Kara Swisher · 37:43
It's always been... You know, you read a story every now and again about this terrible issue of how much food we have and how much it goes to waste. And there's all kinds of reasons for it, perishability and things like that. But I've always sort of been amazed that no one's really taken on this issue, in a way that would match food to people who are food insecure.
Scott Galloway · 38:01
Yeah. I I find it jarring when you see some of these statistics, come come sort of full force in the midst of a pandemic. And I think there's just no getting around it. If our national character, I think has been revealed to be a lack of character. And it's not just about food companies. Think, as I always do, I go to World War II with immediately when the war broke out, a Chrysler factory, was converted to a factory. And within two weeks, they were building Bradley tanks. And over the course of the war, that one factory in Michigan punched out more tanks than the entire Third Reich. Yeah. What company has immediately converted to fighting this pandemic?
Kara Swisher · 38:45
And also, it happened with PPE too. The p p... The the PPE, this stuff. It was just everything we do needs to be coordinated federally in, like, in things like this. Reminds me
Scott Galloway · 38:55
of Percent.
Kara Swisher · 38:55
But you could see, like, a Whole Foods or Amazon or delivery grocery partners responding to this.
Scott Galloway · 39:00
That's a plan. That would be a great It's not just big food. They should have said, okay. We have a 110,000,000 households. All of them need to be tested every week. So we need Glaxo, Amazon, Walmart, Apple. We need all of you to come together, and we
Kara Swisher · 39:14
need But they had that press conference. It was a bullshit press conference.
Scott Galloway · 39:17
We need all of you to come together. Profits are at an all time high. Nasdaq's at an all time high. And today today, we have more deaths and more infections eight months into the pandemic. So, okay, if the markets are at an all time high, savings rates are at an all time high, your stock is at an all time high, and more Americans are dying every day, than perhaps perhaps corporate America under the auspices of leadership and quite frankly, sacrifice. You know what we also did in World War two? Everyone's talking about their individual liberties to wear a fucking mask. We put 5,000 men in jail who avoided the draft because we decided this is about sacrifice. And you may think it's individual liberty to say, well, World War one was a terrible war. I'm not I'm not signing up for the draft. Fine. We're putting your ass in jail. There is no leadership. There is no mandatory federalization of our supply chain around food, around testing, and it also... And and and no one individual wants to disarm unilaterally. I think a guy like Doug McMillan would absolutely participate in this, but he's not gonna do it on his
Kara Swisher · 40:15
press con... If you remember, you've forgotten that press conference, Trump had. He he dragged them all out without masks, of course, when they said they're gonna do this in the parking lot of Walmart and this and and in CVS. I forget who else. He had a whole bunch in there, but it was all bullshit. One, because Jared Kushner organized it, and two, Peter Navarro was wandering somewhere around doing it. And so the inclination was there. But you you know, one of the problems is with food deserts after we come out of this pandemic, we already had grocery issues in in in poor parts of cities. Like, that there weren't enough grocery stores. There weren't enough produce. There isn't enough good food. There's a lot of shitty food in these areas, but not a lot of, healthy food. And, you know, with the delivery industry where people getting their groceries delivered now and it's expensive, that's gonna be a real there's gonna be more groceries closing everywhere, and they certainly aren't gonna be locating in areas, that are are problematic for them. And so that's really another worry and and where the grocery industry goes post corona. Well, speaking of post corona, someone has a book on it. Where does the grocery industry go?
Scott Galloway · 41:19
Well well, I'm just glad to know you care.
Kara Swisher · 41:22
Yeah. Like It's a book by Scott Byatt. It's called post corona.
Scott Galloway · 41:27
So, like, by the way, you did you did notice. Oh, I'm not even gonna... I'm What? No. I'm not I'm not gonna brag.
Kara Swisher · 41:33
Tell me.
Scott Galloway · 41:34
No. No. I'm not gonna brag. I'm not gonna brag.
Kara Swisher · 41:35
Oh, come on. You just mentioned it. You're like one of those people, like, I'm not gonna say. Not gonna say it. Say it. If you can. Number one, did you beat Jeff Bezos? No.
Scott Galloway · 41:41
No. I'm number nine on New York Times bestseller list, and I'm one... No. Number eight. I'm one position behind Doris Kearns Goodwin. Doris, I'm coming for you. Number four, Farid Zakaria, 10 lessons for a post pandemic world.
Kara Swisher · 41:54
What is his Is this nonfiction? You're number eight nonfiction?
Scott Galloway · 41:56
Seriously, Farid Zakaria, number four, his book, 10 lessons, who was a guest for a post pandemic world. What what is his publisher? BuzzFeed? The the... Anyways, I'm sorry. I... Of course, I turned back to me. Furries and Corey's
Kara Swisher · 42:10
ass too. Don't go after destroying this. Go on. Skin,
Scott Galloway · 42:13
thirty hundred forty IQ.
Kara Swisher · 42:15
Front of him. You wanna be... Anyway, your book is doing rather well. It's called Post Corona. Now give
Scott Galloway · 42:19
us Anyways, drops in that was that was awful. We're talking about food insecurity. I I I think there was a huge opportunity for an individual, whether it was Satya Nadella or Mark Benioff. I know they're civic minded to say... To call all these people in a room and to call this board and say, we're turning our company to the pandemic, and it's going to cost us shareholder value. It's going to cost us revenue. I think there was an opportunity for someone here to say, we're not punching out Buicks, we're punching out Bradley tanks. We are... The markets are at an all time high. Stocks are at an all time high. Mhmm. Homes have never been worth more. There's never been more wealth in this nation. And what company has pivoted to a crisis that is killing three times the number of people that the Axis It's power
Kara Swisher · 43:07
gotta be Amazon
Speaker · 43:07
to do this one.
Scott Galloway · 43:08
Jeff Bezos... Okay. He... He's 56. He's gonna be dead soon. Life is going faster and faster. I know this personally. No. I'm I'm the same age as Jeff Bezos.
Kara Swisher · 43:18
Alright. Years
Scott Galloway · 43:19
become seasons. Seasons are becoming months. Jeff, you're gonna be dead soon. Are you gonna be remembered for Amazon Prime or transparent? One of these guys, and let's be honest, they're almost always dudes, has an opportunity to say country, flag, and people's well-being supersedes anything here. And we are turning our attention until the vaccine is out across 60% of our society. We are turning our attention and our resources to the pandemic and to helping our brothers and sisters we call Americans, and not a single firm has done that. And there's been no leadership at the government to say, alright. You... A bunch of you have to do this. Yeah. And I just don't... It reflects such poor character on us as a nation. There's just no getting around it. So I I think it's not only disappointing from a national character standpoint, I think it's a huge missed opportunity for somebody to say, for a CEO to say, yeah, I sat down with our shareholders. I sat down with our board, and we've decided that this is the biggest existential threat of our generation. And we want to tell our grandkids. We want to tell Americans that that we we heard the call. We heard the call. And it's not just grocery. It's not just Publix or the food. Yeah.
Kara Swisher · 44:34
But groceries are important. Here's a good industry that is actually easy to do. Two companies really do come... Spring to mind to me that could really be in front of us, Uber, you know, and this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna deliver groceries. We're gonna coordinate or, because they're logistics or or Amazon. The... Those two companies should do something either together or in some way that would would be... Or Walmart and Walmart. Those are the three companies, in this case, and the groceries.
Scott Galloway · 45:00
Amazon, Walmart, Google, and Apple, because you're talking about handhelds and technology that everybody has. It's all about communications and information. So that's that's about testing and tracing. And then with Amazon and Walmart, you're talking about testing and food. Those four companies those four companies could could, in my opinion, save tens, if not hundreds of thousands of lives if they decide
Kara Swisher · 45:26
sort of tried. They tried with the tracing. It's just... It it has to have federal. It has to
Scott Galloway · 45:29
have some federal cooperation. It's a lack
Kara Swisher · 45:31
of leadership.
Scott Galloway · 45:32
It's a lack
— Predictions segment begins —
Kara Swisher · 45:32
of leadership. Question, Lila. Is it Lila or Lila? Reminder. For the month of December, we're partnering with YAPA to get more listener mail questions. They're pretty cool. Someone did a whole whiskey thing with Pappy Van Winkle for us, which was exciting, which one we were referring to James Carvel, with who I watched and enjoyed last night on MSNBC. Anyway, go to nymag.com/pivot to submit your question for the pivot podcast. That was an excellent one. Food insecurity is is a problem that we can solve in this country, and we should, more people, especially leadership, should get involved much more. People going hungry in The United States Of America is is appalling on every level. Alright, Scott. One more quick break. We'll be back for predictions. Okay, Scott. Give us a prediction. You kinda made one about a feature, not a bug, that kind of thing. I would like another one.
Scott Galloway · 46:28
Well, it about... So it doesn't happen often, but occasionally, a 45 year old man or has something happen that should have happened when he was 13 or 14, and that is his testicles descend at a later point in his life. And I think all of a sudden, Republican senators at the age of about 80 are gonna have their testicles descend, and we're gonna have the first override of a veto around this bullshit defense linking section two thirty to to defense. And
Kara Swisher · 46:56
Good one.
Scott Galloway · 46:57
And Trump has has threatened to veto. I think he's so desperate for attention and relevance that he will likely veto this defense act and demand that two thirty is attached to it. And I think all of a sudden, Republican senators for the first time are going to reach down and feel these spherical things and decide, you know, at the age of what you know, kind of in the bottom of the ninth inning to show some leadership, and I think they're gonna override the veto. So we're gonna have our first veto override in the next between That's a good one. Between December and beginning of January.
Kara Swisher · 47:33
That is an excellent prediction. I'm gonna make another prediction. I think the Democrats are gonna win both seats in Georgia. Wow. How do you like that?
Scott Galloway · 47:39
Wow. That would be really... I don't know. I think America loves balance. It's really... That it's gonna be really interesting.
Kara Swisher · 47:47
Doing the best job for Democrats ever, that crazy lawyer in in Georgia. Did you... I watched that Sidney Powell and Wood thing. They are really Yeah. Cup of conspiracy. Yeah. Several cups of conspiracy passed to crazy. But, I feel like... I don't know. I just think quietly, Cece Abrams is... They're yelling and screaming at all little tiny little rallies, and I think she's signing people up, and Yeah. She's a quiet one. You know what I mean? Like, just working her little magic. And I think... I I don't know. I think we might be surprised. I know people like balance, but I think peep... I think they're really doing everything they... We'll see what happens with Trump this weekend going to Georgia, but I think he's gonna say something crazy and and tell people not
Scott Galloway · 48:29
to vote. Much of a prediction.
Kara Swisher · 48:31
I know. But I think he's gonna tell people not to vote. Like, that he's... He has to keep up. If he keeps up the... What was fascinating, which was one of my favorite moments of all time yesterday in the in the in the in the congress, was Mike Pence administering the oath of office to Mark, from Arizona to be senator, astronaut Mark. And then it's Kirsten Cinema, whatever. I can't I can't pronounce it. She was wearing a purple wig and and a and a, like, this fantastic... I think it was a zebra coat. The whole thing. So Pence was accepting the election, like, the certified results, swearing this guy in, and then she was there, and that... And the whole scene was like... It's just one of these marvelous American scenes that I liked a lot. So
Scott Galloway · 49:16
I miss that.
Kara Swisher · 49:17
I don't know. That's my prediction. I think we're...
— Predictions segment ends —
Scott Galloway · 49:19
Think seeing of speaking of shows, I'm jumping around a lot. Have you seen industry?
Kara Swisher · 49:22
No. But I'm supposed to. Someone suggested it to us.
Scott Galloway · 49:25
I think Like it? Yeah. I'm curious. Well, I kinda lived it. I worked at Morgan Stanley right out of college, and it was Mhmm. Kind of the... It was the late eighties, and it was sort of the peak of the testosterone filled investment banking.
Kara Swisher · 49:37
Mhmm.
Scott Galloway · 49:38
You know, once... I'm not exaggerating. Once... I was very insecure. I I was, from UCLA and and most of my 70 person analyst class, and you were given this impression that you were the luckiest person in the world to be part of this analyst class. 69 of them went to, like... No. Like, 60 went to Harvard. A... Seven went to Dartmouth, and one went to INSEAD. And then there was me... Oh, I'm sorry. And, like, 20 of them were from Stanford.
Kara Swisher · 49:58
Of Scott's life.
Scott Galloway · 49:59
So I was really insecure. And every week... And I'm being very honest here, every week, I decided once a week, was gonna pull an all nighter. I was gonna go to work Tuesday morning, and I was gonna go home Wednesday at five. Mhmm. Because all I had, I felt on these people, was grit. Work. And in one of the... Anyways, there's an episode about someone working too way too way too hard, and it's a bit of a dramatization. People weren't... People were assholes, but they weren't evil. And in this one Right. It's... It feel...
Kara Swisher · 50:28
Know what
Scott Galloway · 50:28
it reminds me of? It reminds me of girls, and that is some of the Oh. The behavior and the and the sex is shocking for somewhat of my generation. Like, is that how young people... Is that their approach to sex now? And maybe maybe it is. But, anyways, you should watch it. And it takes place in London, which is the coolest part about it. Everything usually takes place in New York or LA.
Kara Swisher · 50:47
They went from, like, Princeton to London to Goldman Sachs. I had a whole bunch of friends who went from Goldman Sachs.
Scott Galloway · 50:52
It's really it's really... I I thought it was really Alright. Really interesting.
Kara Swisher · 50:57
I'm deciding whether to watch The Undoing or not because I... Everyone hate watches it, so I have to wait and see if I'm gonna watch that.
Scott Galloway · 51:03
I think Hugh Grant's fantastic.
Kara Swisher · 51:05
He's dreamy. Yeah. Speaking of dreamy.
Scott Galloway · 51:07
He's great. Let's get
Kara Swisher · 51:08
Luke Hugh Grant on this show.
Scott Galloway · 51:09
I'd like to have Hugh on.
Kara Swisher · 51:10
That would be great. I love him. Yeah. I don't know why I love him so much. Anyway, in any case, Scott, those are excellent predictions, and I... And a good recommendation. Watchers. People seem to follow our TV recommendations. They seem to like them.
Scott Galloway · 51:23
Yep. Yep.
Kara Swisher · 51:23
I'm gonna watch Mank. That's what I'm gonna watch because I'm thinking of interviewing David Fincher.
Scott Galloway · 51:27
Alright. Yeah.
Kara Swisher · 51:28
Anyway, okay. That's the show. As a reminder, we love the listener mail questions, and, we're trying something new. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit your question for the pivot podcast. The link is also in our show notes. Scott, read us out.
Scott Galloway · 51:42
Today's show was produced by Rebecca Sinanis. Fernando Finite engineered this episode. Erica Anderson is Pivot's executive producer. Thanks also to Hannah Rosen and Drew Burrows. Make sure you're subscribed to the show on Apple Podcasts. Or if you're an Android user, check us out on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you like the show, please recommend it to a friend.
Speaker · 51:59
Doris Kurtz Goodwin, I am coming from you. Lincoln blah blah blah. Farid Zakaria, Farid Zakaria, you have nothing on me other than IQ credibility, buttery skin, great hair, a global platform, and a ton of charisma. Other than that, I'm number eight. I'm coming for you. Doris and Farid, sleep well tonight.
Kara Swisher · 52:22
Yes. Yes.
Speaker · 52:22
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