Speaker · 32:54
What do you think is the future of the public library? And what should we be doing to be more relevant and to continue to thrive and survive? Thanks.
Kara Swisher · 33:04
I love libraries, but I'm worried, I would say. I would love to take my daughter and upcoming new son to the library, but obviously COVID has put a problem with her going. So I don't know. I I spent a lot of time in libraries, but I think kids do not. What do you think, Scott?
Scott Galloway · 33:25
Yeah. There's a lot here. So I don't go to fundraisers very much or ever. I... You know, going in a windowless room and eating chicken so we all feel good about ourselves and spend $500 so they can spend $300 on a bad dinner. That whole circuit really turns me off. But the one thing I do go to is there's this thing in Delray Beach that's run by a friend of ours called Laugh at the Library and they try and raise money for the Delray Public Library. I think there's a bigger issue and that is one of the real downsides to dispersion or the fact that we're all withdrawing to our cohorts and distancing is I think the ugly cousin to dispersion is segregation. And the problem with dispersion and not having places, great public places like libraries, is we're not touching and feeling each other and we're not going to have as much empathy. And libraries were a great place where a lot of people from different backgrounds came together to just be in each other's company. And I I think these public places and our lack of mixing, if you will, is a big threat and one of the most unfortunate things coming out of this pandemic. And there's there's just very few things that are more benign and more wonderful than a library. The question is realistically is as much all the the good feels we have about them, are they still practical? Is the new generation gonna use them? And it's a real question.
Kara Swisher · 34:46
So what could they become?
Scott Galloway · 34:48
I don't know. Is is it got to be a place that has just such extraordinary bandwidth? Do they build podcast studios? Do they have creative studios that you can rent out and lease? It... I mean, you used to go for... Basically, the library used to be really the card catalog. And that is you needed to find a source, so you'd go to this giant card catalog. And then you'd go to the 4th Floor and find your book on microbiology or whatever. And now we have Google. These things just aren't they aren't needed, but there are a lot of points of learning and production that still large swaths of the community don't have access to. Or just a quiet, nice place to go and get work done. Should it be kind of the new mean, a certain extent, the Soho House and Ace Hotel and all these big lobbies that people go to work to, they've kind of, to a certain extent, usurped that role from libraries, right? So I take this role. That's exactly right. So should libraries take it back? And again, it's just more basically a lack of trust in our institutions. We've decided, oh, that should be privatized. But everybody likes a library, but there's just no getting around it. They're going to have to innovate and make the offering more compelling. What are your thoughts, Kara?
Kara Swisher · 36:00
Well, I think, you know, one of the things that I like, I still use libraries for my sons who are older now, is going for reading time, story time, things like that. There's certain things they do there that are... You know, where the kids can interact with each other. Those were all totally useful. Reading time, sitting... Just sitting with other kids and reading. That was great. But all... It was all about the community aspect of it. Obviously, it can't be a place just to take a book out because, look, the numbers are in the numbers. And people still read books, and people need access to books they don't have to buy. So that's important. I just feel like if they move in into a more community space and program a whole lot more, just program the shit out of it, that could be something that's interesting speeches, things for kids, artwork.
Scott Galloway · 36:52
Book signings, all kinds
Kara Swisher · 36:54
of stuff. Book signings. Agreed. But then again, then you run right into the private league, then bookstores, you know, that... You know, it just goes... The problem is that people are withdrawing into their own little pods.
Scott Galloway · 37:05
That's right.
Kara Swisher · 37:06
And and and they can get everything as accessible on the Internet. Everything. Right? And so... And it's easier, and it's cheaper, and it's it's really hard. I don't quite know what you could do but create the things you were talking about. It's hard, Lisa. I'm not sure. Yeah. And it's and it's unnecessary, but it isn't, if that makes sense,
Speaker · 37:27
I guess.
Scott Galloway · 37:28
Yeah. We all agree. We we all agree we like libraries. Now, quite frankly, that we ought to prove that that we should and that that it's worth it's worth the investment. Okay, Kara. One more quick break, and we'll be back for predictions.
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— Predictions segment begins —
Scott Galloway · 39:14
Cara, do you have any predictions?
Kara Swisher · 39:17
I predict that I am someday not gonna be sick. No. I predict Scott. That's your area.
Scott Galloway · 39:21
That's me.
Kara Swisher · 39:22
That's your CNN clue area of expertise. Hello. That's right.
Scott Galloway · 39:27
Okay, so I have a couple predictions. The first is, I don't know if you saw the news, but Amazon and Apple are making big entrees and we predicted this. Said that Amazon was gonna be the fastest growing $1,000,000,000 plus healthcare company in the world. And they were lining up their troops at the border with Halo and Whole Foods. And they had the infrastructure to take healthcare, at least primary healthcare, maybe diagnostics, and take it from a defensive driven industry to an offensive one and manage your fitness, manage your health. Well, they've announced a bunch of initiatives and products focused on fitness and health alongside Apple is also doing this. And my prediction is that a lot of if you think about fitness apps and even the meditation apps, what they are is streaming media companies. They're basically they're competing with Netflix. And I think these companies, as a lot of industries, have incurred are about to be rolled over by big tech. I think Amazon and Apple are coming into all types of wellness and streaming media, if you will. And I think organizations like Calm and Headspace are really going to suffer. And a lot of these fitness apps that have gotten some traction are, in my opinion, just going to be run over. So Amazon and Apple and it's going be another example of how big tech just flips a switch and rolls over a lot of innovators. But I think the market is about to get very ugly for meditation and fitness apps. That's my first prediction. My second is COVID's enduring future, and we keep saying this, will be seen as an accelerant, not as a change agent. One of the things that's accelerated massively is income inequality. But what we don't talk about is there's going to be a much greater, much more scrutiny on vaccine inequality. And that is it's estimated that by the end of the year, get this, America, we are supposedly going to waste or destroy 100 to two fifty million doses of vaccine, enough vaccine to probably vaccinate three or four Central and Latin American countries. And it's going to bring up a very interesting conversation around wealthy countries versus poor countries. And what is our obligation that if we're not going to use this vaccine because, quite frankly, we have our heads up our asses, should we be shipping that vaccine and putting our supply chain to work for the good of other people, similar to what we did in, I would argue,
Kara Swisher · 41:47
Memorial What you've talked about. What you've talked about.
Scott Galloway · 41:49
Anyways, my two predictions. The fitness and meditation and wellness streaming content apps out there are about to be rolled over or have huge pressure on them. It'll be really interesting to see what happens with Peloton, by the way. And then two, I'm sorry, under the auspices of big tech yet again coming into another another category. And two, I think vaccine inequality is about to become a much bigger story.
Kara Swisher · 42:15
That's interesting. Wow. In any case, you're absolutely correct. I actually did find something really interesting. Let me say with a grain of salt, this was a poll done by a pack, from John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, who despises Trump. But nonetheless, there's a poll that shows that numbers for Donald Trump are declining rather quickly, and your governor, Ron DeSantis, is surging in the 2024 GOP.
Scott Galloway · 42:43
Did not know that. Candidates. Yeah.
Kara Swisher · 42:46
Now, again, grain of salt with where we're coming from. But I think that his support is much softer than people think.
Scott Galloway · 42:53
Or Trump.
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Scott Galloway · 42:56
Oh, we've said this all along, but in it Yeah. Some of it is just... I can't tell. I can't separate the bias here, but I've always thought a guy that lost in what was kind of a near landslide, who's gonna be pushing 78. And by the way, he's toxic. Anyone who gets near him has the reputations ruined. And he's just positioned the Republican Party in an impossible position. But at the same time, he can can get people elected or more more than anything, get them not elected. I just don't think that wine ages well. And also speaking of aging, I think biology, he's a very technically obese guy at the age of... What is he now? 75 or 76? I just wonder when he starts to quite frankly slow down. Anyway, but I've always thought he was he was... That his prospects as a power... He'll still be a kind of a kingmaker, but I don't think... I I I think that brand's gotta start waning. But got...
Kara Swisher · 43:56
I agree. It's interesting. We'll see what happens. Obviously, Biden's numbers are way down, because of the Afghanistan rebel. That may jump back if he gets these things passed. If he doesn't, big problems for him. But it's it's a real end for a lot of people like Chris Christie, Nick Yehle, etcetera.
Scott Galloway · 44:14
But there's there's this toxic... So I think the terms toxic and masculinity have been conflated. And I don't even like to use the two terms together. But I do think there is a toxic masculinity when it comes to public policy and geopolitical decisions where we respect people who make these very bold moves that involve death, and involve wars. And I actually think Biden people will say he got out. It cost a lot... He he did not get out elegantly. It was kind of a tragedy on certain levels. I think people in the rearview mirror will see that as a leadership position. They won't remember how he got out. They'll just remember we got out. Unfortunately, I think DeSantis, I hate to say this because I think it's depraved what he's done in his behavior. I think people find that kind of stuff leadership. Stuck to his guns despite the fact that kids were being admitted to ICUs and infections went up. I think America has this sort of preoccupation with people who make these kind of weird... We would rather somebody be wrong but stick to being wrong with conviction. And I do think that's a form of this sort of weirdness around kind of macho decisions. I don't... I think it's very unhealthy, I think we're infected from it. But I think both Biden and DeSantis are probably... Are gonna see... Are are gonna get... Quite frankly, are gonna benefit from this... Those... Both those decisions.
— Predictions segment ends —
Kara Swisher · 45:33
Anyway, I wanna thank everyone, including you, Scott, for all the stuff you did at Code, the experiential team at Vox Media, including Adam To, the tech lead for all their help at Code. I wanna thank everyone, including Shannon Thompson, Michelle Berg, so many others. Jill Pendergast has been with me for years. There's just so many people who contribute to code. But especially you, you've been a real friend and colleague during this time. So it is really sad.
Scott Galloway · 46:01
You. That makes me feel nice. Alright. Today's show was produced by Lara Naaman, Evan Engel, and Taylor Griffin. Thanks also to Drew Burrows. Also, Ernie, the e man, e to the injuredot, engineered this episode. Make sure you subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. Or if you're an Android user, check us out on Spotify or, frankly, wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from Vox Media. We'll be back Friday for another breakdown of all things tech and business on the psychedelics panel. The individual... The guy on the panel, I don't even remember his name, said what is the common theme after everyone experiences psychedelics? He said universally universally, the recognition, the finding when you do psychedelics is that love is the answer. I don't know what that has to do with psychedelics, but I like that, Kara. Love is the answer.
Speaker · 46:54
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Scott Galloway · 47:53
See you tomorrow
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