Overtime – Episode #714: Scott Galloway, Fareed Zakaria, Josh Barro

Summary

Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime — Episode #714

Guests: Scott Galloway, Fareed Zakaria, Josh Barrow
Date: November 18, 2025

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Episode Overview

This Overtime segment features a lively discussion with Scott Galloway (marketing professor and author), Fareed Zakaria (CNN host and author), and Josh Barrow (NYT opinion writer and podcast host). Bill Maher leads the panel through a variety of audience questions, covering topics like the end of the penny, daylight savings time, sports gambling scandals, media accountability, and the psychology of happiness over a lifetime. The discussion is candid, humorous, and often self-deprecating, with each guest bringing their signature style to topics both quirky and consequential.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The End of the Penny and Outdated Systems

• [02:18] Bill Maher opens by asking about the U.S. Mint pressing its final pennies.
• Scott Galloway notes the irrationality of continuing the penny: “It costs them more to make a penny than a penny is worth.”
• Discussion moves to eliminating second decimal places in pricing and references to quirky policy hangovers—like World War II era mohair subsidies and how employer-based healthcare began.
• Fareed Zakaria illustrates inertia in policy: “Mohair subsidies… started in World War II… finally got repealed in 2010.” [03:32]

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2. Should We Eliminate Daylight Savings Time?

• [05:59] Bill Maher says daylight savings is “another bullshit thing.”
• Scott Galloway:
  • Points out people are really upset about less daylight in winter, not the time change itself.
  • Explains how time changes maximize usable daylight and references the failed experiment under Nixon:
    “People were really angry because … their kid has to walk to school in the dark now.” [06:18]
  • Observes that complaints would persist no matter the system chosen.
• Fareed Zakaria:
  • Candidly admits: “I have no opinion on this.” [07:05]
• Bill Maher:
  • Personalizes the issue: “I’m pissed off because I don’t live on this schedule… closer to noon than dawn.” [07:22]

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3. Sports Gambling Scandals—A Societal Issue?

• [07:34] Bill Maher asks if the sports gambling scandal (players embroiled in gambling) reflects bigger social problems.
• Scott Galloway contextualizes it:
  • “The most profitable companies in the world tap into a flaw in our instincts.”
  • Gambling addiction as "Vegas in people's pockets," leading to higher bankruptcies.
  • Emphasizes need for education: “To be clear, you’re not investing, you’re gambling… over the medium and long term, it’s impossible to win.” [08:14]
• Josh Barrow on legalizing gambling’s risks, especially with individualized bets:
  • “You can bet on every pitch… If you’re a pitcher… you can just flub one pitch.” [09:27]
  • Suggests stricter regulation on proposition bets.
• Fareed Zakaria wonders if bans are possible in a digital world:
  • “If you ban it in America, won’t they just set it up in the Cayman Islands?” [10:15]
• Scott Galloway:
  • Highlights how technology makes it easier to catch cheaters: “A lot of these pro athletes are not that bright… it’s easy [to catch them].” [10:29]
  • Fareed quips: “Unless you’re a congressman.” [10:50]

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4. Media Accountability: BBC & Trump’s January 6th Comments

• [10:59] Bill Maher describes how the BBC edited Trump’s January 6th comments, calling it a clear misrepresentation.
• Fareed Zakaria:
  • “The tragedy is what he said was bad enough. Why did you have to doctor it?” [11:17]
• Bill Maher notes the real issue was Trump never conceding the election, not what was edited.
• Josh Barrow on double standards:
  • “Traditional media ... we hold to an entirely different standard. ... Fox News was a dumpster fire compared to the nuclear mushroom cloud that happens every three minutes on social media."
  • Argues that tech platforms face far less scrutiny:
    “Why are we not … holding algorithmically elevated content to any standard?” [12:20]

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5. The Arc of Happiness Over Life

• [13:26] An audience question prompts discussion of happiness at different ages, a subject of Scott Galloway’s book.
• Bill Maher references the popular “happiness U-curve,” but confesses it’s backward for him: “I hated up until 25, then it got good.” [14:02]
• Scott Galloway:
  • Describes the arc:
    • “0 to 25 is prom, Star Wars, making out… generally pretty good.” [14:13]
    • 25-45: “Shit gets real… difficult economic strain, someone you love gets sick and dies.”
    • After 50: “You start finding joy in unusual places. I find bougainvillea fascinating now.” [14:56]
  • Message to young adults: “If you’re 30… struggling… that’s exactly where you should be. Keep on keeping on. Happiness waits for you.” [15:23]
• Fareed Zakaria ribs Maher: “Your next book is going to be how I broke all of Scott Galloway’s [rules].” [15:40]

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6. Are Children Worth the Cost?

• [15:40] Maher claims raising kids is presented as “a total fucking nightmare,” citing modern “safetyist” over-parenting as a possible cause.
• Josh Barrow:
  • Notes research shows some people with kids are less happy, but:
    “One, my kids are getting less awful every day.” [17:13]
  • On the meaning of parenting: “There are moments where I think… maybe I’m here for a reason… I was never sated. The only time I ever feel sated is occasionally when I’m in the company of my kids and I feel like they’re safe.” [17:54]
  • Ends with: “As I’ve said before on the show, have kids. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do.” [17:55]
• Bill Maher (dry as always): “To ruin your life. Amen.” [18:06]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Scott Galloway:
  “It costs them more to make a penny than a penny is worth.” [02:43]
• Fareed Zakaria:
  “The tragedy is what he said was bad enough. Why did you have to doctor it?” [11:17]
• Josh Barrow:
  “Traditional media ... is held to an entirely different standard ... Why are we not ... making big tech ... accountable?” [12:20]
• Scott Galloway:
  “If you’re 30 years old and struggling ... that's exactly where you should be. Happiness waits for you.” [15:23]
• Bill Maher:
  “I have never had kids, so I can't speak first person. But unless there's a giant conspiracy in this country... every person who talks about it on talk shows presents it as a total fucking nightmare.” [16:55]
• Josh Barrow (on kids):
  “One, I find with my kids, they’re getting less awful every day… have kids. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do.” [17:55]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• End of Pennies and Inherited Systems: 02:18–04:30
• Daylight Savings Time Debate: 05:59–07:30
• Sports Gambling Scandal and Addiction: 07:34–10:10
• Media Standards and Social Media vs BBC: 10:59–12:20
• Happiness Arc and Life Advice: 13:26–15:40
• Parenting and Happiness: 15:40–18:06

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Tone & Style

The conversation is provocative, sardonic, and often leavened with wry humor. Maher is irreverent and personal, Galloway analytical yet colorful, Barrow brisk and clear, and Zakaria playfully erudite. The group pokes fun at each other and the absurdities of modern American life, while offering both earnest advice and sharp critique.

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Summary prepared for those who missed the episode, capturing both the intellectual engagement and comedic flavor that defines Real Time’s Overtime panel.

Transcript

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[Bill Maher]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Does any preset.

[Scott Galloway]

Thank you, Scott.

[Bill Maher]

Nice to meet you. Glad to meet you. Are we ready to introduce these people now? Yes. Nobody tells me what's going on.

[Scott Galloway]

All right.

[Bill Maher]

He's a marketing professor and author of the best selling book Notes on Being a Man. Scott Galloway. He hosts Faree Zakaria GPS on CNN and is author of Age of Revolutions. Fareed Zakaria. And he's a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and hosts the podcast Central Air. Josh Barrow. Okay, If you miss the show itself, Scott is trading on my applauding him for telling young men to drink not to excess just so you can talk to a girl. Okay. It does help get your courage up. I mean, it absolutely does.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. Well, we were talking about safetyism before and all the ways it's hurt things when they think they're doing a good job with making everything childproof for the world. And nobody ever dies, but, you know, there are always some other side to it. All right, let's get to the people's questions. This week, the US Mint pressed its final pennies. Wasn't this long overdue? Yes.

[Scott Galloway]

Yes. Yeah, it costs them more to make a penny than a penny is worth.

[Bill Maher]

It's amazing it took this long.

[Scott Galloway]

I liked John Levitt's proposal. He wants to have 10, 20, and 50 cent coins and we can get rid of the whole second decimal place. Prices will just be in a tenth of a dollar instead of a hundredth.

[Bill Maher]

Jon Lovitz from Saturday Night Live.

[Scott Galloway]

No, Jon Lovitz from like Pod Save. Maybe they should team up.

[Bill Maher]

Vince, what are we quoting.

[Fareed Zakaria]

As the famous philosopher?

[Bill Maher]

And what does Carrot Top say about it? Yeah, yes, of course. I mean it's amazing that I used to do this as an example of how the once a program starts, no matter what it is mohair subsidies, whatever, you Covid some Covid stuff.

[Fareed Zakaria]

But you remember the mohair subsidies is an amazing one cuz it was started in World War II because Mohair is what you used for army uniforms. I think it finally got repealed in 2010.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, it did?

[Fareed Zakaria]

Yeah. So World War II ended 1945 as I recall.

[Bill Maher]

But I mean our. Speaking of that, I mean our healthcare system is really based on on World War II era thinking about health care. Remember they couldn't pay people for some reason and so they paid them in health care. That's how we got this employer based system. It doesn't have to be that way.

[Scott Galloway]

It wasn't even really thinking. It was that they set wage controls to try to get to stop inflation from getting out of control during the war. And so companies to get around them started giving people health insurance as a benefit because they couldn't actually raise their wages. So it was like a kludge. And then it evolved into our whole system.

[Bill Maher]

Good riddance to the pen. What is Spotify going to use to pay recording artists?

[Scott Galloway]

Now.

[Bill Maher]

That'S good. Oh yeah.

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[Bill Maher]

Hello friends. Guess who? That's right, it is I, the replacer. Once again, I've been called on to so you can play the new Call of Duty Black Ops 7. With three expansive modes, 18 multiplayer maps, and the tastiest zombie gameplay you've ever frickin seen. Call of Duty Black Ops 7 available now. Rated M for mature.

[Josh Barrow]

Baking.

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[Bill Maher]

Here's another one. Should we eliminate daylight savings time? That's a perfect follow up question. Because it's another bullshit thing based on.

[Scott Galloway]

People love to complain about this, but they're really just mad that there's less daylight in the winter.

[Bill Maher]

Yes, that's why we're mad. Right.

[Scott Galloway]

But the government, they can't change the axial tilt of the earth what Daylight savings time does.

[Bill Maher]

No, but we couldn't we make it worse?

[Scott Galloway]

No, no, we make it better. Because if you don't change the clocks, then you waste a bunch of time. Like the sun will rise at 4:30 in the morning in the summer and people are asleep. They don't get to enjoy the daylight this way. Most people get to wake up approximately a little bit after the sun comes up and then they can enjoy as much daylight as is available in the day. And the reason, you know, we fight over this all the time. The Nixon administration did this. They got rid of daylight saving time. And what they found was that people were really angry because they were waking up. They kept it on daylight saving time. So it was like in the winter, the sunrise was really late and people were really mad. They were like, oh, my kid has to walk to school in the dark now. And it was supposed to be a two year experiment. They ended it early because people got so mad. They brought it back to the system that we have. It's, you know, people, people will just complain about anything. They're always mad that it's dark in the winter, but they'll complain even more if you actually, if you actually drink.

[Fareed Zakaria]

So I get, we all get paid to have opinions on everything. I have no opinion on this.

[Bill Maher]

I do.

[Fareed Zakaria]

The daylight savings experts in America, they can have it out. I'll accept whatever the experts are.

[Bill Maher]

I guess I'm pissed off because I don't live on this schedule. That's why. Right.

[Scott Galloway]

When do you wake up?

[Bill Maher]

Closer to noon than dawn.

[Fareed Zakaria]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And I'm up yet. All right, this is for you, Scott. Does the sports gambling scandal reflect a larger societal problem? I guess they mean that both in basketball now and in baseball, we've had two scandals where the players were in on it. That hasn't happened in a while. Does this reflect a larger societal problem?

[Josh Barrow]

Yeah, you could argue that the most profitable companies in the world tap into a flaw in our instincts. And since we came off the savannah, absence of salty, sugary Fatty foods, absence of mating opportunities and absence of. So we become addicted to trans fats, addicted to porn, addicted to gambling apps because we're not used to the institutional production. Our instincts haven't cut up to the institutional production. Gambling is probably a real. Unfortunately another thing that's tapping into a pretty immature male brain that wants More DOPA hits 1 out of 2 college age males bet on the super bowl and you're going to see probably the biggest IPOs of next year will be calcium polymarket because now they're trying to pretend that it's not gambling. If you're betting on a mayoral race. The reality is when you legalize gambling in a state you see bankruptcies go up 30% and this is not investing. It's essentially again putting Vegas in people's pockets and it's going to have really negative externalities. I'm not entirely sure what you do about it because you don't need to want to infantilize people, but you need to, you need to educate young men. To be clear, you're not investing, you're gambling. And the only reason these companies are going to have the biggest IPOs next year is because over the medium and long term, it's impossible to lose. So have a good time, have at it. I love Vegas. But be clear, you're going to lose all your money.

[Fareed Zakaria]

You know they say that, they say that these GLPs actually decrease your desire for gambling. Have you found that you're less glp?

[Bill Maher]

Is that Ozempic?

[Fareed Zakaria]

That's Ozempic and wegovy.

[Scott Galloway]

I have not. I mean I'm not a huge gambler. I'll go to Vegas, I'll play some craps, I'll play poker. It hasn't changed my, my desires around that. But I think that, you know, the crazy thing with these scandals is they're not even betting on the games. They're betting on things like will the next pitch be faster than 97 miles an hour?

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Scott Galloway]

So you can bet on every pitch.

[Bill Maher]

Every pitch.

[Scott Galloway]

And that means that if you're a pitcher you can just. All you have to do is flub one pitch. You don't have to have to conspire with the rest of your team to lose the game. So I don't, I think legalizing sports gambling has not gone great. I would be happy to see us go back to the old system. But one other thing they could do is they could prohibit some of these proposition bets that are especially vulnerable to these kind of scandals and then also go to this kind of degenerate behavior. It's like, why do you have to bet on every individual pitch? Can't you watch the baseball game and maybe just bet on who's gonna win.

[Josh Barrow]

The game.

[Bill Maher]

Or just enjoy the game?

[Fareed Zakaria]

But I wonder, I mean, of course I agree with you. I wonder, once technology has been unleashed and you can do all this, if you ban it in America, won't they just set it up in the Cayman Islands and then you do it through there?

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I mean, I think the other thing we're seeing is it's pretty easy to catch the people who do these schemes. A lot of these proact athletes are not that bright. And like, if there's like a whole bunch of huge bets on random actions of some not especially famous player. Like it's, it's, it's like, like it's easy if, like, you know, if you get a leaked copy of the earnings report and you buy a ton of options three hours before it comes out, the SEC will catch you. Sort of similar stuff here where, like some people will just go to.

[Fareed Zakaria]

Unless you're a congressman.

[Bill Maher]

What is the panel's reaction to the turmoil at the BBC over how they edited Trump's January 6th comments? Well, they did do him dirty, there's no doubt about it. They, they purposely put together something to make it look like he didn't say what he said.

[Fareed Zakaria]

The tragedy is what he said was bad enough. Why did you have to doctor it? I mean, I don't understand it.

[Bill Maher]

It was.

[Josh Barrow]

Well, you know.

[Bill Maher]

Because that one to me was never a smoking gun. Now, do I think he should have handled January 6th differently? Very much so, I do. But it was always. But you can pull out the thing where he says peaceful protests. He used the word peaceful. It was always murky to me. The crime was always simply never conceding the election.

[Fareed Zakaria]

Calling up the Georgia secretary saying, fine.

[Bill Maher]

Me 11,000 votes, but that wasn't that day.

[Scott Galloway]

And waiting for like three hours to try to call the mob off.

[Bill Maher]

Right, but I'm talking from the whole time the election was over till this very moment. He still hasn't done it. When you don't concede elections, yes, they're going to be.

[Fareed Zakaria]

That's my point is there's plenty of stuff that he's done that you just have to list as you just did. You don't need to make stuff up. You don't need AI for this, you know.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Josh Barrow]

Traditional media does a better job of fact. Don't we hold them to an entirely different standard. Fox News knows that they're spreading misinformation about voting machines being weaponized by Hugo Chavez. They knew it was a lie. They continue to promote that misinformation. They get fined three quarters of a billion dollars. What happened on Fox was a dumpster fire compared to the nuclear mushroom cloud that happens every three minutes on social media. Two thirds of Americans get their news from social media, and yet they are held to absolutely no standards. And when the BBC fucks up, we are hairs on fire. Why on earth are we not applying anything resembling the same standards for algorithmically elevated content to these quote unquote nascent platforms? I get that the BBC screwed up, but by that standard, where we're getting two thirds of our news screws up about a million times a second. There's a double standard here. We need to make big tech and where people get their news a fraction as accountable as we want to hold the BBC or CNN or Time Warner. A double standard. It needs to end.

[Bill Maher]

Here's one for you. What is the arc of happiness in life? Oh, that's in your book.

[Josh Barrow]

It's very straightforward.

[Bill Maher]

Why are the ages of 24? You said, and again, I'm not the typical one. I guess because I don't get up when people get up. This is exactly the opposite of my thing. But I remember reading it in your book and what you say is the arc of happiness is people tend to be pretty happy until about 25, and then from 25 to 45 are the difficult years. And then you get a little happier again later. I mean, I hated up until 25, and then it got good.

[Josh Barrow]

That's unusual. So.

[Bill Maher]

Well done. I don't think it's that unreasonable.

[Josh Barrow]

Okay. Across ethnicities, income groups and cultures, the research is really clean. If you across an age spectrum, happiness is a smile. 0 to 25 is prom. Star wars making out. It's pretty good. Generally speaking, it's pretty good.

[Bill Maher]

I didn't go to prom. 25 and making out.

[Josh Barrow]

25 to 45 is what I call the shit gets real part of your life. And that is regardless of what university your parents told you you're not gonna be a senator or have a fragrance named after you. Having kids is difficult economic strain. Someone you love a great deal and loves you gets sick and dies.

[Capella University Announcer]

Really good.

[Bill Maher]

Shit gets good, but then shit gets good era.

[Josh Barrow]

Then something wonderful happens.

[Bill Maher]

No kids.

[Josh Barrow]

About the time you hit your 50s earlier. If you're soulful, you recognize the finite nature, have friends, maybe a little bit of economic security, and you start finding joy in unusual places. You start Finding, like, I find bougainvillea fascinating now, I just would have never thought that. And so the lesson is the following.

[Fareed Zakaria]

That's a very weird aside.

[Bill Maher]

Are you sure I didn't do it right?

[Josh Barrow]

The lesson is straightforward. If you're 30 years old and you're struggling and your relationships are stressful and you have some economic stress and you think, this is just harder than I thought, that's exactly where you should be. And what I would say is, keep on keeping on. Happiness waits for you.

[Bill Maher]

To me, the bottom line, I think.

[Fareed Zakaria]

I have your next book, Bill. Your next book is going to be how I Broke all of Scott Galloway's.

[Bill Maher]

Views, and I'm rich and happy as hell. Well, I gotta say, I mean, what you're really saying, bottom line, is that the unhappy years are the years when you have kids. Kids. But it's true. Wait, I know that, but. And I've said this before, like, I have never had kids, so I can't speak first person. But unless there's a giant conspiracy going on in this country where every TV show, every movie, every person who talks about it on talk shows, talk. Presents it as a total fucking nightmare. Unless this is some giant. I heard some lady on some show the other day talking about, I just. I have never. She says, I never have one moment of peace to myself. I wish I could have just one hour where I wasn't packing lunches or doing this or doing that. And I just want to say to her, you parent. You did this to yourselves, Mike. You did. Because my parents did not feel this obligation to be on me all the time and to make every moment of my life their concern.

[Josh Barrow]

Look, to be fair, there is some research showing that people are actually less happy who have kids than those that don't. What I would say, though. What I would say, though, is that, one, I find with my kids, they're getting less awful every day.

[Fareed Zakaria]

And two, that's a vote of confidence.

[Bill Maher]

Hold on.

[Scott Galloway]

Are they gonna watch this?

[Josh Barrow]

If we're gonna get spiritual about this, there are moments where I think that you feel most purposeful and think, maybe I'm here for a reason. When you're in the company or kids, and I'm sure that's true, that you feel like the opportunity to raise patriotic, loving, you know, men or women with someone else. I do think that checks an instinctual box that at least I've had a difficult time replicating anywhere. When I was in your shoes, it was always more, I want more money. I want more relevance. I want more dates. I want more amazing experiences. I was never stated. The only time I ever.

[Bill Maher]

Sounds awful.

[Josh Barrow]

The only time I ever feel sated is occasionally when I'm in the company of my kids and I feel like they're safe. So anyways, as I've said before on the show, have kids. It's the best thing you'll ever do.

[Bill Maher]

To ruin your life. Amen. All right, thank you very much, everybody.

[Announcer]

Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill movie every Friday night at 10 or watch them anytime on HBO on Demand. For more information, log on to hbo.com.

[Bill Maher]

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[Josh Barrow]

So that means. Means half day.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Give it a [e-mail] switch.

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[Josh Barrow]

Com.