Scott Galloway · 46:51
And if you can afford that, then go for it. Or if you're someone who doesn't need to... You know, you're fine living a more modest lifestyle and remote in a low cost area, but have a sober conversation with yourself around the expectation of the economics of the pivot here. Regarding a pivot at a later stage in life, I would say to people, well, I I get calls all the time. Should I apply to business school? I'm 35. And I'm like, well, okay. In two years, you're gonna be 37. Would you rather be 37 with an MBA or 37 without one? It doesn't matter how old you are. Yeah. Yeah. So don't let age get in the way, but I would have a sober conversation around the economics involved
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Kara Swisher · 47:20
Yep. I think that's what you talk about a lot, and I do. It isn't a great way to make money, you if you have... Asking questions, that's what it is. It is not a money making opportunity for you. But, you know, if you can swing it, it's really fascinating. And, you know, in some cases, you can really start small. Start with a small problem that you see, and don't always assume everything becomes an investigative thing. There's not a controversy around every corner, but usually, if you go near government, oh, there's so many schools, education, health care. There's always some. There's... You're gonna find a story somewhere. No question. In any case, if you got a question of your own you'd like answered, send it our way. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show or call 85551 Alright, Scott. One more quick break. We'll be back for wins and fails.
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Kara Swisher · 49:03
Okay, Scott. We're gonna do wins and fails. I'm gonna start with the Secret Service. The agency provided just a single text message exchange to its inspector general when the office requested months of records around January 6. When asked where the other messages went, the Secret Service blamed device migration policy. Secret Service says it provided over 10,000 pages of documents in response to congressional subpoena. There will be more news here from the January 6 committee after you record. We'll get into that next week if there's a prime session tonight. It looks pretty spicy. They they were asked to preserve these records. They did a migration after that even though they've been asked to it. In pure incompetence here, it does not explain it, and and and and they're already under siege after Casey Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel. The SUV Trump defenders said the secret service agents would deny her report under oath, which they haven't done, and other police officers are there to support Cassidy Hutchinson's story. I think there needs to be a top to bottom cleanup of the Secret Service. One of their agents became a Trump adviser. He sounds pretty sketchy to me. It feels like an episode of scandal. I... I've talked to a lot of tech people, and they're confused by the secret services response because some of this should be available, and it it required multiple steps of failure and bad decision making. So at the very least, they're incompetent. At the very most, they're culpable here in covering things up. So can't believe the more I hear from them about what happened here at a critical time in history of what they did. It seems unbelievable as far as I'm concerned. So that's my fail.
Scott Galloway · 50:39
It really is a... It's hugely damaging to the Secret Service brand. The Secret Service has always been seen as like kinda like... I would describe it a little bit like the Navy Seals. They just take orders. They're they're not political. Their job is to protect the president. They're also in charge of counterfeiting. It's an unusual organization, or policing counterfeiting. But when they become nakedly political like this, it's terrible for all the the, you know, the incredible work. And they kind of do it in the shadows. They're not they don't seek fame.
Kara Swisher · 51:07
Well, except the Navy SEALs have sort of gotten out of hand, all these books. They're crazy ones.
Scott Galloway · 51:11
They're just You mean the guy's killing an enemy combatant when he's a 17 year old when he's contained or going on speaking tours, claiming they shop in Ladden when they were just there. They weren't the one... Anyway, I agree with you.
Kara Swisher · 51:20
Every tech person I talk to says this is a very sketchy story from them. And by the way, they said that all the Secret Service... The US Secret Service always knows how to do forensic work on texting. They do... They... They're very... They're supposedly very highly skilled in technical areas. And the fact that they're they're acting like, well, we let we let them erase what they want. They should have backed up what they want. You know, the whole thing.
Scott Galloway · 51:44
And I love that they sent them one. I just like I know. Oh, here it is. Here's one.
Kara Swisher · 51:48
Here's one.
Scott Galloway · 51:49
It's like, should we go to Chick fil A or chop today?
Kara Swisher · 51:52
Also creates conspiracy theories that there's a text that says Trump just attacked Tony or whatever the heck or whatever the other guy. But, you know, then testify too, guys. Like, give me a fucking break. Stop, like, trashing this woman if you're not gonna testify. Y'all look like you're up to tricks, and and and and every single tech person I talk to says the whole thing sounds really sketchy. So there
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Kara Swisher · 52:16
And my win is Michael Pollan's series on his book, Changing Your Mind, on on all kinds of psychedelics. I thought it was beautifully done.
Scott Galloway · 52:25
Where where is it? Is it...
Kara Swisher · 52:26
From Netflix. It's on Netflix.
Scott Galloway · 52:27
Oh, no kidding.
Kara Swisher · 52:28
It's really good. They managed to show a trip in a way that was interesting. I don't know how they did it.
Scott Galloway · 52:33
He's my guest on today's prop g pod.
Kara Swisher · 52:35
Yeah. He's great. I've interviewed him a bunch of times. I thought the I thought the book was great.
Scott Galloway · 52:39
That, didn't you? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've interviewed him a bunch
Kara Swisher · 52:42
of times. Met him a year... Many years ago when he had other You were first. Omnivores.
Scott Galloway · 52:44
You were first.
Kara Swisher · 52:45
Oh, stop it. Stop it. He's a great... It's a... He's a great guy, and he's a he's a wonderful guy.
Scott Galloway · 52:52
To adopt him as my father. Didn't he seem like a guy who'd a great guy?
Kara Swisher · 52:55
He's a great guy.
Scott Galloway · 52:55
He's a great guy.
Kara Swisher · 52:56
He's a great
Scott Galloway · 52:57
Yeah.
Kara Swisher · 52:57
And very interesting. And this was... He did the first the first episodes on LSD, really interesting show, and about what happened to LSD. All this... There was a lot of research happening before they decided it was criminal, you know, because of the countercultural movement and Timothy Leary, and it's... The stuff we've lost, you know, in terms of research is really significant. So that was just LSD, now he's moving on to... I think just really beautifully done. Anyway, that's my win. Alright. Your win and fail?
— Predictions segment begins —
Scott Galloway · 53:22
My win is I'd like to think we've hit peak idolatry of famous people or peak megalomania. I think we hit peak founder with Adam Neumann. I think people, our boards and investors are realizing that some founders are great, others are not. And just because of the founder doesn't mean they should be able to you shouldn't have to indulge kind of what is behavior that is not good for stakeholders. And I wonder if we've hit the same thing with what I'll call peak megalomania or these cultist like leaders. And that is I believe that Donald Trump is going to be indicted. I also believe that Chancellor McCormick is gonna make very short order of this Twitter case and just say, this is a contract. You signed it. You're a big boy. Pay up. And I think that is a good moment, or I'm hoping it'll be a good moment for America where we reinstitute that we are a nation of laws. So my win is I do believe we have hit what I'll call peak megalomania, and that the rule of law is going to... I think the arc of justice in America is crooked, but it does bend towards the righteous. Yep. And I think our institutions are strong. We spend a tremendous amount of money, thought leadership. We have the best law schools in the world. And there is a gestalt among most legal professionals that they do respect the law. And I like to think that we're seeing an overdue immune response from the Department of Justice, and in this case, the Delaware Chancery Court. Anyways, the other win is I love Mark Cuban and Amazon getting into healthcare. Yeah. I think that more competition in healthcare could effectively be the biggest tax cut for consumers in history. If we can give people absence from fear, if we can reduce costs through competition. Do you realize, and I've said this before, people always say, Oh, you're a bad person. I canceled my health insurance about five years ago.
— Predictions segment ends —
Kara Swisher · 55:10
You did, right now.
Scott Galloway · 55:11
And because what is health insurance? 45¢ on the dollar goes to profits or administration, meaning that you're getting 55¢ worth of goods. And who's it for? Health insurance is essentially for, and I noticed, I looked at our health insurance payments, we were always going out of network, never getting reimbursed. And it was costing my family, me and my family, because I'm a narcissist, I'm like, I gotta get the best plan. I was paying about 45 or $50 a year. And what is health insurance for? It's to protect you against the big one. And if you have some money, and you can and you have the economic resilience to protect against the big one, you don't need health insurance. So, like everything else in our country, health insurance is a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. And over five years, I've saved a $250,000 on health insurance. That will buy a lot of health care. So our ability, if we can create more competition, and bring costs down, and bring service up using technology, using the cheap capital that Amazon has, using, I think, some of the innovation that hopefully Mark Cuban will bring to the pharmaceutical. The biggest tax cut in a long time, and the biggest increase in time, or giving people back peace of mind and time, is going to be increased competition in health care. So that's
Kara Swisher · 56:19
Absolutely. My way of my And drug prices, it's all a scam. It really is. It's... And no. Everybody gets it. Everybody gets it. Like, it... And we still participate in it because we're fearful of dying.
Scott Galloway · 56:27
Well, look at health insurance companies. Yep. Every year, they just make more money. I I They do. And I'm I'm a capitalist. I like that. But what does it say when one type of company in the same sector is always increasing profits?
Kara Swisher · 56:39
And it's lack of innovation. It's lack of innovation. And it... The prices should be driven down the way they were in newspapers, you know Retailing. Media. Everything. Everything. Driven down. It's time. It's ridiculous. It's time. Though I really do think with all your children, you really should have more health care and health insurance.
Scott Galloway · 56:55
Yeah. We... You're going there again. You're going there again. Okay. Anyways. Anyways.
Kara Swisher · 56:59
So... You're gonna wear that thing out.
Scott Galloway · 57:02
Dad? Dad. No. You didn't underline that book. That's your hair falling out.
Kara Swisher · 57:07
Okay. Alright. Alright.
Scott Galloway · 57:09
I'm taking over Australia.
Kara Swisher · 57:11
Alright. Okay. No. You're not. No.
Scott Galloway · 57:12
Not. General consulate of Australia. My fail. Supposedly somewhere between one in four and one in three women are leaving the workforce because of an absence of childcare post COVID. And I think the Democrats are, again, positioning this as outrage and that this is about women. I don't think that's the right way to position it. There needs to be a class of worker that you say is a caregiver, and you are going to invest in and give them the technology to work remotely so they don't have to spend ten hours on the fucking MTA every day. And they can take care of a dad who's suffering from dementia. They can take care of kids that might have to do remote schooling for a variety of reasons. We don't allow or we don't support women in the workforce, we reduce our economic might. It has been a huge resource Agree.
Kara Swisher · 57:58
Is, of economic like, one, you know, when the whole sexual harassment thing happened, every woman had a story, and every woman knows this. And no matter... And also, no matter what... Where you are, it's difficult. Childcare is difficult issue to deal with. It's... Because it's hard. It's it's so full of friction. It's so full of friction. It's just not organized in the way it should be. It should be easy. It should be simple, and it's simply not. And so you're right. Good for you, Scott Galloway.
Scott Galloway · 58:25
I remember in the third grade, we had one of those assembly where they bring everybody out in a line into the main area, in case there was a nuclear war or something. Duck and cover, and I'm your principal and I'm gonna talk about nothing. We'd all line up. I was violently ill and began throwing up in front of the entire Emelita Elementary School, which was really good for my brand. I was known as the kid, like, I think they called me the porcelain god of the Technicolor Janner all through the fifth and sixth grade. I went, I mean, I was really sick. They took me to nervous office. They called my mom, and my mom couldn't leave her job.
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Scott Galloway · 58:56
She had a a kid really sick at home, but she was a secretary for an insurance company Mhmm. In the Valley, and she just wasn't allowed to leave. Mhmm. To not support or figure out a way to leverage new technologies and new processes around remote work for caregivers is just stupid. We need workers. We need to reduce inflation. We're losing people out of the workforce. And we're making... And all that, again, let me politicize this. How on earth do we expect women to balance career and their personal life if we don't give them access to family planning? That's gonna hurt the economy.
Kara Swisher · 59:29
It's true. Oh, Scott, I'm so glad you finally arrived here at our little party of shittiness. Anyway
Scott Galloway · 59:35
Send me the poetry. Send me your poetry. Wow.
Kara Swisher · 59:41
Goodness sake. Anyway, one thing before we go. Life is not always happy. This week, we lost Anastasia Golveshkina, I think I'm pronouncing that correct, to cancer. Anastasia was a digital strategist for many progressive causes, including Elizabeth Warren campaign. She's... She texted me a lot. She DM me a lot. She was a big pivot fan, and the feeling was mutual. She tried to get Elizabeth Warren for us and various things. She's just... She was just a very bright light. She died of cancer, which came suddenly. She wrote a great piece in Elle a couple years ago about it, which you should read. I linked to it in a tweet. But rest in peace, Anastasia. What a lovely soul you are, and condolences to all who knew and loved you. Scott, that's the show. That's the show. We love our fans, just so you know. We've met lots of them this week on planes and trains and automobiles. We think you're all wonderful, and we really love your suggestions. Okay, Scott. That's the show. We'll be back on Tuesday with more Pivot. Scott, read us out.
Scott Galloway · 1:00:36
Today's show was produced by Lara Naim and Evan Engel and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Intertaud engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows and Miel Savario. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business care. Have a great rest of the week and weekend.
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