The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

Episode Title: Kai Ryssdal on Why the Economy Isn’t as Strong as It Looks
Date: February 19, 2026
Host: Scott Galloway
Guest: Kai Ryssdal (Host, Marketplace)

Episode Overview

In this wide-ranging conversation, Scott Galloway and Kai Ryssdal dig into why headline economic indicators—like the record stock market and GDP growth—don’t align with the everyday lived reality of most Americans. They break down why the economy feels so “split screen,” the impacts and limits of the current AI boom, persistent income inequality, generational anxiety, and the crucial role of economic strikes and consumer action. The back half of the episode pivots into personal territory, covering Kai’s life, career, code of conduct, and views on everything from public radio to the military, in characteristic candid style.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The “Split Screen” Economy

• Tension Between “Boom” and “Gloom”
  • Stock market & GDP growth are “at record highs” but mostly fueled by AI enthusiasm and affluent consumer spending ([09:27]).
  • Everyday Americans face a “slowing jobs market,” “affordability concerns” and “consumer sentiment near historic lows.”
• Kai’s Take:

  “It’s a mixed bag... We’re sort of in a labor market period of great, great uncertainty. Low hire, low fire. People aren’t leaving their jobs... The lack of opportunity and all that. At the same time, corporate America... is doing really well. The gap between the richest one percent and 99.9% of the rest... is getting bigger and just not sustainable.” ([10:22])

2. AI’s Economic Impact

• AI is Real, But a Bubble?
  • Kai sees AI as a “bubble” akin to crypto:

    “AI will be the future—it’s just not there yet... It’s a little bit like crypto, right? Crypto will be the future of money. It is not the future of money right now.” ([11:18])

  • Immediate negative effects are apparent for “entry-level... 23-25 year old workers.”
• Corporate Spending & Debt:
  “The spending is really circular... OpenAI giving Nvidia a zillion dollars for their chips and that money gets straggled back... that’s not sustainable.” ([11:18])

3. Inflation, Tariffs & Affordability

• Companies Passing on Costs: “Something between 94 and 96% of tariff costs are passed through directly to American businesses and consumers... Businesses have been taking that hit... right now they’re getting fed up.” ([12:46])
• Price Hikes Coming: “We are going to see those prices tick up by sort of high-ish single digits that will have a knock-on effect on inflation... Companies saying, you know what, consumers—you got to pay a little bit more now.” ([12:46])

4. Income Inequality at a Breaking Point

• Historical Comparison:
  • France’s pre-revolution Gini coefficient was 81. “Some reports say that the U.S. right now is at 83.” ([14:09])
• Kai: “As history demonstrates... when that’s happened, [corrections come] but not without a little bit of societal stress... so much of the wealth... is now going to capital as opposed to labor. That’s just upside down from the thing that made this economy great in the 40s, 50s, and 60s... This ain’t it.” ([14:45])
• Leadership Vacuum:
  “Where does the leadership come from? Right now, we’re not seeing leadership... Republicans going along with the president because they are afraid... Democrats can’t decide what they’re for. Where is the rallying cry to say this cannot stand?” ([15:45])

5. Prediction Markets: Accurate or Overhyped?

• Kai: “They are kind of a black box... We don’t know who are making these bets... Wisdom of crowds and all that, but you have to take it with a really big grain of salt.” ([17:02])
• Potential Impact:
  • Scott wonders if increasingly, policymakers and traders might end up “following” the signals from such markets in ways that affect actual decisions ([18:34]).

6. Generational Anxiety & Youth Disillusionment

• Young People’s Negative Outlook:
  • Scott: “Young people seem especially upset or a lot of lack of... confidence in our institutions.” ([23:06])
  • Kai: “It’s not just 25-year-olds today, it’s 25-year-olds looking at... income inequality, broken politics, no national ambition... There is none of that shared experience in America today.” ([23:33])
• Role Models and Modern Cynicism:
  • Scott: “If you’re 21, dominant political role model has been Trump... performative, coarseness, virality, all about money.” ([24:41])
  • Kai: “Zero shame, zero common purpose.” ([25:07])

7. The Military, Service, and ‘Code’

• What Service Teaches:
  “It is an obligation to something bigger than yourself... It is loyalty, and it is mission first... military is not for everybody... but some kind of national service at this point in our history... is a valuable thing.” ([28:11])
• On the Nobility & Cost of Service:
  “For me, [the military] was an opportunity to serve... to refine and help define my character... I had done everything I joined the Navy to do.” ([31:24])
  • On hardships: “The idea we have American enlisted people on food stamps is insane and embarrassing.” ([32:47])

8. The Risks of “Chaos” Leadership & Military

• Moves in the Middle East:
  “President of the United States is a chaos agent... carrier strike force [movement] is a show of force... Tried and true presidential tactic—lots of people have done it.” ([33:30])

9. Audience Q&A and Personal Reflections

• Money Management:
  “I have zero control over the money in my household... My wife is the brains in the family... More substantively, I should not [as a journalist] have even a hint of an interest in a story we do about Amazon or Nvidia.” ([36:52])
• Career Inflection Points:
  • Getting into radio at 34, “surrounded by 19-year-olds” as an intern:
    “KQED taught me everything I need to know about radio... and here I am 25 years later.” ([42:34])
• On Beer and Weekends:
  • All-time favorite beer: “Stone IPA from Stone Breweries... these days, a good solid hazy IPA” ([38:10])
  • Weekends spent refereeing soccer, working out, and home repairs.
  • “I am handy by virtue of owning a home for 25 years.” ([38:58])
  • On refereeing: “It’s a high speed leadership test while at the same time, you as the referee, have to be the calmest guy on the field.” ([39:53])

10. Public Radio, Media Ownership, and Funding

• Bezos & The Post:
  • “It’s a travesty... Bezos was not able to capitalize on the changes in the news environment... The newsroom shrank... 300 more people out the door... It’s a loss... for what it says about journalism and how we are now at the whimsical... whim of incredibly wealthy people, and that's no way to run a democracy.” ([45:31])
• Underleveraged Media Asset:
  • Kai would form a consortium of the top public radio stations and reform its governance:

    “It is truly an underleveraged asset, both in terms of its financial abilities... and in its structure.” ([47:12])

• Revenue Model & Funding Challenges:
  • “As we all know, the federal government no longer supports public media... the real funding challenge... the big program providers are having to subsidize smaller stations and organizations... Then, of course, we have advertising—underwriting, and then we have philanthropy... But we need to scale it better than we have.” ([49:50])

11. Economic Strikes & Withholding Money as Power

• Consumer Action:

  “The best lever consumers have in this economy is to not consume.” ([51:33]) “The most significant thing we can do is withhold our money. And that’s the way you get people’s attention... get the CEO’s attention... your supermarket’s attention.” ([51:52])

• Scott summarizes:

  “The most significant thing we can do is withhold our money. Kai Rysdal is a genius.” ([52:22])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Kai Rysdal on the labor market:

  “People aren’t leaving their jobs anymore. It’s at historic lows because they’re afraid they can’t get another job. That’s bad.” ([10:22])

• Kai on future of work:

  “AI will be a future of this economy, but it’s not yet, it’s not right now.” ([11:18])

• On societal stress and inequality:

  “A society can’t work when everybody doesn’t have what the top tenth percent has.” ([16:11])

• On military values:

  “It is an obligation to something bigger than yourself. It is loyalty, and it is mission first. That said, military is not for everybody... but national service... is a valuable thing.” ([28:11])

• On the decline of public media:

  “The federal government no longer supports public media... We’re scrambling... That’s actually the real funding challenge.” ([49:50])

• The power of consumer action:

  “The best lever consumers have in this economy is to not consume.” ([51:33])

Important Timestamps

• 09:27 – Intro to “split screen” economy
• 10:22 – Kai on labor market uncertainty and income inequality
• 11:18 – AI bubble and impact on jobs
• 12:46 – Companies passing tariff costs to consumers
• 14:45 – Societal reactions to income inequality and comparison to history
• 15:45 – Discussion on American leadership vacuum
• 17:02 – The pros and cons of prediction markets
• 23:33 – Youth anxiety and generational outlook
• 28:11 – Military service and developing a code
• 36:52 – On money management and journalistic ethics
• 45:31 – Critique of Jeff Bezos’ stewardship of the Washington Post
• 49:50 – Public radio’s funding dilemma
• 51:33 – On economic strikes and consumer power

Tone & Language

Throughout the episode, both Scott and Kai speak bluntly, often with wry humor and occasional colorful language. The tone is frank, direct, but never cynical—always insisting on the potential for change, whether through economic action or service. Kai’s measured, reasoned delivery balances Scott’s edge, creating a thoughtful, yet engaging conversational style.

Final Word

This episode is essential listening for anyone trying to reconcile America’s “booming” headline figures with the anxiety and challenges felt on Main Street, and it offers both insight and catharsis for listeners hungry for honesty about our economic, social, and political moment. Kai Ryssdal’s blend of macroeconomic clarity and personal philosophy makes this conversation a standout in the Prof G Pod library.