Ed sent this out on Threads, looking to score some internet points and deepen his AI bubble thesis.

“See! Another sign of the AI bubble! GoPro is pivoting to AI data centers!”

Unfortunately that’s not why the stock is up, and basic understanding of markets and a Google search could have helped.

The stock is up because they announced a merger today that will pay GPRO shareholders $1.14/share and retain 10% ownership. The stock being up to $1.23 effectively is just the arbitrage in this deal, as nearly every merger announcement will have.

The new company will not be an “AI data center company” as he is insinuating. GoPro, a company that has a long history of cameras and optical sensors is merging with an optical sensor company that will sell to AI data centers.

Selling a product that you are already familiar with TO data centers is not the same as pivoting to an AI data center company like AllBirds did. In fact if you make a product that is useful for data centers, you’d be dumb not to pursue that as a strategy and just stick to consumer camera products.

Ed doesn’t understand the market and is blinded by his own bias to do basic research into why a stock is moving.

Seven books across eighteen episodes. Worth saying up front that the feed carries China Decode and the other spin-offs, so not everything here is Scott, and I have tried to credit the right person.

I run Podshelf, a free site that tracks book mentions across hundreds of podcasts by reading the episode transcripts. This is the Prof G feed slice for August.

Guest books:

• Clearing the Air (Hannah Ritchie), Our World in Data's deputy editor, answering the fifty biggest questions on climate. The interview episode of the month.
• Sextinction (Debra Soh), on the claim that society has never been more sexualised while people are having less sex than ever. Her earlier The End of Gender came up in the same conversation.
• The China Dream (Joe Studwell), from the China Decode episode, on the twenty-year-old dream of selling to a billion people.

Scott's own Notes on Being a Man was mentioned, though not by him. A listener explained his mother bought it for him for Christmas, made him watch Adolescence, and, he suspects, thought he was becoming an incel.

The No Mercy No Malice essay used Born on Third Base (Chuck Collins), who went through the economic backgrounds of the Forbes 400 and found that media accounts called 70 percent of them self-made when the reality was rather different. That is the one I would actually pick up.

Also, Ryan Holiday's Wisdom Takes Work turned up in the Pivot feed the same week, if you follow both.

Full list with quotes and episodes: https://podshelf.io/podcasts/prof-g-pod

Hey guys - Jenn here, a producer for The Prof G Pod. Our team is back from Scott-free August refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the year.

A few things we’re curious about:

• Who would you love to hear Scott talk to? Big names and under-the-radar experts are equally welcome.
• What topics or questions do you want us to dig into?
• What kinds of episodes have you found most valuable,,, or want more of?
• Is there anything you think we should be doing differently?

You definitely don’t need to answer everything. Guest names, half-formed ideas, very specific feedback... we want it all.

We genuinely look through these suggestions, so let us know what would make our content feel worthwhile. Thanks!

Bring ‘em back. Pls. The purebread dog joke took minutes off my life.

I thought Aaron didn't know much about what is going on in Canada. Saying we are cozying up to Russia was a stretch. A Chinese military base in Canada? Dude get a grip. Jessica I still love you.

Aaron spend a month in Vancouver or something. Jebus

Is it possible to know how many people listen or download Pivot during August, versus the rest of the year?

TBH I usually stop listening to Pivot in August while Scott is out.

So basically he's saying that if a man cannot find his girl, it's his problem.

​

This mofo loves attention and for decades envied the real entrepreneurs and investors that gained fame and fortune in Wallstreet.

Now, he can finally really his fantasies of influencing the market and getting rich at the same time.

Thanks to SCOTUS he knows he can do whatever he wants, so he won't stop.

It is a matter of weeks until he opens his portfolio for daily scrutiny. There will be Drump ETFs. Continues coverage on Fox Business, CNBC and even Bloomberg.

Be prepared.

Scott did an interview with him previously where he brought up some points about Iran and Ukraine that have not panned out at all. I recently heard him admit to being wrong about some things on a podcast which is refreshing (We all know some people are too obnoxious to ever admit to being only human).

Would be interesting to bring Nial back to see if he's willing to talk about what he claimed before and what he believes now.

Galloway captivates, yet also annoys me. I’ve bought his book The Algebra of Wealth and it was so useless no one would take it from me even for free. He’s also declared bankruptcy in 2008 for his company RedEnvelope, which he won’t take personal responsibility for and blames it on the financial crisis at the time. And I’m not starry eyed just because he sold another company for over $100 million; that means nothing to me that he got someone else left holding the bag.

Galloway is great at understanding what makes people tick, especially young, ambitious, and business oriented men. But his advice is either generic or dumb or just plain wrong. Like telling people to put their money in an index fund. Congratulations for inventing the wheel on that one, Galloway! Or telling people to move to New York City just to be where it’s all happening: stupid move unless you have a job that pays well lined up. And saying Facebook is a more influential tech company than Microsoft in interviews about his book Big Four is just inane.

I will give Galloway credit: his symbiotic relationship with NYU is pretty brilliant: leverage their name brand for his credentials, and they leverage his name brand for their publicity. And to be clear: I don’t think Galloway is evil; rather I think in 5 to 10 years his stuff either won’t age well, won’t be attached to his name, or just won’t be carried out. Like endorsing glp-1’s is a really risky bet that I’d never take, but Galloway did.

Benjamin Cowen

Skilled and respected crypto analyst (BTC and ETH), has strong analysis and viewpoints with equities and commodities and their relationship with crypto, calls out meme coin BS, encourages healthy skepticism and also conservative investment in the space.

He might not be a sensational guest for sound bytes, but he would provide good informed analysis for listeners.

He's had enough time to settle in and make his first impressions so it's fair to ask who he really is. I figure there are 3 general categories:

Genuine Warsh: He's what he says he is, a traditional inflation and balance sheet hawk. What ever he said to get the nomination, he will talk up the market, shrink the balance sheet [aka quantitative tightening aka shrinking the money supply] and raise rates... eventually. The argument could be made that his 'hold' vote was simply an acknowledgment that the 'raise' votes wouldn't win regardless and he needed to build consensus before moving rates higher. And to be fair knowing when it's time to make interest rate moves to avoid an overreaction is as much art as science.

Political Warsh: Like Nixon's Fed Chair he will do what is asked for political reasons to an extent. He wont accede to Trump's every demand as he knows it would be suicidal for the economy but will try to thread the needle between being less hawkish and slavishly following Trump's orders for the good of the Republican Party.

Machiavellian Warsh: His longer term plan to remake their data analytics is really subterfuge to manipulate the data, so that it confirms his own conclusions and then he uses it to manipulate the rest of the board to vote as he wants.

I have no idea which or which part reflects the true Warsh.... not quite accurate. I lean towards Political Warsh and worry about his 'Task Forces' to remake the Fed. What I also wonder about is how Trump was manipulated into selecting him and still defending him after his "hold" vote, blaming it on the rest of the FOMC. I can imagine that some members of his administration who are aware how insane his policies would be finally convinced him that 0% interest rates are not a good idea if you have an inflation problem.

In any case, Fed watching hasn't been this interesting since Greenspan.

Just finished listening to a podcast titled "The Financial Freedom Formula You Should Know by 35 - Scott Galloway" and had a mixed response.

Galloway defines wealth as "passive income that is greater than your burn" which is very "4 hour workweek" kind of way of putting things because there is next to nothing in this world that is income without some sort of work, expense, or at least active monitoring. On top of that, Galloway describes spending as "burn" and doesn't get into things like lifestyle creep, rather treats personal expenses like running a startup.

I did not agree when he said he knew someone making $3 to $14 million was considered "working poor" simply because he was "hugely stressed out". Like, c'mon, I'd rather cry in a lamborgini than in a cardboard box. Then his example of passive income was his father collecting quarters from washing machines. I do this and I can tell you that after maintenance, installation, repairs, and water and electric bills, the laundry business is a break even business AT BEST. You're not living the high life off $2 laundry cycles.

Galloway then hints as some sort of FIRE philosophy and living off dividends from millions invested in the stock market. Which sounds great, but where does one start off with said millions. Then he goes on to say that "working is a choice" when you're wealthy and also when you're wealthy you can lose the responsibility of doing "should" events like going to a close friend's wedding. Whatever that means? I don't think being wealthy is about dodging social responsibilities.

Galloway really does not like side hustles, and discounts the fact that diversification in activity can be its own reward and prevent burnout. But what really got me confused, and a bit concerned, is Galloway never discusses the value of education, and that educating yourself is the best way to become wealthy. Which is weird to omit when he is a professor and should be encouraging people to go into the education system he is endorsing by working for.

Also, I disagree with him that low cost etfs and index funds are a way to get rich slowly. That's not really their purpose. Their purpose is for steady, predictable gains that correllate with the market and the economy as a whole. Galloway then goes on to say that market dynamics trumps individual performance, which is right if you don't know what you're doing.

Galloway focuses on stocks and never on other investments like real estate, high yield savings accounts, or money lending. Which seemed like another odd omission in my opinion.

But what really got me going was that Galloway tried to teach that instead of building up a psychological and emotional tolerance for steep market losses, to instead coddle yourself and invest in low risk etfs. He even called it a "tax on your emotional and mental well being" and said something about loss aversion theory, the joy of buying the right stock vs steep financial loss, and that gains in picking the right stock are less emotionally rewarding than the stress coming from losses in picking the wrong stock. He literally says to "embrace diversification for mental and emotional well-being". To me, if you are this emotionally fragile you should stay out of the market altogether.

While relatively enjoyable to listen, upon reflection, none of this felt revolutionary, new, or even that useful. Sure it was entertaining and good enough for a podcast, but ultimately I didn't leave it any smarter or better off than I had been before. I think Galloway has a good heart, albeit a huge amount of smugness, but I also think that a lot of his talk was about marketing himself and trying to resonate with his audience than being a teacher and teaching hard truths people may not want to hear.

* = and really anyone else who worships Elon. I specificy 'Boomers' here as they're the cohort I've seen most guilty of this.

There are more layers to this in that many Boomers are MAGA, so they support him directly buying off the government—which is a direct threat to democracy and a significant transitional step into neofeudalism / techno-feudalism.

However, even the Boomers who aren't MAGA—some of them nonsensically worship him, because they made money betting on one of his meme stocks.

There is another sub-cohort that is of genuine belief that he is an absolute genius; that he's actually deeply involved in the technical design and engineering of products; and that he's an expert in about a sub-disciplines of engineering (this is something he's almost explicitly stated on JRE multiple times) despite not having a single engineering degree.

EDIT: Last Paragraph + Grammar

Scott is a joke. He’s trying to imply Mamdami is an anti semite.

Reminder that this guy is not on the left’s side. He is a corporate shill who has a personal vendetta.

While Ed and Scott are on vacation I’m looking to listen to some of their guests’ podcasts. Here is the list I’ve compiled. Who am I missing and what are you listening to?

Optimist Economy — Kathryn Anne Edwards (co-host: Robin Rauzi)
Weekly. Tackles one U.S. economic problem (wages, healthcare, housing, retirement) and a practical solution each episode — an “anti-doomscroll” take on economics.

Unhedged — Katie Martin (co-host: Robert Armstrong)
Twice-weekly, FT/Pushkin. Breaks down what’s moving markets — Fed policy, bank earnings, tech stocks — with a “Long and Short” segment for personal market calls.

Keeping It Simple with Simplify Asset Management — Michael Green (co-host: Harley Bassman)
Monthly. Conversations with industry strategists on options-based investing, passive vs. active investing, and portfolio construction.

The Compound and Friends — Josh Brown (co-host: Michael Batnick)
Twice-weekly (Tue/Fri). Guest-driven interviews with strategists, founders, and analysts on markets and investing themes.

What Are Your Thoughts — Josh Brown (co-host: Michael Batnick)
Frequent companion show — just the two of them breaking down market-moving news and earnings.

Better Offline — Ed Zitron
Weekly, iHeart/Cool Zone Media. Skeptical, narrative-driven takes on tech industry hype — AI infrastructure spending, “the Rot Economy,” and Big Tech’s growth-at-all-costs culture, mixing solo monologues with guest interviews.

The Real Eisman Playbook — Steve Eisman
Regular (~weekly), with a premium Substack tier. Markets and macro commentary from the investor known for calling the 2008 housing crash, often with Wall Street analyst guests.

Compound Interest from Semafor Business — Rohan Goswami (co-host: Liz Hoffman)
Weekly (Tuesdays), Semafor. In-depth interviews with operators and executives (Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi, Klarna’s Sebastian Siemiatkowski, etc.) on how business and finance are being reshaped by tech and capital.