CHAPTERS
Resist and Unsubscribe: turning cancellation into market pressure
Kara and Scott open with Scott’s “Resist and Unsubscribe” campaign—encouraging people to cancel Big Tech subscriptions as a form of economic protest. They discuss traction metrics, media strategy, and whether the effort is reaching executives or just product teams.
- •Scott claims ~100K daily uniques and estimates thousands of daily unsubscribes across platforms
- •Discussion of how traditional media coverage can amplify impact more than social media alone
- •Debate over where Scott should appear next (Rogan, Theo Von, “behind enemy lines”) and avoiding “food fight” TV
- •Kara argues the campaign works because it’s actionable and gives people permission + instructions to do something
Super Bowl ads: comedy, virtue signaling, and what landed (or didn’t)
They trade takes on standout Super Bowl ads, preferring humor over preachiness. Kara and Scott praise some creative spots while criticizing others as manipulative, strange, or politically performative.
- •Anthropic’s ads get high marks; OpenAI’s ad seen as solid but outshined
- •Kara likes lighter/funnier ads (e.g., Elf, Instacart) and admits the Lay’s spot “got” her despite the cliché
- •Scott critiques nostalgia/fetishizing “family farm” imagery as corporate branding
- •They criticize a government-funded health ad featuring Mike Tyson as hypocritical and insulting
Are Super Bowl ad trends predicting an AI crash?
Scott frames the ad mix as a historical signal: when a quarter of Super Bowl ads come from a hot sector, a downturn may follow. He compares this year’s AI-heavy ad load to the “Crypto Bowl” and dot-com era patterns.
- •About 15 of 66 Super Bowl ads were AI-related—roughly a quarter
- •Parallel to 2022 “Crypto Bowl” (Binance/FTX) followed by crypto blowups and bankruptcies
- •Parallel to 2000 dot-com Super Bowl ads preceding the dot-com crash
- •Scott argues this level of tech advertising can indicate peak hype/cheap capital and an impending correction
Bad Bunny halftime backlash and the culture-war split
They celebrate Bad Bunny’s halftime performance as joyful and forward-looking, then criticize the political backlash from right-wing media. Scott frames the NFL’s choice as future-oriented given demographic change in the U.S.
- •Kara calls the show layered, artistic, and accessible even without cultural context
- •Discussion of MAGA/Turning Point counter-programming (Kid Rock, “All-American” framing)
- •Scott argues the NFL is investing in a more diverse future audience (majority non-white under-18 cohort)
- •They connect the backlash to broader “losing the culture war” grievances
Prediction markets surge as gambling apps lose momentum
Scott highlights prediction-market apps as a surprising Super Bowl winner, claiming they’re siphoning attention from traditional gambling platforms. They discuss downloads, investor expectations, and shifting market value.
- •Kalshi downloads spike (millions in January) versus much smaller gains for DraftKings/FanDuel
- •Scott cites cuts to EPS estimates for gambling firms and weakening outlooks
- •They frame prediction markets as a new “speculation layer” competing with sportsbooks
- •Kara agrees broader adoption strengthens the prediction-market ecosystem
Crypto winter returns: Bitcoin drawdowns, “shitcoins,” and speculation vs investing
They pivot to crypto’s downturn—Bitcoin’s steep decline and losses across crypto-linked public equities. Scott admits his own poor crypto timing, argues Bitcoin has some legitimacy, and warns against altcoins.
- •Bitcoin down sharply from peak; large liquidation events and fear indicators cited
- •MicroStrategy, Coinbase, and other crypto-adjacent stocks described as heavily hit
- •Scott: Bitcoin may warrant 1–3% portfolio allocation for diversification; everything else is “greater fool”
- •Kara derides Trump/Melania coins as “sucker coins” and emphasizes only Bitcoin if any
Amazon’s $200B capex plan: AI build-out, robotics, and the “only giants can do this” problem
Amazon’s planned spending surge spooks markets even as leadership frames it as necessary for AI, chips, robotics, and satellites. Scott zooms out: mega-cap tech is deploying unprecedented daily capital into AI infrastructure, creating massive second-order effects.
- •Amazon signals ~60% capex increase (to ~$200B), stock drops and market cap hit
- •Big Tech combined AI build-out cited at ~$660B (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon)
- •Scott compares scale to historic national projects and pharma R&D to emphasize magnitude
- •Discussion of data centers: huge build costs, limited long-term employment, and regional vocational impacts
AI as complement vs substitute—and why GLP‑1s may matter more than AI
Scott and Kara discuss how individuals should respond to AI disruption by making it complementary to their work. Scott argues GLP‑1 drugs (Ozempic/Wegovy class) may be the most life-changing “technology” for many people, even more than AI.
- •Scott’s framing: “AI won’t take your job; someone who understands AI will”
- •Examples of tech disruption vs job transformation (secretaries, ATMs/bank tellers)
- •They anticipate an AI market correction as capex/hype accelerates
- •Scott calls GLP‑1s the more profound tech shift and considers buying Novo Nordisk
Corporate taxes, lobbying, and who ultimately pays the bill
Kara highlights Amazon’s sharply lower corporate tax bill despite higher profits, tying it to political capture and “sucking up” incentives. Scott expands: tax policy has structurally favored capital over labor, pushing costs onto younger generations through deficits.
- •Amazon corporate taxes cited as falling dramatically even as profits rise
- •Scott criticizes “automatic expensing” and a tax code shaped by lobbyists
- •They argue both parties have contributed to declining corporate tax burden
- •Core claim: debt and under-taxation shift the bill to future taxpayers via inflation or higher taxes
Bezos and The Washington Post: data talk, leadership failures, and the hard economics of news
Kara blasts Bezos’ management and messaging about the Post’s future, arguing he doesn’t understand media and has driven audience decline through meddling. Scott stresses structural decline, consolidation, and cost-cutting—suggesting only drastic restructuring or acquisition makes sense.
- •Bezos statement about “data tells us what’s valuable” is mocked as superficial and late
- •Kara argues Bezos directly caused subscriber/traffic erosion through key decisions and poor hires
- •Scott proposes consolidation (NYT/WSJ/Bloomberg) or even a prepackaged bankruptcy-style reset
- •Shared view: journalism’s democratic value doesn’t eliminate the need for a sustainable business model
Local TV mega-merger politics: Nexstar–Tegna, FCC limits, and selective antitrust outrage
They examine Trump’s shifting stance on a major local TV consolidation and the political incentives behind regulatory outcomes. The conversation broadens into weaponized agencies and the need for serious trust-busting across sectors.
- •Nexstar’s proposed Tegna acquisition would massively expand reach, challenging FCC ownership caps
- •Kara calls the shift hypocritical and suggests political favors/donations may drive it
- •Scott advocates aggressive trust-busting as a core economic platform to restore competition
- •They connect media consolidation to broader institutional capture and weakened consumer protections
Wins and fails: Elon’s shifting Mars/Moon story, new creators, and the dangers of dehumanization
They close with personal “wins and fails.” Kara mocks Elon Musk’s constantly changing space priorities and celebrates getting Scott to watch “Heated Rivalry.” Scott praises a TikTok creator for geopolitics/econ analysis and warns about political rhetoric that dehumanizes opponents.
- •Kara’s fail: Elon’s moving goalposts (Mars vs Moon) and what she calls “nonsense” promises
- •Kara’s win: sharing “Heated Rivalry” and the business insight of serving an underappreciated audience market
- •Scott’s win: endorsing TikTok creator Geo Hussar as a valuable source of economic/geopolitical analysis
- •Scott’s fail: normalization of leaders referring to enemies as animals, linking it to dangerous historical patterns
