Mailbag Episode: Hottest Cities in Real Estate & Neal and Toby's Ideal Dinner Party

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0:26Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today, you asked and we're answering. Steroids, Buffalo, New York, mental health. We are covering it all in today's holiday mailbag episode. It's Monday, February 19th. Let's ride.

0:48Neil, happy President's Day. Happy President's Day. How are you celebrating today? I'm celebrating by naming the four U.S. state capitals that are named after presidents. Jefferson City, Missouri, Jackson, Mississippi, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Madison, Wisconsin. I hate that you just know that. What about Bushwick or Cleveland? Cleveland's not the capital. God dang it. Columbus? No, that's an explorer. Columbus is the capital. Columbus is the capital, but not an explorer. Well, happy President's Day to you. Today is a special holiday mailbag episode where you guys determine what we're going to talk about.

1:23We asked for questions last week. You guys filled up our inbox, and today we're answering them. Real quickly, though, to any new listeners out there who may have come across this podcast from our Mark Zuckerberg interview that dropped on Friday. Welcome. It's great to have you. And to any old listeners who haven't listened to that Zuck interview, maybe add it to your queue after this because it was awesome. From a Mark Zuckerberg interview to a Reader Mailbag episode. That's called range. But before we jump into this holiday episode, we have a quick word from our sponsor, Veeam. Today may be a bank holiday, but you know who isn't taking off?

1:55Veeam. What do you want in a data security provider? One that takes holidays and weekends off or one that is always ready when called upon and protects your data no matter what? I choose Veeam, Neil. Got me all fired up with that speech. Sheesh. I'm ready to run through a wall right now. If you feel like Toby, head to Veeam.com today. That is V-E-E-A-M.com today. Race the runners. Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger. Wait. Is that an enterprise sails solution? Reach sails professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title, and more.

2:33Start converting your B2B audience today. Spend$250 on your first campaign and get a free$250 credit for the next one. Get started today at linkedin.com slash campaign. Terms and conditions apply. Now let us get to these questions. The first one is from Denise. She asked, Toby, I am curious to hear your thoughts on the enhanced games. Man, starting off with a banger. For some background, the enhanced games are this new rival to the Olympics where athletes can take performing enhancing drugs. It's got some big investors on board like Peter Thiel. And recently, the world champion swimmer James Magnuson agreed to take a banned PED to try and beat the 50 meter world record.

3:15Toby, will this embrace of steroids be successful? I absolutely love this question. I think about it a lot. So I think as ridiculous as it sounds, we're already kind of been living through an enhanced era of athletics. I mean, take that 50 meter world record in swimming that was set back in 2009 by a Brazilian wearing one of those extra streamlined suits. They eventually ended up banning those. But if you look at what's happening in running right now, too, the shoes have progressed to such a level that records are falling left and right. So I do think we're moving into a world where the line between normal athletics and enhanced athletics is blurring.

3:52Obviously, that line has been drawn at steroids and at performance enhancing drugs, but I do think that it's going to become more acceptable. So even though right now this is a bit of a stunt, a bit of a sideshow, I think that's the direction we're moving, weirdly enough. Yeah. And do you think that records will be broken through steroids? I know a lot of us know it through baseball and what happened there, but we don't really know its impacts on the body a lot of doctors say this is bad for your health obviously is you know will by taking performance enhancing drugs are these records going to be shattered completely like if you go to if you look at the enhanced games are they just going to be shattering world records by five ten seconds definitely not though because i do think steroids take you from 95th percentile maybe to that extra five percent and which is all that really matters in these games it's not going to be massive massive margins or anything like that you still have to be just an incredible athlete because i mean there was that documentary icarus where a normal person tried to get on a blood doping uh scheme to see how it would uh influence his cycling times and he went from average to like slightly above average so it definitely still matters who the person taking the drugs is and so i don't think like you or i could slap some peds in and start running 100 meters in under 10 seconds.

5:10I don't plan on it. I plan on it. I want to give it a shot. Okay, let's go on to our next question from JR. If you were to start a company right now, which industry would you want to be in? Easy for me, elder care. I think anything with helping older people live better lives these days, this is going to be a huge industry. The baby boomers are aging out of the workforce. There are so many of them. You see the silver economy, so what it's called, booming in places like Japan, where there's a lot of people getting older. I think this is going to be a huge phenomenon as birth rates slow. So anything that has to do with serving the elderly community, people 65 and older, I think is a really interesting industry and space to be in.

5:57I just only see it growing. And there's growing interest in longevity research people trying to live past a hundred and a lot of investments in health in that respect. So that is kind of an industry that I see really growing now. Is there a specific part of it though? Like that is still pretty broad or is it longevity specifically? You just want, you're just skating to where the puck is going. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, I'm on that note. I will pick a specific industry. I think pickleball is going to pop off. I mean, we've talked about it on this show. It's much maligned by some people, but it is a huge, huge sport for kind of elder baby boomers.

6:33It's very fun for people of all ages. I'm clearly biased too. I'm working on a pickleball shoe company as we speak. So I think that under the elder care umbrella, I'm targeting pickleball specifically. Okay. Next question. Brittany asked, do you have any suggestions for a stock newbie to get an idea of the basic terminology used when referring to stocks and the market. I like that you cover it a lot, but honestly lose focus when the terms come into play. I feel like this is something that both you and I have a lot of experience with because before we came to work at Morning Brew, neither one of us had huge business backgrounds.

7:06I mean, you were a history major. I was a English major. I couldn't even remember the English words right there. And so I think we just learn from it by how you learn anything else, reading, immersing yourself in the world. Hopefully by listening to us, you get a better understanding or by reading Morning Brew, these are two very accessible resources to a lot of people. So I would just immerse yourself in the world and that's the way to learn about anything. Yeah, just repetition. I mean, I did not know coming into Morning Brew what an IPO was. I didn't know why Warren Buffett was famous. So I just read a ton and through osmosis over the years, it takes a while to understand all of the concepts.

7:44But if you're a curious person, stocks and finance is just like any other topic that you can definitely learn. I know it's extremely intimidating. It was to me, it was to you, but we got through it. And obviously, I don't think, I mean, we're not not experts, but there's still a lot for us to learn. It's kind of just however deep you want to go too. Like you can go really deep and really get into, I mean, like earnings per share of it all and price earnings multiples and stuff like that. Or you can just look at the general market cap size of the company and get a sense of like how big this company is.

8:17So it really is just depends on your personal preference and how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go. A lot of financial platforms out there do have resources. Wealthfront, Robinhood, all of them, you know, have really good resources that kind of explain these concepts and break them down very quickly. Morning Brew as well. If you just Google stock market explanation from Morning Brew, we got one as well. This next question is from Monica. You guys have talked a lot about how certain cities are becoming more popular now as cost of living drives people out of the so-called tier one cities.

8:48I remember you cited Buffalo at one point as the hottest up-and-coming real estate market. What other cities do you guys think are on the upswing? Yeah, great question. I think about this in terms of what criteria do you look for in an up-and-coming city? I think having a strong university system is always integral. You wanna have a good airport, affordable housing. But one region that I think is going to blow up if it hasn't already, Northwest Arkansas. And I know everyone's going to laugh, but if you don't know Northwest Arkansas, it is booming right now. Walmart is headquartered there in Bentonville.

9:24You have University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. This is an area that is booming. You're close to the Ozarks as well, so there's a lot of nature nearby. It's relatively affordable housing. And so I think Northwest Arkansas, the people who live near Northwest Arkansas are in it, are nodding their heads right now because they know that this place is getting super hot. But for people who don't live there or never really heard of it, I think it is going to become a super hot spot there. My mom took us to a vacation there like seven years ago. So you're looking at my whole family was like, why the heck are we going to Northwest Arkansas?

10:01So I think we were in it before it took off. Maybe you have rose colored glasses. Thanks. We all have that one vacation that presented an area very, very well. I'm not saying it was like the most exciting vacation. vacation. So there's a famous art museum there that was started by Alice Walton of the Walmart family. She's a big collector there. That's sort of the centerpiece cultural institution of the area. How's the weather though? I feel like that's an overlooked factor in where you're moving. I mean, maybe it's not overlooked actually, but is the weather hot? Is it part of like that sunbelt area?

10:32I don't think it's as hot. You're my expert. It's close to the mountains. I have no idea what the weather there is. It's Arkansas. It's definitely not as cold as here. So I would say maybe moderate, but I really don't know, you know, I don't know the weather down there. All right. Before we shift into the next part of our show, which is some more personal questions, we're going to take a quick break. Change is always happening, but no matter what changes in five years, there's one thing that will stay the same, the price of your internet. With the Xfinity five-year price guarantee, you get five years of the most reliable Wi-Fi with our best equipment included for a price that stays exactly the same.

11:13Restrictions apply. New residential customers only. Taxes and fees extra and subject to change. Most reliable Wi-Fi based on OpenSignal Awards USA. Fixed Broadband Experience Report, August 2024. Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from EPCLIS. After an initial dosing phase, about 4 in 10 people taking EPCLIS achieved its relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

12:07Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EpGliss. Before starting EpGliss, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Searching for real relief? Ask your doctor about EpGliss and visit epgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-LILY-RX or 1-800-545-5979. Okay, this next question from Jacob is a fun one. If you could have dinner with one person, who would it be? Well, I'm going dead or alive here. And if I could have dinner with one person, it probably would be Anthony Bourdain. I don't know. He was someone I really admired.

12:41He'd cook you a fine meal, obviously. Plus, he'd just have incredible stories from all over the world. He's someone with such a unique perspective. Whenever I watched him on TV or read his book, Kitchen Confidential, he had just really unique perspectives on things. And he got into jujitsu late in life. So maybe we'd grapple a little bit. So I don't know. He's just a very fascinating person. Lots of stories. I'd love to pick his brain. That is all the essential ingredients of a great dinner party. Great stories, grappling in jiu-jitsu and having good food. I do admire you for picking a chef, though, because that is 100 % the right answer to this question.

13:15Pick someone who can cook an awesome meal and explain it to you. I'm going in a different direction. I would pick Elliot Kipchoge. He is the first man to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon under that stage condition race. Just one of my favorite athletes of all time. But I also really like he's got this monk-like outlook on life, both in his approach to running and his approach to life in general. Lives a very humble lifestyle, just kind of sweeps and tends to his house. And I think that it's so different from the life I'm leading in New York City that getting that perspective and seeing how he views the world would just be one of the most exciting dinner conversations I could have.

13:53And he probably cooks some good food as well. I mean, he's an athlete, of course. Okay, this next one is from Edward. word. What was the most recent nonfiction book you completed? Please give us listeners a brief review and a recommendation rating. I'm going to cheat. I don't remember the last nonfiction book I read because we read so much news for work. I like when I read for leisure at home to just go into another world and read a fiction book. So I'm cheating. I'm sorry. There was a nonfiction book I read about Chicago, which I forget the, I forget the name right now. I can look it up, But after Toby talks, but that was the last nonfiction book I read.

14:30The most recent fiction book I read was Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, which is a very famous book set in the 60s. It is sad as hell. Like, there's a lot of death. So if you're into melancholy and just reading sad stories, sad but beautiful stories that, you know, have a lot of redeeming characters, this is a book for you. I mean, it's a very famous book. I give it a 7 out of 10. And I've been reading so many books where characters kind of talk out of the side of their mouths. Like they're manipulating people. Everyone has a secret agenda. In this book, everyone just says what's on their mind very directly to each other with no other agenda besides speaking truth.

15:08And it was just kind of I was always just thinking throughout the book, like, oh, what's what's the hidden thing going on here? Like, is this a front for something? And it wasn't. So it was a very genuine, genuine book. And so I encourage it to anyone who wants like a cry. I like it. I'm not a fan of the 7 out of 10 rating. I think that's a cop out. That's what everyone says is like, oh, it's good, but not too bad. But I'll let it slide. So I will answer the question. The nonfiction book I recently read was actually Elon Musk's biography from Walter Isaacson. I thought it was my duty as a business podcaster to actually read it.

15:40It definitely drags on a bit at parts, but it certainly gives you a better insight onto what makes Elon tick, which is a very important question for the world and society in general. I would give it a 6 out of 10. I would have given it a 7 out of 10, but yeah, it just drags in a few points. Okay, next question. Are you guys following, this is from Aiden, sorry. Are you guys following James Clear's habit advice and applying it to your life? I love this question. Just to add some additional context to Aiden's question, we did an interview with the author of the bestselling book, Atomic Habits, James Clear, at the beginning of this year, January 1st, actually.

16:15He broke down his habit forming system for us. Incredibly knowledgeable guy. You should definitely go watch our talk with him on YouTube or listen to it if you haven't already. But, okay, Neil, enough preamble. What was something that stood out to you? The one thing that stood out to me and everyone I talked to who listened to this episode was James Clear told a story about one of his readers who went to the gym every single day but for only five minutes. And that was to his point of put systems in place. So don't have an outcome-oriented goal. Have a process-oriented goal. So the fact that this guy would just go to the gym for only five minutes meant that he was the type of person who goes to the gym.

16:56And that eventually led to this habit of going to the gym, even if it was only for five minutes. I think that was an anecdote that stuck with a lot of people because it sort of de-intimidized, if that is a word, the process of going to the gym or doing anything. Yeah, it's stuck with a lot of people and stuck with me, actually, because I immediately implemented that into my life. My New Year's resolution was to run every single day. This year still is. And for the first two weeks, I literally ran exactly one mile, 10 out of the first 14 times, partly because I was a little out of shape to start, partly because it was really cold out.

17:30But also that was in the back of my mind is just being the type of person who runs even one mile eventually sets you off. Now I'm running a lot more than that. But yeah, I immediately took that to my life. Yeah, a little flex there. Took that and implemented it in my life. And I highly recommend it as a way to build a habit. Okay, following up from Aiden, actually, what keeps you up at night, Toby? Oh, gosh. Well, first of all, I live above a freaking bar in New York City. So the live music they have on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday keeps me up. But also, just as a more real answer to the question, And I actually fall to fall asleep.

18:06I play golf rounds in my head or, or actually I go on runs too. And sometimes it backfires though, because I get really into it and start like playing every shot and I started scoring well and it ends up keeping me up longer. I don't know if I'm the only one who does that. So please write in if you have like a routine or something you think about to help you fall asleep, but that's, what's keeping me up at night. I also play golf rounds, but I can't figure out in my head whether I want to be good or not. Are you good when you play? Oh, absolutely. I'm like 11 under through. Oh, you are. Okay. I didn't know whether to play to my score typically and like have myself shank a few shots like I would typically or play really well.

18:43It's aspirational. I don't know. Like manifest it. That's what I think. All right. This one's from Luciana. Can you walk us through a day in the life of Neil and Toby? Neil, take us away. I'll do this as quick as possible. Toby and I wake up, I think around 4 a.m., get to the office, do some last minute prep for our show. We record the show at 6, go still 630. We go to the gym every day, maybe sometimes for just five minutes, come back to the office. And then we have other jobs here at Morning Brew. I help work with the newsletter. Toby does our social media with and we all have various teams.

19:19And then we read the news a lot. I mean, to figure out what we're going to work on and talk about the next day. So that's kind of the morning and doing doing our various other tasks and meetings. in the afternoon, we decide on a story slate for the next day's episode the next morning. And then we plug in our headphones and get to prepping and reading everything there is on those particular subjects so we can sound articulate about it the next morning. Yeah, it definitely is cyclical and Groundhog Day-esque because part of the issue for me with our schedule is that you're always kind of living a day ahead because you're always preparing for the next day's newsletter or the next day's story.

19:54So there are certain days where it's a Wednesday, but it already feels like a Thursday. And so your time, your sense of time gets all warped, but it's very fun. Like we get the only reason we're a lot, we have the energy to do this every day is because we absolutely love doing it. It's very fun learning about the world, diving deep into these topics for you guys. So it gives us energy rather than takes us away, which is why the schedule kind of, kind of works for both of us. And you don't know what you're going to talk about the next day. You don't know what's going to happen in the world. So you wake up being like, I have no idea what the next podcast episode is going to be about, which is super fun and thrilling.

20:27Also a little stressful for sure, but that's the way this job goes. That's the way of the road. Okay. Alyssa's next question is what do you do to take care of your mental health? That's a good segue from what we just talked about. No, absolutely. Actually, one thing that I found very helpful is to just observe what you do or who you interact with on your good days versus what you do and who you interact with on your not so good days. And then slowly try to fill your time with repeating the stuff that pops up on your good days and stripping out the bad. And it sounds really simple, like do what you like.

21:01But if you just start being more aware of like, okay, this person gives me energy. This person doesn't give me energy. This activity brings me energy. This doesn't. Then you can start crafting your life in a more deliberate way. And that's what I found. Like I found if the days where I end up scrolling on my phone, like staying in my room for a long time, not good days for me. The days where I go out, get a run in, hang out with people, much more energy by the end of it. So I think just being aware of what kind of ticks your boxes is a great way to kind of start taking care of your mental health.

21:34All right. We got our last question, actually. What are your favorite places to eat in New York? That's from Sarthak. So this kind of harkens back to my Anthony Bourdain dinner request, but I am, I don't know, I guess I'm not a normal eater. I like seeking out pretty adventurous places and things that aren't necessarily the classic spot. So I think of this in terms of neighborhoods where I just like to go and wander around and eat some street food there. So Flushing and Sunset Park for Chinese, Elmhurst for Thai, Jackson Heights for Momos and Latin American food. I mean, Jackson Heights, you can get everything.

22:11It's just the best neighborhood place in the world. And then Greenpoint for Polish. So I, yeah, I love just doing day trips to these neighborhoods, walking around for a more normal answer. I live in Williamsburg and there is a sandwich shop. I love sandwiches. Italian sandwiches can't go wrong. Anthony's on Graham is excellent. It's a neighborhood stalwart for a long time. I think it's kind of overshadowed, but those sandwiches are, first of all, massive and they are very delicious. Honestly, my favorite thing to do is just be along for the ride. Like sometimes I go, Neil, like where should we go?

22:42And then Neil dives deep into his restaurant archives, usually finds a new places. So I genuinely do like just trying new places with other people who feel very passionately about them or just want to explore something new. So I'm just along for the ride. But you, you like going out to eat. Oh, I absolutely love it. Yeah. I do it. Omikase. I'm a big Omikase guy. Absolutely. All right. That is our show for this president's day. Thanks for so much for all of your questions. You can send more questions or any thoughts on the show to morningbrewdailyatmorningbrew.com. Let's roll the credits. Bryce Beloff is our editor and producer.

23:16Raymond Liu is our associate producer. Yuchenua Ogu is our technical director. Billy Menino is on audio. I don't have anything for hair and makeup. Devin Emery is our chief content officer and our show is a production of Morning Brew. Great show today, Neil. Let's run it back tomorrow.