's go on a quick break. We come back, we'll talk about Blue Skies. Big week. Support for this episode comes from sass. How is AI affecting how you learn, work, and socialize? And what do you need to know to make responsible use of it as a business leader, worker, and human in the world? Find out when you listen to Pondering AI, a podcast featuring candid conversations with experts from across the AI ecosystem. Pondering AI explores the impact and implications of AI, for better and for worse, with a diverse group of innovators, advocates, and data scientists. Check out Pondering AI wherever you get your podcast.

[Kara Swisher]

Support for Pivot comes from coda. Your team works best when you're all on the same page, and Coda can help you do just that. Coda brings the best of documents, spreadsheets, and apps into a single platform, and it helps teams collaborate by centralizing all of your processes and shared knowledge. Once you have Coda, you can stay aligned by managing your planning cycles in one location. You can set and measure objectives and key results with full visibility across teams. It also makes it easy to communicate and collaborate on documents, roadmaps, and tables. And you can make it work specifically for your needs when you access hundreds of templates and get inspired by others in Coda's gallery. Coda empowers your startup to strategize, plan and track goals effectively. Take advantage of this limited time offer just for startups. Go to Coda Iopivot today and get six free months of the team plan. That's co da IO pivot to get started for free and get six months free of the team plan. Coda Iopivot support for this episode comes from ATT what's it feel like to get a new iPhone 16 Pro with AT&T? Next up Anytime it's like when you first pick up those tongs and you're now the one running the grill. It's indescribable, like something you've never felt before. All of the mouthwatering anticipation of new possibilities, whether it's making the perfect cheeseburger or treating your family to a grilled baked potato, which you know will forever change the way they look at potatoes. With AT and T Next up Anytime you can feel this way again and again. Learn how to get the new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence on us and the latest iPhone every year with AT&T next up anytime ATT connecting changes everything. Apple Intelligence coming in the fall of 2024 with Siri and device language set to US English. Some features and languages will be coming over the next year. $0 offer may not be available on future iPhones. Next Up Anytime feature may be discontinued at any time, subject to change additional fees. Terms and restrictions apply. See att.com iPhone for detail else Scott.

[Scott Galloway]

We'Re back with our second big story.

[Don Lemon]

X competitor Blue sky has gained over 1.2 million new users in the past week following the election. Users has been announcing their exits from X due to Elon's musk support of Donald Trump, but also a change in terms of service, which we talked about earlier this week, which means you can only sue Elon in this dumbass Texas area. One of those users is our friend Don Lemon. Let's listen to his announcement.

[Scott Galloway]

I once believed that it was a place for honest debate and discussion, transparency and free speech, but I now feel it does not serve that purpose. In addition, Starting this Friday, November 15, X is implementing new Terms of service, which, among other things, states that, quote, all disputes be brought exclusively in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas or State Courts located in Tarrant County, Texas. End quote. Who is that again?

[Don Lemon]

Don. Don Lemon.

[Scott Galloway]

That was D. Lemon.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. You didn't invite him last night. He's another handsome man.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm intimidated by Don. Don Always bitches at me when he hears about something that's cool and said, you didn't invite me. And then I invite him and he's like, I'm sorry, I'm busy.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, now he's gonna know. Now he's gonna know.

[Scott Galloway]

He wants to be invited, but he doesn't want to say yes.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, I see. You didn't even try. You didn't even reach out.

[Scott Galloway]

Dilemma.

[Don Lemon]

Anyway, he's talking about what we've talked about last week. This is something. But what' interesting is the departures. And, you know, despite the huge jump in use, Blue Skies still, I had an account on there and I like it. It's quite good. I'm still also on Threads, which I also like too. And Threads is really killing it with numbers and close to 275 million right now. Blue sky is 15.2 million users, while Threads has 275 million and X has 600 million. I think some. It's an interesting. I like that there's competition. I don't know what to say. I like the service. It's quite good. It's free, it's run by very calm people, it seems. Reporters love Blue Sky. Amanda particularly, she goes at the Cool bar and I'm at the Cheesecake Factory over at Threads, I like Threads. As some users leave X, advertising agencies are reportedly expecting some advertisers to return to the platform for political leverage. Given Musk's closeness to Trump, I think that's not gonna last. It's not effective as an advertising plat, you know, and that what a way to get ads, like, because people are scared of you. And by the way, over at Meta, they planned to introduce ads. You knew this was going to happen early next year. So, Scott, if you're in advertising, deciding where to spend money as a business versus anything else versus a castocracy, which of these platforms do you spend on? And they don't have advertising on Blue Sky, I believe. I think that's correct.

[Scott Galloway]

So I know nothing about bluesky. I'm not on it otherwise, other than George Hahn, who's really good on social, said, you need a presence on Blue sky, and I trust the judgment, but I'm not. Are you on Blue Sky?

[Don Lemon]

Yes, I am.

[Scott Galloway]

And can you describe for the listeners out there, what. What is it? Why do you like it? What's different about it?

[Don Lemon]

Because they have different things. Like it's. With Threads, you get weird suggestions of who to look at. It doesn't have, you know, in order of time, you know, it doesn't do that. So it's you. You're always seeing things that are days old. It's. They defocus news and politics. Although I get a lot of it. My. My feed on Threads is quite vibrant. Am looked at mine versus hers and hers was like a lot of like, you know, come ons and weird, you know, edge. Edge lordy kind of stuff. Not edge lordy, more like marketing kind of stuff. It's more like Facebook is, I guess, versus the way Twitter used to be, I guess that would be. And Blue Sky's cool. They're very funny. I enjoy it very much. Although on Threads, I really like the foods. There's a lot of food videos and planting plants videos that I like. It's a little more like Instagram. I like them both and I like them differently. It's like liking, like she said, it's like a cool bar in Brooklyn versus a Cheesecake Factory. And I like a Cheesecake Factory, so I don't have a problem with it. Some people might. So I think they're both really very good platforms. Obviously Blue sky is much smaller, but it's cooler. It's definitely cooler, but it's not snotty either. I would say I like it, but where would you go if you're an average, you wouldn't go on X. It's literally go over there. It is a Nazi porn bar. There's so much white supremacy. It's so nasty. It's. Rick Wilson left Twitter. Guardian left Twitter. It's just useless as a marketing platform, as an advertising platform, as a place not to feel sick to your stomach about humanity, essentially.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, there's no doubt about it. But you said this. So from an advertiser standpoint, you got a bet on meta metas. People talk about the algorithms as it relates to the consumer and serving you up content and putting you literally in your own reality. And I, I think Reels has gotten better and better. The gap between TikTok and Reels, I think, is narrowing in terms of reels, I can't get over how good Instagram and Reels are right now. I think they're doing. I think they're. I think they're doing a great job. I think Threads is fantastic. The thing that doesn't get enough attention is the ad stack that Facebook has assembled. I mean, the things they can do for advertisers and how efficiently they can do it for you. And they basically, the biggest brands had the advantage of being able to hire media agencies to plan and allocate their media spend and this has always been kind of L'Oreal's and Unilever's core competence was always media spend. And that is, it's not that their creative was any better. I would argue it wasn't that their products were any better, but they had the smartest people figuring out how to spend their marketing dollars, their 12 or 15% of top line revenue, more efficiently, more elegantly, more strategically than any other firm because they had these amazing media planning and buying agencies. Now, essentially what the ad stack at Facebook has been able to do is like, okay, you're a small business doing $10 million a year selling beard oil. Jack Dorsey. We can give you kind of the media planning capabilities and targeting of a L'Oreal or a Unilever with our ad stack. And so when they turn that ad stack on, advertisers who want to now run it across Threads and with how robust the information, real time information and sentiment and activity is going to be, people literally tell you what they're doing on threads. I think it's. If you're betting on advertising dollars and efficiency and who wins and who gets the most ad dollars per person, I would think Threads is immediately going to the first quarter that Threads really get serious about monetization. Threads will be a bigger business than Twitter or X overnight. The thing you pointed out though is that quite frankly, that's not Musk's probably primary objective. He has bought the ultimate propaganda machine to serve his aims. That's not costing him a lot of money because he fired 80% of the people. And you pointed this out to me to use ad revenue or business fundamentals as the metric for whether this $44 billion acquisition by Musk made any sense, by the way, which was financed 3/4 of it or 2/3 of it was financed by. By other people's money or debt from.

[Don Lemon]

Who aren't going to complain.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. Who all want to be in the SpaceX IPO or all want to have proximity to Elon Musk. You pointed out that I've been looking at the wrong metrics. Oh my God, this is a stupid business. He's lost so much money. No, it's increased his sphere of influence and that's worth 10% of his net worth. But in terms of your question around where does an advertiser go? An advertiser is going to go where everyone goes, reluctantly. And that is to Meta.

[Don Lemon]

Yep, that's correct. 100% meta is going to benefit from this. And let me just say Instagram is a very good product. Threads is a very good product. I know people don't have journalists always like bellyache, but for most people, it's actually pretty enjoyable. They never think of it like a, like a regular person. It's very enjoyable and so is Instagram. And it's well done. I always find something to look at. I don't feel bad after using it. It. I don't feel bad. It's very. I like, it's like I, it's replaced. I don't know. Television, to me, I guess I, I watch a lot less television. I don't watch it very specifically, you know, streaming. And so I, I. Journalists get, like, there's no politics there. There's no this. I'm like, shut the fuck up. Like, you're not the user they're looking at. Right. You're not the user they're thinking. So they put in a very good effort here. And I see. I know exactly what their issues are. And they should have something where the timeline is much more current. Right. But let me just tell you kids, all you journalists, it's not Twitter. I'm sorry your girlfriend became a junkie. I don't know what to tell you. You can't. It's never happening again. Twitter's gone and it's. And you need to move on. You need to move on with your life. And by the way, Blue sky is lovely. I have to say, it's funny, there's a little too many lecture people on threads. Like when the comments. All I'm saying is great to have choices and I like that there's different businesses and you can have different things. I've always thought that the dissipation of social media was a good thing, not a bad thing. And advertisers aren't really going to move back to X.

[Scott Galloway]

They.

[Don Lemon]

Maybe they'll buy $30 just to have their name there. So Linda Yakarino can swan around New York and pretend she's an actual CEO. And so whatever, like, whatever. That's my, that's my rant. Thank you very much. In any case, I think you should go on Blue Sky. I do.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. I should start it, but just some numbers. According to a report released by cantor, a net 26% of marketers 1 in 4, plan to decrease their spending on X in 2025. And then bluesky is up now at 15 million. Threads is now at 275 million.

[Don Lemon]

I mean, it's, it's going to catch X in seconds.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. Although I will say Twitter still. I haven't been on Twitter in Two years. It does still seem to attract news, you know, inspire a lot of water cooler conversation. I still get a ton of text messages with links to an X and an X tweet or whatever it is. And I have to write back, I'm not on X. I can't see this. Can you send me a screenshot? It does hold still. A lot of what I'd call because of journalists. And the other thing that's sort of sad about what's happened here and it's happening everywhere, is I would argue Twitter, I mean, Twitter's just gone red pill. And I would argue Threads is pretty blue pill because if I put out a tweet saying, saying an American hero in a picture of Biden, it'll get 2,000 likes. And if I say we should have had a competition, not a coronation, my feed is filled with, look, either sign up for your PBS subscription or commit Harry Carey, but you don't understand the assignment. I think Threads is very.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, they don't like argument.

[Scott Galloway]

Not an argument. Discussion. Threads is very left. The thing I like about Threads and the thing I especially love about LinkedIn is the vibe is just less ugly, it's less angry. I don't know if it's fewer bots or there's fewer trolls, but I don't have some like little dick, failed venture capitalist tweeting about me 450 times on threads because I made the. You know, I committed the crime against humanity of saying his shitty portfolio companies were not worth anything.

[Don Lemon]

How is that, Keith? Report boy?

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, no, it's not Keith. It's someone. It's someone who's. Anyways, it doesn't matter now. I'm turning into fucking Twitter anyways. But Threads is a little more. People push back. I still get all these bots who are out there. I don't know if it's a GRU or CCP just trying to start a fight in my feed saying stupid things with a dog picture and 22 followers. But there's less of that on Threads. Threads so far.

[Don Lemon]

Twitter always had that, by the way. Twitter always had that for years and years. It's just a question of what's an enjoyable user experience. And I do think it's just. It's dying. It's clearly dying. And people who I never. I keep going. Just get off of it. You'll feel better. I've had. I agree there's a lot going on there, but I think it's in the specific areas and it's not a pleasant place to be. And a lot more people I thought would never come off are off. And then once you go off you're like, why was I there? I can find this information on Blue Sky, I can find on X, I can find it on Blank, but you.

[Scott Galloway]

Can just real quickly you can see an environment where he lets Trump fold True Social into Twitter. And in exchange he says all government agencies have to release all data, including information on when you're getting your Social Security check or everything through X. And so you can see now the full weight Kakistocracy. Well, There you go, 100%. 100%. And that's where we are. I'm being redundant. The market should move based on the consumer economy, not on the expectations of a kleptocracy at right.

[Don Lemon]

So actually that would be kleptocracy anyway. They're all bad words anyway. One more quick break. We'll be back for predictions.

[Scott Galloway]

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[Don Lemon]

Okay Scott, let's hear predictions. Except the fact that you'll probably go in blue sky. What's your prediction?

[Scott Galloway]

So, just a couple quick ones. I've always been fascinated by the fact that all these local do you ever watch local news?

[Don Lemon]

Sometimes. Not really.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. If you ever want to throw back, if you want to know what it's like to be 80, just watch local news. And I would describe hey Jim, what's.

[Don Lemon]

Up with the weather? That kind of stuff.

[Scott Galloway]

We could have hail the size of.

[Don Lemon]

Golf balls, killer bees. It could happen to you.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, it's a mix between an older guy that has a grandfatherly comfort and a hot young woman who is still waiting to be on the Today show. They basically hemorrhage money or make no money for 20 months. And they get to underpay their talent because everyone's hoping to get elevated to, you know, Brian Williams old seat at NBC News. They don't make any money or they make very little money, the talent. And then for four months, every 24 months, they triple or quintuple their ad rates and they just get totally this tsunami of cash from elections. Because the general conventional wisdom, which is no longer that wise anymore, is that old people vote. And this is the place where you can reach a ton of old people in a local area for either the local congressional race, a ballot, an initiative. So a lot of smart companies, I think, including Hearst, went and bought a bunch of local TV news stations and said this might be a shitty business, but four months, every 24 months, it's an unbelievable business. What I believe is going to happen is that those good times and that unearned income is about to come to an end. And I think you're going to see a lot of that capital flow to the new arbiter who gets elected. And that is podcasts. And I know I'm talking, we're talking our own book here, but you're about to see local TV stations start to reflect the economics that foots to the actual value of these companies. And this.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, are we going to have to read Matt Gaetz ads not doing it.

[Scott Galloway]

I think political advertising is going to wash over podcasts based on what happened in this election to the same extent it happens when you watch the local news. And then my just second real quick prediction is these tariffs are not going to happen at nearly the scale that Trump is threatening, because you're going to see, given that Trump is a lame duck president, given that a lot of Republicans do have a business background and I do think a lot of them understand economics, are going to decide to go out on a limb and say, if you want to increase the price of 88% of the toys under the Christmas tree by 60%, I am not down with that. And I have concerns Republicans, because yes.

[Don Lemon]

They all have their line in the sand, don't they? And it's usually a financial one.

[Scott Galloway]

It's money.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah. Do you know what, you know what a very prominent Republican told me who's like a fake Trumper, like pretends to like him and hates him behind the scenes. I said, are you gonna put up with this craziness? And he goes, we only need him for two more years, literally. I was like, it was so sinister. It was so sinister, Scott. I Was like, what? They're like, we only need him for two more years. I was like, oh, good God. Support Trump in some weird way. I mean, not really.

[Scott Galloway]

I don't care, but this is how tariffs work. Have you noticed Mexico has already announced reciprocal tariffs If Trump does anything along the lines of what he's threatening. They're like, okay, if you want to put. Mexico and Canada are now our biggest trading partners. They've now replaced China. Trade is still a function of proximity. Mexico's a fantastic trading partner. And they said, look, if you're going to put 20, 40, 60% tariff on our products, guess what, boss? We're going to do the same thing. Thing. Our consumers are going to see prices go up. Your consumers are going to see prices go up. It's just when I first moved to New York, I was bored and I used to do yoga, which was fine. I did it to what. There are a few things I'm worse at than yoga, but I like the vibe. It helped with stress and there was a lot of hot women. But I also thought, all right, but I need to hit something. So I started boxing. And my trainer, who I'm paying, who's like, you should enter this tournament. You're pretty good at what you do. You have good hand speed. So. So I'm six two, 190. And when you enter a 62190, this fun little boxing tournament at a gym, you end up fighting a guy who's five'nine and literally looks like Mike Tyson. And all I remember was I got out there and the next thing I remember, literally the next thing I remember is a bright light. And it was. Cause I was on my back staring up at bright light. I don't even remember.

[Don Lemon]

I could beat you up.

[Scott Galloway]

I don't even remember him taking his fist back to throw a punch. And I don't know if for the viewers at home, see how my nose. See how my nose goes to the right. That's my souvenir for my one boxing tournament. My nose goes permanently to the right.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, I wish. Oh, I wish you could go back in time. I would love to see.

[Scott Galloway]

But this is the fatal flaw in strategy. Or when people are trying to determine a strategy, and that is they assume in business that their competitors are a speed bag and don't hit back. I'm gonna place 60% tariffs on China. Well, guess what? China is not a speed bag. It will hit you back. And they too will go, fuck you, boss. We're putting 60% tariffs on everything that comes into China. And by the way, everyone from Estee Lauder to North Face, you're going to take away Chinese consumer revenue from these companies.

[Don Lemon]

You know, Alibaba, a lot of US products go to China via Alibaba. Like, honestly, there's a lot of businesses here in this country.

[Scott Galloway]

The only place we're selling Buicks is China. I mean, China loves American brands. They love Ralph Lauren, they love our beauty products, they love Estee Lauder products. Beauty. Anyways, Starbucks. Starbucks.

[Don Lemon]

Can I ask you a separate question? Rfk, he's the last crazy on the train, on the clown. You know, I would imagine he gets pushback from the mayonnaise groups or the seed oils. I was like, he's going to get a Trump's going to call from the mayonnaise people and they're going to be like, stand down on him. Like, you know, and in that way you vaguely are like, well, he's right, mayonnaise is bad for you. That's true.

[Scott Galloway]

He is literally the definition of sweet and savory in the sense that occasionally I hear three or five minutes from RFK and I think this guy is fantastic. Let him tell you about the food industrial complex and what this shitty food is doing for our kids. And you're like, you know what? This guy is a leader. I think it's when he talks about the environment, he is really good. Quite frankly, when he talks about Israel, I think he is fantastic. It's when he comes, don't go too.

[Don Lemon]

Far down the RFK train, but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

But then we stop at the vaccine station and he says, the best thing you can do for a new mother who has a baby is come up next to her and whisper, whisper, don't get her vaccinated. And you're like, what? Huh?

[Don Lemon]

He's so crazy. He brings the whole crazy with him. He doesn't. It does not. He brings his whole self to work. And that's the problem. I mean, I think that it's very good to focus. I'd rather have Michelle Obama do it by let's all eat salads. But let me just tell you, I.

[Scott Galloway]

Heard she's not up for anything in the Trump administration.

[Don Lemon]

Speaking of people punching back, do you think the mayonnaise people aren't going to punch back? Do you think the pharmaceutical people, do you think the people that don't own and Scott and I call it this, the diabetic industrial complex isn't going to punch Friggin. They're not, they're not speed bags either. And in fact they are the person who knocked you out, Scott. Right. So that's the. That's the problem he's going to have with rfk.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. I don't know how much money they gave, but it's interesting. I mean, granted, we're lowering the bar so forward. So. So. But for example, I really did not want Mitt Romney or W to be president. I really thought these would be bad presidents. Looking back.

[Don Lemon]

Oh, my God. They look like.

[Scott Galloway]

I think Senator Romney seems like a wonderful.

[Don Lemon]

Yeah, I know. It's. Our expectations are so. All right, we have to end Sue. But I have one short predictions now. I would dearly love Kamala Harris to run for governor of California for 2026. Gavin Newsom gets termed out. She would drive Trump crazy in those last two years because the power of California, I think it's the fourth or fifth biggest economy. Now. Her in charge of California would be spectacular. It would be. Because, by the way, California is on the return. Like, I got to say San Francisco, you know, I always say this, but all these cities are starting to see openings of stores. You're starting to see restaurants. San Francisco elected Daniel Lurie as mayor. Things are turning around, including in New York, by the way, New York is as lively as can be.

[Scott Galloway]

New York didn't need to be turned around. New York, New York.

[Don Lemon]

I know, but it had its moment. That it went through the sad. It went through the sad for a little bit. It did. I'm just saying, her running California, if they start to really address, which they have been, the homeless problems, the fentanyl problems, I think her being governor would be sweet, sweet revenge in a lot of ways, because that's a powerful position in this country.

[Scott Galloway]

The governor of California, I don't know. I'm gonna go off from the assignment. I wonder if her political career is over and she's gonna go be the head, the chair of a private equity firm and just make bank. I don't think she's. If I'm Vice President Harris, why wouldn't she go be like, chairman of the Carlyle Group, make a lot of money and just enjoy her life?

[Don Lemon]

She wants to, but it's not for two years. It's not for. She could do that. She could do both. Because I do think she's got another punch in her. Speaking of.

[Scott Galloway]

But to what end? California is the most ungovernable nation. It's the fifth largest economy in the world with a lot of special interest groups that make it impossible.

[Don Lemon]

I like the storyline. You're right. You're right. I just like the storyline.

[Scott Galloway]

I wouldn't be surprised, Kara, if her. Okay, this is what I think her next stop is. I think under the next Democratic president, she becomes a Supreme Court justice. I think that is what her political future is.

[Don Lemon]

That can. Could be make some money until then. And then.

[Scott Galloway]

Does she really want to run another campaign? What if she loses? If I were her, I wouldn't want to subject myself to that bullshit.

[Don Lemon]

Maybe so. I don't think she'd lose. I think people have a lot of affection for her anyway. Just an interesting little idea to think about. That's why I like it. You know why I like us versus cable news? I like us because we consider everything. We have problems, we discuss them. We have issues, we talk about them.

[Scott Galloway]

Sort of. We're a little bit biased. We're a little bit b. Biased. Ish.

[Don Lemon]

I know. But we kind of. I think we like each other more recently. I've just have great affection for you recently. I don't know why.

[Scott Galloway]

I appreciate that. I need that. Hold that thought. Well, whatever it is I'm doing, could you please tell me so I could do more of it?

[Don Lemon]

We had a rough time over the summer, but I feel much better about our relationship anyway.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, you came to your senses.

[Don Lemon]

No, I did not. You did anyway. No, it's not true. You came to your senses anyway. Once again, fuck you.

[Scott Galloway]

You stopped abusing whatever meth you were. You were doing in the closet, whatever.

[Don Lemon]

And. And I made. And you made my career. I got it. People come up to me and say, can Scott stop saying that? I said, no, Just let him say it because it makes him feel better.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, yeah, you're turning into Trump.

[Don Lemon]

People say, sir, okay, we got a. We want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech, or whatever's on your mind. This is gold, by the way. Go to nymag.com pivot to submit a question for the show or call 855-51-PIVOT. And now, listeners, time for this. This week's Threads poll. We may put it on blue sky if sky goes over there. The question this week is, who is the worst pick so far? Representative Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. I can't even say that out loud without laughing. Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who's such a douche nozzle for sec. Go watch some of his stupid videos for Secretary of Defense. He wears those dumb glasses that like douche nozzle. Men wear those weird. Anyway. And Elon Musk can. Vivek Ramaswani for government efficiency. Us on threads at Pivot podcast official to vote and we'll be doing another call in show soon. We love those. Submit your voicemails with questions you'd like to ask us live on air and let us know where to reach you. Okay, Scott. Elsewhere in the Kara and Scott multiverse this week. On this week's Profg Markets, Scott, you and Ed spoke with Josh Brown, co founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, about the accuracy of the prediction market.

[Scott Galloway]

Super impressive guy.

[Don Lemon]

Bitcoin hitting an all time high and advice to people who are concerned about a second Trump term. Let's listen really briefly.

[D]

Spend the next four years, put your head down, make fucking money. Focus on how you can improve your own life, and the pendulum will swing back. And if you're horrified by some of the things like the overturning of Roe v. Wade or the way we're going to see very cruel deportations of immigrants, like, if you're horrified by those things, and rightly you should be, the wealthier you are, the more opportunity you will have to do something about it. Screaming on Twitter, crying into a TikTok. All that does is make the people on the other side feel even more emboldened. My advice is arm yourself with money. It is the only way to make change. You don't have to like that. What I'm saying is true. You just have to accept it because everyone else has.

[Don Lemon]

Wow. Is he a brother from another mother? Jesus. That's Scott Galloway with the.

[Scott Galloway]

He and I are the. Yeah, we're of like minds.

[Don Lemon]

Wow.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, we're of like minds. He and his partner, Barry Ritholtz both listen to our show. And by the way, I love Barry. They're. They're such Long Island. They're like the best of Long Island. They're the guys that like, have a Trans AM in their front parking lot and throw a. Throw a beer at you when you're on your way to high school. And then on your way back, they invite you in for your first bong love. They're like such trans good guys. They're such Long island men. And they're super smart. By the way, they have 5 billion under management.

[Don Lemon]

That's really. I love that. That's really good. Anyway, go listen to it. Before we go, happy birthday to our best friend George Hahn, who Scott went out with last night. Gee, Han, who is sexy years old today. I don't know how old he is, but he looks fantastic. Happy birthday, George. George. Happy birthday. And by the way, I'm gonna put out a happy birthday. My son Saul turns three on the day this publishes. Saul, let me just tell you.

[Scott Galloway]

Wow, that's been three years. Let me see, you had him, you had him when you were 73. That makes you wait, let's say four.

[Don Lemon]

Okay, good. Okay. Anyway, happy birthday, Saul. Speaking of balls out kids, he's one of them. I'll tell you. He's like, let's go. And we're gonna have an exciting birthday party for you this weekend. And I love you. Okay. We'll be back on Tuesday with more. Read us out.

[Scott Galloway]

Scott Today's show is produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Andertat engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burroughs, Mia Saverio and Dan Schulon. Nishat Kirwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York magazine, 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. Breaking new Secretary of the Interior David Hasselhoff.

[E]

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