Special MBD Trivia Show w/ Morning Brew Crew

0:28The best B2B marketing gets wasted on the wrong people. LinkedIn.com slash MBD. Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads. I'm so excited. I know. We never hang out. We never get to create content together. We never hang out like this, just the five of us. Oh, yeah. Can you turn them off or do we have to listen? I don't know if they're listening to us. Can you hear us? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, they have the in-ear headphones. They can't hear us. Yeah, we can. Yeah, we can. Yeah, we can. We can talk shit about them. They can't hear us. Wow, I look so pale in this. Let's talk shit about Toby.

1:03Good Morning Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today, a Morning Brew Daily game show. We'll quiz some coworkers and you on the year that was. It's Thursday, December 25th. Merry Christmas and let's ride.

1:23Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating. Hope Santa got you the five-piece La Crusade set you were looking for. Today's episode is so different and so fun. It's a game show. We asked three of our very funny friends from around the Morning Brew office to come on the podcast and answer questions about the news of 2025. We laughed, we reminisced, and we learned no one knows the Pope's actual name. Also, this is the type of game you can play with your friends and family. So if you want, round up some eggnog-filled loved ones, disconnect your headphones, and play alongside our contestants. Whoever wins doesn't have to clean up the wrapping paper, so lock in.

2:01But first, a quick word from our sponsor, Public. Neil, hit me with your New Year's resolutions. Well, I want to get better at golf, maybe pick up knitting, and definitely want to try to cook more. And? And invest more. Yes, that's why you should check out Public. You can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, and crypto. And now they have generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. Yeah, you can literally type in any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks and then builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S &P 500.

2:36Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. 2026, here we come. Get started at public.com slash morningbrew and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash morningbrew, paid for by public investing, full disclosures in podcast description. Now get ready to play. Guys, thank you for playing the Morning Brew Daily year-end game show. Let's meet our contestants. First, we have Macy Gilliam, the host of Out There on YouTube, where Macy goes to far-flung places to tell fascinating stories.

3:14Macy, what's the meanest comment someone has left on one of your videos? That's a crazy thing to ask me. One time I wore this, like, sweater tank top thing into work, and I didn't like the way it fit, but I was running late, and the very first comment on the video that day was, that sweater fits weird. They will always notice the thing you don't want them to. Next up is Jack Stebbins. He's a producer for Good Work, an investigative business show that asks questions like, so what does Oracle actually do? Jack, so what does Oracle actually do? Man, you got to watch the video. A lot. AI and other things.

3:57Make Larry Ellison money. All right. Thank you, Jack. And finally, let's meet Annie Bennett, who creates hilarious videos for Morning Brew's social media. Annie, what is the meaning of Stonehenge? The meaning of Stonehenge? I believe Stonehenge was an ancient Way to tell time And Each stone is an hour And it adds up to a day And I went there one time And you're not allowed to touch the stones Or even get close to the stones If that's true, she should get a bonus We'll check that Alright, that wasn't actually the game Here's how the game is going to work But thank you all for introducing yourselves We're very pumped We're going to go through five rounds of questions about the news in 2025, award points for correct answers, and declare a winner at the end of the show.

4:43Toby, what is our prize for the winner? It's$100. Seriously, I will just Venmo the winner after this. So play hard, everyone. Wow. You should have fucking studied. God damn it. All right, let's start with some straight-to-the-point questions about major news events of 2025. If you get the question correctly, you'll get one point. If you get the question wrong, the next player in line can steal your question by answering it correctly. And if none of you get the question right, we will call your parents and read them your hinge messages. Okay, here we go. Question one is to Annie. Annie, where did Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos get married?

5:17Oh, Italy. We need a little more specifics. Is it Lake Como? Not Lake Como. He ran the action for mayor. Oh, Lake Cuomo. Wait, really? No. No. All right, I think we have to go to the next person. Macy, do you want to steal this? Venice. Venice. Oh, yeah. Venice is correct. One point for Macy. She knew there was water. I knew there was water. We forget to mention, I am keeping score for everyone listening. There is an official scorekeeper, so we're taking this very seriously. Can I get half a point for getting her to Italy? No. No, you can get half a point for Stonehenge, though, which we'll add at the end.

5:54I don't think that was right, but I'll accept the point. Okay, never mind. It's taken away. No, question number two for Jack. No, for Macy. Oh, for Macy. Okay. For Macy is what is the birth name of Pope Leo? Not his chosen name, his birth name. I think that his name is Jeremy. Oh, he's giving up Jeremy. That is Jeremy Allen Strong. Not even close. So that goes to Jack now to steal. Oh, I don't know either. But if Jeremy's not even close, I feel like that's a clue. So I'm going to go the opposite of Jeremy. Which is? Which is Peter. That's actually kind of like a pope name But also incorrect Annie Paul?

6:38It is not Paul What is his name? It's Robert Prevost Robert Prevost Guys, first American pope Bobby P, that's my bad Alright, question three This one's to Jack Lunar New Year happened in February What year in the Chinese zodiac did it welcome? It's the year of the rat Close I mean it's an animal but it's not It's not the year of the rabbit Year of the rabbit Not the rabbit I was at the lunar new year parade Why did you bring us in for trivia? It was the year of The It wasn't dragon again was it? Is it dragon? Are you asking us or are you telling us? Dragon, final answer Wait can I guess? Well you had your chance I want to guess.

7:28Snake. Snake is correct. No, she doesn't. Come on. Can I have a point for that? You know a lot about time between Stonehenge and a million years. It's really impressive. Come on. I'll give it to her. I'll give it to her. What? Yes. I don't know. She did eventually get it right. All right. Question number four. Who are we at now? Annie. Annie. Okay. On Liberation Day, President Trump announced tariffs on dozens of countries in the world, including these remote Arctic territories, home to zero humans, but lots of penguins and seals. What were they called? You don't know it. No, I'm going to try.

8:03I'm telling you, I'm going to try. Okay, I feel like it's giving English colony vibes, and it's not the Faroe Islands, but it might be, or maybe it is the Faroe Islands. Don't look at her look at me. I'm sure no, I'm looking at okay. I don't think it's no It's not the Faroe Islands because that's farther down. I think it's like the

8:32Macy That's a pass Islands oh, it's not the fault. You're kidding Jack I I don't know either I I my first thought because of the penguins was Christmas Island, but I think it's I'm gonna say it is fair the Faroe Islands Well, no, we already said Interesting to go back to an incorrect Pass it is the herd and McDonald Islands for sure heard yes a true Yeah, that's what I was about to say actually That was tough. Macy this one's to you putting tariffs on McDonald's. I don't think so. He loves that place so true Macy did you watch March Madness no okay well here we go a question about March Madness who won the men's NCAA basketball championship this year well it's not how it works it is not how it works it's not how it works Duke did not win Jack University of Florida Florida won go Gators okay but then we're going we have a bonus question that will go to Annie what about the women who won the women oh oh Annie He's a proponent of women's points.

9:39I'm going to guess Connecticut, but I don't. Connecticut is correct. But it's always Connecticut. Connecticut. Okay, somehow Annie's in the lead right now. With fake points. With a lot of fake points. I'm just going to steal$100 from her purse after it. Mickey Mouse Championship. Next question. At a Coldplay concert, astronomer CO Andy Byron and HR executive Kristen Cabot We're seen canoodling on the kiss cam, leading the company to put out a PR video featuring which actress? Gwyneth Paltrow. Yes. Are you a goop fan? Of course I'm a goop fan. You're a goop head. I'm gooped. I think that was our first question that was asked and then answered.

10:20So congratulations, Macy. Thank you. All right, let's keep up the momentum. I think we can. Jack, this one's to you. What is the Chinese company that makes La Boo Boo? Oh. I know this one again from a parade standpoint. Is it pop something? Yes, you're on the right track. You got the first three sevens. That doesn't sound right. Okay, so it's pop. Pop. Popmart. Popmart. I was thinking pop bass for a while. Run and roll. Keep this up, Toby. Keep it going. All right, next question for Annie. Turns out no one wants an ambient AI device pinned to your chest. which failed AI gadget startup was acquired by HP this year?

11:02They were? Yeah. That's crazy. Friend? No. Not friend. That was the other one. A good ambient AI guess. I guess it's on to Macy who clearly knows the answer here. Well, that's who I thought. Now let me give a new answer. I was like, that's crazy. Good for HP. They're moving on a printer. Oh, well, it's the one who I remember that I can picture the people who run it And so I'm beaming you that image and if that's correct you are correct. Okay, Jack For Macy, it's got the little camera on it. I remember this one

11:42That's one point for Annie because she was close to it. Yay! It's one point from Annie. Jack, this one's to you. What song led to the birth of the 6-7 meme? Oh, um, it's something parentheses. He's shaking. 6-7. It's like, is it skiddy? It's something like that. Annie, Danielle? Oh, um, obviously. Skiddy, uh, Skrid, Skrid? It's something, I think she's on the right track. Okay, look at me and let's see if it's right. It's Skrill-o. No. Skrill-o. Is it just Skrill? That's the artist's name that you're saying. The artist's name is Skrilla. Macy, do you know the song name? Skr-a. No. We can do ad libs for you guys.

12:26So that's better. Toby, read off the answer. It's Doot Doot by Skrilla. Right, right, right. Okay, well, I think I should have a point for getting Skrilla right. Do you know who would know that is Meg? Yes. I know. It's clear that they wanted her on this. We asked other of our coworkers, and they did know it. So I was hopeful for you. Which ones? But here's another bonus question in addendum to that. For who? For the field. The field. Name the NBA player that helped popular. LaMelo Ball. Okay. It was weird Jeopardy rules, but Jack did get it right. It is LaMelo Ball, who is, in fact, 6 '7". I'm only going to get basketball questions correct.

13:02Bonus question. This is for everyone. One last bonus. When is Neil's birthday? August 24th. Nope. But I'm close. You're close? He is a Leo. August 18th. Nope. August 5th. Nope. You guys are not my real friends. But we have to find out when it is. It's August 21st. I was so close. Happy belated, by the way. I did need to say something. It's almost your half birthday. Toby, what's the score at the end of the first round? Okay, it's actually very close. Tied for first place are Jack and Macy with three points. And then Annie, right on their tail, with two points. Nice. Nice. This is a thrilling match.

13:42It's like soccer scores. It's great. All right. We're going to move on to the next category. It is a who said it where we will be testing how closely you listen to the podcast and asking who said it, Neil or Toby? Yep. Easy. Just kidding. We will give you notable quotes that were said throughout the year from actual famous people, and your job is to tell us which is the famous person behind the quote. All right. All right, question number one for Macy. I cannot imagine having gone through figuring out how to raise a newborn without chat GPT. I fear Sam Altman. That is correct. Sam Altman said that.

14:17Recently on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Awesome. Wow. I know. And I tuned in. Of course. All right, Jack. This one's to you who said this. I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at your end. Warren Buffett. Wow. Now explain your thought process. How did you figure that one out? I mean, what is Greg going to run if not Berkshire Hathaway? That's just the name of somebody who should run Berkshire Hathaway. Greg is the opposite of Jeremy. It's the exact opposite of Jeremy. Greg Abel is taking over for Warren Buffett. All right, Annie. I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside you, how much love you have to give, and how loved you are until the day of launch.

15:03We've broken Annie. Perhaps you have broken me. I would focus on that. Can you give me a hint? I would focus on that last part of the question. Until the day of launch. Maybe Jeff Bezos? You are close. Blue space. Oh, Elon Musk, SpaceX. Further away, actually. Further away? Believe it or not. No, there's love. All right, now focus on the first part of the quote. Katy Perry. Yes. Katy Perry. Yes. Katy Perry when she kissed the Mother Earth after she came. And then she kissed Justin Trudeau later in the year. Yeah. Whoa. And that's beautiful. Okay, Macy, this one's to you. This show is not important What is important is that we get to live in a country That allows us to have a show like this I believe in you No, right I believe in you, you've got this We kind of already gave a hint to this I will say it again This show is not important What is important is that we get to live in a country That allows us to have a show like this That's why Annie knows the answer It's Colbert The answer is not It's directionally correct Oh, Jack with the steel.

16:03We'll give it to you said Jimmy Kimmel. Yes That was Jimmy Kimmel talking about how a show was taken off of the air by ABC for a few can you guys do Impressions of the people that you're doing the quotes from yeah Toby try this next one. Oh, no, we'll do it. We'll do it for the last one. I'm not gonna do this Okay, next question back to Annie, right? No, Jack. Jack gets another one when you steal you get the next question I don't know how the rules work. Neil was on Jeopardy. He knows. Jack, this is also for you. I don't support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren't true.

16:42Kamala Harris? I can see how campaign. Different kind of campaign. Different type of campaign. Fanny? Can you say a quote again? Yes. I don't support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren't true. I know it. Oh, no. I know it, too, now. Except for Annie. Can I get it? No. Can I get it? No, I'm going to steal it. What if you give me a hit, though? Please, can you give me a hit? I'm trying to tear you down. Oh, oh, ooh. Sidney Sweeney. Yes. Yes. I got that on myself with no help. I'm doing my best Sidney Sweeney impression right now.

17:15That was really good, Toby. Thank you. Okay, the final question in this round is going to Annie. Annie, this quote is chicken jockey. I know it. I know it too So mean to Annie you don't say that deserves it no this is the issues on jeopardy be like yeah Got it um I'm having a game jockey and we all know but let's say it together because we all know Jack black Character in the holiday or Steve it is Jack black We're seeing in the Minecraft movie This was a big thing that a lot of kids and maybe some adults went out to see this movie just for the time when Jack Black says chicken jockey and then they go absolutely nuts and they call the police This is I do have an eight-year-old This this movie did not see that well over a billion dollars And I think chicken jockey was responsible for like half of that.

18:14Yeah, it was all my tickets An online thing that I missed no that was in theaters. That was a big part No, but like, did it get big online? Let's keep this running. It's my turn. Sorry. I'll give the score. No, we're done. This is the end of the round. That's ending the round. I will give the scores. We'll be back with more of this unhinged game show right after this. Neil, how can a brand inspire enough loyalty in their customers that they won't switch to something new? Well, my suggestion of including clips of my beautiful singing voice before every podcast got rejected. Yeah, imagine that. Telecom brands know all about this, though.

18:48They sit at the intersection of current subscribers and new prospects. Amazon ads can reach these audiences together across Prime Video, Fire TV, Twitch, Alexa, and more, helping telecom brands show up where connection truly happens. With Amazon ads first-party insights spanning streaming, browsing, and shopping signals, telecom marketers can reach valuable audiences. This enables smarter acquisition, cross-sell, and loyalty strategies grounded in performance. To learn more, visit advertising.amazon.com. That's advertising.amazon.com.

19:43It's literally still a dead heat. Jack and Macy are tied for first again with five points. Annie somehow has four points. I don't understand how this. It feels like she knows no answers, and yet she's one behind. All right, let's move on to the next round. This next round is guess the number. A little bit different format than what we've been doing. We'll give you a clue to a key number from the year's news, and you'll use your estimation skills to guess it. The closest to the actual number wins, but price is right rules you can't go over. And maybe take out your notes app or something just to write these down because I don't want you influenced by each other.

20:18If not, it's not the biggest deal in the world because clearly you all think you're smarter than each other. All right. Let's go. Let's go with number one. The question is, how many likes did Taylor Swift get on her engagement post with Travis Kelsey? I'm going to guess. Is 60 million crazy? Is that crazy? We're not going to weigh in. No, that's my answer. My answer is 170 million That's Macy's answer And Jack I was gonna say And I would have written this down 190 million Oh my lord Alright The answer is 37 million Yes No you can't go over So none of us win You all got it But I was close Sorry for thinking Half of America loves her I was so close to I was I would say the closest The most liked Instagram ever Is messy winning the World Cup and that was 90 million likes so so maybe we should give these are rookie numbers I don't know Taylor Swift would would break the record, but then it slowed down massively and did not end up breaking the record Obviously that is true.

21:26All right. Next question. How many likes did my engagement post on Instagram? Macy we'll start with you 1 ,000 Okay Was it a collab? It was a collab Okay, that changes everything But I will say Don't tell him Because I know that And that's information that I know Okay, fine I won't say anything I won't say anything I'm going to give you I'm going to give you a little more I think you got 1 ,200 likes on that one Congratulations, by the way Thank you And Neil, happy belated birthday Thank you I'm going to say 900 Now here's the information that I knew So Celia didn't accept the collab at first because her account is on private, which lowered the number of likes a little bit, which is why I went 1 ,000.

22:13Tell me how many likes did you get? The answer is 1 ,800. Wow. Whoa. It had a little second wind. Okay. I think we went viral on. The answer is 90 million. 90 million likes. Okay, wait. Who got that right? Jack? I think so. Yeah, Jack. Jack, you've entered the next column. Congratulations. Okay. The third guess the number question. This year saw the demise of the penny. How many pennies are currently in circulation? This is like a consulting job interview. This is a consulting job interview question. I mean, Jack is the closest of us to a consultant. I hope a little more fun to listen to. That's rude.

22:51That's really mean. All right, Jack, how many pennies are in circulation by your best estimate? By my best estimate, there's a billion dollars worth of – no, that's too many. There's no way. There's 600 million pennies in circulation. Okay. Annie? I'm going to guess 200 million. Consultant Macy? 201 million. Guys. Is it 50 million? It's going to be way less. You guys aren't even within a factor of 100. You're not even close. How many? Is it billions? I love knowing the answer and getting mad at them. It's 250 billion pennies. What the heck? Wow. Well, I said 200 million, which if you say it is somewhat close to 250 billion.

23:30Jack did get it right. I anchored it. I anchored it. He didn't get it right. He got it. I thought there was gonna be a billion dollars worth of pennies which would have been pretty close, but that seems like too many Your first instinct was far more correct than whatever happened But who got the point though? You got the point And then yes, and that's why he works at Deloitte. That's right. You price anchored them. I'm gonna quit Not just the game my whole job number four before Macy quits Trump's most prolific posting day on Truth Social was December 1st, 2025. How many times did he post in one 24-hour period?

24:07I think it was around 100. Million. You got to say A number, Annie. 100. Okay, thank you. Actually, can I change that? No, she can't. I want to change it. I'm changing it to 65. Okay. Okay. My answer is in a 24-hour period 700. Oh my god I think that he's he's he's popping off 24-hour period Obviously, he's got other stuff to do so he's doing maybe like what other stuff to an hour on average He's got other stuff to do if he's supposed to other stuff He posted 48 times I like your thinking process. Somehow Annie did win that one 158 times. Can you read them all? No, I don't even know what they were really about.

24:59Annie, you just always get points. There you go. It's him and Azalea Banks. There you go. Last question. Prolific posters. This is to Macy? Neil? Yeah. Okay, perfect. He shrugs. He doesn't know. The Jeopardy Dara has just faded. How many votes did Zoran Mamdani get in New York City's mayoral election? One million. 1.2 million. Can I also say 1.2? That might not be so strategic. 1.1. Annie, you got it correct. Split the middle. Split the middle. 1.114 million votes. And so who's in the lead now? That is the end of round three. Toby, who is in the lead? The lead is Jack, actually, with seven points.

25:48Annie in second now with six points. And Macy in third with five points. We're getting to the last two rounds, which each have a higher point value, too. So there could be some separation here. All right, this next round is called Survivor. But instead of starving you on a remote island, we're going to ask you about the biggest movies of the year. Here is how it's going to work. It sounds going to work. I'm telling you how it's going to work. We want each of you to name a movie that's one of the 30 highest grossing movies in the year in the United States until you can't anymore. We're going to go down the line.

26:22You say a movie that's in the top 30. You stay in. If you can't name one, you are voted off slash eliminated. And the winner of this, last one standing, gets three points. Oh. Okay. All right. We are going to start with Jack. Zootopia 2. Correct. Damn it took mine. Number nine. Number nine. Annie? Minecraft. Smart. Number one. There you go. Look at this. Look at that growth. Annie went from not knowing what Chicken Jockey was to naming Minecraft movie. Exactly. Use the test to take the test. Thank you. I'm stalling for you, Macy. Thank you, Toby. I appreciate that. I actually don't know what movies came out this year.

27:04Oh, the F1 movie. F1 movie is correct. That's a snipe. Yeah, from back in the summer. Number 13. Jack? I don't know if it made the top 30. One battle after another. Correct. Wow. 29. That's huge. Yeah. Avatar. We are going to give that to you because there's no question it is. We are taping this, full disclosure, the day before Avatar comes out. There's no way that counts. Absolutely. No. Avatar is, okay. Okay, here's the deal. If I get this and then it's wrong, I will Venmo you each$10 out of the$100. $10? That is crazy. We're counting Avatar because Avatar is going to be number three, two, or one by the time this airs.

27:52Neil's going to look like a fool. There you go. Okay, Macy. Macy, what movies did you see this year? Truly, I only saw the F1 movie. Right. Did you see something with perhaps a witch? No, I didn't, but thank you. Wicked. Wicked for good. One time I gave Neil a Wicked ticket for the Broadway show. Yes, we saw Wicked together. It was fun. Jack. Do I get a hint like that, too, or no? Sure, I'll get a hint. Yeah, Toby's going to give me one. Maybe direct you towards superheroes. Oh, all right. Well, this isn't a sequel, I don't think, technically, but the Superman movie. Superman movie, number three.