Pivot · Aug 9, 2024

Tim Walz, X vs. Advertisers, and Global Markets Bounce Back

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 50:53. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Scott Galloway · 50:53 Around someone, and they were asking if, you know, if if people at the company were concerned about it. And I said, can I try to get something through to you? They don't care. They don't care. Like, nobody... The people who are for Trump do not care that he's racist. Do They not care he's misogynist. They don't care. And that, I think, is is something you would have to get your head around. The same thing with Elon. These people who follow him, he's accountable to no one. He's the richest person in the world, and this is something UK's technology said, he's accountable to no one. Yeah. He controls very... In this case, both of them could control very important things, right? And so, no, I think people who follow him like him and they don't go, oh, look. He was wrong again. Look. He was wrong again. Look. Was... Remember he was backing DeSantis, and then he was backing RFK Jr. Then he was... You know, he's been wrong frequently. It just doesn't... They drop... One of the strengths of misinformation is when you have a piece of misinformation and it doesn't turn out to be true, you move to the next one. Right? You don't stay here and go, oh, you don't have a contemplation situation? And I... Let me tell you, years... I started talking about my mom, but I did an interview with Hillary Clinton. And a couple days later, my mom called me and she goes she goes, Hillary Clinton's saying terrible things about people like me. And I'm like, what? What are they... What is she saying now? And she started repeating things. I'm like, well, that sounds like my interview, but that's not what I... What she said. Right? It was completely... It was a complete mutation of what she said, like a very vicious one. And I said, no. No. That was my interview. She didn't say that. And my mother said, oh, she said it. And I was like, no. She didn't. She said it to me. I'm your daughter and I did the interview. She did not say that. No. You're wrong. She said it. This was a conversation I had. So I said, why don't you go back and listen to the interview and then call me back? And she listened to it, she called me back. She was okay. She didn't say it. But let me talk about the emails. Like, moved... Like, the fact that she was wrong was not something that mattered. Yep. So I think that's what's happened here. Guest · 52:55 Onto the next onto the Scott Galloway · 52:56 next Yeah. Because... Then Elon keeps up the bread and circuses with them. Right? So now Guest · 53:01 Yeah. He'll be onto something new by next week. Right? Scott Galloway · 53:03 No. Oh, no. And then he attacks trans people. His daughter is giving him a lesson in social media. Guest · 53:08 I saw that. Scott Galloway · 53:09 Terrific. She's really good. She... It's interesting because her sense of humor is not unlike the way his used to be, which was... She's very clever. She's she's killing it on social media, I have to say, because she's sick of her father putting stuff out about her in her life that isn't true and has apparently decided that's enough. I've had enough of you and taking... Stealing my narrative, which I think is great. Anyway, I I recommend, everybody following her. Okay, Noelle. Let's pivot to a listener question. This question came in via email. I'll read it. Given VP Harris's instant success on the TikTok platform, I'm curious what you both think will happen at TikTok should VP Harris win the presidency. How will this influence the congress's position on TikTok? Thanks. Ian from Chicago. PS, love the show. Just for clarification, last week, a spokesperson for Harris said... The VP has said before, we don't want to ban TikTok. We would just like to see a change in ownership. Now, of course, that's the situation which congress passed, which it will ban TikTok if it doesn't have a change of ownership. So she's for banning TikTok, I guess. It's kind of Guest · 54:19 a little wordplay there. But your thoughts? I don't think anything's gonna change because TikTok is powerful. I get it. I don't think Kamala Harris is gonna change any of her positions because a lot of people made memes about her. I don't think that changes her mind at all. I think she she probably thinks it's great if it helps her win an election, but I don't I don't I don't see a link here. I don't see a link. Scott Galloway · 54:39 Yeah. I think she's not gonna... I think congress has passed this law. We'll see where it goes. There'll be a... Probably be a change of ownership. We'll see what the Chinese government does. But I suspect knowing her a little bit, she is a lawyer at heart. Right? She's a litigator. And she probably does understand this better than Biden never could, like that the that the that the constitutional issues are quite significant here in terms of banning this thing, and it may not ever go anywhere. So I I think she knows a little bit more about where it's headed. Secondly, probably in terms of national security, she probably has more heft in that regard. So as with a lot of things with Harrison, I love your comments, is she seems to be trying to go right down the metal on everything, like, whether it was now fracking or or Gaza or whatever. She seems to be trying to take a very modulated position. I think she'll do that here. What about you? Guest · 55:33 Yeah. Yeah. I think she's... I think she has to. I mean, the the critique is gonna be she's a wild eyed lefty. Look at her positions in the 2020 campaign, which did not go well for her. And so her moving more into the center absolutely makes a lot of sense to me. She wants to win an election. She is not she is not trying to distinguish herself from a Joe Biden and a Beto O'Rourke, whoever the heck. I can't... Was four years ago. I can't remember. But there were so many of them. She's not trying to distinguish herself from all those guys and gals this time. She's trying to win an election, and moderating is a way to do that. — Predictions segment begins — Scott Galloway · 56:10 Yeah. I I have to tell you having covered... Having known her since she was district attorney in San Francisco even before she was running for that. Very No kidding. Yeah. When she was a local prosecutor. You know, I remember going to one of her when my son was just a baby. It's a very funny story. He threw a a biscuit at her head and she came over and she goes, I'm gonna arrest him. It was very cute. And I have found her not very liberal, honestly. For San Francisco, she's very conservative, and I've always found her a modulating person. I think that 2020 thing was... She's always seems to find the center even with... I used to argue with her about Internet stuff. I'm like, you could be a little tougher, but she's always like, on one hand, on the other, she's a little more... I I never found her to be a while. I I know a lot of liberals from San Francisco, and she wasn't... She... I wouldn't have put her in that bucket in any way. She she loved the tech moguls. She she wasn't, like, hostile to them. She was she was critical, but not hostile. You know? I don't know. I think it's kind of a lie that she's a crazy liberal, but she's not. I don't know. We'll see. But she... 2020, she certainly definitely went down that road. Anyway, if you've got a question of your own that you like answered, send it our way. It's a good question. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show or call 85551 Alright, Noelle. One more quick break. We'll be back for predictions. Okay, Noelle. We're gonna do a round robin of predictions here, so get ready. Who's gonna play Tim Walls on Saturday Night Live this year? A lot of people are clamoring for Steve Martin to play him, but Martin says he declined and that they obviously asked him. They need a real impressionist to do it. Maya Rudolph has already been signed on to play Kamala. She's done a fantastic job, by the way, so far. Thoughts? Guest · 58:00 I'm gonna confess. I do have a tiny bit of face blindness, and so everybody looks like everybody else to me. So Tim Walls, I'm having... I'm actually having trouble with his face. Scott Galloway · 58:09 John Goodman? Yeah. I was thinking that. John Goodman. Were you really? Yeah. Guest · 58:14 John Goodman. I googled... Earlier today, I googled actors that look like a dad. Mhmm. John Goodman came up, so that was how I Scott Galloway · 58:20 came Roseanne. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Speaking of which, the bear. We're not gonna go there. Even she crazy Roseanne thought it was crazy. So I I think John Goodman's a good idea. John Goodman. Although they might get someone you don't know. Like, they've done a great job with, replacing Alec Baldwin with a guy who's doing Trump very well. Guest · 58:38 Who does the great impressions. Right. Exactly. Steve Martin's point. Scott Galloway · 58:41 Yeah. So I don't know. I think Steve Martin would have been good. But but Maya Rudolph is brilliant. There's there's there's a lot of compilations of her doing Kamala Harris, and they're very funny. They're they're much funnier now, and they're actually on point. There is one where she does a song. My name is Kamala. It rhymes with momma la. You know, she does this song. That's very funny. Anyway, well, it's it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun. And, also, there's the bear with RRFK junior. There's J. D. Vance's Creepitude. There's so much for senator... Anyway, last one. The DNC is a little, over a week away. We'll be hearing a, a lot from politicians. Who do you think the entertainment will be and should be? You get several choices. Go ahead. Guest · 59:25 Oh, should be. Okay. Will be Charlie x c x, Miranda Lambert, Tracy Chapman, and Luke Combs still crying over that. I don't know. Entertainment is a place where I'm not very good. But Scott Galloway · 59:39 Name names. It doesn't have to be it doesn't have to be entertainers. Guest · 59:42 I mean, so Taylor wouldn't do it. Beyonce wouldn't do it. Like, there are people who are just too big. Mhmm. I Are they? Are they? Do you think no? Say more. Scott Galloway · 59:52 I think they should do it. I think the two of them... Here's my idea. The two of them, Beyonce and Taylor Swift Guest · 59:58 Holy shit. Scott Galloway · 59:59 Sing America the Beautiful. I think that's the song. This... I forget the name of it. It's the one... God shed his grace on thee, which is my favorite one because it's nice. And then the the star spangled banner, they sing it together. They sing it together. And then they both do, the the big note that's hard to get to at the top, land of the free. There's there's an expression. They they put it on such a note so high nobody can reach it. It's a great line. They do it together. Guest · 1:00:25 You're gonna be inside the convention. Scott Galloway · 1:00:27 I know. Guest · 1:00:28 You may see it. You may Scott Galloway · 1:00:29 see That's what I would do. Here's what I would do. Simone Biles as a speaker. Guest · 1:00:33 Love it. Scott Galloway · 1:00:34 Love it. Her... She did such a good black job. Guest · 1:00:37 And she she did the best black job. She was... She just... I love Simone Biles always smiling. Scott Galloway · 1:00:43 I would love to hear a speech from her. Even her interviews, she's so... Like, I... I'm like, can... Say more. Say more, please. Guest · 1:00:50 She's magnetic. Magnetic. She is a magnetic person. Truly. Scott Galloway · 1:00:54 I was trying to think Ryan Reynolds, you know, because he has a big hit movie, like Barbie. I don't know. Guest · 1:01:01 Bar... Margot Robbie, so so inoffensive, a delightful woman. Scott Galloway · 1:01:04 Issue Ray. Issue Ray. She was president in Barbie. Anyway, stuff like that. But, like, take the flags, take patriotism, take... Switch the word from, you know, the risk to democracy to we're for freedom. That's the kind of thing they need to do. And she's gotta be an entertainer. I I still think Taylor Swift. She did that that picture. You saw that picture she did. Right? Guest · 1:01:27 I did, and it is unclear to me what happened because isn't isn't her campaign Taylor's campaign... Aren't they denying that it is a shadow of Kamala Harris in the picture? Scott Galloway · 1:01:37 It's it's a dancer of hers. I think... It's a dancer of Guest · 1:01:40 hers who looks like Kamala Harris in Yes. Scott Galloway · 1:01:42 Why did she pick that picture? No. No. I don't believe the people of Taylor Swift land because she does this all the time. There are... She literally goes into liner notes and puts little Easter eggs. She's an Easter egg lady. Like, she does this. She does it all the time with word wordplay and everything else. Anybody else? Anyone else you'd like to see up there? Guest · 1:02:01 Oh, I mean, who did the RNC have? Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan? Scott Galloway · 1:02:05 Who's sort of gone to the middle? Very clearly conservative. Now, The Rock. He's conservative. Whatever. Oh, The Rock. Yeah. Guest · 1:02:13 Somebody wrote a very smart line about him the other day about The Rock understanding the marketplace so well that you never really know where he's you never really know where he's at. But he's good at it. He's very good at it. Remember people were talking about the rock for president? Scott Galloway · 1:02:25 Moana two's coming up. Is it really? Guest · 1:02:27 I didn't know they were making a second movie. Scott Galloway · 1:02:29 See, this is why I know you're a childless cat cat or dog owner. Guest · 1:02:32 Because I don't know what the... Yes. You and JD Vance, go ahead and mock me. I have a pug. I have a pug. Scott Galloway · 1:02:39 He does know Moana's coming, I'm guessing. If he has small kids, anyone who has a small kids, Moana two, Frozen three and four, More and Frozen. It's a... And a live action Moana's. Frozen is the vein of every parent's existence. You must be so pleased not to know about it. — Predictions segment ends — Guest · 1:02:55 My niece will sing the songs, I'm like, go for it. I'm here for ten minutes. Go for it, girl. Scott Galloway · 1:03:01 I actually texted Bob Ijaz. I go, go fuck yourself. How dare Guest · 1:03:04 this to me? Using your connection God. Scott Galloway · 1:03:09 No. Stop it. You know? And then he wrote back. He goes, mom, wanna two coming. And I was like, ah, whatever. Good luck. Good luck. They're doing great with Inside Out too. But you don't have to care about these things. You get to go to adult movies where adults are. It's so nice. Must be nice. Anyway, that's the show. Tell us what you have coming up on Today Explained. Guest · 1:03:29 Lots of news. News of the day, every day, one great story, dive in. We make it fun for you. You'll love it. Scott Galloway · 1:03:36 What's your favorite nonpolitical news right now? Guest · 1:03:39 Oh, oh, nonpolitical news. Okay. Wait. Let me just see what's coming up. Oh, should I have done this? I'm doing a show about online dating on which... In which I share with listeners what I do when I'm not online dating. And, yeah, you'd have to tune in. I'm not sure this is gonna go over well. Scott Galloway · 1:03:57 I never online dated. Guest · 1:03:59 You didn't? Oh, I hate you. No. I... I've been I've Scott Galloway · 1:04:02 been going out with someone since seventh grade. I have never been single. Just for a month, I was single for a month. Guest · 1:04:08 Wow. I am filled with resentment. Scott Galloway · 1:04:11 Don't be. Because I was literally like, I just... I don't understand it. I just... Lesbian. It's easier being a lesbian. I'll tell you that. Crap. Yeah. We'll see. Well, I've also been divorced, so I've broken up with lots of people, so it's not been that that smooth letting. Honestly, my wife should divorce me. She's wonderful. Anyway, we'll be back on Tuesday with more pivot. Noel, thank you so much for doing this, and I recommend everybody listen to Today Explain. Great show. Great host. Guest · 1:04:38 Thanks for having me. Thank you. Scott Galloway · 1:04:40 I will read us out. Today's show was produced by Lara Naaman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Aaliyah Jackson engineered this episode. Nishat Curra 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 and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com/pod. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. And, Noelle, thank you so much for being on the show, and everybody listened to Today Explain. [Ad break]