Group Chat News is back and it's birthday week around here. Dee just turned 46 and, in his words, his body is weary.

That kicks off a conversation about hitting the back half of life, why time doesn't feel precious until friends start passing and your kids start growing, and whether younger people are actually living their lives or just watching everyone else live theirs. Then it's BTS selling out four nights at SoFi, Kanye in Chicago, and the argument that some artists get so big nothing can touch them, plus a whole generation of kids discovering Michael Jackson for the first time.

With Anand's birthday landing on September 11th, the guys get into the new Netflix documentary about how a generation that wasn't alive for it understands that day, whether it was the last time this country was actually unified, and how much of what we live with now traces back to it. That leads into surveillance. Flock cameras solving crimes in cities across America, Joe Rogan sounding the alarm about cops abusing access to them, and the uncomfortable truth that most people will trade their privacy for a shorter airport line.

On the money side there's a real enrollment crisis. LAUSD is down 50% in a decade, Syracuse now costs $69,000 a year, and the argument here is blunt: let the colleges fail. Then a pitch for the tech elites. Build the modern campus, charge 1995 prices, give them a football team, and earn back some trust while you're at it. Plus Nike gets removed from the S&P 100 after eighteen years, Nvidia is now 8% of the entire S&P 500, and everything that isn't AI is getting punished even when sales are up.

And of course: fantasy football, whether data ruined the draft, NIL, and why you should fire the dean if you lose your quarterback.

Group Chat News, every week.

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Group Chat News is back with a midweek episode because there was too much news to wait.

Apple finally dropped the foldable. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, preorders open October 16 and it ships October 23. The guys get into whether a folding phone is actually worth two grand or whether it's pure novelty, why the phone might be the most valuable object you own even at that price, and what happens now that Tim Cook is out and John Ternus is running the company. The read on the new guy is that he's a gunslinger who takes big swings, and that the stock gets a lot more volatile from here.

Then Meta. Everybody counted Zuck out on AI and this week he dropped Muse, a consumer agent that connects to WhatsApp, your email, your calendar and your payments and actually does things instead of just talking to you. The stock jumped 7% on a $1.5 trillion company. The conversation goes into why Meta might be the only company that can connect all your worlds without a privacy fight, why consumer AI still feels boring compared to what businesses are doing with it, and the theory that most of this technology was built months ago and is being released slowly on purpose.

That leads into the resignation post that got 104 million views. A former AI lab employee walked out and torched the whole industry on the way, and the guys spend a while on why anyone would do that two weeks before an IPO. The theories get out of hand fast and it's the funniest stretch of the episode. Plus the argument that we have no idea what's already been built, and why prosperity might solve more problems than regulation ever will.

On the money side, gambling. Polymarket lets you sell your position mid game and the guys explain why that changes everything. LeBron signed a reported eight figure deal to be the face of it and is getting roasted. Bank of America data shows the average online bettor has 41% less in their bank account than someone who doesn't bet. The pitch here is simple: forget AI regulation, cap gambling at 10% of your income. Plus LIV Golf files for bankruptcy, Saudi money is drying up, and everything available is flowing into AI.

Then Ryan Tierney from Lo Siento joins to talk about what's actually happening in bars across the country. Whether Gen Z really stopped drinking, why a drink costs $30 in LA and $3.50 in Chicago, why wine is getting crushed while ready to drink cans are exploding, and how you build a tequila brand into 40 states in 60 days.

And football is back.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week, including:

Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk all agree AI needs to slow down, but is it real safety concern or a business strategy to lock out the competition. The guys break down the AI fear debate, why pessimists sound smart while optimists get rich, and what history says about doomsday predictions. Meta launched Muse, a new AI product, while every other tech CEO stayed quiet. Open Evidence is the AI tool doctors are now using to consult patients in real time. Anthropic is racing toward an IPO while OpenAI delays theirs.

Then Arch Manning and Texas complete a stunning comeback over Ohio State, Ben Shelton has America watching tennis again, a fantasy football punishment goes viral and the guys debate what to actually do with internet fame, and football is finally back.

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Raissa Gerona and Michael Mente of Revolve are back on the show — two of the podcast's oldest friends, in the room together for the first time in a while.

Michael talks about the move to Vegas and what it's like running a company with your co-founder two states away after nearly twenty years side by side. Raissa gets into her new role as President of Brand and Partnerships, why she asked for it, and the friend who told her over dinner that presidents don't date presidents.

From there it goes everywhere. The fake NFL player who convinced dozens of people he was on an NFL roster and is now facing federal charges. Why nobody can tell who's real anymore when a watch, a car, and a house can all be rented. What "cool" even means when everyone has the same handbag and takes the same trip. Discovery ranches in Idaho, Nantucket in the summer, and why the best version of luxury might just be who you're with. Plus the guys get into AI, agents, and the robot that makes pancakes.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify it helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week including

Meta agreed to pay $17 billion to 47 states to end the landmark trial over teen social media addiction and the stock went up. The guys get into why a record setting settlement paid out over ten years barely registers on a company this size, why the Big Tobacco comparison falls apart when you look at the numbers, and whether the new safeguards Meta agreed to will actually change anything. Time caps, overnight blocks, no notifications during school hours. The case for optimism is that a kid who never builds the habit never gets addicted. The case against is that nobody enforces any of it.

Then the robots. China staged a robot Olympics, and the argument is that it was the smartest piece of marketing the country could have run get the whole population cheering for the machines before those machines start taking jobs. That leads into the argument about whether AGI is actually here, a $1,000 bet over how long before a robot unclogs your toilet, and the only AI use case anyone can agree is worth having: making an insurance company answer the phone.

On the money side, Dick's Sporting Goods had its worst day in three years, down about 30% but the core business is growing. The problem is the $2.4 billion Foot Locker acquisition and a sneaker market that's gone quiet. Plus why billionaires should stay off the internet right now, why sports teams have become tax shelters, and what these new owners are getting wrong about the cities they just bought into. Crypto ends the episode with the most bullish structural change in years.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5 star review on Apple or Spotify it helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week

On this episode we discuss:

• Why Manhattan Beach is what everyone thinks they're moving to when they come to LA
• Entering your Meta era and yelling into your sunglasses
• Everyone suddenly plays golf and won't stop posting about it
• 70% of America hates AI and the CEOs aren't helping
• Is scaring everyone actually the strategy?
• Why your power bill went up but your TV got cheaper
• What are you actually doing differently than your parents?
• Whatnot raised at $23 billion and the collectibles boom is real
• Inside the National, the biggest card show in America
• Somebody pulled a $5 million card rippin packs
• Your parlay is playing against a hedge fund that only needs to be right 54% of the time
• The boomers had discipline and nobody wants to talk about it
• Rented cars, split mansions, and why Instagram tells you everyone is rich but you

And much more!

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify — it helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week including:

• Why Dee disagrees with everything Zach said about the next 18 months
• Has San Francisco brainwashed everyone into fear mongering?
• SpaceX is basically Verizon
• Anthropic projected at $400–500 billion next year
• Is there a finite amount of money in the world, or unlimited money?
• Why Waymos will never make it to every corner of the earth
• Lovable going from zero to a billion in ten months
• Mark Walter sells the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion
• How insurance float works, and the federal investigation into Walter's insurers
• The sports team tax loophole nobody talks about
• Should we start a professional little league team?
• Ro Khanna's 5% wealth tax and the problem with taxing illiquid founders
• Does AOC have a real shot in 2028?
• Why data centers actually lower electricity costs in the communities that get them
• Rich kids are skipping the Ivy League for SMU, Vanderbilt, Alabama and LSU
• Would you rather be the smartest kid at Harvard or the guy in the striped polo at LSU?
• The most successful adults were never the kid who focused on one thing
• Shannon Elizabeth made a million dollars in nine days
• Mississippi fourth graders are outpacing Berkeley students
• Palisades Village reopens 19 months after the fires

And much more!

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify it helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the biggest stories of the week including...

Zach returns to break down what he's seeing inside San Francisco, why he thinks you have about 18 months to get really rich, and what happens to everyone else. Plus Zuckerberg spars a UFC fighter on a barge in the middle of Lake Tahoe, and Kai Cenat and Speed attempt one of the hardest challenges in gaming.

This week's Group Chat covers:

• Zach's take from inside SF — and why his timeline keeps getting shorter every week
• "You have about 18 months to get really rich" — and then what
• Why less than 25 people on earth are using AI to its full potential
• The company running seven employees and three agents at 300 pull requests a day
• Agents that proactively fire contractors and stand up their own businesses
• Can an entrepreneur still spot the gap on a Target shelf when P&G has infinite data?
• Taste as the last human advantage — and whether that holds
• Purpose, meaning, and whether people need hard things given to them
• The optimistic case: UBI, Waymos, deflation, and everything just getting cheap
• Zuckerberg vs. Merab Dvalishvili on a barge sparring
• Kai and Speed's hardcore Minecraft marathon, and why the clips matter more than the game
• Parasocial fame, the chat as a Pavlovian loop, and how streaming ends

And much more!

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