Transcript 0:00 Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, emails, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the Headline Hammer. 0:07 With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. 0:18 That means less time on the work around the work, and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. 0:30 That's goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. [musical jingle] Wheelhouse DNA. [instrumental music] Hi, everyone, my name is Boye Kolade. And I'm Chris Sottile. 0:45 And welcome to the Future Forecast, a podcast where we explore the intersection between business, technology, and entertainment. Today, we're looking ahead. 0:52 We're gonna talk about the potential super merger between Paramount and Sony, how Gen Z might just be the tool belt generation, and new legislation in Colorado that's preventing tech companies from selling your brain data. 1:05 But first, let's catch up. Chris, you look like you're about to play pickleball. What are you doing? Oh, oh, uh, oh, I'm- I'm s- I'm really sorry. I just, um, 1:16 for those listening, I, I got this, this Hot Take Time tracker, and I d- I just, I was so eager to start tracking my wins because I've had so many hot takes come true. 1:28 Yeah, well, you have to state them before you put them on the board. You can't just be like, "Ah, 100..." Whoa, whoa, whoa. You already know the ones that I've already had come true. 1:36 Why, why are you, why are you sabotaging? I, which ones came true? 1:39 Well, okay, let's not, let, let's, if you really wanna get into it, we, we do have to acknowledge the fact that Apple, it just came out that Apple already has cut back expecting half of the Apple Vision Pros. 1:52 They're cutting back on inventory where they first predicted that it was gonna be 700 to 800,000 units sold in the first year, and now in some of their internal paperwork they're only seeing a few units sold weekly. 2:06 So they've cut back now for expectations to be between 400 and 500,000. I'm pretty sure someone said that the headset was not gonna be a success this year, and that it was going to be very, very, very sad for Apple. 2:24 You have three, though. That's one. That's one. Too-hoo. [laughs] Well, good things happen in three. You know what I mean? It's like the- Okay. 2:30 I just thought I would tally mine now, and then we could talk about it later, you know? Okay. We'll come back to this then. [laughs] We'll see, we'll see what's going on. Oh. 2:40 Well, well, one that, uh, we're not sure is coming true this weekend is Stagecoach, which I'm going to this weekend. Oh, ma- well, y- I apprec- you know what? Thank you. I feel- [laughs] I... 2:51 Look, if Beyoncé plays this year, I would want that, but I feel usually when there's, like, a surprise performance, it's announced by now. Do you? Yeah. 3:00 The c- the, the Cowboy Carter signage, everyone was like, "Oh, she's gonna be, she's gonna be at St- at Coachella. It's gonna happen." No. Do you f- do you really feel like no one would've leaked it by now? 3:11 Like, leaked performance, leaked soundcheck? Like, when Skrillex and, um, and, uh, what's-his-name, Fred Again, were kind of announced, you know, post Frank Ocean's implosion, 3:23 I think it was, like, Monday or Tuesday everyone started talking about it. But everyone's circulating around that. 3:28 I think we have to remember or remind ourselves, and maybe I'm giving too much credit here, but it's fricking Beyoncé. [slurps] Well, speaking of shows, let's talk about Paramount and Sony. Um- Let's talk about it... 3:42 if you've been listening to the pod for a minute, you might remember our story late last year about Paramount potentially being acquired by Skydance Media and RedBird Capital. 3:53 Since then, there's been a lot of talk, uh, even recently there's, like, a 30-day window that Skydance and Paramount are in, in negotiations. 4:04 But a new development has come, which is another potential buyer, Apollo Global, which previously made a bid of 26 billion, which was actually rejected by Shari over concerns about their finances, now has Sony 4:21 on board to partner in that acquisition. And, uh, it's really unique and interesting, especially given that there is an exclusive 30-day window- Yeah... happening with David Ellison at Skydance. 4:34 But a Paramount-Sony combination would kind of be wild, actually. So the situation's further nuanced. 4:44 Shari Redstone, who is the head of Paramount Global, she inherited it when it was Viacom and CBS from her father, Sumner Redstone. 4:55 She right now is really interested in this deal with David Ellison, who is only acquiring their stake in, in National Amusements, not the rest of Paramount Global. 5:08 Whereas Apollo and Sony are offering to buy it all, benefiting all of the shareholders and not just one. 5:16 At the same time, though, even though one might say, "Well, you wanna do a deal that benefits all the shareholders," many people are also a little hesitant because a Sony-Apollo acquisition of Paramount would consolidate the studios, given that we already have a casualty in Fox, you know, several years ago in Disney. 5:39 And so many people feel like it's not gonna be great for competition. Anyways, that's what's on the table. You know, I, I've been out on the beat, been running around, I've been 5:52 going after all the information, and the word on the street is there is no way David Ellison's gonna let, uh, gonna mess this up. There's no way that David Ellison's gonna let this get away. 6:02 And I think it's important to think about that or to, to talk about that a little bit. It's interesting to hear us talk about Sony- Mm-hmm I know we talked a bit about it. No disrespect to Sony. I love PlayStation. 6:16 [laughs] It definitely helped raise me. You know, I was- Low-key, yeah... Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, oh my God, the games Final Fantasy You know, they just made the best games. That said, 6:30 there have been words used when talking about a studio like Sony, where I've seen covering agents from time to time associate some of these film studios as, for lack of a better term, dumpster fires. 6:46 And it's very rude language. It's not my language, but I have heard it said in multiple, multiple closed doors. And I, and I say it to say that if this merger were to have happened, and we were to have watched 6:59 Paramount and Sony c- combined, it's not like Fox and Disney. 7:06 Fox had great properties, but wasn't able to stay afloat in a certain way, and Disney was always the beautiful toy coming in to say, "Let me lend my brand, and I'm gonna help raise a- awareness towards all the fantastic properties within the Fox, uh, universe." 7:24 Sony and Paramount, it's just two dinosaurs kind of coming together to continue to do the same thing. There's not real innovation there from a feature filmmaking perspective when you... When... 7:35 At least when I think about TV and film, they're, they're more studios still going out. They don't have their own distribution in the same way. They don't have platforms like Netflix- Yeah... Disney, etc. 7:45 They'd be, they'd be getting that. They'd be getting Paramount+ in an acquisition. Right, but Paramount+ was still so late. 7:52 Paramount+, I still would argue, was the latest to the table when it came to building a platform. One of them. One of them, right. Between them and Peacock were the two that were- Yeah... 8:03 the last, last men s- last people, last women, men standing- Yeah... in the arms race. I wanna dive in more to your thoughts on how David's not gonna let go of it. That's just what the word on the street is. 8:13 Like, what I'm saying, when there are people, you know, when the agents and everyone are all talking, that's the word on the street on, like, the film business scuttlebutt. Yeah. There's no way 8:24 they, they don't see Skydance and Paramount coming together. Yeah. Well, I know, I do know the path with Sony is gonna have regulatory hurdles, because Sony's a Japanese company, and, uh, the FTC is on a tear right now. 8:37 So I think you would have maybe, like, a protective layer there. But I wonder, you know... I mean, I, I know Shari Redstone has the majority vote. 8:45 I don't know all the voting mechanisms in, in the sale, but it, it really is, like, a, a weird deal. It's not... 8:54 The, the thing I will say that maybe is positive with David is he could turn it around for the other shareholders. Right. Right? 9:01 So he could say, "I can actually get more value to everyone else," and turn it from a $26 billion company to more than that. 9:10 Also, there's been so much conflict, though, if I'm a shareholder, unless you're really just trying to get out and cut your losses, there's been so much discourse between Shari and other holders. 9:21 Why not just let Shari go? Why really... You know, I, I don't know what the power grab would be. Well, she, she has all the power. National Amusements is, like, literally all-powerful. Like, you can never let Shari go. 9:33 But if Shari sells, doesn't it make your life easier? 'Cause then the dis- In that case, yes... that's what I'm saying. Why- God, I thought you meant, like, fire her. No, no, no, no. I, I mean let her go. 9:41 Like, let her, let her go off into the sunset- And do her thing... and sell, and do her thing. Just let it happen. Yeah. Why, why, why... 9:50 W- unless it's just a, I understand a power grab to ensure that you're not now reporting to David Ellison- Yeah... and having to deal with that and new politics, but- That's probably what it is. Yeah. 10:01 It's people who are like, "I don't want a new boss." Yeah. Like, I could see Bob Bakish not... Apparently he might even want the Apollo-Sony agreement. Interesting. But I think he's done regardless. Like- Yeah. Agreed... 10:12 in either scenario, he's not gonna be the CEO of Paramount. By the way, speaking of the FTC, complete non sequitur, but if I can bring this up. I don't know if you saw 10:20 la- late last night or earlier today, they were bringing up that employment agreements cannot hold non-competes. They're banned. Oh, interesting. Completely. 10:35 Now, for h- uh, what is considered senior executives- Mm-hmm... anyone C-suite level, you will... They'll still... Th- there will be rules that still apply in terms of non-competes. Yeah. 10:48 But that was, I think that that's not crazy. That's just a very interesting... In a world where there are so many trade secrets, especially in entertainment- Yeah... 10:58 where non-competes are crafted and created to dissuade people from hopping left and right. Yeah. Very curious to see what that means, because you're working for Apple, and you're an engineer. Mm-hmm. 11:08 They all have non-competes. Yeah. Right? They're a window of where you can't move for six months to deter you from ever wanting or trying to leave. Yeah. To know that that's being taken out, how crazy is that? 11:20 Anyway, just, just a little, little, little- Interesting. Yeah. Maybe it might be another conversation for another day. It makes it so hard, d- and it, it... God. Yeah. 11:28 It makes it so hard to be a- To be an owner, be an owner... to be an owner of a company. Yeah, of any company. Anyways, wild stuff happening in the Paramount/Sony world. We'll continue to watch the ride. 11:37 [static] In other news, we're gonna talk about the tool belt generation. Now, this is a new term being coined. I kinda like it, actually. The tool belt generation. Yeah. 11:52 It, it used to be a, um, a derogatory term to be called a tool. I was gonna say, if it was my... It used to be, yeah. It's, I feel like it still is. Yeah, but not if you're in the tool belt generation though. 12:03 All I'm saying is if this was my generation, I feel like I'd be kind of offended. [laughs] I'm, yeah, I'm just saying. I'm not gonna lie. So, uh, for those of you who don't know, we're talking about Gen Z. 12:13 There's a new term called the toolbelt generation. Basically, it's referring to how Gen Z are being relegated to working in more, 12:24 quote-unquote, blue-collar, work-with-your-hand, trade-type jobs like HVAC maintenance, construction, carpentry, plumbing, et cetera. Part of the reason is college tuition rising, AI technology proliferating. 12:42 It's super hard to get a job out of school. And so a lot of these folks are saying, "Well, since it's hard to get a desk job, I might go do something that it's more easier to get." 12:54 And by the way, still kind of paying money, six figures done right, you know? And it's bringing up a lot of things about just the future of our economy, the, um, future of job employment, the impact of AI. 13:09 A lot of thoughts. I'm sure you have some. If you'll, if you'll permit me, I definitely can't shut this guy up, guys. [laughs] Chris Sawtelle and his thoughts just, just will, will run and run and run. 13:20 It really frustrates me to hear this because we do so much coverage where on one end of the spectrum, "Gen Z, they're so phenomenal. They're the entrepreneurs of this world. They're out there. 13:32 They're not looking to be... They're looking to be more self-employed." On the other side, it's like, "They're the blue-collar workers of this world trying to figure it out, having to take on these other things." 13:43 We're still coming out of COVID, and I think what I've witnessed, especially 'cause I have siblings that graduated college just out of COVID or, uh, or, or family members, and what I've witnessed is people have been forced to take on other jobs by way of necessity. 14:04 And when I say other jobs, ones that might not be as celebrated or celebrated in the sense of the reward, whether it be financial or whether it be deemed as, quote-unquote, sexy or give off this sex appeal of, of, um, 14:23 prestige due to the necessity of having to make ends meet. Yeah. And being clever with how to... You then start evaluating the building of family. Mm-hmm. 14:35 As time goes on, you've, they're, they've made decisions to say, "I'd rather go f- go acquire more finance- Yeah... than follow in the footsteps of prestige." Yeah, well, it's interesting. 14:46 I like, I love that you brought up the word prestige, right? 14:49 So for our, you know, and tell me if you think I'm wrong in this, but I would argue to say when we think of prestige, we think of, you know, the successful companies that we hear about- Yeah... right? 15:00 The Google, the Facebooks, the, the Netflixes of the world. Again, these are desk jobs through the computer, and there's two things at play that I've found. One, we have the proliferation of AI, right? 15:14 Which means that interestingly enough, AI is coming for white-collar jobs first, right? It's disrupting writing, copywriting, design, even communication. We're already seeing it as one of the big reasons of the strike. 15:28 So that's displacing the prestige. I- Another thing that I've been seeing is recently Wall Street's shift from caring about 15:39 sheer numbers of growth of the actual product in users and customers to what your, what are your profits? What's your cash flow? 15:47 And, you know, the culprits, I believe, are Facebook, Snapchat, Netflix even, when it was celebrated to say, "We hit these many daily active users and monthly active users and 100 million new subscribers." 16:00 And what it led to was highly inflated companies that had tons of users and no revenue, even though it was the like, "Oh, yeah, grow now, figure it out later." A long way to say that right now cash is sexy. 16:15 Cash is prestige. And so I actually think we might see prestige move into plumbing, move into electricians- Oh, interesting... because it's cash flowing, and that's what's hot, and that's what's sexy. 16:30 It brings up the point to me where I'm more frustrated that college used to be a promissory note to comfortability or to success. Uh, and when I say success, I don't mean prestige, but I mean a promissory note that you 16:48 did the work to discover how to survive and how to supply your family or your prospective family with the ability to eat. Or let me break it down. Spend $200,000 for four years and be set for life. Yeah, exactly. 17:05 What a lie. What, what a lie. And that's, that's not me begrudgingly saying screw the system. I very much believe in extreme ownership. You have to go out there and, and build your own path and figure it out. 17:16 That's very much the American dream. But I think what I, what it helps me want to highlight is that idea that getting a job so much more has been about class, culture, and camaraderie versus curriculum. 17:33 Mm-hmm. And what I mean by that is there are a lot of jobs that though you may go and learn something. You might go to UCLA or US- U- USC or Columbia or any of these schools. 17:47 You can go to any of these universities, and you still graduate if you meet a certain GPA, where most of those j- most people when they're leaving the university, where they're actually getting their jobs, or even if you're not going to a college, think about how many friends have helped introduce you to other people to get jobs. 18:07 Where we're actually getting our jobs is through our network. It's through who we know. And- University was used as a, a, a one point in time, and still to some degree is, it's a class system. 18:20 We're already accepted into this group. Yeah. We're accepted into this friend group. We are approved. I think college is camp. Oh, yeah. It's like- Expensive camp... it's expensive camp. And what you said is 100%. 18:35 And like, you know, I, my siblings, they're a lot younger than me, I kept preaching to them, "Internship, internship, internship. That's all that matters." Like, get in. 18:44 But you bring up a point, it's not just, it's not just trying to get a job, but it's also networking with your peers. Yeah. Right? The best thing about college is the community. 18:53 And so then my mind goes to if the best thing about college is not necessarily the education, um, what other places can you find community without even going to college? So when I graduated, 19:06 I'm fort- I was fortunate enough to hustle and just cold email and hit the pavement and get a job in the mail room at Brillstein. But if I told you how many of my friends, 19:19 how many of my colleagues at school became waiters and bartenders and baristas, ba- servers. 19:30 And to be very clear, not because it, that type of job opened their schedules up because they wanted to be actors and to audition. 19:40 It did a bit of that, but, but truly because they didn't know how to leverage their degree to get any other job. Yeah, and that's what's hard for a lot of people. It's very, very tough and- How crazy is that, though? 19:56 Yeah. It is. It's, it's plaguing a lot of people. And if you wanna know what I think even more, you might actually have to buy it from me. 20:03 [slurping] [electronic music] Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, emails, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the Headline Hammer. 20:15 With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. 20:26 That means less time on the work around the work, and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. 20:38 That's goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. [electronic music] Because we're talking about selling your thoughts. Oh, I, oh, that was good. Ooh. That was a good migration. You like that transition? 20:49 I was like, "Are you gonna plug your book?" [laughs] Like, what's happening here? 20:52 Uh, so neurotechnology is on the brink of expansion with companies like Apple, Meta, Neuralink, and even Snapchat becoming involved in the field. 21:03 Colorado, which is, for some reason, Colorado and Wyoming seem to always, like, pave the way in weird things like this. You think it's the smoking? [laughs] Maybe, yeah. It's the weed, huh? 21:13 They're like, "Smoke a doobie." [inhales] Well, okay. [laughs] Yeah. Boulder's got the biggest thought leaders of all, you know, guys. [laughs] Exactly. 21:21 So Colorado's now become the first state to pass a bill that protects your brain data and prohibits companies from freely sharing and selling that data to third parties. Reading this- It's the paranoia. 21:32 That's what it is. [laughs] It's all the paranoia... reading this, I definitely might agree with you. [laughs] That people are smoking bowls over there, dude. So w- w- let's get into this. Why is this such a big deal? 21:41 The bill is looking specifically at, like, consumer level brain technologies. The big one that we all know is Neuralink, and other brain computer interfaces that use a technology called EEG. 21:53 And a recent NeuroRights Foundation report analyzed 30 consumer neurotechnology companies and w- found that only one company restricted access to user data. 22:05 So two-thirds of the companies could sell data if they wanted to. Wow. And two companies already sold that data. This is bonkers. This isn't even out there, and we're already talking about selling our thoughts. 22:17 What I wanna say, I'm gonna bring it to entertainment, 'cause it's, it's where I find a lot of cool analogies. But if you've seen the movie or the TV show Severance, uh, have you seen Severance? Yeah, yeah. 22:28 Yeah, big fan. 22:28 It's literally my favorite show on Apple, and I always struggle or think about this dichotomy between, um, artistry and invention, and that TV show is so prophetic, in my opinion, and we're already seeing it on the page. 22:44 So my mind goes to, like, I mean, that's Neuralink, right? And so now we're in a, in a world where in the same way, uh, 23andMe might sell your genetic data, you could literally 22:59 be in a position where people can get into your thoughts, even the government. That's, like, wild. Yeah. 23:06 I'm blown away to hear that people have already sold that data or that company, not people, that companies have already gotten away with or have been able to sell that data. It's a very scary thing. 23:16 I mean, this is not new knowledge. It's not things that people haven't been doing for a long time. 23:21 What's scary about it, though, is that it's going to help train AI with our, uh, any and all brain mapping that we're doing because it's going to give AI... 23:31 Right now, the only way in which AI is able to learn is obviously based off of our ability to train it with the questions that we ask, but also following our viewing habits, whether it be online, our search engine habits. 23:44 They can anticipate, no different than a mentalist, the next 13 steps that we're going to move. 23:51 They can probably, uh, anticipate, "Oh, Boye and Chris are going to watch Shogun tonight," because they were prompted with these three things on Wednesday at 1:00, 5:00, and 6:30. Yeah. 24:05 And so interestingly enough, it's like Minority Report. 24:08 Companies will be able to anticipate our decisions before we even make those moves because we've trained the brain mapping enough times if we've opted in for the sale of our data. That's scary as all hell. Yeah. 24:21 It's interesting, too, um, Elon talks about how Neuralink is actually one of the ways in which we will stop the progression of evil AI, but it almost feels like we're advancing it. 24:38 Here's one thing that I've always seen with modern-day technology. Human beings, we're constantly giving away our freedoms for more ease. Yeah. Right? 24:47 We're giving away our information for easier connection on social media. We're giving away our genetic data to connect with our past, you know, parents and grandparents and long-lost siblings. 24:59 N- you name the technology, we are giving away something for that ease. And for me, this is deeply profound because I've always felt that thoughts were protected. 25:10 And so I don't know what to do living in a world where, like... 'Cause you're, you're always thinking of random things, and sometimes your mind goes to dark places and, like, you know what I mean? 25:21 Like, literally to just have your every thought just recorded. 25:25 [laughs] Just to go back, uh, listen, the boys in blue are gonna come knocking on your door, boy, and just say, "Hey, we heard that you thought about this thing." [laughs] You know? 25:34 That's gonna be everybody on the planet. They're, uh, uh, "Excuse me, sir. Uh, we have a warrant for your thoughts." [laughs] A warrant for your thoughts. You like that? Do you like that? A T-shirt. 25:43 That, that's a T-shirt. Yeah. Uh, listeners, if you like the idea of warrant for your thoughts, please, by all means, let us know in the comments. We're thinking, I, I'm gonna make that shirt. 25:53 I'm no question gonna make that shirt. That is a shirt. Love it. [static] Well, we should talk about some hot takes, I think. Well, I mean, I already have three on the board. The, the, it's al- it's already marked. 26:06 You have zero right now. I don't know what's going on. Well- Probably should really be thinking about that... slow down, slow down, slow down, slow down, slow down. Okay, so we're gonna circle back. Sorry, you're right. 26:16 Slow down. So I actually wanted to kick this segment off something I've been thinking about, and I, I don't know if I mentioned it, but I wanna... 26:24 We're about to dive into Chris and I's hot takes over the last, I think, 20 episodes. Uh, but I also wanna give an opportunity for our readers, if they ever have hot takes, to send them in. Yeah. Um, share it with us. 26:38 You know, we have a lot of smart people listening, and we'll shout you out if you do. So, um, keep that in mind. The email is in the show notes. 26:46 But we're also gonna actually probably run, like, a survey or an opportunity in the newsletter as well. Anyways, back to the- Back to life, back to reality. 26:59 Uh, I would love if the producers somehow in this segment just do, like, a pew pew pew randomly at some point. [air horn] Um, hot take time. Pew, pew. [air horn] All right. Uh, okay. 27:10 So, uh, yes, you got the board, and then you sneakily wrote three things down. So now you have to explain your other two hot takes that you felt have come. 27:20 Oh, I just, I just felt like I had to have at least had three by now. Wow. Wow. I think you have to call them out. I think- I think I have more, actually. I think I actually have more. Here's, here's what I'll say. 27:29 I'll help you. The other one you, you did get right was about, uh, brands creating content. Right. 27:36 Now that brands are more invested in branded content, but actually, like, taking on scripted content and, and r- you know, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, third, though, I don't know. Third was... 27:47 Oh, get the hell out of here. We talked about crypto, and I ta- And literally after I made that announcement, uh, three weeks later it doubled, both Ethereum- Oh... and Bitcoin. I need help on mine. 27:59 You did talk about gaming compa- You did think that there would be a merge of some sort. Yes. So you did get the, i- And Disney... You did get the Disney and Epic Games- Thank you, thank you... collaboration. Mm. 28:08 If we remember old ones, we can, we can put them on the board. Um, maybe we'll end with a quick, uh, TikTok what do we think is gonna happen. Well, I mean, it's been passed, right? 28:18 We, I, I don't know if it's been officially said that Biden has signed it. Is that actually official? I think that news came out this morning. Yeah, he just signed it. 28:26 Like, literally, like, they must have just, like, airmailed that. Just, I don't know, sent a runner. They're ready to do it. I mean, my, my- Like Paul Revere in the middle of the night. 28:35 [laughs] I just would say it's still too early. I, I... It's already been passed. Yeah. There's commentary around 28:46 TikTok taking it up in the, i- in court, specifically using the First Amendment as an argument as to why it should not be forced to sell. I'm not against the sale. 28:57 There are, there are things that need to come into place. 29:00 I, I think that the only, the only commentary I would say is that I hate being this person, but I think that the co- the government is completely disjointed fr- It, it... We're just witnessing a generation gap. 29:11 Well, here's my question: Would they, do you think they would sell, or do you think they would be like, "Screw you," and TikTok banned. I think there's a big case. I, I think there's a huge, 29:22 I think there's a huge argument to be had that the Chinese government says, "Screw you guys," or that TikTok says, "Screw you guys," and doesn't, doesn't sell. 29:31 But don't you think that's so unfair when they ban every Western app in their country? But we're talk- But now what we're talking about is government politics. 29:41 Now, now what we're talk- I mean, we're talking about warfare. That's what's happening here. We're, you're... I don't disagree with what you're saying from the banning perspective. 29:50 I, I don't disagree with you at all, but all is fair in love and war, and right now we're witnessing media warfare happen at a, at the highest level. Are you saying that TikTok could be a catalyst to World War III? 30:02 Oh, dude, I... No, I'm, I'm not even... I'm gonna be honest here, guys. Yeah. Think about this right now. 30:08 We're gonna ban freedom of speech, and everyone that is using TikTok right now is going, their voice is going to be silenced, and they're gonna have to go somewhere else. 30:18 This could help jumpstart Instagram or another app, and all these people are gonna have to find a new way to galvanize and, and build, regroup and rebuild, but what it's also going to do is create huge discourse within the US. 30:32 Yeah. People are gonna be extremely angry. People are gonna lose, they're gonna lose business. They built companies off of this. 30:39 And the US is gonna have to deal with that at the biggest level if that actually comes to fruition. And China could very easily be doing that intentionally. 30:48 Well, one thing it could, it could do is fracture our relationship with other countries. 30:55 So in the same way that we will ban this, you know, I would argue to say most countries apart from China and m- maybe other communist nations are kind of free trade. 31:08 We might get a taste of our own medicine potentially from similar countries. People might say, "Uh, Facebook, you gotta go or sell." You know what I mean? So, uh, a lot of deep things. I'm sure we'll be talking about it. 31:21 Yeah. That was an awesome episode. Again, remember to hit us up with your hot takes. Find us wherever you find podcasts. We will catch you next week. Peace. The Future Forecast is produced by Wheelhouse DNA for Acast. 31:37 Our executive producers are me, Boye Kolade, along with Fanny Baudry, Cassie Berman, and Leah Sutherland. Our audio producer is Kiara Noni. Our audio engineer is Matthew Blocka. Our editor is Nick Kursumi. 31:51 The podcast is hosted by yours truly, Boye Kolade, and Chris Sawtelle. Thanks for listening, and see you next time. [outro music] Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. 32:04 Behind every episode, there's research, emails, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the headline hammer. 32:10 With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. 32:21 That means less time on the work around the work, and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. 32:32 That's goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. [outro music] This show is brought to you by The Future Party and Crosstalk Studios, produced by Chris Sawtelle, Boye Kolade, and Paul York. 32:44 Special shout-out to our production team, Araceli Rubalcava, Max Goolen, Shannon Klein, and Eli Tafur
