Why is the Justice Department Investigating Fed Chair Jerome Powell? | Pivot

Kara Swisher 0:00 I gotta say, everyone's like, "Why's Scott out?" And I'm like, "Uh," and they're like, "Facelift." [upbeat music] Hi, everyone, this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher, and guess who's back, back again?

Scott Galloway 0:19 It's Audie Cornish.

Kara Swisher 0:20 [chuckles] You wish. [laughing]

Scott Galloway 0:23 She's good.

Kara Swisher 0:24 She's good.

Scott Galloway 0:24 You know what I learned from her?

Kara Swisher 0:25 What?

Scott Galloway 0:26 She said something. She had the best line of any guest host. She said, you asked her for advice on the economy or asked her for input, and she said, "No, this isn't my area. I'm here to learn." I have got-- I sent her a note saying, "I took real notes from that," 'cause I have yet to find the confidence to actually say that I don't know, and that everything doesn't demand my judgment. Anyways, Audie Cornish gets co-host or gets substitute host of the week. How are you, Kara? Did you miss me?

Kara Swisher 0:54 I did.

Scott Galloway 0:54 Did you miss me?

Kara Swisher 0:54 I need

Kara Swisher 0:55 you to explain where you've been to people, sir.

Scott Galloway 0:58 I was presented with an opportunity to bring potable water to the good people of sub-Saharan Africa.

Kara Swisher 1:02 [chuckles] No. Try again.

Scott Galloway 1:03 Uh, which is, which is Latin for, "I have had cosmetic surgery," Kara.

Kara Swisher 1:08 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 1:08 Um, and-

Kara Swisher 1:09 Yeah

Scott Galloway 1:09 ... uh, essentially, uh, I just wanted to look natural, and I guess if looking natural means look, looking like you're surprised all the fucking time, and your nose looks like a minivan from the '80s, [chuckles] we've achieved that, Kara.

Kara Swisher 1:22 [chuckles] Sweet.

Scott Galloway 1:23 We have lift off. So the camera is off. Sorry, folks. I'm, I'm confident enough to be transparent. I'm not confident enough for the comments that we would receive right now.

Kara Swisher 1:32 Yeah, you-- I have seen the pictures, the pictures. Scott kindly sent me a picture, and I was-- at first I was like: "Oh, come on, how bad could it be?" And then I'm like: "Oh, no." [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 1:40 And there was no response. You usually respond within, like, ten seconds with something really crisp and funny or supportive. You're ac- you're a very-

Kara Swisher 1:47 Couldn't really tell me, no

Scott Galloway 1:48 ... People notice about you.

Kara Swisher 1:49 I-

Scott Galloway 1:49 You're actually, you're a very loving, kind friend.

Kara Swisher 1:52 [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 1:52 People don't get that vibe. And you were just silent for fifteen minutes, and I'm like: "Is she gonna respond? [chuckles] Anything?"

Kara Swisher 1:59 Oh, you were off the Tramadol by then.

Scott Galloway 2:01 I told, I told my doctor, I said I wanted to look... People have compared me to Ryan Reynolds' older brother, and I'm like, "That's the look I'm going for." And I do look like him, but I look like his grandfather after he's gone into witness protection from literally trying to flee narco-terrorists and has had bad cosmetic surgery in, in Brazil.

Kara Swisher 2:19 This is good. I hope it's good. But you're gonna see. We're gonna see what, what it is, but, uh, when you have the big reveal or something like that. Ca- l- I'd love you to actually talk about it because men don't talk-- most people don't talk about their plastic surgery or, or whatever. Ta- and there's been a huge boom in men doing this, like, huge-

Scott Galloway 2:36 Huge. It's the fastest-growing part of the market.

Kara Swisher 2:37 Yeah. Explain why you did it. I have never had plastic surgery. I do not judge it. A lot of people I know have it. Um, a lot of blephs. That's what they keep saying, the word bleph to me. Um, I, I don't... I, my mother had it. Like, but tell me, tell me, uh, it's mostly women. I don't know a lot. I mean, I do know some VCs who have gotten it, and I can't say, this was many years ago, it worked well, but-

Scott Galloway 3:02 I, I am glad to be back with these questions masquerading as virtue signaling. What is this not being able to make a shit ton of money because you're not so fucking talented thing that people complain about?

Kara Swisher 3:13 [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 3:14 Um, you are so going under the knife. Give me a fucking break.

Kara Swisher 3:17 I am not.

Scott Galloway 3:17 By the way, you were asking me questions.

Kara Swisher 3:19 Are you kidding? I never will.

Scott Galloway 3:21 Anyways-

Kara Swisher 3:21 Never, never.

Scott Galloway 3:22 Well, anyways, uh, the, the honest answer, Kara, after having a lot of Xanax and opiates to think about it, is I cannot, for the life of me, figuring out the fucking hole I am trying to fill here. Um, I think it, I think it, I think it comes from a lot of places. Um, I was very insecure about my looks growing up, uh, as I think is probably natural for a teenager, and then in my twenties and thirties, when I put on some weight, and we've talked about this, and my skin cleared up, I then got a lot of confidence from my looks, and I really like that part of the program. And also, I think in a little bit of my business, I have felt, I'm gonna call it ageism, but I've been really cognizant of my age recently. A lot of people, a lot of people online are referencing my age to criticize me, like: What does this guy know? And also, I think, uh, just more practically, I'm on, I've been on TV a lot because of the book tour, and I've just noticed the dark circles under my eyes. And also, to a strange extent, I'm kind of interested in the technology, and also, the bottom line is, if I have fucking money, I want a fuck-you face. [chuckles]

Kara Swisher 4:33 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 4:33 I just-

Kara Swisher 4:33 Okay. So you, you said something really interesting. You said it's mediation, not renovation, although these doctors are very convincing, right? You weren't gonna do as much as you did, or were you, or?

Scott Galloway 4:44 Well, uh, I- I mean, it's very easy to get... I was gonna just do my, uh, I was just gonna do my eyes, and I didn't do a lot, but I-- you add on stuff 'cause-

Kara Swisher 4:52 Can you explain what the eyes is? It, it clears up-

Scott Galloway 4:54 Well, the circles around your eyes.

Kara Swisher 4:55 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 4:55 You have dark circles a-

Kara Swisher 4:56 Right

Scott Galloway 4:56 ... under your eyes as you get older.

Kara Swisher 4:57 Or hooded, when people have hooded.

Scott Galloway 4:58 Yeah, and what they do is very simple, is they tr- fan- transfer fat from other parts of your body into the soft tissue that creates the, uh, the dark circle. And, uh, the temptation to keep adding stuff, if you're not careful, is the following: everything heals at the same time, and if you're going under the knife, you just start thinking: Yeah, sure, I'll have fat transferred from my hips to my chin. Uh, you just-- they, they will add on stuff. I had some crazy fucking laser that they wouldn't dare-

Kara Swisher 5:27 Do you have any fat? You're so skinny. You're such a skinny man.

Scott Galloway 5:29 Um, yeah, I'm, I'm entering that nice part of my life where I'm skinny yet fat at the same time, which is really attractive. Uh, but yeah, it's easy to get upsold, and i- it's, it's-- I think, I find the whole thing fascinating. I, of course, made friends with my surgeon and his team, and I, I'm, I'm being serious now. The most inspiring part of the whole process was I went to this place called Pearl Recovery, and it's this a- amazing family-owned business where they take over a floor of what is a fairly mediocre hotel, and they have nurses around the clock looking after you. And I had-... you know, through, through the different shifts, four or five different nurses, and they were all out of central casting. They were all the same person, in the sense that they were all immigrants, in their thirties and forties, all single mothers, and all working their ass off, and the loveliest, most talented women. It made me feel so good about America. It made me realize how important, again, not that I need to know this, immigration is. These women are work-- all women working four to six, twelve-hour shifts, all with a single-- all with a kid, all come to America, all making a good living. They do get paid well. I think nursing is actually a fantastic profession. It's something that will probably survive AI for a while, and they just couldn't-- They brought expertise, empathy, humanity. They were great interacting with me. They, they had great leadership skills. Occasionally, I'd be like: "No, I don't, I don't want to sleep upright," and they'd be like: "Get your ass upright!" I mean, they were, [chuckles] they were fantastic. They were fan-- Oh, no, they knew me. They, they all Google you. They all like: "Who is this? Is this a star?" Because they can't tell. And they'd be coming in, and they're like-- They'd be coming in, and they'd be like: "So I listened to your podcast."

Kara Swisher 7:14 [laughing]

Scott Galloway 7:14 And I'm like: "Oh, really? What'd you think?" I'm like: "Sit down. I'm going nowhere for the next two days. Sit down and tell me what you think."

Kara Swisher 7:20 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 7:20 And they were just such lovely women. It was really-

Kara Swisher 7:24 I'm glad you had this, [chuckles] this international experience while you get your-

Scott Galloway 7:28 Oh, it was fantastic.

Kara Swisher 7:29 You get it fixed. Can I, can I ask you just one more question?

Scott Galloway 7:31 You can ask as many questions as you want.

Kara Swisher 7:31 We'll, we'll move on, and we're going to have a big reveal. Is, did you... W- wh- we talked about whether you should say anything, and I said: "I am not going to pretend if it looks really different," and it does. It looks slightly d-- slightly different, I would say, um, from what I can tell.

Scott Galloway 7:44 Well, no, y- we, we don't know. I'm really swollen right now.

Kara Swisher 7:47 All right, you are.

Scott Galloway 7:47 The reality is we have no idea.

Kara Swisher 7:49 Your nose is very swollen. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 7:50 Yeah, we have no idea.

Kara Swisher 7:51 Yeah. I mean, most-- When people get their eyes done, there is a refresh, and you can-- you assume that's what it is, but w- what they've done today, everybody looks pr- pretty good, unless it's like, you know, some people-

Scott Galloway 8:03 Ana, this guy, this guy is known for-

Kara Swisher 8:05 Has a word for.

Scott Galloway 8:05 I, I said the following thing. I said: "I want modification, not transformation, and i- if we're going to err here," and I kept saying this: "We're going to err on the side of underdone, not overdone."

Kara Swisher 8:16 I see. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 8:17 And I think most surgeons probably say this, uh, but they say the key is that people think you look good, but they don't know how you, you've had anything done.

Kara Swisher 8:24 I see. It looks... It's, it's, it's-- Kris, Kris Jenner sort of is like... You see, you, you remember ones. We were joking about Jennifer Grey. Everyone noticed it immediately because she changed her entire look. Um, and she got, she got piled the fuck on. I used to-- I thought that was very unfair. She wants to do that. That's-

Scott Galloway 8:40 Mm, you're a public figure. People, i, i- if you're known for your looks, you're going to be known for your looks.

Kara Swisher 8:44 Right.

Scott Galloway 8:44 That's the bottom line.

Kara Swisher 8:45 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 8:46 I mean, it's-

Kara Swisher 8:46 Well, that's what you're known for.

Scott Galloway 8:48 Yes, that's right.

Kara Swisher 8:49 [laughing]

Scott Galloway 8:49 That's right. For that.

Kara Swisher 8:51 Well, I think we're interestingly-- I'm not-- I don't want to have any facial surgery done. I don't. I-

Scott Galloway 8:55 Kara, it's not easy being a four.

Kara Swisher 8:57 [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 8:57 And you know what's so scary? Is last night-

Kara Swisher 8:59 Always been a four. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 9:00 Last night, I was looking at Ferraris.

Kara Swisher 9:03 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 9:04 I have l-- Save me.

Kara Swisher 9:05 What?

Scott Galloway 9:05 Save-- I was looking at Ferrari-

Kara Swisher 9:07 What are you doing?

Scott Galloway 9:07 I don't know. I don't know.

Kara Swisher 9:08 [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 9:09 I really don't know.

Kara Swisher 9:10 What is next?

Scott Galloway 9:11 I don't know.

Kara Swisher 9:11 What could be next?

Scott Galloway 9:12 ED drugs, that's what's coming next.

Kara Swisher 9:14 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 9:15 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 9:15 I'm trying to think. Oh, my God!

Scott Galloway 9:17 No, I'm definitely, I'm definitely-

Kara Swisher 9:19 Oh, God!

Scott Galloway 9:19 I'm definitely headed there.

Kara Swisher 9:20 Well, you'll be dating the guys from Heated Rivalry soon enough. That's where we're going. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 9:23 Jesus, those dudes are great actors, and they're hot.

Kara Swisher 9:25 They are.

Scott Galloway 9:25 Did you watch-

Kara Swisher 9:26 They're hot.

Scott Galloway 9:26 Oh, my God, I could have won the award for visual effects last night. I just should have showed up and accepted the... ru- rushed the stage [chuckles] when they said: "And the award for visual effects," and they would've figured out it was me.

Kara Swisher 9:37 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 9:37 Our podcast would be number one right now.

Kara Swisher 9:39 We should have won that. We're not there.

Scott Galloway 9:40 Because I was at, I was staying at the Waldorf, which is next to the hotel that was having the visual effect, and I walked around with all this plastic surgery, and it was really strange. It was like having a credential badge, say, "Let me go wherever I want." Because if you have plastic... Clearly, you have just had a nose job, they're like: "Oh, they must be a star. Let them in." So I could have rushed the stage and picked up the award, and I decided definitely it would have been the award for visual effects.

Kara Swisher 10:02 Oh, God, that-- We deserve the podcast award, honestly.

Scott Galloway 10:06 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 10:06 Amy Poehler's very nice. That was a weird dog's breakfast of a group of podcasters. None of them were like each other.

Scott Galloway 10:12 I thought... You know what, though? I got to give it to the Golden Globes. I read the list of nominees, mostly because we weren't, we weren't on it, but I thought they did a great job. I thought all of those podcasts, Mel's great. I love Dax Shepard. Was Jay Shetty in there?

Kara Swisher 10:27 No.

Scott Galloway 10:27 Who else was it?

Kara Swisher 10:28 It was NPR, Steve Inskeep.

Scott Galloway 10:30 Fantastic.

Kara Swisher 10:31 Yeah, Steve Inskeep, uh, Amy Poehler, obviously, um-

Scott Galloway 10:34 Fantastic

Kara Swisher 10:35 ... Oh, the, the, the guys from Smartless.

Scott Galloway 10:37 Those guys are amazing.

Kara Swisher 10:38 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 10:38 I thought, I thought, wow, I... And by the way, I've been on every one of them except for Call Me Daddy and, uh, Amy's. I haven't been on Amy's. Um, I was-- I don't know about you, I was a little bit... I don't know what the term is, but a little bit, I don't want to say resentful. I, uh, my understanding of Amy Poehler, she's a lovely person, and I, I haven't listened to her pod. People love it, but I was kind of bummed that it was someone who felt like they were late to the game, who got it. I was kind of hoping one of the original [chuckles] gangsters would have got it.

Kara Swisher 11:05 Yeah, yeah, the Smartless guys, yeah.

Scott Galloway 11:08 Um, but I thought, I thought-- Actually, you know what? It's interesting. That's a big mo- I think that's a big moment for podcasting.

Kara Swisher 11:14 Here's the only thing. There was an interesting article in The New York Times. It's like, uh, these are all, the, all the others are so disparate, and everyone's in their place. You c- you can't really put... Like, they didn't have any narrative podcasts, which sort of began this. They should split, have more podcast awards, that's all.

Scott Galloway 11:29 Well, that's what they'll do, eventually. They'll have best crime drama, best episode, best, best host, but they already do that. Um, I mean, we're up for Webbys again, and, uh, uh, everyone wins a Webby. Everyone's like, everyone's like, you know, best male co-host who's going through the mother of all midlife crises.

Kara Swisher 11:48 Crisis. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 11:48 [chuckles] Yeah, it's like, uh, they've, they've-

Kara Swisher 11:52 Ah

Scott Galloway 11:52 ... They've decided, the Webbys and the Streamys have ci- decided they need to make money, so they charge you, and they have a million categories.

Kara Swisher 12:00 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 12:00 Uh-

Kara Swisher 12:00 Yeah, well, I don't mind. That's fine. I think it's a, it's a huge... It's a two-point, what, four billion dollar business now. I mean, it's really-

Scott Galloway 12:05 It's the fastest-growing media.

Kara Swisher 12:06 That's right.

Scott Galloway 12:07 It's growing now faster than Google or, or Meta off a smaller base.

Kara Swisher 12:10 Yeah, yeah.

Scott Galloway 12:11 But we've said this before, it's because of the audience we're attracting.

Kara Swisher 12:13 We're geniuses. Now we're going to have plastic surgery. [chuckles] They don't call it pl- What do they call it now? Is it plastic surgery?

Scott Galloway 12:20 ... uh, cosmetic surgery?

Kara Swisher 12:21 Facial planing.

Scott Galloway 12:21 I don't know. Fat-

Kara Swisher 12:22 I like you doing it, 'cause I, I'm living vicariously through you, 'cause I find out all manner of nonsense.

Scott Galloway 12:28 Do you wanna drive my Ferrari in Palm Beach?

Kara Swisher 12:29 Wait, did you buy a Ferrari, too?

Scott Galloway 12:31 I'm think I, I-

Kara Swisher 12:32 No.

Scott Galloway 12:32 The fact I'm even looking at one-

Kara Swisher 12:34 [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 12:34 ... I, right now, I don't own a car. Right now, I don't own a car. I, I, I, I literally, I take the tube-

Kara Swisher 12:40 Oh, you're coming back to the US.

Scott Galloway 12:40 I take the tube, and I take this amazing ride-hailing service called, uh, uh, uh, Wheelie, and when I'm in the US, I take Lyft, 'cause I like the CEO. He's very spiritual. I like- I would like him to be my rabbi. Uh, but no, I don't, I, I haven't owned a car in a bunch of years, but I'm seriously trolling Ferraris. They're so beautiful. I think they would say that I'm refined and elegant, and, young lady, you should have a random sexual experience with me. I bet-

Kara Swisher 13:05 No, I don't think so.

Scott Galloway 13:06 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 13:06 I think you should think about a Chevy Bolt. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 13:09 It hasn't even entered- [laughing] Like, you literally... I don't know what you could do. I don't know what the opposite of an ED drug is, but that's what the term Chevy Bolt is for me.

Kara Swisher 13:19 I am telling you, look how well I'm doing with my Chevy Bolt. I'm successful. I have a beautiful [chuckles] life.

Scott Galloway 13:25 I just don't-- I think you have all of that despite the Bolt.

Kara Swisher 13:29 [chuckles] No, it's-

Scott Galloway 13:30 In spite of the Bolt.

Kara Swisher 13:32 I love my Bolt. I am looking-

Scott Galloway 13:32 I think the Bolt, I think the Bolt does say, "You know what? I don't care." [chuckles]

Kara Swisher 13:35 Yeah, I'm looking at the new Rivian. It's really cool.

Scott Galloway 13:38 Oh, those are great.

Kara Swisher 13:39 So, well-

Scott Galloway 13:39 That's-

Kara Swisher 13:39 The new one-

Scott Galloway 13:39 You know what?

Kara Swisher 13:40 It's smaller.

Scott Galloway 13:40 That is the Aspen car, by the way.

Kara Swisher 13:42 Ugh, and then I'm not looking at the Rivian.

Scott Galloway 13:43 The... Oh.

Kara Swisher 13:44 Okay.

Scott Galloway 13:44 You say that. When my house is ready in Aspen-

Kara Swisher 13:46 I think it's an attractive car

Scott Galloway 13:47 ... you're literally, my house in Aspen, you're literally gonna be like: "Hey, just FYI, I'm swinging by Aspen, and, uh, uh, no pressure at all, but I'd like to stay there for the spring."

Kara Swisher 13:57 I would like to stay there. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 13:57 "I'd like to stay there for the spring."

Kara Swisher 13:59 The entire spring. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 13:59 "No pressure, you can say no, but I'd like to meet Jeffrey Swisher and my uncles and cousins and Lucky for the spring." [chuckles] That is so coming-

Kara Swisher 14:08 [chuckles] It's true

Scott Galloway 14:08 ... so do not mock Aspen.

Kara Swisher 14:10 It's so true.

Scott Galloway 14:11 I'm-

Kara Swisher 14:11 It is so-

Scott Galloway 14:11 I am waiting for that.

Kara Swisher 14:12 I- it is, is... I think Aspen is, is a little too much now. I used to like it.

Scott Galloway 14:16 No.

Kara Swisher 14:16 It seems like something Palm Beachy has happened.

Scott Galloway 14:18 A little too much. Awesome!

Kara Swisher 14:20 Awesome, all right.

Scott Galloway 14:21 It's awesome.

Kara Swisher 14:21 Okay, I do. I'm putting in my reservation now. [chuckles] All right, we're gonna move on from Scott to-

Scott Galloway 14:26 Uh-

Kara Swisher 14:26 ... Jennifer Grey. Renee Z- we didn't go to Julie Renee.

Scott Galloway 14:28 Welcome back, Audie Cornish.

Kara Swisher 14:30 [chuckles] Cornish is not-

Scott Galloway 14:31 Audie Cornish.

Kara Swisher 14:32 Co- A- Audie Cornish has not had plastic surgery. Let's get that-

Scott Galloway 14:34 She has perfect skin.

Kara Swisher 14:37 She- [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 14:37 She has perfect skin. That's what happens to me at plastic surgery.

Kara Swisher 14:41 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 14:41 You're sitting there wrapped up like a fucking mummy, going, "Audie Cornish has perfect skin."

Kara Swisher 14:45 [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 14:45 That's, that's my week. [chuckles]

Kara Swisher 14:48 [chuckles] Can you, can I tell you, we wanna thank everybody who to filled in for you during [chuckles] this time of tra- trauma-

Scott Galloway 14:56 Ah!

Kara Swisher 14:57 ... for you. [chuckles] Everybody.

Scott Galloway 14:58 Good reason.

Kara Swisher 14:58 Brooke Hammerling-

Scott Galloway 14:59 Good reason

Kara Swisher 15:00 ... Stephanie Ruhle, and Bill Cohn. Thank you. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 15:02 She was spicy. I figured out Stephanie's... I came to so many observations under the influence of opiates. Stephanie's peanut butter and chocolate is she is smart and spicy. She's smart and spicy.

Kara Swisher 15:14 Oh, my God. Where are you now? You had to skip to your parents.

Scott Galloway 15:17 I'm back-- Oh, my God, I had to fly back from LA last night. I had to try and pretend to sleep.

Kara Swisher 15:22 Oh, you should show your face.

Scott Galloway 15:23 Hello, hello, Lunesta.

Kara Swisher 15:24 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 15:24 And then I'm going, after this, I go to Miami for a speaking gig, which should be interesting-

Kara Swisher 15:29 I know

Scott Galloway 15:29 ... with this-

Kara Swisher 15:29 I was just there.

Scott Galloway 15:30 With this face. Yeah, uh, my friend said he saw you.

Kara Swisher 15:33 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 15:33 And then I have to come back for another speaking gig on Wednesday, and then I go to Davos on Sunday, so I got a lot on.

Kara Swisher 15:38 Well, you also are in- being interviewed by me, so [chuckles] we have to rethink that.

Scott Galloway 15:42 When am I being interviewed by you?

Kara Swisher 15:44 Yeah, for my CNN thing. We're doing a follow-up on our sound bar, our sound-

Scott Galloway 15:48 Is that how poorly the show is going? I'm on twice?

Kara Swisher 15:50 No, it's going great. It's going great. Do you know where I am right now?

Scott Galloway 15:54 Where are you?

Kara Swisher 15:54 Morgantown, West Virginia. I'm going to t- film at my dad's grave today.

Scott Galloway 15:58 But how do they relate that to health, or is it just what it's like to-

Kara Swisher 16:01 It's about longevity.

Scott Galloway 16:02 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 16:02 It's about... Try, they're trying, [clears throat] I, I hate to say this, but one of the feedback from the stuff we've done before is-

Scott Galloway 16:08 Is he devoid of all emotion or humanity? [chuckles] Take her to her father's grave!

Kara Swisher 16:14 She needs [chuckles] a face lift. She needs a face lift. Um-

Scott Galloway 16:16 She-

Kara Swisher 16:16 No. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 16:16 She refuses to get her eyes done. Take her to her father's grave.

Kara Swisher 16:19 [chuckles] Exactly.

Scott Galloway 16:20 And wide angle, focus back. Focus back.

Kara Swisher 16:23 No, they want more Kara. They want more Kara in this, in this series.

Scott Galloway 16:27 Yeah, more Kara?

Kara Swisher 16:28 We have so much to talk about. There's... You missed quite a bit, just, just, just saying.

Scott Galloway 16:31 Oh, my God!

Kara Swisher 16:33 She, like, crazy on your Tramadol journey.

Scott Galloway 16:34 First time, first time in my life, I was scared to look at the news.

Kara Swisher 16:38 I, I know.

Scott Galloway 16:38 Really scared. I'm like, "You know, I think I'm just gonna ignore the news-

Kara Swisher 16:41 Yeah, which you can't, actually

Scott Galloway 16:42 ... and watch hot white butt sex on, off the ice."

Kara Swisher 16:45 [chuckles] Okay, let's start then. The Justice

Kara Swisher 16:47 Department has opened, this just happened yesterday, has opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair, uh, Jerome Powell, over the central bank's renovation of its headquarters and whether he lied to Congress about it. The inquiry includes analysis of Powell's public statements and spending records. Powell called the investigation unprecedented in a video released by the Fed on Sunday. Let me say, he's finally said, "Enough is fucking enough." Let's listen to the clip.

Speaker 17:10 The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President. This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead, monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.

Kara Swisher 17:34 This guy is a fucking corrupt octopus. When asked about the investigation, not, not Powell, it's Trump, President Trump said he didn't know anything about it. He's a liar. Powell's term as chair ends in May, and his term as governor, though, runs through January 2028. What in the world is he doing? They've, but they've been lowering interest rates. I, I think they were gonna keep them the same for this particular next session. But what in the world? He's gonna get his guy in May. What... He, he actually appointed Powell, but let's move on from that. Thoughts?

Scott Galloway 18:06 Well, before Chairman Powell released that statement, there was a 15% likely- likelihood that he would resign before August. By the end of his statement, it had dropped to 5%, and that is the market where the wisdom of crowd said, "This guy's going nowhere. He's very good. He nailed his speech. He did exactly what he needed to do. He wasn't defensive. He just stated the obvious." This is prosecuting or criminally pursuing your political enemies, and I think even most Republicans, deep down, acknowledge that. Also, Republicans, who are supposed to be the ones that are more fiscally responsible, recognize that one of the keys to the most prosperous economies in the world, and the majority of Western economies that grow their economies while not risking, uh-... spiraling inflation have one thing in common, and that is they have an independent equivalent of a monetary fund or, or excuse me, a monetary association or a Federal Reserve that is independent because of the following: Presidents are under huge pressure to perform, and usually there's term limits, and they're only there for a limited amount of time. So it would be almost near impossible for them not to believe that it would be good for them, their country, and the world to lower interest rates. 'Cause people don't typically realize lowering interest rates is full stop, putting more money in people's pockets. If you lower interest rates, you pay a lower fee on your credit cards, your mortgage, your auto loan, your student loan. If you take mortgage rates, or excuse me, if you take interest rates from 5% to 2%, you're putting somewhere between a few hundred dollars or a few hundred thousand dollars every month in the pocket of consumers, corporations, CFOs. Everyone in the short run is happy. But the problem is, you risk having too much money ch- chasing few, too products, the supply chain doesn't increase, and you end up with upward spiraling inflation. And the thing about inflation going up is that if people get to a point where they start panic buying, and that is they don't hold the currency, and they constantly transfer it into goods, it can spin out of control. And a lot of revolutions start because of inflation. The primary job of an independent Fed is to say: Look, we're gonna appoint you for 12 years, and your job is not to listen to anybody but the data, and make sure this entire society doesn't crumble under massive spiraling inflation. And just a few data points on Chairman Powell. He had an unprecedented increase in rates when he saw inflation peak at 9%, and he's brought it down to about 2.8%. He will go down arguably as one of the most seminal figures, uh, uh, positively in terms of the US economy. The in- inflation has mostly moved towards its target. He avoided a deep recession. He pulled off a Mary Lou Retton, like sticking the economy landing, but-

Kara Swisher 20:53 Yeah, there was a little complaint about a little too much, uh, uh... Remember that part when they were doing-

Scott Galloway 20:58 Everyone was complaining when he was doing it. The far left is like, "You're hurting Americans." The far right was, "You're being-- You're hurting corporations." But this is the bottom line: He managed to cool inflation massively while avoiding a recession.

Kara Swisher 21:11 Yeah, he did.

Scott Galloway 21:12 People don't-

Kara Swisher 21:13 I mean, before this, what is it called? He kept something going too long, and then like-

Scott Galloway 21:17 Easing?

Kara Swisher 21:18 Easing.

Scott Galloway 21:18 Quantitative easing?

Kara Swisher 21:19 Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 21:19 Well, uh, Janet Yellen basically said, and I've made this argument: "We pumped $7 trillion into the economy, and 85% of it wasn't spent."

Kara Swisher 21:28 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 21:28 "It's impossible to argue we didn't overdo it."

Kara Swisher 21:30 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 21:30 Her viewpoint is, the risks of overdoing it are far outweighed by the risks of underdoing it.

Kara Swisher 21:36 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 21:36 If you look at the real economic strife throughout our society, it's when... The thing that, that took the ris- the Great Depression and turned it in from a great recession to a Great Depression is we decided to tighten rather than loosen.

Kara Swisher 21:47 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 21:47 Anyways, also, he's done, i- including up until the point of their speech yesterday, the Fed has maintained institutional credibility and independence.

Kara Swisher 21:57 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 21:57 The, the piece of insight is, I think everyone realizes this is prosecuting or pursuing your political enemies.

Kara Swisher 22:03 Like Letitia James. Those cases are all falling apart, by the way, but go ahead.

Scott Galloway 22:06 They couldn't even get an indictment against her.

Kara Swisher 22:07 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 22:08 Um, the evidence, the grand jury or the evidence presented, they said it's not even worthy of an indictment. The, the piece of nuance that I found interesting here, the, the little bit of insight that people may not know is the following: This isn't about trying to intimidate him into resigning. That's not what this is about. This is about trying to intimidate him into resigning from the Board of Governors. Because his role on this board, uh, basically, on every board, this is the dynamic. There's 12 board members, say, on a board, a public company board. It's usually less than that, but let's say it's 12. There's everybody speaks, everyone nods, and then there's one or two people, when they speak, everyone fucking listens. You gotta believe that when Chairman Powell is just, is no longer chairman, but the governor, when he speaks, everyone's gonna listen. He's gonna have huge influence, and Trump, Trump wants him off. Trump wants someone... Trump wants a Board of Governors that is not independent, that will take interest rates way down and give him the sugar high he wants. And if Powell is still on this board, what we are going to have is a much safer, much more robust economy.

Kara Swisher 23:20 Yo, he's not going anywhere.

Scott Galloway 23:22 This isn't about-

Kara Swisher 23:23 He's not going.

Scott Galloway 23:23 This isn't... Well, e- even he, he, he's done in May. This is about trying to get him to say, "Fuck it,"-

Kara Swisher 23:28 No, I get it

Scott Galloway 23:29 ... "I'm off."

Kara Swisher 23:29 I'm just saying, he's not, he's not coming off the board. There, this is like-

Scott Galloway 23:32 I don't think so either.

Kara Swisher 23:33 Oh, I think he's d-- He wouldn't have... This is not a man who makes a video like Trump, right?

Scott Galloway 23:38 This dude does not scare easily. He didn't, he didn't get on there and s- and start being defensive about the actual thing he's been accused of. He's like, you know, he's basically said, "This is nonsense, and, and anyone with half a brain isn't even gonna get near this." Even Fox News, I don't think is gonna go after him. They're, they realize, "Okay, this is-

Kara Swisher 23:55 The whole thing is so-

Scott Galloway 23:55 ... this is a bridge too far"

Kara Swisher 23:56 ... cockamamie, and it like... Well, everything they're saying now is coming out of their mouths is a lie. So I mean, what's, what's really interesting was this video that he... Fine, there's a lot of sudden pushback in lots of different places you're starting to see, and, um, including Republicans voting against him, uh, particularly-

Scott Galloway 24:12 Well, the ACA subsidies.

Kara Swisher 24:15 I have to say, this was, this is such a, like a signal of... You know, what's incredible to me is he's v- very active, and everything he's doing, to me, um, is it- I think it, it's this one reeked of desperation because he can't... He, this is not gonna work, and it do- it makes, it makes Powell stronger. That is my feeling, like this gives him much more credibility to influence the Fed, even after he's gone. The, you know, he's gonna-- Whoever he picks is no match for Jerome Powell, uh, e- even if he's not the Fed chair. So we'll see.

Scott Galloway 24:48 I have never been more confident about a future recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom than Chairman Powell.

Kara Swisher 24:54 Yep, yep, 100%.

Scott Galloway 24:54 [chuckles] I mean, he kinda def- right now, he kinda defines leadership.

Kara Swisher 24:57 ... Yeah, maybe Ms. Majata will give him a [chuckles] be surprised. Well, we'll-- Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, the ongoing fallout from the ICE shootings in Minneapolis. [upbeat music] Support for this show comes from DeleteMe. The new year can be a perfect time to get your digital house in order, and a great way to do that is by making sure your data is protected. DeleteMe makes it easy, quick, and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. DeleteMe does all the hard work of wiping you and your family's personal information from data broker websites. All you need to do is sign up, share the details you want removed, and their experts take it from there. And it's not a one-time fix. DeleteMe will continually monitor and remove the personal data you don't want online throughout the year. I've used DeleteMe, and I really like it. I did it again at the beginning of the year, and I'm always shocked to see how much information is about me out there, and I am a privacy nut. But it's always out there, a lot of it inaccurate, but a lot of it gathered in ways that are troubling. I get updates all the time, and I really think their dashboard is easy to use, which is why Wirecutter named DeleteMe their top pick for data removal services. You can take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for DeleteMe, now at a special discount for our listeners. Get twenty percent off your DeleteMe plan when you go to join deleteme.com/pivot and use the promo code PIVOT at checkout. The only way to get twenty percent off is to go to joindeleteme.com/pivot and enter code PIVOT at checkout. That's joindeleteme.com/pivot, code PIVOT.

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Kara Swisher 27:20 [whooshing] We're back with more news. Thousands of people across the country took to the streets this weekend to protest the killing of thirty-seven-year-old Renee Good

Kara Swisher 27:28 by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. This, as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says she's sending hundreds more federal agents to Minneapolis this week. Vice President J.D. Vance and others are arguing that the footage supports a claim of self-defense. Most people don't... Well, most people aren't lying, don't agree with that. Meanwhile, Good's wife spoke out, saying, "On Wednesday, January seventh, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns." Um, you, you shared your thoughts with me, and, you know, this is, uh... This is a terrible, uh, thing, and, and, and of course, you know, I think people rightly point out that, um, that it's- it gets an enormous amount of attention. This is a, a White woman coming back from school. The, the... I mean, the narrative is really quite something, but it still has sparked protests everywhere, um, because a- and it's-- When it's-- Especially when it's combined with all these videos of these thugs going around with masks on, um, you see reaction from s- sheriffs and local police who don't like it. They don't wear masks. Um, talk a little bit about what you, you think is happening here right now.

Scott Galloway 28:36 Well, I just want to acknowledge the point you referenced, that the Black community is like: "Yeah, welcome to our world." The... Look, the very founding of America, the very principles and the reason why people took so many risks and brought together such thoughtful people to start this new experiment called America, the very cornerstone of why America was found- founded was to avoid this shit, was they didn't want an autocrat with unchecked power that could harm them. And so this, in so many ways, is just a violation of everything we're supposed to stand for. And the worst thing you could say about, uh, Ms. Good is that she was, [sighs] I don't even want to say fleeing the scene, but leaving a controlled environment without permission. That is absolutely the worst thing you could say about her, but Department of Justice policy clearly states, you cannot discharge a weapon or use lethal force when someone is fleeing the scene, and I'm not even sure it qualifies as fleeing the scene. But take the worst interpretation of what she was doing, you still cannot justify-

Kara Swisher 29:40 That's right

Scott Galloway 29:40 ... what this agent did. And also, if you're in front of a jury talking about situations like this... And look, federal agents and police deal with very hot, in-the-moment, complicated situations.

Kara Swisher 29:53 They do.

Scott Galloway 29:53 And a lot of it goes to, um, what they refer to in court as state of mind. Let me give you this guy's state of mind: Fucking bitch.

Kara Swisher 30:04 [chuckles] Thank you.

Scott Galloway 30:05 He put three bullets in the torso and face of a woman who has not physically threatened him, and then decided, after she had clearly been killed and ran off the road, to say, "Fucking bitch."

Kara Swisher 30:22 Yep.

Scott Galloway 30:22 That was his state of mind.

Kara Swisher 30:24 [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 30:24 This is a tragedy on a meta level for American principles. It's obviously a huge tragedy for her and her family. What was even more disappointing and salt in the wounds of the current state of America is conservative media, including Fox, used a lot of code words when describing Ms. Good, and I'm sure you saw this.

Kara Swisher 30:46 Oh, I saw it.

Scott Galloway 30:47 Uh, first off, a self-proclaimed poet. Bullshit! She was an award-winning poet. A divorced pers-- Oh, divorced people aren't as worthy. And then the one I'm sure you noticed, they kept referring to her as a lesbian.

Kara Swisher 31:02 Yep.

Scott Galloway 31:03 Okay, the guy who shot her three times in the face-... I would bet, ninety-five percent probability, he sleeps with women. That makes him no more or no less guilty, and the fact that she sleeps with women makes her no less or more guilty of, of anything, or m- no less a tragedy or a victim. And when Fox consistently describes her as a lesbian activist, what they're saying is: "Dear viewers, we think you are such raging fucking homophobes, that if we highlight that this woman sleeps with other women, you will have an easier time justifying the murder of this woman, because being gay is a bad thing." In other words, "Dear viewers, we think you, too, are homophobic." All of this co-

Kara Swisher 31:48 Yeah, we took out a mouthy lesbian. That's exactly what they're doing.

Scott Galloway 31:52 All of this coded language to try... Is basically an acknowledgement that the viewers of con- of whatever conservative media starts using those words, uh, i- it makes no, it makes no g- If we ever get to a point of America, it makes no sense in any trial or jury to talk about someone's sexual orientation. I have long said, and, and also, I think the left sometimes has a problem with wrapping virtue around people [chuckles] if they're of a certain special interest group. No, they're no better, and they're no worse.

Kara Swisher 32:24 This had, this had nothing to do with that. It was terrifying as a, uh... You know, because I think it was someone who has-- There's some personal thing happening here with him and gay women.

Scott Galloway 32:34 Well, supposedly, he'd had another altercation with a car.

Kara Swisher 32:36 Uh, yeah, and, uh, I- I don't know, something else-

Scott Galloway 32:39 Her heirs are gonna be rich. [chuckles]

Kara Swisher 32:40 Fucking bitch says a lot to me.

Scott Galloway 32:42 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 32:42 Something else was going on here.

Scott Galloway 32:44 Yeah, a hundred percent.

Kara Swisher 32:45 Um, and so, uh, y- you know, the, the, what really... Look, this guy, hi- is clearly a thug, right? Just wanted... And this is what they hire. This is the... The people that killed all those people in Germany were thugs. W- i- Hitler did not kill everybody; he hired people who did so. And one of the things, um, that y- you notice from this is the reaction from people who know better, the J.D. Vances, the Kristi Noem's, et cetera. And Trump himself, who immediately, y- you know, uh, d- decided she was guilty, no matter what, and kept pushing this thing before any investigation. The only person who tried to say, "Well, let's just wait and see," was, of all people, Tom Homan, and then he was slapped back. Like, i- it was incredible. He had the correct response, which is, "Let's wait and see." Like, because, you know... And then, of course, now we're, we're living in an era of video, and when they release that thing and let "fucking bitch" out, like, they think that helps their case? It sounds like this guy was in a rage from someone, and she-- Her last words of her, of her life were, "I'm not mad at you, dude." Like, honestly, the juxtaposition and her "Naying good," um, it was... And it's so clear what's happening in that video. I think what's really gonna-- What's grotesque is, and I have to give credit to Jake Tapper for riding Kristi Noem about this, which was, "How can you, you..." She showed pictures, obviously, of January 6, where they were squeezing a police officer, hitting them with, with, with, um, pipes, and, and, and flags, and, and squeezing one officer in a door. And h- they got pardoned, you know, and she was like, "Everyone gets the same law." And he's like: "But they don't." And she goes, "Everyone gets the same law." And then he shows the pictures again and says, "She's saying, 'I'm not mad at you, dude,' and driving away. They are attacking police officers. You cannot say this." I mean, as far as I'm concerned, Kristi Noem needs to be impeached and hopefully go to jail. J.D. Vance is particularly loathsome in this thing, and, uh, this, uh, I- I... J- That, to me, was sort of a shock, this idea of, like, trying to impugn this victim long before there's an investigation, and then not letting the state also be participatory. This is not gonna end well for any of these people at some point.

Scott Galloway 35:02 Well, the, it's- the administration has been consistent. It's the Roy Cohn communication strategy: double down, deny, attack, attack, attack. Never admit any guilt. If they'd had a really talented communications person with the presidency, what would have actually helped the administration is if the president had done the following: "I saw the video. Quite frankly, I found it very upsetting. Americans, you know, ICE is there for a reason. Uh, I need to review this. I need to see what the full investigation says, but I found what I saw disturbing," and then say nothing else. I think that actually would, quite frankly, have given ICE more cloud cover and license if he had just said that. I don't know if you remember when George Bush... They had video of when Saddam Hussein was hanged, and I remember him saying, "Yeah, I watched the video, and I, quite frankly, I found it very disturbing." And I- it, it was a real moment where you said, "Okay, I, I feel better about this guy being president." He, you know, as angry as he was, as much military hardware as he'd committed, he knew he had been, he had been sentenced to death, but he just said, "I f- I found the whole thing disturbing." Th- they, they would've helped themselves if they had just said, "We need to have a full investigation. Anyone who saw the video, including us, uh, found this disturbing."

Kara Swisher 36:23 And we need to investigate it.

Scott Galloway 36:24 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 36:24 We need to investigate it.

Scott Galloway 36:24 And we'll see, we'll see what, what the, the full investigation turns out.

Kara Swisher 36:28 Yeah, I, I, uh, these people are out of control. I mean, I've talked to a lot of... The, the apparent- this is him unhinged with people, you know, essentially his, his low-rent versions of the SS with them. That's what it feels like. Our, my heart goes out to these, the children of this woman, which is, um, she dropped a kid off at school, and then-

Scott Galloway 36:48 ... She had stuffed animals in her glove box.

Kara Swisher 36:50 Yeah, I mean, there was a dog. This is not a dangerous person.

Scott Galloway 36:52 Yeah, driving a Honda Pi- Honda Pilot. It was like something out of a-

Kara Swisher 36:55 I know, speaking of great cars. [chuckles] Anyway, let's, um...

Kara Swisher 36:58 But, uh, he's also trying to roll over, uh, big oil companies. He says he'll invest one hundred billion dollars to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry, but executives do not say this, and they did not say it in public. Um, at a White House meeting, oil company execs expressed interest but didn't commit to spending, which means they don't want to. And I have talked to several people, and they're- they do not want to, with Exxon CEO calling Venezuela uninvestable under current conditions. Trump is now saying he's inclined to keep Exxon out. I guess he's doing them a favor. They don't wanna be there. He's also turning up the heat on Cuba, warning the country will receive zero oil and money from Venezuela and telling them to make a deal before it's too late. I mean, this guy is like a mobster. If you were an oil company executive... I mean, most of them are like, I, I- N- no matter what he says, they're not gonna waste their money on things. They've already lost... He-- As correctly, these oil executives pointed out, they lost money there. It's sunk costs that they're never getting back, and they've written down a lot of these assets. They had to explain a lot of this to him, um, you know, which- 'cause he's, he, he just didn't have any idea what, seemed not to have any idea what had happened in Venezuela. Um, so what do you think about this? That was really interesting for the Exxon, the biggest oil company, to say, "Yeah, no, I don't think so," right in public and at the White House.

Scott Galloway 38:14 I, I know what's gonna happen here. The, the oil companies will just, you know, give him a hand job, say they're very interested in looking at it, wait him out, but economics are gonna win here. And then the economics, at a very basic level, are the following: The type of oil that Venezuela has, and it does sit on the largest untapped reserves of oil in the world, but it's heavy crude, and heavy crude requires special chemicals and more efforts to re- extract, and basically, the cost-

Kara Swisher 38:42 And refine.

Scott Galloway 38:43 Yeah, that's right. But the cost just of extraction are seventy to eighty bucks a barrel, and right now in the open market, it's at about sixty-two bucks. Now, they continue to do that because they have fixed costs they need to cover, but right now, with the current marketplace, it just doesn't make an economic argument for any incremental investment. In addition, big oil companies have made massive multibillion-dollar investments in Venezuela twice, and each of those times, their assets have been seized. So they're kinda like: Okay, fool me once, fool me twice, [chuckles] fool me three times?

Kara Swisher 39:13 Yeah. We don't need it. They don't need it.

Scott Galloway 39:15 Well, uh, uh, there is something, and I will come back to Venezuela because I have a lot of thoughts on it, and I was, I was jonesing to talk about it. But what I do think Rubio, but the President doesn't seem to understand, is that while oil has shaped the world, where it is now is that it's not about the... It's not about the amount of oil. The US is a net exporter. We have more oil than we need. On an inflation-adjusted basis, oil is cheaper than it was fifty years ago, but the control of the flow of oil is actually very important because you can, in fact, shut China off without... So ninety percent of their oil exports from Venezuela were going to China. There was a shadow fleet coming in and out of Venezuela, and it was going to the people, quite frankly, that we don't like. So the ability to turn off that tap, if China-- I- if you were able to basically sequester China from supplies of energy, they'd be out of business in about six to eight weeks and cannot wage war, whereas the US is energy independent.

Kara Swisher 40:12 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 40:13 That is a big-

Kara Swisher 40:14 It is

Scott Galloway 40:14 ... big deal. But for Exxon or Chevron or name, you know, na- name your fossil fuels company, they have shareholders, and on a risk-adjusted basis, they look at this thing. It might be worthy of some incremental investment if they get guarantees or backstops from the government or something like that, uh, to upgrade certain facilities. But be clear, this isn't going to be a massive... It just doesn't, it doesn't pencil out when oil is at sixty-two bucks a share. Now, if oil goes to one hundred and ten dollars a share, then they're gonna get, you know, they're gonna get their wallets out and say: Okay, we'll buy futures to lock in that price, and we'll make sure that the president gives us a sweetheart deal and security guarantees from the Venezuelan government. But the, uh, the old regime was wildly corrupt. Guess who's there right now?

Kara Swisher 41:03 The same people.

Scott Galloway 41:03 The same regime.

Kara Swisher 41:04 I know. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 41:05 So i-i-i-i-i- we're not gonna see... I don't see, in the near future, a wave of additional incremental investment capital. Where you could see massive investment capital is Chipotle and the Four Seasons. There's a lot of companies that are probably interested, and I'm actually more optimistic about Venezuela than I am, say, about Iraq or Afghanistan, where you had basically these countries that are a mishmash of different tribes with borders drawn up by, you know, the British. Venezuela has been a democracy a, many times. It's a homogenous population. I, I'm actually quite optimistic, not with this administration, but I'm opt- optimistic in general about the prospects. Anyways, I'm getting off track. We were not gonna see big capital investments in the short term from-

Kara Swisher 41:49 Yeah

Scott Galloway 41:49 ... from oil companies.

Kara Swisher 41:50 Yeah. No, but it's true, and you have to think about the economic benefits of this country, right? I mean, in terms of what he's done here. Um, and i- i- it was really interesting because I think he expected them all to follow the script, and as the tech bros tend to do, um, and they absolutely didn't, which when he said that, I-- my head jerked up. I'm like: Oh, wow, that's a big word, unin- [chuckles] uninvestable. Like, it wasn't like: Oh, it's problematic, but we'll figure it out. It was unin-- It was sort of very clear, um, and he was obviously irked by that. But leaving them out, they're, they'll... Listen, he's not gonna be able to leave them out if they wanna be in there. They're the oil companies, they'll do what they want. Um, as, a- as much as he thinks he controls everything, because he likes to say that. The, the more he says, "I control everything," the more I know he doesn't in so many ways, but-

Scott Galloway 42:36 We don't have an embassy in Caracas.

Kara Swisher 42:38 [clears throat] Yeah.

Scott Galloway 42:38 We don't have boots on the ground.

Kara Swisher 42:39 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 42:39 I'm not exactly sure, other than the threat-

Kara Swisher 42:42 Yeah

Scott Galloway 42:42 ... I'm not exactly sure how we, uh, control this-

Kara Swisher 42:45 Nobody wants to go there. Do you think America- Americans want to be, especially his base? They absolutely don't wanna go there, uh-

Scott Galloway 42:52 I think Venezuela could be one of the most attractive tourist de-... uh, destinations in the world-

Kara Swisher 42:57 Yeah, tourists.

Scott Galloway 42:57 -if, if this is handled rightly. This is, uh, it, it- [sighs] and again, this might, might have been me thinking about this under the influence of opiates. I think the way... The analogy I would use is a Bond film, and that is Bond films always have amazing openings.

Kara Swisher 43:11 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 43:11 They always nail the opening.

Kara Swisher 43:14 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 43:14 But then it goes on to be great, good, or awful.

Kara Swisher 43:17 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 43:17 There's been some awful Bond movies, there's been some great ones. Whenever we do these adventures in overseas conquest, it almost always starts really well. We were able to do... When I say we, I'm talking about the best-performing organization in history, the US military. We were able to do in 35 minutes what Putin has not been able to do in 35 months. I mean, the, the-

Kara Swisher 43:38 In, in Ukraine. You're talking about in Ukraine.

Scott Galloway 43:40 Yeah, I'm sorry, in Ukraine. Thank you, Kara. This was such a flex and an extraordinary demonstration of skill, strength, and bravery from the US military. I mean, just abso-

Kara Swisher 43:52 True

Scott Galloway 43:52 ... fuckinglutely extraordinary. Now-

Kara Swisher 43:54 I, if they hadn't won, though, come on, it's Venezuela. Sorry. [chuckles] Like, come on. But I mean, I think-

Scott Galloway 43:59 Not a single US-

Kara Swisher 44:01 I get it

Scott Galloway 44:01 ... fatality or casualty.

Kara Swisher 44:02 I get it. I... If there had been, I would've been like, "What in the hell? How did we lose one person in this?"

Scott Galloway 44:07 Oh, God, of course not.

Kara Swisher 44:08 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 44:08 You have mercenaries all around them.

Kara Swisher 44:10 No, I get it.

Scott Galloway 44:11 They know they're coming. You would've thought... Supposedly, the people on the ground there didn't even hear them coming.

Kara Swisher 44:17 Right.

Scott Galloway 44:17 There were hella-

Kara Swisher 44:18 No, we, we-

Scott Galloway 44:19 This was such an unbelievably massive flex. The problem is, the administration has not taken a note out of the most obvious and best-written geopolitical strategy in history, and it's the following: The Marshall Plan. All right, we have the Imperial Navy, which was shooting surviving sailors in the sea. We had the Third Reich, which obviously did some terrible things. So what did the American people and our leadership decide to do?

Kara Swisher 44:47 Give them money.

Scott Galloway 44:48 We invested in their nations.

Kara Swisher 44:50 Yep.

Scott Galloway 44:50 And we weren't punitive. We invested, we rebuilt, and what do you know? Germany and Japan, 80 years later, are amazing allies.

Kara Swisher 44:59 Well, we're turning on them now because of Greenland. [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 45:01 Well, hold on, let me... Let, let's just stick with Venezuela. The opportunity to not say, "Give me your fucking oil," and, and more deeply impoverish them, and have a transition government, and then have international, uh, voting oversight, free elections, have our great institutions, our great companies encouraged to invest in Venezuela, give Venezuelan people a shot, show them why democracy and capitalism is so wonderful, create an amazing ally in Latin America.

Kara Swisher 45:29 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 45:29 It, it-

Kara Swisher 45:29 You're talking about the wrong president, Scott.

Scott Galloway 45:31 The movie could have been so... This is a Bond film. It started amazing, now we're gonna find out this may not be a great movie, because-

Kara Swisher 45:39 Well-

Scott Galloway 45:39 ... already he's saying, "Give me the oil?"

Kara Swisher 45:42 Yeah, pretty explicitly. So that's, you know, w- related is both Greenland and Iran.

Kara Swisher 45:48 President Trump is considering very strong options to intervene in Iran amid a violent crackdown on anti-government protests. He likes to help protesters in other countries, but human rights groups say over 500 people have been killed in the last two weeks, with over 10,000 arrested pe-... Other, other estimates are much higher. M- people are saying, uh, reports are coming out of much higher than 500. Internet access has also been shut down, telephone service. Iran's foreign minister said just a little while ago that the country is ready for war, but prepared to negotiate. Um, obviously, most, most smart people on this issue, whether it's Fareed... There's all kinds of people talking about it. This, this, this regime is facing some... You know, they have-- This has happened before, but most people feel this is really bad for the regime, which is good for everybody. Um, but, uh, uh, taking military action again, is, ugh, quagmire. Feels quagmire and, and rather dangerous. Although, it's the, maybe the point to attack, 'cause the, this, this country is, is on the brink, I think, from most... From what I can read from experts.

Scott Galloway 46:54 I can't think of a military operation that has a higher ROI for the world, and for women, and for feminism right now.

Kara Swisher 46:59 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 47:00 We have been here before, where it looked like the regime was gonna fall.

Kara Swisher 47:03 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 47:03 And, uh, because of the IDF and, uh, the US Air Force, uh, we have taken out Iran's air defenses. It is clear that the Mossad has penetrated the highest levels in terms of, uh, soft assets and espionage. We should absolutely be supporting incredibly brave young women and men who are risking their lives every day, and we should be striking civilian support centers. We need to help these folks finish the job. This is argu... We are on the precipice, Kara, of what is arguably the greatest unlock for women's rights, and, and to unlock what is an incredible civilization, and turn and stabilize the Middle East for decades. There is so... In my opinion, there is nowhere in the world that connotes a better reason and a bigger opportunity for why we spend more than the next 10 militaries combined. We should be coordinating with our allies in the West, although-

Kara Swisher 48:02 Well-

Scott Galloway 48:02 ... they're not gonna coordinate with us anymore, but Israel will coordinate with us, and we should absolutely be providing military cloud cover and on-the-ground, uh, assets, to make sure that this isn't the 11th hour for the regime. This is, this is lights out.

Kara Swisher 48:19 This is it. Right, lights out. So, uh, again, as you noted, this has happened before. There have been protests across the country, and they've managed to tamp them down over and over again, this regime.

Scott Galloway 48:29 But so many people still... Supposedly, I read this morning that 2,000 people have been, have been murdered.

Kara Swisher 48:35 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 48:35 Uh, uh, the, the best way to end a war, is to win it.

Kara Swisher 48:40 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 48:41 We have the resources. They have no air defenses. We have assets. Russia is preoccupied. Uh, uh, d- I, I mean, I'm a hawk.

Kara Swisher 48:51 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 48:51 I don't think there's any reason to p- to spend $1.1 trillion on the US military, and then not use it in situations like this.

Kara Swisher 48:59 So, so what does that look like? Does it look like... Again, I mean, you know, does it, it, it, does it have that Bush feel to it? That, that, that of course, I suspect-... much regret for the United States' involvement there, whether it was Afghanistan or Iraq, et cetera?

Scott Galloway 49:15 I think, I think that's a fair question, because the reality is, we are, we are very good, and I think it would not incur much danger to our men and women to foment regime change here. The problem is, is when we decide to start trying nation build. But Iraq, I think that, that there is an infrastructure and a populace, and they even, you know-- Everyone's excited about the Shah son potentially coming back, and he has said the right language, that he wants to be a transition le- leader to free and fair elections. But the current-- What we know is the current state is not good for the people of Iran, especially bad for the women of Iran, who have been, uh, subject to what is arguably one of the worst gender apartheids-

Kara Swisher 50:00 Absolutely

Scott Galloway 50:00 ... in the world. Keep in mind, Iran, just a year ago, was considered the superpower of the Middle East. In addition, I mean, when you look at geopolitics, you're not only going to look at what's happened, but what's not happened. Have the Houthis been causing problems in the Suez Canal? No. Has Hezbollah been firing rockets into their neighbors? No. We need to finish the job here, and just personally, having grown up at UCLA and having friends, David Asil, my mentor, Hamid Mo- Moghaddam, Bitak Basiri, Alex Tasseli, I have never met a group of people who are more American than Americans than Iranians, and I think they could actually be an outstanding ally for us. I think the cultures are much more similar between the US and Iran than a lot of our existing allies.

Kara Swisher 50:47 Well then, weigh in what the hell he's doing with Greenland then?

Scott Galloway 50:51 I'll, I'll tell you exactly what-

Kara Swisher 50:52 That news conference-

Scott Galloway 50:53 I'll tell you exactly what's going on, Kara. It makes abso-fucking-lutely no sense.

Kara Swisher 50:57 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 50:58 It's all downside. Anyth- anything they, that we say we want, they're like: "Fine, put military bases here. Do you want-

Kara Swisher 51:05 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 51:05 Do we have rare earth?

Kara Swisher 51:06 We can. We're allowed to, as Da-- I interviewed David Sanger. We can put them there.

Scott Galloway 51:09 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 51:09 There's, there's-

Scott Galloway 51:10 Rare earth? Sure. What, what's your, what's your idea? Instead, we want to go to war with NATO? [chuckles] I mean, this one is really out of a, out of a... I, I, uh, maybe you've done some reporting here or talked to someone?

Kara Swisher 51:24 Here's what I think. This is what people around-- He just wants to take land to show he'd be the first president to do it since, I don't know, Jefferson, I don't know, whoever, what-

Scott Galloway 51:32 Like a real estate deal or something.

Kara Swisher 51:33 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he, he, he's-- Someone was speculating, you know, the map, it's called the Meri- Mercator map, shows Greenland is enormous, but it's actually not. It's not as big as... Just because the way maps are made. It's a real estate deal that he, that he's obsessed with. Um, and of course, it'll create so much damage to our relationship with Europe, um-

Scott Galloway 51:57 If we start attacking an, a NATO ally?

Kara Swisher 51:59 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 51:59 Yeah, I don't, I don't...

Kara Swisher 52:01 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 52:01 This makes-

Kara Swisher 52:03 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 52:03 I got to think even the administration would go: "Uh, what are we doing again?"

Kara Swisher 52:07 No, they seem to be going along with him. They seem to [chuckles] like, whatever crazy shit comes out of his mouth. But we'll see. Do you think he'll take military action here? Prediction, Scott, then we gotta-

Scott Galloway 52:17 I don't.

Kara Swisher 52:18 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 52:18 Well, let me put it this way, they, [sighs] I think they would just show up-

Kara Swisher 52:21 This is Greenland, but in Ira- in Iran, yes.

Scott Galloway 52:25 I am really hopeful. I think this is why we have him. I think if, if we're really serious, I can tell-- [sighs] I was trying to find what Secretary Clinton thought about this, because the thing about Secretary Clinton was she was always pragmatic, was always willing to exert US force.

Kara Swisher 52:38 Oh, she loved it. [chuckles] She loved to, she loved a bomb drop.

Scott Galloway 52:42 And she never, she never forgot where she came from, and that is she always in the back of her mind said: "We are here for a lot of reasons, but we're here to protect and advance the rights of women all over the world."

Kara Swisher 52:53 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 52:54 And there's a double whammy effect there, because the rights of women are largely a forward-looking indicator of your economic growth, prosperity, and your move towards democracy. So there's a lot of reasons to just champion that.

Kara Swisher 53:05 Yeah, because Trump is a well-known feminist, because, you know, that's what he's do.

Scott Galloway 53:08 We are, we are on the verge of such an enormous unlock by toppling the Islamic Republic. And unfortunately, I, I didn't watch the Golden Globes, but I doubt there was very many mentions of Iran, because when you're oppressed-

Kara Swisher 53:25 They mentioned... Scott, let's be fair to them. There was no political, there was-

Scott Galloway 53:29 Great.

Kara Swisher 53:29 There was, there was hardly any.

Scott Galloway 53:31 Yeah, but quite frankly, I would argue, you tell me, I would argue the amount of mentions, uh, uh, around Iran is, is vastly under proportionate or underwhelming relative to its importance. And this will trigger a lot of people, but I want a spicy comeback, and I've decided my theme for twenty twenty-six is zero fucks given. It's because of the moral color code, and that is the media and progressives on our side of the aisle, especially the far left-

Kara Swisher 53:59 Yeah, all right

Scott Galloway 54:00 ... uh, get moral paralysis when the oppressors are brown. And the number of people, there-

Kara Swisher 54:06 Oh.

Scott Galloway 54:06 I don't see any flotillas, I don't see Greta Thunberg, I don't see actors talking about what has been one of the most oppressive, misogynistic, anti-democracy... Kara, they blind women.

Kara Swisher 54:18 I am aware of also, mmm, the, all the, many of those countries which they have protested against. Come on, Scott. I mean, even if they're going in the right direction, that government should be eradicated.

Scott Galloway 54:30 So let's, let's, let's stop there, and the way we do that is, is just as we should be supporting the unbelievable bravery of the Ukrainian people with our military hardware and intelligence, we should be supporting, uh, the brave men and women of Iran right now. And we have the ability to do it. We have intelligence and technology from the IDF, and we have the muscle. It is time, it is time to move to the next stage of this incredible multi-thousand-year civilization, and the potential, uh, I-

Kara Swisher 55:03 I, I get it, I get it. We got to move on, but let me just say-

Scott Galloway 55:05 Yeah

Kara Swisher 55:05 ... if the goal is to do that, threatening our allies over Greenland is not the fucking way to-

Scott Galloway 55:09 No fucking sense.

Kara Swisher 55:09 No fucking sense.

Scott Galloway 55:10 I agree.

Kara Swisher 55:10 Anyway.

Scott Galloway 55:11 No fucking sense.

Kara Swisher 55:11 Um, all right, let's take a quick break. When we come back, here's something else you'll have an opinion on: California's elite is not happy about a proposed billionaire wealth tax.

Speaker 55:19 [upbeat music] Support for this show comes from Rubrik. A lot of companies are deploying AI agents now. They're automating tasks, handling workflows, and making decisions. But here's the thing: sometimes they mess up. What a surprise! They might delete the wrong files, make changes you didn't authorize, or just go off script. And when that happens, you're stuck trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it, unless you're using Rubrik Agent Cloud. Rubrik Agent Cloud is a platform that allows you to monitor, govern, and rewind AI agent actions. One platform to help you unleash more agents faster without the risk. It's running in the background the whole time, watching what's happening, making sure things stay on track, so you get full visibility, set guardrails so agents don't go rogue, and if something breaks, you just roll it back. If your business relies on AI agents, you need the ability to monitor, govern, and rewind their actions. Right now, our listeners get exclusive early access to Rubrik Agent Cloud. Head to rubrik.com. That's R-U-B-R-I-K dot com, rubrik.com.

Scott Galloway 56:20 [upbeat music] Support for the show comes from NetSuite. AI brings with it worlds of possibilities for business, possibilities that your competitors are already taking advantage of. Well, no more sitting on the sidelines. With NetSuite by Oracle, you can put AI to work today. NetSuite is a top AI cloud ERP trusted by over forty-three thousand businesses. It's a unified suite that brings your financials, inventory, commerce, HR, and CRM into a single source of truth. All that connected data is what makes your AI smarter, so it doesn't just guess, it knows. It can intelligently automate routine tasks, deliver actionable insights, and help you make fast AI-powered decisions with confidence. Now, with NetSuite AI Connector, you can use the AI of your choice to connect to your actual business data and ask every question you've ever had. Plus, you can automate those tiresome manual processes, so let's see your competitor do that. It's AI built into the system that runs your business, affording you total flexibility. Whether your company earns millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you stay ahead of the pack. Right now, get the free business guide, Demystifying AI, at netsuite.com/pivot. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com/pivot. That's netsuite.com/pivot.

Kara Swisher 57:31 [upbeat music]

Kara Swisher 57:33 Scott, we're back with some more news. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are cutting some business ties with California ahead of a proposed billionaire wealth tax in the state. They aren't the only ones plotting for a way around it. Silicon Valley elites have been privately organizing to block the tax through a signal chat group called Save California. The tax would be a one-time levy on people worth more than a billion dollars. It's a couple hundred people, actually. It's not that many people, but, uh, some of them are not, are not having a problem with it. Jensen Huang said he's perfectly happy to pay it. Um, uh, at the end of the day, uh, I'm not so sure these people will cut ties. Uh, they all seem to come back to California over and over again, and that's happening right now, as you saw. San Francisco is, is, is, is sort of back, baby, kind of thing, um, in general. I, I know you have an issue about this if the ballot passes, um, but a lot of... It's not a great look, and I suspect, this is my feeling, and I've been talking to some of these people, is they'll have some sort of-- they-- I think the smart ones understand the jig is up on them being rich, like being, behaving the way they're behaving and the image of Silicon Valley, and they know they need to do something to, to... 'Cause they, I think they feel, the smart ones do, feel that there is a, a real backlash against enormous wealth and the gimmes they get. And so I suspect behind the scenes, there's a deal at play here. Um, but I know behind the scenes there's a deal at play, but, uh, thoughts that you have on this? I mean, I think these, the Google guys benefited from California, so did all these billionaires, the, the, the wonderful state of California, and it's not a great look, the way they're behaving. At the same time, they can move anywhere they want, so.

Scott Galloway 59:13 So if the objective is to signal to billionaires that income inequality is out of control and their weaponization of the tax code has really damaged America and created income inequality that threatens and tears at the fabric of our society, and you want to reduce receipts in the California government, then this is your bill. Because, uh, this is the bottom line, regardless of what you think is right or ethical, um, billionaires are the most mobile people in the world, and, uh, this has been tried before, and whoever wrote this bill has just not done their work. One of the people who's senior in this effort reached out to me thinking that I would get on board with it, and I said: "There's no reason to do a call 'cause I'm against this." In nineteen ninety, there were twelve European countries with wealth taxes, and now only three remain. France repealed its wealth tax in twenty seventeen. Sweden repealed it in two thousand and seven. Finland, two thousand and six. Denmark repealed its wealth tax in nineteen ninety-seven. Ireland repealed its wealth tax in nineteen seventy-eight. Austria repealed its wealth tax in nineteen ninety-four. Where I'm living now in the UK, they have a non-dom act, and ethically and logically, it makes a lot of sense. For a long time, if you moved from Dubai or Hong Kong to London and you were paying zero taxes there, you got to bring your zero tax status to London. That's kind of unfair if you're using the UK infrastructure, so they said, "Fuck that. You've been here five years, you got to pay UK taxes." Makes all the sense in the world. Over a thousand million, ten thousand millionaires have left. The UK government is going to collect less revenue this year, not more. Ethically also, or principally, I'm against it because I think once you get through the gauntlet of taxes, it's private property, and I think one of the things about the West is we respect private property. I don't think you can go after people's assets retroactively. What they should have done, or what they should do, and I love tax policy, they should have an AMT. We don't care who you are and how many tax goodies you've come up with, you're gonna pay at least forty percent above a million dollars AMT. Um, uh, uh, do away with the inheritance tax, uh, deduction, or vastly reduce it. D- raise corporate taxes. There's better ways to do this.

Kara Swisher 1:01:33 Yes, but impossible.... by the way, because they have all the money, to stop every single one of those things. I don't mind the signal here to these people at all, and I think it is a signal. I'm not so sure, and I know there's some-

Scott Galloway 1:01:46 I think higher taxes are coming for the wealthy.

Kara Swisher 1:01:48 You are-- It's enough with you people, and I think the signal is enough to begin the discussions. And they, they-- listen, they don't look good. Like, here's, especially the Google guys, they made their fortune in California. So did Elon, by the way. All of them did. And to, like, kick it on the way out is such a look of, of greed, and it was really interesting that Jensen Huang, because he probably knows it's not gonna really-

Scott Galloway 1:02:12 Jensen doesn't think this is gonna go through.

Kara Swisher 1:02:15 That's right.

Scott Galloway 1:02:15 That's such signaling.

Kara Swisher 1:02:17 So he's saying, so he's saying, "I'm happy to pay my fair share."

Scott Galloway 1:02:18 "I'm a good guy. I'm one of you. I'm in favor of this." He's not worried about it. [chuckles]

Kara Swisher 1:02:21 He's not worried about it, but he also knows, he understands what's coming. See, I find him much more canny. They're just so fucking dumb and greedy. Like, there's-- They just, they just always have to react when anyone wants them to do the right thing. Like: "Ooh, I don't want to have to do what I want to do," that kind of thing. And so I think there's a real interesting interplay here with these wealthy people because I do think brand Silicon Valley is not good, is not-

Scott Galloway 1:02:48 Oh, no shit!

Kara Swisher 1:02:49 You know? So they, they need to make a deal here.

Scott Galloway 1:02:52 The UK is talking about-- UK, Australia, and Canada are talking about banning, banning X.

Kara Swisher 1:02:57 X.

Scott Galloway 1:02:57 Uh, uh, and it's only gonna go, it's only gonna get worse. I think Europe is probably gonna consider banning Meta if this shit continues with Trump. But just going back to tax policy, a better tax policy that would be more effective... I mean, this is the problem, is this, with this ballot and some of the conversation we're having here, is something I've struggled with my whole life professionally, the difference between being right and being effective. Billionaires paying more tax in California to support the incredible infrastructure, the Cal State, the UC system, the hospitals, the environment, a- absolutely, that's right. But the question is, how do you be effective? How do you actually increase the treasury to invest in the middle class and the infrastructure that made these people rich? And one thing you could do, it's boring, but it would be effective, is the following: You get taxed when you recognize a capital gain based on where the wealth was accreted. So when Bezos accretes, whatever it is, eighty or a hundred and twenty billion dollars in wealth, and then he recognizes it, the tax authorities go, "Okay, it's-- we estimate that ninety of that hundred billion dollars was accreted while you were a resident of Washington State, and so you are going to pay Washington State taxes on ninety billion dollars." Instead of like, "You know, I'm thinking about selling my stock. I'm gonna peace out to Miami and shit-post San Francisco, and then pay and pretend that I'm seeing my father. I couldn't handle San Francisco politics or homeless anymore, so I'm peacing out to a zero-tax state." And you can literally be there for twelve months and then recognize the entire capital gain without paying anything back to the great infrastructure. I think there are much more, much more elegant-

Kara Swisher 1:04:30 Yeah

Scott Galloway 1:04:30 ... ways.

Kara Swisher 1:04:30 No, I think this is the beginning of a dialogue. I just, I don't, I don't know, but I have a f-- They-- Let me just tell you, they can walk, you know, do their angry walk out of California, but they're coming for you folks. You're not... Nobody likes you, and they don't think you're heroes, and they don't think you're great, and they don't think what you've done is great. And so of, if there's one brand that's been more, that has, has shot itself in the foot more, it's Silicon Valley. Um, not everybody, but a lot of people. Anyway, um, one more quick break. We'll be back for wins and fails. [upbeat music] Support for today's show comes from Upwork. If you're a small business owner, your inbox is in the double digits before you even logged on, it might be time to bring in some help. Even though it may feel like it, you don't have to be the CEO, CFO, and COO. Upwork says that with their help, you can start hiring top candidates and stop doing everything yourself. With Upwork Business Plus, you don't need to spend weeks sorting through random resumes. You can source and vet a curated shortlist of proven candidates for skills and reliability. Upwork Business Plus gives you instant access to the top one percent of Upwork's talent in fields like marketing, design, AI, and more, all ready to jump in and make your life easier. Upwork Business Plus gets rid of the hassle of hiring and sends top talent right to your inbox. That way, you're never stuck spinning your wheels when you need a skilled pro, and your projects don't stall. You can visit upwork.com right now to post your job for free and connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's U-P-W-O-R-K dot com, upwork.com. [upbeat music]

Kara Swisher 1:06:02 Okay, Scott, let's hear some wins and fails.

Scott Galloway 1:06:05 Okay, uh, my win is actually, uh... Well, [exhales] the, uh, the US military that executed the capture of Maduro, Delta Force, 1st Special Forces Operation Detachment Delta, which is an elite Army special unit, um, that led the direct raid and the apprehension of Maduro, the 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment. Um, and then there are these quiet helicopters, uh, just on, uh, night prowlers. And then supporting the, uh, our brave men and women on the ground there were, uh, uh, elements from multiple, um, units, intelligence, mobility. Uh, the United States Air Force, United States Navy, the Marine Corps, all had, all had a role in this. I just think, i- if you think about kind of soft power, if you think about America's influence around the world, of the seven billion people in the world, six point seven billion don't live here, and six billion are never going to come here, and four billion are never gonna have any interaction, or three billion are probably never gonna have any interaction with an American, to an extent. So our ability to do business, to, uh, continue to attract the best and brightest, to convince them maybe not to cooperate with people planning to come here and harm us, is based on our brand, and part of that brand should be soft power in a positive way, and that's why the cancellation of USAID was so terrible. But also, some of it is, is, quite frankly, as Madeleine Albright said, Secretary Albright said, our-... reach as far and our memory is long. The brand message of this military flex and how it was executed, has sent a chill down the spine of every adversary globally. Jesus Christ! Did you see what they did, and how easily they did it? Uh, I think that the win here-- And I, I'm actually in favor of the operation. US, Russia, and China were operating a shadow fleet. We also actually didn't get enough press. We seized a Russian tanker like it was s- wiping sweat from our brow. They did it so elegantly, even though it was being shadowed by an Ekila-based, uh, or class Russian sub. It could be an amazing ally. Uh, anyways, we talked about this, but my win is the best-performing organization in the history of, uh, of the world, and that is the US military. I just don't-- I, I'm just fascinated by what people... My loss here is the moral color code of America, where unfortunately, my business academics have created a zeitgeist of oppressor and oppressed, and we've decided the shorthand for that is the color of the skin of the oppressor. And we go into moral paralysis, whether it's in Sudan or Afghanistan, uh, or in this case, Iran, when the oppressors are brown. And I, I just am disappointed that there's not more attention to what-- I don't think you can call yourself a feminist if you're not talking about, excited, and very supportive of robust, of robust action to overthrow what has been one of the most oppressive regimes globally. Uh, and I just don't see that nearly the type of coverage that some of [chuckles] some other conflicts have received, and I think it's because in America, we do have what I would refer to as a mo- a moral color code, and that is the, the damage done to the oppressed, the violation of human rights, the pursuit of democracy, the out-of-control misogyny, are not what dictates our response. What largely dictates our response is the color of the skin of the oppressor. That's my fail. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't credit a lot of my thoughts around this to this, this really impressive woman who I had the pleasure of meeting, a woman named Elika LeBon, and if you're not following her, you should. Uh, I think she's just so brave and so thoughtful around the issues as it relates to Iran and other conflicts around the world.

Kara Swisher 1:10:07 All right. Um, it's kind of funny that you say that because there was a story on Fox about wine moms, white wine moms-

Scott Galloway 1:10:13 White wine moms [laughing]

Kara Swisher 1:10:16 ... being dangerous. [laughing] Oh, my God, sweet.

Scott Galloway 1:10:17 I love that.

Kara Swisher 1:10:17 Maldy lesbians and white wine moms.

Scott Galloway 1:10:19 The wom- the women of white wine.

Kara Swisher 1:10:20 Oh, my God, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.

Scott Galloway 1:10:23 That got started with that, that justice's wife, who had drank wine and still, and hung the flag upside down.

Kara Swisher 1:10:28 Yeah, oh, well, she's a different white wine mom. She's [chuckles] on the other side. Um, uh, my win is, uh... Well, no, let me do my fail first. I just had them in my head, now I've forgotten them. Oh, what's happening with Grok? Uh, we didn't even talked about it, and we, we should on Thursday, but, uh, this, th- a- and the fails are Apple and Google, and of course, Grok, as always, is in terms of, um, allowing child abuse and misogyny to just thrive and pretending it's free speech. Um, what, i, i, back in the day, I feel like child pornography was something we all agreed shouldn't happen. Um, the fact that these companies haven't thrown Grok out or demanded changes or anything, or been vocal about this issue, and maybe they are behind the scenes, but I don't care. They should say it publicly, um, about what, uh, Musk has been doing at Grok, which is disturbing. Uh, there were pictures of the woman who was killed in Minnesota with bikinis on in his spicy mode. Look, uh, uh, people are gonna make these things, stupid anti-women things all the time, but this is really repulsive when it comes to, um, uh, children. And, uh, and, and this is something we shouldn't-- I'm gonna do a whole show on it 'cause I'm just so tired, and I, I do, I, I don't think the media has paid enough attention to this, but I don't think it's the media's fault, so I'm not gonna, like, slap the media for it. I, I think Apple and Google ha- have some influence here in terms of the App Store and everything else, and, um, I, I know, for example, that a federal judge just ruled that the lawsuit against OpenAI should go to trial, and that's perfectly fine, but the behavior of Grok is really pretty heinous. And so, um, uh, a- a- and if-- They're never gonna do something 'cause it's Elon Musk, and he has no values whatsoever at this point. Um, but Apple and Google certainly should and stand up, and the, the lack of standing up by many companies these days is pretty disturbing on every level, but this, this, to me, is the most disturbing that I've seen so far. And my win is, um, my win continues to be, uh, people that, um, uh, you know, that, that are standing up, whether it's Jerome Powell, whether it's, uh, the [chuckles] even the Exxon executive, but he just said the truth out loud, um, about things. This is an administration of, of cronies and hacks and terrible people that are still doing damage, even if they're incompetent. And so anybody who speaks out and says things, I'm really... And Jerome Powell this week sort of gets that, uh, that for me, absolutely, even in a small way. Um, I, I, I, I don't love when actors do it from stages, and I thought actually Jean Smart, uh, at the-- besides saying she's a greedy bitch for winning three times, which was very funny, was really, uh, did it well. Like, she said something very clearly, and at the same time, she understood. She's like: "I understand that people don't like to hear actors talking about these things, but I'm a citizen, and this, we have to do the right thing." I thought she did it in a really classy way. So that was a small way. I think Jerome Powell is doing the same thing, and I think everyone who calls attention to all this n- fucking nonsense, um... And also, Jake Tapper, for doing that excellent interview with Christine Rome, um, deserves credit for, for, for just saying: "Oh, c- come on, fucking enough with you people." Anyway, we wanna hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech, or whatever's on your mind. Go to nytmag.com/pivot to send a question for the show, or call eight five five five one pivot. Okay, that's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot, and our new Scott Galloway. She's so pretty. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on Friday. Scott, welcome. [laughing]

Scott Galloway 1:14:00 [laughing] Stop laughing. Stop laughing.

Kara Swisher 1:14:04 I just, I love every-

Scott Galloway 1:14:05 It's lucky it's not at my expense.

Kara Swisher 1:14:07 You know what? I gotta say, everyone's like: "Why is Scott out?" And I'm like, "Uh..." And they're like: "Facelift." [chuckles]

Scott Galloway 1:14:13 No, it wasn't a facelift. Uh, that's coming.

Kara Swisher 1:14:15 Whatever, that was what you said.

Scott Galloway 1:14:16 That's coming.

Kara Swisher 1:14:17 [chuckles] That's coming.

Scott Galloway 1:14:17 That's coming.

Kara Swisher 1:14:18 All right, read us out, you pretty little lady.

Scott Galloway 1:14:21 Today's show is produced by Lara Naaman, Zoë Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Bertot engineered this episode. Rich Shibley edited the video. Thanks also to Drew Bros, Miss Vera, and Dan Chalon. Nishat Kurwa, Vox Media's executive producer of podcasts. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thank you for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at edmymag.com/pod. We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. I asked the surgeon just to look natural, and I think he misheard me and said, uh, "I wanna look naturally surprised." [chuckles] Uh, I'm looking at Ferraris, Kara. I'm looking at Ferraris. [laughing] What is the hole I'm trying to fill here? What is the hole?

Kara Swisher 1:15:02 Oh, it's a big one.

Scott Galloway 1:15:03 See you later in the week. [upbeat music]