In short
Podcast Episode Summary: Front and Center - Pro Allen Iverson Podcast
Episode Overview In this episode of Front and Center, hosts Alex Center and Kevin Batory reunite in the studio to discuss a variety of topics ranging from the NBA playoffs to design trends and pop culture phenomena. The conversation is lively and often humorous, showcasing their chemistry as co-hosts.
Key Discussions
NBA Playoffs
- Knicks' Playoff Elimination: Alex reflects on the Knicks being eliminated and shares his mixed feelings about the team's performance.
- Baseball Transition: Alex mentions the shift to baseball season, expressing uncertainty about the Mets’ current form.
- LeBron James: Kevin and Alex discuss LeBron’s age and performance, with Kevin expressing enthusiasm for the Lakers.
Pop Culture
- Succession: The hosts share thoughts on a recent episode of *Succession* and speculate about the series' conclusion, discussing the real-time narrative structure.
- Mr. Beast Neighborhood: Discussion centers around Mr. Beast’s recent real estate purchases in North Carolina, with Alex expressing surprise at the scale of Mr. Beast's investment.
Design and Branding
- Western Union Rebranding: Alex praises Love Street’s rebranding of Western Union, particularly highlighting the new logo design.
- Coco5 and Absolut x Ocean Spray Collaborations: The hosts discuss Coco5’s sports marketing strategies and the partnership between Absolut and Ocean Spray to launch a ready-to-drink vodka cranberry product.
AI and Technology in Business
- Wendy's Fresh AI: A segment on Wendy’s collaboration with Google to automate drive-thru experiences, raising questions about the implications of AI in the job market.
- Bot Bar Cafe: The introduction of a robot-run coffee shop in Brooklyn is discussed, with both hosts expressing mixed feelings about automation in customer service.
Food and Beverage Trends
- Fast Food Innovations: Alex and Kevin talk about trends in fast-food beverages and new products entering the market.
- Sweaty Guy Stolen Valor Merchandise: A humorous discussion on a clothing brand selling sweat-stained apparel, reflecting on fashion trends and societal perceptions of sweat as a status symbol.
Key Takeaways
- Nostalgia for Sports: The hosts' banter about sports illustrates a shared enthusiasm for basketball and its cultural relevance, especially concerning iconic players like LeBron James and Allen Iverson.
- Cultural Commentary on AI: Their discussions highlight the broader implications of AI in daily life and work, touching on themes of job displacement while acknowledging the convenience of technological advancements.
- Humor in Daily Life: The tone throughout the episode remains light-hearted, showcasing how humor can navigate serious conversations about current events, food culture, and technological advancements.
Conclusion The episode captures the essence of contemporary discussions in sports, pop culture, and design, while intertwining personal anecdotes and humor. Alex and Kevin's dynamic makes for an engaging listen, effectively blending entertainment with insightful commentary.
---
This detailed summary aims to encapsulate the essence of the podcast episode, focusing on the key themes and discussions while maintaining an accessible and organized format.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00the quote is to replace graphic designers with AI clients will need to accurately describe what they want and then it says we're safe damn damn so true
0:16three two one kevin what's up buddy what's up good to be back oh man we're in the studio i know face to face flesh to flesh i know uh ships passing the day yeah yeah we were not supposed to be here they said it couldn't be done they said alex's travel plans couldn't be changing again And they did, and I'm here to pod in the afternoon. Monday afternoon. Monday afternoon. Empty studio. Everyone's gone home. It's just two dudes and two mics. That's it. Mono y mono. Yeah, what's going to happen? It feels good, though. Yeah. I got to say, the Zoom pods, while they do work, and I like the way they look on YouTube, it's just not the same energy.
0:59No. There's something about it. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, we made it work, and I think... No, they were. I think the second one was better than the first one. Really? Yeah. I thought the first one was better than the second one. Wow. Yeah. Maybe they're both good. Yeah, maybe we just fucking rule, dude. We're so sick. The Knicks are dead. R.I.P. Yeah. I'm sorry for your loss, Alex. Thank you. Thank you. I know how it feels to be bounced in the playoffs. Yeah. I'm not going to talk any shit. I mean, I didn't think the team was good, so it wasn't a huge shocker, and it's not devastating. But it was fun while it lasted.
1:36Yeah. That's why you play the game. It's true. And I will say it's particularly sad now because I have to move to baseball, which the Mets are bad too. Yeah. The Mets, I don't know. I don't know what's going on, dude. Can't score any runs. Pitching hasn't been great. Yeah. Back on our bullshit. You'll be fine. You guys. Long season. You started off red hot last year, right? Yeah. And then they're saying that hopefully it just flips. I don't know how Lindor is. He's just started so bad the past two seasons. I'm not worried about Lindor. I'm not worried, actually. I think you're right. It's about how you finish.
2:14It's not how you start. Remember the Lakers started the season really poorly? Yeah, look at them. Look at them now. Fucking LeBron James. LeBron James. LeBron James. I will be extremely happy. If they pull another one out? Yeah. I mean, if they win the Western Conference Finals and then they win the Finals, that would be really awesome. I will say, I'm on the bad wagon. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I got no one else to refer. I'm not going to root for Tatum. I'm not going to root for Jimmy Butler. I'm not going to root for fucking Jokic. I like Jokic. Me too. Not this season. I'm not, but I'm, I'm, I'm going to go for LeBron.
2:50Yeah. But it's sad. It's sad. The Knicks are out. And yeah, well, you know, we did good. Yeah. I'm going to start rocking my LeBron jersey around. You should. Your Lakers one, right? Yeah. Lakers 23. I got it in the beginning and now he's number six. The fact that he's so, so old. He's old. He's my age. You know me and LeBron are the same age? I think he's older, right? We were born in the same year. Oh, okay. He was born before me, but we're the same calendar year birthdays. Damn. We're just two guys about to turn 40, the top of our games. Wow. Yeah. No, it's true. Me and LeBron, we have a lot in common.
3:27Two goats. It's absolutely true. I've met him a couple times. I've told you this. Oh, yeah? Yeah, no. I don't think you've told me that. Yeah, I've met him a handful of times. Nice guy. Did I tell you that one? Does he pretend to know you? Absolutely. No, absolutely not. Oh, well, that's good. No, no, no, no, no. No, we work together. That's cool. Yeah. One time we had a really good conversation about my fantasy football team. Oh, yeah? And it was one of the greatest moments of my life. We had a legit conversation, just two guys talking about fantasy football. what's better than that he seemed interested in my team because i had like the sixth pick it was like i had the draft today that we were in a room together and he was like who are you thinking i was like what ron you want to know about my team did he weigh in yeah he was like he was like i like that i like that move oh i was thinking wow i think i was going tight end it was a long time ago i bet you were quite chuffed i don't get starstruck but like when lebron was like so who are you thinking with the sixth pick in your draft tonight alex i was like i don't know yeah this is gone too far.
4:26I bet that was pretty sick. It was incredible. And there were other people in the room too. It was just like they saw that me and him had a one-on-one human moment. So one would say we're friends. Dudes weighing in on other dudes' fantasy football teams? I think that qualifies you as friends. Yeah, no. My actual friends don't care about my fantasy football team. So yeah. No, he was on the Miami Heat at the time. So it was a while ago. But we haven't spoken recently. Yeah. Damn. I mean, that's still pretty sick. It's a good LeBron story. Should I hit him up and be like, hey, man, remember me did that pick work out yeah yeah did you win the championship i don't think i did so uh it's real sad but you know what things move on things change and lebron you know we're just we're still two two guys just just doing our thing yeah he's crazy uh speaking about things uh that are ending succession did you watch it i did you watch episode last night i did it was excellent hectic hectic you know that's every day like every episode is a new day leading up to the election i didn't know that someone told me that do you think is that true i i don't know this is news to me yeah it makes sense because they haven't had uh they haven't had logan's funeral yet but that's what they said yesterday spoiler alert shit yeah fuck sorry if you didn't watch concession you got uh we just uh logan's eyes um but yeah no it is in real time each episode huh which they don't make a big deal about but apparently is a thing that's happening.
5:57And I kind of like it, but I don't know where it's going. I don't know how they're going to end it. It's going to be Connor. Connor's going to be the president. That's kind of what I was hoping. No, not president. It's going to be, Connor's going to take over somehow. So that would be incredible if Connor finds his way at the top of the throne. I did hear, this is my mom told me this last night, his Mother's Day. Shout out to all the moms out there. That the last episode is going to be like a two hour epic finale. finale that's fucking sick yeah good yeah it should be yeah they're doing like a mini movie finale where's she here i don't know she got the inside scoop yeah yeah she works at max uh do you see that little thing at the end oh yeah that was annoying yeah well it was just like it was like a an ad for brent for branding just reminder hbo max will become max on may 23rd it's like wow thanks for ruining my night what yeah what do you want me to do with that information it.
6:52Like, is anything going to change? Yeah, I'm going to put a reminder on my calendar so I can remember. I guess the app button will look different. It's going to be blue. I don't know if I'm going to be able to find it. It's currently purple. That's going to come after succession ends, right? 23rd's got like two more. No, we've got two more episodes. So we've got one next week and then one after that. So 23rd will come before that. Damn, I'm having trouble grasping time. It's okay, Kevin. I got a calendar and a computer in front of me and you do not. So that's, you know, how was Ohio? It's good.
7:24I don't know. It's good? Yeah. Good to be back. Do you like, are you happy to be back in Brooklyn? You miss it? Yeah. I had a great, you know, welcome home last night. I almost T-boned somebody on the highway. Oh, yeah. Trying to cut across four lanes of traffic, you know, good stuff. You know, as it took me like two hours to get into the city. I thought the store was going to have a stake instead of a T-boned car accident. Oh, I wish. I know. No, I did have an embarrassing moment at Taco Bell yesterday, though. Whoa. What'd you get? uh breakfast actually whoa it's good i like davidson commercial working on you yeah i had that crunch wrap okay really solid really yeah i was i really fucked with it i'm looking at the breakfast contract sausage that's exactly what you have yeah jesus christ 730 calories oh don't break this down for me right now goddamn 47 grams of fat what the fuck what are you doing 1200 this This is ops behavior.
8:17Sodium. Milligrams of sodium. Has a sausage patty, a hash brown egg, cheese, and creamy jalapeno sauce. That looks pretty slamming. It was lit. Now I regret it immensely because you just read the macros to me. Yeah. Sorry to do that to you, dude. It's not looking good for you, bro. I'm sorry to hear that. I mean, I got to get on. I said last week I don't think I'd have eaten a vegetable in two weeks, but I went out on a bang. I'm not doing much better, dude. I had a fucking Smashburger with my mom last night. Where'd you go? Oh, I just took her to Leroy's. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was nice. We sat outside.
8:55It was beautiful weather. My mom had never had a Smashburger. What? Yeah, she was. Was she impressed? She was like, take me. I want one of these Smashburgers. Did she like it? She liked it. Yeah. I made some Smashburgers for my mom. Not this time, but last time I was home. She, big fan. Big fan. Moms love smash burgers. Apparently they do. My dad really liked the Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Oh, wow. Yeah. So good times were had. Yeah. Shout out Leroy's. Shout out to Leroy's, the fucking best Greenpoint restaurant. Don't blow it up. Don't blow up my spot. It's my go-to spot. Yeah. Go to Bernie's.
9:31Go to Bernie's. Yeah. Go to fucking Bernie's. Everyone loves Bernie's. Go wait at Bernie's. Yeah. Go fucking wait for three hours at Bernie's. Don't fucking ruin my Leroy's. I still haven't been to Bernie's. Bernie's is good. I went for my birthday and they had a really nice burger sauce. Really? Yeah. I want to go. I need a good reason to go, but I got to stop eating, man, dude. I'm fucking, this fucking, this summer diet is fucking not working, dude. Yeah. I'm having a lean summer. After I get back from this wedding, it's on. It's on. Yeah. No, me too, bro. As soon as I get back from LA, it's on.
10:03I have to call out some beef. This is a good time to call out a brand. Go off. So I don't shop at Uniqlo a ton, but Andrew Galloway from the studio put me on to these really nice shirts. Aerism is the sort of thing that they're doing. It's like a sort of blended T-shirt, oversized, little bit of a neck, really cool looking shirt. And I ordered a couple online. I really like them. I'm a big fan of the Aerism oversized tee. And so it kind of got me thinking about Uniqlo. So maybe I should go there more. Because it was like$20. So I need a dress shirt. So I was like, yo, let me go to Uniqlo. It feels like a good spot for me to get some basics.
10:50I go there today. They only carry up to XL across the entire board in the entire store. And listen, I teeter around XL to XXL. At this moment, I'd like that extra couple inches. Yeah, the extra X. It's not that I can't wear an XL. It just doesn't fit quite like I want it to right now. And I'm down with some oversized stuff right now. So the XXL is like, you don't sell it at all? They're like, nah, only online. Wow. I'm like, what kind of fucking size of shit is that? That sucks. Right? Isn't that some, like in today's world where I'm not saying I want 4X. Like I understand sizing, but 2X, that's not even in the entirety of the store.
11:35Yeah, it's not even that big of an ask. That's what I'm saying. So I felt like a fat piece of shit, but shout out to Uniqlo. Yeah, the Airism tee is oversized, half sleeve, really nice. But don't go to the store and try to get fucking XXL. Dude, I think those dress shirts fit really weirdly. Really? Yeah, I got one last year because I needed one in a pinch. I think I was between a large and an extra large. I was between two sizes. It was probably a large and extra large. Yeah. And then the sleeves fit me really weird. It was just not a great experience. At this point in my life, I'm almost 40.
12:11I probably should have a nicer dress shirt than fucking Uniqlo. But I just, I don't know. I just wanted something cheap and just get the job done. Well, that's the point of going to Uniqlo is you need a basic. I don't know. Not having XXL at all in anything. That's whack. In the entire store is kind of whack. So Uniqlo, I want to say I'm not going to come back, but I'm probably just going to order online. Yeah. Do better. Do better. Do better in person. Yeah. I mean, they have sizes online, which is fine. But I just think in store to not have that made me feel real bad, Kevin, because my summer body is in progress.
12:47Yeah. It's not ready to be released onto the world yet. So I got to not eat this breakfast country up sausage. Yes. We'll stay away. Stay away. uh kevin uh did you did you have sunny d seltzer in ohio tell me the story oh my god he didn't get it or he did have it so i got it didn't have it i was saving it for the pod no way like i went to um this corner store i really like okay yeah and i bought it there support the homies you know i brought it back i was all excited i sent a picture yeah um very excited to try it and i you know forgot to take another picture which was the sunny d seltzer next to sunny d which you know it's currently in my mom's fridge and she has sunny d for the kids hopefully they don't get confused yeah i i'm gonna have to text her tomorrow and i'm gonna have to tell her you know push that to the back and do not give that to children but i i had it and bought it for the purpose of bringing it home and i forgot it i i realized yesterday as i'm like sitting in new New York traffic as I'm sitting in Jersey.
13:54Yeah. I I've realized I forgot it. And it just like, it just kind of soured my move mood. Cause we could be drinking that right now. We could, we should have been, I know. We also, I'm sorry. It's okay, Kevin. I'm not going to blame you. You should have turned around the car and went back and been like, Oh man, I, I know I'm like 90 % of the way home. Yeah. But I left an important, important part of the, the future of our podcast. Yeah. I think it's all over the place in the Midwest. Is it not in America? Sorry. is that Freudian slip yeah the midwest is not America is it not did you see there's a there's a meme of someone that said I uh I can't believe I'm so excited to get out of America and then it said something like I'm so excited to be in LA oh yeah um that's what I just did they don't sell in New York at all I'll have to check I'll uh I'll do some recon but I've been MIA in New York for a little bit now.
14:48Okay. So I'm going to get my... We'll get our hands on it. Yeah, I'll get my hands on some. And, you know, worst comes to worst, maybe I'll... I can pick it up on another road trip or... Yeah, you'll find yourself back in Ohio. Maybe I'll have my mom send it. Yeah, we need to get our hands on that and we need to get our hands on Coco 5, an innovative, all-natural hydration drink developed by professional sports medicine and nutrition experts to meet the demands of active lifestyles. Have you heard of this? Yeah, Alex. I... You write the doc? Yeah, I write the doc. And I just saw this literally probably 10 minutes before we started recording to set it up.
15:21D 'Angelo Russell, after game six, he is going to his press conference, and he puts this bottle of Coco 5 on the podium right next to him. And not even a second goes past, and somebody just frantically comes up and yanks it off the table. Yeah. Do you know why they'd move so fast on it? Because it's not Gatorade. Well, one, it's not Gatorade. Gatorade is the official sponsor of the NBA, so you're not allowed to do a press conference with any other drink but Gatorade. He did this earlier in the playoffs. Yeah, yeah. He did it at one of the games in Memphis, right? Yeah. So he did this before. They were smart.
15:56They were quick on the draw that he was potentially walking up on stage with a drink. And to be honest, this is something that athletes have been doing for a really long time because at the end of the day, they can't really do anything, I guess. They can do this, which is just remove it from it. Famously, Kevin, you ready for an old head story? Yeah. In 2010, Brian Urlacher, vitamin water sponsor, Super Bowl, puts a vitamin water there on the sort of for media day. Mm-hmm. Got fined$100 ,000. Oh, what the fuck? That's so stupid. From the NFL. Y 'all eat that? We matched it. So we paid for it and then matched it and gave it to a charity.
16:41Why not just keep it in your hand and sip on it? Keep it in your hand, set it down, come and try. You can pull it away, put it on the other side. Oh, I forgot this. Urlacher was also wearing a hat. He had the vitamin water hat. But I guess you're allowed to wear a hat because Jimmy Beller has been promoting a bunch of brands like Aloe and a bunch of other stuff. So I guess you're allowed to promote things on your body, but you're not allowed to have another beverage on there. Yeah, you can't be consuming other drinks other than Gatorade. cocoa five just looks like another coconut water sports drink kind of like body armor what do you like the design of it it's fine i don't think it's good i don't think it's bad it's fine it it it looks okay what do you think yeah i think it's fine yeah uh i like absolute ocean spray better oh yeah next story ocean spray and absolute come this is this is becoming a trend kevin i'm picking up on multiple stories jack and coke last year yes so last year jack daniels and coco came together to create jack and coke in a can and now this year we're getting absolute uh vodka and ocean spray vodka cranberry another iconic collaboration partnership what took so long yeah i don't know i guess it's just it's hard for two companies to come together and make a product yeah you know i I know it sounds ridiculous, but for two companies to put something out in the world and then commercialize it and put it into retailers, it's not the easiest thing.
18:16It's not hard to make, obviously. And I'm sure the regulatory type shit that goes into making an alcohol beverage, especially with canned vodka, is probably not the easiest thing to get around. Yeah. Is it real vodka? Or is it like - Yeah, it's got a sticker that says made with real vodka. Okay. And then the other sticker says made with real cranberries. I like it. I like the design of it. I like how they're using the absolute iconic model silhouette on the front. And I think this is working for me. It feels like the two brands coming together. It's not like tremendous design, but I think it's like it works.
18:54Yeah. If you put a vodka cranberry in front of me, I couldn't even take a sip. Oh, yeah? Yeah. It's one of those drinks. Too much? I just, I didn't drink it a ton, but it just reminds me of like college frat party. Probably yacked it up once. Yeah. No, like 10 times. Like, you know, like to me, that's, what is the most common alcohol to throw up? I think of vodka cranberry. It's definitely vodka. Yeah. Yeah. Vodka's the shit you like, that you first get when you don't know anything and you probably get some really shitty stuff. And then like everyone does, you overdo it. Vodka, when you're a kid, you have no idea how much it fucks you up.
19:35But I'm not a big cranberry juice guy. Do you like cranberry juice? Nah, not really. I like it occasionally. Sure. Yeah, I'm not a big cranberry juice guy. But this is an iconic combination. This is absolutely some people's favorite drink. And so we got some quotes here from Natalie Akari, Vice President RTD in Convenience North America, Pernod Ricard. Absolute Vodka and Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice have long been enjoyed together at bars and in homes across the country. We are very excited to be bringing this beloved classic cocktail to our consumers in a convenient new format. So, yeah, I think this is smart, right?
20:11People are – we've been saying this for a long time. It's just like the idea of coming to a party. This is what I did back in my day, kids. You show up. You have your bottle of Absolute. You have your bottle of cranberry. and you have a fucking bag of ice and you got a fucking bag of cups. You'd show up with a bag of ice? Yeah, dude. What do you mean? You need ice. Where are you going to get the ice from? The person's fridge? I mean, I guess it depends how old you are. Sure. I'm saying in college. We didn't have ice from fridges back then. Yeah. I'm just kidding. I think we did. Yeah, it's kind of annoying.
20:46You have to go to multiple stops. You have to go to the liquor store. Then you got to go to the convenience store. You need cups. you need ice you you need to buy like a 30 or 20 handle of some sort and you wind up drinking two three quarters of it maybe you know what's for sharing it's for sharing but this is uh you know kids these days uh they don't want all that hassle yeah they just want to pop it they just want to buy a four pack and put it down their throat and be done with it it's uh yeah it's beautiful it's a beautiful thing uh not coming till 2024 kevin damn we gotta we gotta wait that's that's a ways away yeah i wonder if they'll do flavors like obviously cranberry is the most iconic one but i wonder if they'll do other ones like other brand collabs or other vodka cranberry flavors yeah like or vodka you know sort of raspberry or you know doesn't doesn't ocean spray make other what about vodka grape juice with welches yeah yeah i'm trying to think Yeah, what are other iconic drinks?
21:51Screwdriver with Tropicana. That's a good idea. Or Minute Maid. Yeah, Red Bull and vodka. Red Bull and vodka. We talked about this with Justin Genak. Yeah. Give us the Bloody Mary. Ooh. Just a Bloody Mary in a can? Yeah. Bring your own olives. I like this idea. This is a guy. Trying to think of other combos. Vodka Sprite. Vodka and Sprite. It's a gnarly one, but I have a, yeah. I think people drink that. I don't know. Yeah. Malibu and A &W cream soda? I mean, that sounds kind of delicious. Yeah. A seven and seven? I mean, that one would actually kind of go really hard. Damn. Because those sevens are, both those sevens are sick.
22:35Yeah. Think about what you could do with that. Yeah, like tequila sodas. Yeah. I mean, listen, this is, there's so many opportunities. yeah i can't wait to consume this apparently absolute has a vodka soda in a can i'm looking at it right now so they already have a cranberry and a yeah raspberry i just can't get i can't get down with that me neither if you're drinking vodka soda you should be using something that's maybe a little bit better than absolute and i know that's probably what you're getting at a bar but like yeah you know you're a classy man yeah what do you what do you drink uh what type of vodka i don't drink vodka i don't know when i when i was like on the keto shit it'd be like tito's or this one called wheatley kentucky vodka but i don't know these are for children that's the truth they are like you stop i think i've said this on the show it's like you stop Stop drinking Sprite and vodka and vodka cranberry.
23:41At some age, I feel like you just have to move on to, I don't know, better drinks. Yeah. Margaritas. Margaritas. I'd say margaritas. Manhattans, Negronis. Yeah, true. Just better cocktails. Yeah. I feel like these drinks are for underage drinking. that's an official statement from me and not from Pernod Ricard. Yeah, also from Front and Center, not to be confused with Center. Oh yeah, Alex Center. Front and Center and Alex Center are different entities and they have nothing to do with each other. And they have nothing to do with Center, LLC. That's true, Center Design Studio, LLC. They're totally different and we would never say anything bad about our friends over at Pernod Ricard.
24:23These brands have been working together on integrated programming, co-packing, innovation, new offerings that are going to roll out next summer. Damn co-packing. Yeah, dude. They're doing it all. I mean, I think these drinks, yeah, they become like their own companies in a way because they have to create these co-engineered systems. Absolute Cranberry Juice are among the most popular drinks with our consumers and are now we're making easier than ever with two powerhouse brands coming together. We're making delicious quality drinks that are hassle-free so hosts can relax and enjoy the moment while also making them easy to go on the go.
24:58That sounds so familiar. Yeah. I cannot put my finger on it. Yeah, I can't put my finger on it either. Okay, moving on. Mr. Beast, Neighborhood. So you've heard of Mr. Beast? Yeah. Jimmy Donaldson? Hey, I've gotten sucked into a couple of his videos. Dude, his videos are great. Yeah. He's 25 years old. Still a baby. A child. He's only 25? Yeah. Wow. What a cutie. he's been casually buying extensive property in North Carolina, creating a neighborhood. I didn't know that this is where, like, I didn't know he was from North Carolina. So in the last five years, Donaldson has already purchased five homes in the same Greenville street, most of them off market for an approximate total of 2 million.
25:41Donaldson purchased his own home when it went up for sale. So I guess this was his whole childhood home. and will be on first on the street in 2018 for about$320 ,000. And then he purchased a second property for$263 ,000 and the remaining three for$1.45 million. There remains just one holdout house, which Donaldson's former neighbor attributed to the family, likely wanting the kids to finish school, said the Post. So this is a story from the New York Post. And I want to see a picture of this because I got a hot take here, Kevin. Yeah. Is your hot take that you want to move down and live in Mr.
26:22Beast's neighborhood? You want to live on B Street? B Street. That's not my hot take. Oh, Lord, take me down to B Street. Beastville. I mean, he's going to end up having his own city. Beastville, North Carolina. Okay. That's part of my take. So I didn't know that Mr. Beast was from North Carolina, but that apparently is where he grew up, and that's where he's from, and that's where he lives. When I heard Mr. Beast is buying a neighborhood, I pictured Mr. Beast buying a whole fucking neighborhood. Five houses on a block? Is that a neighborhood, Kevin? It's the start of a neighborhood. I guess it's the start, but I don't think this is Mr.
27:04Beast buying a neighborhood. Were you thinking Mr. Beast buying a New York neighborhood? As in several blocks in a town? Yeah. No, it doesn't have to be in New York. No, no, no. I'm talking about people, area. I'm talking about area size. Yeah. Yeah, not just a subdivision. We're talking about a street. This is Mr. B's street. It's not Mr. B's neighborhood. Well, all neighborhoods start off with a street, Alex. I don't know. I just expected him, a man that obviously is curing blindness and giving away millions of dollars that this, you know, for a man like Mr. Beast, if he's going to buy a neighborhood, I'm expecting at least, you know, 20 or 30 homes.
27:50Hey, don't unit shame him on his land purchases. Yeah. And these houses, I'm going to be honest with you, Kevin, they don't look that great. Yeah. I mean, it's Greenville, North Carolina. Like, they're not going to be like brownstones or like whatever. Like, they're going to be, you know, suburban houses in North Carolina. They're not going to be like, you know, they're not going to be going crazy. I mean, they're pretty cheap. As far as houses go, like... Yeah. $300 ,000? Yeah,$300 ,000. That's like... Can't buy that. That's like nothing, dude. Dude,$300 ,000. You only have to put down a percentage of it.
28:24Yeah. You know what's weird? Yeah. That Kellogg Diner. Are you familiar? Yes. It's for sale. Williamsburg, yep. And it's only like$2.5 million. That's it? That doesn't seem like that much money. To buy that whole, like, just that plot of land? Yeah. to buy that building it's a pretty good spot too that's it's got a great that's a great location yeah so two more five mils seems like pretty light for that but maybe should we buy it maybe yeah we should we should totally buy it dude i mean it's one of the most aesthetically pleasing buildings it's a gorgeous spot yeah the food was always kind of yeah i don't think i've ever i don't have never been there i have yeah that's fine um you're watching dave i'm behind yeah it starts off no spoilers it starts off a little weird i was kind of like oh i don't know if i love the first two episodes and then then there's a couple okay i mean it's good yeah but um he buys a house and he says in the episodes he's like can you believe you only have to put down 20 of the money to buy this because he has like a big match in a second um but yeah no it's true uh mr b so shout out to mr beast i mean i think this is obviously cool i think the new york post is uh over exaggerating well yeah they do that yeah best headlines of the game though yeah he lives in a modest 318 000 house buys out neighborhood for employees so his team's gonna work out of these houses kevin should we buy a neighborhood i center center street i think so yeah and in north carolina we don't have to live in fucking north carolina though i we could live we could live anywhere we could live in ohio we could live in kentucky we could live in pennsylvania i hope he does something sick like i hope he like combines all the houses or like does something like maybe like creates a big slide yeah or underground tunnel that's a cool idea that's very mr beast i feel like he's just like every like 12 year old's imagination yeah that's like that's his brand yep for babies okay um western union rebranded by love street western Union is a big old bank.
30:32And they approached Love Street and Company to do a new rebrand. And it's really nice. So shout out to them. New symbol. A nice W. Yeah, that W is real nice. You kind of vibes. Shout out to my friend Darren, who worked on this. Legend of the game. Yeah. And that's why I was familiar with this. And today it's on brand new. So shout out to Armin. did uh did he have any punny headline a more western union dude he does not miss we need to get him on we do need to get him on he said he would do it we're so good at booking guests yeah uh system is nice type is chunky that w is the real hero this whole thing though yeah it's a nice looking w um yeah no i think the the monogram is feels nice it feels very like logo modernism type vibes you know sort of some iconic thing and i don't think of them obviously as a as as that type of brand i'm looking at the before and after didn't really have much there so it's nice it's really nice shout out to them yeah good for them i was at chase bang today and that place was kind of gross yeah that one is very crusty it's super crusty like it smelled like weed in there just like they had like there was like a bunch of police officers there it's fucking crazy i i i'm more of a bank of america guy that's where my bank is and that's a much nicer experience over there oh that's as far as my banks go yeah that's sick dude my username is uh alex no i'm kidding you're so rich dude that's crazy what did i have bank of america that's not rich i know bank of america i've had bank america you got two you got two banks dude Do you think you're fucking fancy because you've got two banks?
Read the full transcript
32:16You've got three banks? What if I told you I have three banks? That's fucking crazy, bro. Why do you... Yeah, dude, because I'm fucking... You've got enough money to spread it across three banks? Yo, this isn't about me. Dude, I run a company. I don't know if you know that. I'm a CEO. I'm a one-bank guy. I mean, listen. I'm strictly Chase. Strictly Chase? Chase in the bag. But also, my bag lives at Chase. Damn, that place is crazy. Bags chasing me. That's crusty. That place is. I'm like 50 % on the ATMs working for me there. Yo, also like what happened to Manhattan Avenue? Weed became legalized and now like every fucking store is a weed store now.
32:56This weekend I was just kind of walking by and I went to one weed store. They were super nice. And then I walked across the street because I wanted to see that like cannabis club. I just want to walk in these things and see what the fuck they're doing in there. And they walk in and they're just like, they're like, yeah, I saw you coming out of that gross place across the street. And Jackie and I were like, yo, fuck that. Like, don't, they were super nice. Like they didn't, they didn't say like, don't go across the street. Those guys are dickheads. Like they didn't do that. They, and as soon as I walked in, this guy was making fun of the places across the street.
33:25So did you buy anything? No, I don't even think it's real weed. Like I still don't trust it for some reason. Yeah. There's something about all these Zaza stores. That's, I don't, it's, it's making me feel uncomfortable. There was like five people working there. there was no one in the store and they were just like yo can i take you around yo can i give you the information yo like trying to like like just so like so intense i'm like yo just leave me the fuck alone i just want to walk around here and just like look at packaging it's like why i'm there i'm not trying to buy your shitty like your weed i don't need to know about the store i'm not trying to like anything of note no packaging wise no it all looks like fucking cheap bad brands any any bart simpson flips no no it's not even like cool bad design it's just bad design damn um sucks but yeah no there's like a million people there and so you know what they need to do kevin automate yeah automate the dispensary dude coming soon ai robots working at dispensaries this is this is the uh third story kevin from eater there is a coffee shop opening up in green point brooklyn our home it's called bot bar coffee and it is a robot run coffee shop yeah on 666 manhattan have yeah speaking of manhattan there's uh this is coming it's a coffee shop it's a client of rich tech robotics robotics robotics manufacturer based in las vegas nevada which claims its robots can make up to 50 drinks an hour including cocktails and bubble tea yeah i mean finally i I just fucking hate going into a coffee shop and having to wait while some dumb ass slow human makes my shit for me.
35:04Like, come on. Slow motherfuckers. Like, you don't need to tip these robots, right? You better not. That has to go with the human interaction. Like, I'm not tipping this fucking robot. And like, if they do that thing where they turn the touch screen around and it has a tip on it, I'm going to fucking walk out. What's up with those touch screen tip things? It's like you literally turned around and poured cold brew into a cup for me and then gave it to me. I'm supposed to tip you on a$6 coffee? Yeah. So what you're saying is you're here for this coffee shop. You'll be a frequent customer. I don't know.
35:40I don't know if the other version is working for me either. I read some article about how tipping is up like 30 % because of those machines because people feel bad. When they turn those machines around and they ask you to put a tip down on a$6 fucking Brooklyn iced coffee, people are doing it yeah do you do it um my sometimes i do tip and sometimes i i will not tip if it's like if they're just pouring a coffee for me i will usually not tip but if it's anything over pouring a coffee or pouring something i uh that's fair i won't tip that like you tip on like getting a beer right yeah of course oh yes i don't know where i stand on this i need to formulate opinion but i agree with you when i get a beer from a bar i understand that they're just oh like opening up a fridge and handing me something.
36:26But for whatever reason, I feel like bartenders... You're paying for their attention. I'm paying for their service and their general how hard they're working. And not to say that coffee baristas aren't working hard. Oh, you're about to start a... I know, I'm watching what I say. I just find that it's crazy that every now machine with a touch machine asks asks you to tip. And I also read that somewhere that they don't know if you tip or not. They don't see it on their side of the story. Oh, they know. They can see it in your eyes. I think... Yeah. So I welcome the robot coffee overlords. Kevin, you know that in-between owners, they gesture at consumers and they also dance?
37:14Yeah, they dance. They dance and it boosts social engagement. I need to see this dancing. If this robot's going to make me a fucking fast ass iced coffee not ask for a tip and it's going to dance for me i mean that's customer service man dude i'm kind of humans be damned we're fucked like i mean i don't know i don't yeah it's dancing it's making coffee fast there's no tips this ai shit is moving too fast for me i don't know if i like it do you see google they did like a two hour uh sort of like keynote apple style and they mentioned ai 147 times damn google's really obsessed with fucking alan iverson dude they love ai dude they fucking can't get enough yeah i mean i get it he's he was a great player one of the best basketball players of all time i 100 % agree he needs to just you know chill with taking everybody's job dude ai now that he doesn't play basketball all he is doing is taking on everyone's jobs he's crossing over the american people breaking their ankles and stepping over verbal meme uh alan iverson stepping over and And then what's his name?
38:18Tyronn Lue. Tyronn Lue. American Jobs. Pretty dark stuff. Yeah. I'm going to be just a prompt engineer. Yeah. Prompt engineer. It's a good job. Yeah, dude. Prompt designer. Yeah. Creative prompt director. Yeah. Hey, start writing your titles now. Dude, prompts. Prompts are the new shit. I will say I was having some fun with ChatGPT, just sort of writing bios and shit. And it is very effective. Yeah. But it's not going to take your job. It may take your job if you work at Wendy's, unfortunately. Do you see this AI drive-through? Oh, yeah. So Wendy's teamed up with Google, which is an interesting pairing.
38:57I don't really see those two brands making a lot of sense together. Well, Wendy's has always been on the cutting edge of technology. They're square burgers so they can fit more on the grill. You tell me that's not innovation? Come on, Alex. No, you're not wrong. And so Wendy's and Google - The Baconator? Ooh, that big time innovation. Extra bacon. Yeah. Three stacks of bacon. The triple Baconator? Spicy Nuggets? Yeah. They were first on that. Yeah, they were. The Frosty? No one else does Frosties. Say what you will, but fucking Dave? Dave knows what's going on. He's a visionary. Yeah. A legend of the game.
39:30So Wendy's and Google Cloud announced today that they have an expanded partnership to pilot a groundbreaking artificial intelligence solution, Wendy's Fresh AI. Sounds like a fucking menu item. Yeah. Designed to revolutionize the quick service restaurant industry, the technology has the potential to transform Wendy's drive-thru food ordering experience with Google Cloud's generative AI and large language models, LLMS technology. Interesting. So apparently 75 % to 80 % of Wendy's customers choose drive-thru. That feels right to me. AI, sort of AI. Wendy's is also a bit crusty. I don't think they have up there sort of in-store experience.
40:12I feel like you go to a Popeye's, you go to a Taco Bell, you go to McDonald's. They've been up in the sort of interior space design game a bit. I like an old Wendy's with the sunroof. Sunroof, hell yeah. Yeah. That shit is sick. Yeah, those are great. Those were sick. But apparently the automation can be difficult because of the menu options, requests, ambient noise, all that kind of stuff. But Google's on the case, and they're going to automate ordering experience at drive-thru. So high school students that are working drive-thru jobs. You're fired. Your days are numbered. We have a quote from Todd Penninger, president and CEO of Wendy's.
40:50So shout out to him. He's the big dog over there. Yeah, big dog getting all that money you're saving from the fucking hiring teens. Wendy's introduced the first modern pickup window in the industry more than 50 years ago. fucking is that facts i guess so damn shout out to fucking yeah drop in put another put it on the list of wendy's innovation damn pick up windows did they i i want to call bullshit on that but hey i feel like did mcdonald's not have that why would he lie i don't know they're thrilled to continue our work with google cloud to bring a new wave of innovation to the drive-thru experience google Google Cloud's generative AI technology creates a huge opportunity for us to deliver a truly differentiated, faster, and frictionless experience to our customers and allow our employees to continue focusing on making great food and building relationships with fans that keep them coming back time and time again.
41:46Yeah. Everyone knows that human interactions equal friction. We need to stop interacting, I think, as a whole. Let's just interact with the AIs. We need to have the AI as a buffer. so we don't be popping off to each other. And maybe this AI shit will create some more peace in the world. You know what I think about when I think about Wendy's? I think about building relationships. That's what I think about when I go there. And I just go there and I build a couple of relationships. Yeah. And I get a junior bacon cheeseburger, maybe a spicy chicken sandwich, a Frosty, some fries. And that's a good-ass time.
42:22So you like Wendy's? I love Wendy's, Kevin. I don't just like it. I love Wendy's. Moving on. Kevin, Sweaty Guy Stolen Valor is the new hot trend, according to a brand called Louis Gabriel Nocci. And this is a shirt that is going a little viral on the internet because it is a gray crew sweatshirt and gray crew t-shirt that has sweat stains pre-stained on the shirt. people want to look like they work so fucking bad so this is taking workwear to another level yeah it has a sweat print around the neck here's my thought first and foremost this is sick i'm all for this our sweat stains cool now i think sweat stains are cool i though my one beef with it is it's a little uniform right it kind of like makes like a bit of a v i think a sweat stain maybe is a little bit more rounded.
43:26It's a little bit more fluid. Also, you're going to sweat that much from your neck, but not anything from your armpits? Yeah, it's not adding up. I don't know, but... They obviously did not consult a sweaty dude before making this. This feels like a joke, but I'm here for it. If you wear a sweat-stained shirt, I'm stealing something from your house. This goes in that bucket. Yeah, that's the same thing you said about Balenciaga. I say this about a lot of stuff. Yeah. I don't know who this brand is, though. That's the thing about this. If this was some sort of high-end, fancy fashion brand, but I guess it is.
44:05I don't know. I mean, I guess it gives me the green light to wear gray shirts this summer and just... Just sweat all over the place? Yeah. I mean, I'd be sweating so much that it just turns into a dark gray. It's going to be a uniform, dark gray shirt. It's going to be slightly wet. I guess, yeah, is working out cool now, Kev? Is that what we're saying here? I guess. Gray shirt summer. So don't feel bad if you've got a gray shirt with a bunch of sweat on it because you're just fucking fashionable. Yeah, you're on trend. How come the sweatshirt is$350 but the t-shirt is only$20? What's the deal with that?
44:38The t-shirt's$200. Oh, t-shirt. Okay. It's a$200 pre-stained sweatshirt. Oh, my God. Cool. I feel like we should have saw this coming, though, based on the distressed shoes. and the pre-worked workwear shit. I don't know. This just falls in line. It makes a lot of sense. Yeah, you're going to get one? Yeah, of course, dude. I love working out. That's why. Yeah, I just like, when did sweat stains become cool? I don't know. I've been trying to avoid them a whole lot, but now I'm going to lean in. Let's go. It's sweaty summer. Sweaty summer. The fellows are getting fucking wet this summer. Hell yeah, dude.
45:21Let's do this. Last thing, Kevin, before we get out of here, if we are going to get so sweaty this summer, we're going to need cleaning supplies. And that's why it's great news that Essence, our favorite online retailer, just dropped three new denim cleaning supplies products. Let's fucking go. Gleaning products, if you may. It is a genified denim vacuum, a genified denim cleaning bottle, and a genified denim broom. The broom is$265. The bottle is also$265. And the denim vacuum goes for a cool$2 ,300. You can't really put a price on swag. At the end of the day, Alex, you can't sit there and quantify swag.
46:10No. It's priceless. I agree. Invaluable. Who's making these things? That's my big question. It's like, who is - Levi's. Who's Bless? That's the brand. They're making these jeansified objects. I don't know. I don't know who they are, but they are doing the Lord's work. They are. What if we could buy any of these? Which one would you get? I mean, shit, I got a stun on the hose with the fucking jean vacuum. You know that. That would be pretty sick. But like the most practical thing, I mean, probably the drum. The drum, yeah. The denim broom would be pretty sick. I don't know. That one doesn't look that so crazy to me.
46:48There's something about the denim cleaning bottle. The spray bottle? Yeah, the gillening bottle. There's something about that that just looks so insane. I'd like to fucking put some beverages in there. I'd just like to carry that with me. Get a little spritz. I got a good idea. Like a denim water bottle. Like a hydro flask. We could make that happen. Dude, we could totally make it. We've been talking about diversifying our product portfolio. Yeah. And I think this could be a first step. A Jalgene. We'll work on the name. Yeah. A fucking Jalgene, a denim Nalgene. I think this would go big. The Jaddle?
47:27The drinking Jaddle. We got a lot of work to do, but we got to get into the lab, Kevin, and start working on our new Nalgene concept. I just think the lesson of today's show is we're going in such a positive direction in society. We're taking jobs away from people so that they're able to focus on more things like creating more gene products. and they can pursue other passions. And I think, which is great. I don't think people need jobs either. If you want to go down that road, it's not something we need, right? Jobs. Yeah, no, this is the thing. Everyone was saying earlier in the year, and last year, they're like, no one wants to work anymore.
48:11No one wants to work anymore. Fucking quiet quitting. Like, oh man, I don't want to work. Everyone doesn't want to work anymore. then the fucking robots come and they're like cool we got this we don't need you guys and uh yeah here we are yeah bitches be like i don't want to work i don't want to work and and then ai comes out like oh please don't fire me i don't want to get laid off it's like yeah you didn't you didn't want it work right and now now fucking now look here you go shit people getting laid off I'm getting laid on. Jesus Christ. Yeah. Oh, man. But, you know, society's in a great place.
48:47Yeah, yeah. We're in a good place generally with the warming of the planet, the sustainability. Oh, don't worry. Sweet Cream's got it. They're automated sort of a salad bar. Hey, if it breaks down the price of those fucking salads, I'm all for it. I had a Sweet Cream salad today. I got to say, I don't know. I think the quality's gone down a little. Yeah. I think expansion has been, yeah, it just doesn't have that same kind of specialness. Well, you know what's good for raising the quality is automated robots making it. I will say the one thing about the Sweetgreen Automated Salad Bar is that it looks pretty sick.
49:20Like the fact that it kind of has those big tubes, kind of like a candy shop where it's like the candies in the big tubes and then like it just goes down the line and then at the end like the fucking robot mixes it up with the dressing. That's kind of an innovation I'm looking for. this is a massive shot in the salad wars to who um to the sweet green competitors what do you mean oh the fact that they have robots making their salads yeah it's like that's massive do you think they're doing it because they actually want to automate shit or do they just want to be the ones to be like look at our automated like salad i mean i think everything's if you can you know just put your business like you're a business owner right i am yeah that's true but you're in the business of people three bank accounts i'm in the business of people yeah um and some of these businesses aren't aren't really in the business of people so yeah if you can eliminate the people you have to pay your profits you know go up and then and you know like i said last week if they can they will and they sure as shit are so there you go that's an uplifting way to end the show i will say though this is my my take on ai if you're gonna start automating things at least make it fun for me like i want to see that coffee robot dance and i want to see that sort of salad uh sort of a mixer jiggle like i need to see it like don't just do the automated shit behind closed doors and then just make my life easier yeah dance robot i need to see some dancing i need to see some spinning i need to see some like ingredients coming down a fucking tube of fucking like salad uh accessories i mean i need it needs to look cool yeah i mean that's But, hey, sweet green, shave a couple dollars off that salad.
50:58And, hey, I'll be a customer. I'll order your robot-made salads. I don't give a fuck. Yeah. How about that? When's this robot coffee shop opening up here? I will have my finger on the pulse, and we'll have to go. And, you know, I'll bring some ones in there. I'll make it rain. I'll make it rain on that robot when it dances. I don't care. I'll make it rain on that dancing robot. it better dance for me it better fucking dance 50 50 drinks an hour what does it say 50 drinks a minute 50 drinks an hour that doesn't even seem that many yeah i i feel like a regular barista could do that yeah but they don't want to work anymore so the robots are here they're ticker germs careful what you wish for because you just might get it that's right um you know what kevin the robots are coming and uh i for one welcome them with open arms and i look forward to their service and I'm sure they will get everything wrong.
51:57And, uh, Hey, you can't replace people with robots. Yeah. I would like to just say if there are any AIs or robots listening right now, um, I support you and I'm here for you. And you know, I'm, I would like to work together. Um, especially if you're digging back in time and seeing who's for and who's against you, just, just, yes. Yeah. Just know that I'm on the right side of history. Yeah, and as you're quickly going to stop listening to this podcast, just know that Alex and Kevin, pro-AI, but also pro-jobs. Yes. So, someone go figure that out. Peace.
52:58I'll be right back.
From the publisher
Like two ships in the daytime, Alex and Kevin are in the studio together yet again! The two dudes talk about the NBA playoffs, Succession (spoiler alert), Kevin’s trip, Coco5, Absolut x Ocean Spray, Mr. Beast Neighborhood, Western Union Rebrand, Botbar Cafe, Wendy’s Fresh AI, Sweaty Guy Stolen Valor, The Jacuum, the Sweetgreen Robots, and more!