🌵 “Party on the Playa” — Burning Man’s biz. Reading’s 40% drop. Intel’s Uncle Sam-vestment. + Vacation Update

0:28This is Nick. for the next two weeks. We've got exciting content planned and ready to publish for you every day right here on the T-Boy feed. So if you want to see our full schedule of bonus podcasts for the next couple weeks, check out our Instagram at T-Boy Pod. But for our last regular T-Boy Pod until Nick's second child is born, we whipped up three fantastic stories. Oh, these are so good. No one else is doing them. What do we got on the pod, Jack? For our first story, Burning Man began last night. It's the biggest party in the world for billionaires. But Burning Man's business is also burning.

1:04So Jack and I got a plan to keep it afloat. For our second story, the most eligible bachelor on the stock market right now, it's Intel, the American chip maker. Because the U.S. government is officially buying 10%. Congratulations. We taxpayers are now part owners of Intel. Intel inside. And our third and final story. We've been in a reading recession for the last 20 years. Pleasure reading is down 40 % in America. And yet CEOs are reading more than ever. In fact, Warren Buffett has read a hundred books this year. Nick and I are going to share the books we're reading right now in that story. And we'll tell you why you got to too.

1:43But yet is before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, fantastic mix. Jack, I love this pre-vacation mix. Me too, Nick. But as we mentioned, we're about to take our annual summer vacation. Which coincides with Molly and I having a baby. I'm going to do a staycation in Vermont and go to Kennebunkport, Maine, while Nick has his go bag constantly ready to go. The IBO jacket could come at any moment. Like, it could even happen during a takeaway today. Yeah, the baby could come at any moment. But if it doesn't come during this podcast, Nick and Molly have a plan. Yes, we have a plan to induce labor with a hamburger.

2:18True story. There's a restaurant in San Francisco called Spruce whose burgers cause babies. Yeah, I took Jack last time he was here. We ate at the bar. It was fantastic. Michelin. Yeah, I didn't have a baby, but I did order the delicious$32 Wagyu Beef House Ground Cheeseburger. Expensive, but worth it. But here's the catch. You got to be careful if you eat that burger and you're eight months pregnant. Because it's a Michelin-starred pregnancy burger. Get this yetis. according to Eater, this burger is known to make women go into labor. Eight ounce patty makes you pop out a person. There's no data to back it up.

2:56We checked. But Spruce claims its hamburger has quote unquote stimulating powers. This is the thing. In fact, that burger is the top takeout order at hospitals in San Francisco. For real. Jack, did I tell you Molly's OB told her to eat that burger if we go past the due date? She said get a reservation. Instead of getting a membrane and sweep. Just get a burger. Now, when you and Alex were pregnant, what did you use, guys, to induce labor over there? The birdcage. Dude, two out of three times, the birdcage induced labor. Yeah, that movie's so funny. You will have a baby. You were laughing so hard.

3:31So best news, it's IBO time. Nick's baby could come at any moment. But if that baby doesn't come, then you'll catch us over at Spruce with a bottle of ketchup and our go bag. Check, please. Let's hit our three stories

4:13First, a quick word from our sponsor.

4:21Monarch. Yeah, it is. You know my first money lesson? It was where to put our lemonade stand. I was wondering, it was on the Upper East Side. Do we do it on Lexington Avenue or Park Avenue? Wait a second. New York City has lemonade stands on the sidewalk? They didn't. We were pioneers, Jack. Lexington Avenue is more commercial. Park is more residential. So what did we learn, Jack? Families are willing to pay more for lemonade. So you set it up on park. Yeah, we did it on park. Besties, no one gives you financial lessons in life. You end up figuring most of it out as you grow up. But we love Monarch because it's like a financial advisor in your pocket.

4:49Because every minute, it's tracking your savings, spending, investments, and more. For instance, Monarch's goal tracking feature shows if you're on track for that summer trip to Santa Fe. And it tells you what percent of your income is going somewhere that's a surprise. I open Monarch all the time because it takes the mental load off tracking my finances. And whether you're single, you're in a family, or you're dinking it up, Monarch's the way. Our personal fave, the AI Weekly Recap. a once per week gut check on what you did with your money. Hey, Nick, you've spent 96 bucks at kids' lemonade stands since July.

5:14Yeah, because we pioneered it for him, Jack Resties. Write your own story with Monarch. Use code TBOY at Monarch.com to get your first year of Monarch Core half off at just 50 bucks. It's 50 % off your first year at Monarch.com with code TBOY. Zip Recruiter. All right, Yeddy, you got to hear this. Jack, can you share that story about your wet bathing suit in Italy? So my hotel was so amazing. They came in to clean up my room one day and they saw I had wet bathing suit hanging from the shower head. And they were like, that's not kosher, Jack. We don't do it like that at this hotel. So they hung it very elegantly on a clothes hanger.

5:46And I was so impressed when I arrived back in the hotel room. It was like a pastry besties that works for the best hotel in Italy and for the best job candidates anywhere. So if you're hiring, great candidates go the extra step too. And they tell you why they're interested in your job on ZipRecruiter. It's how they stand out from the others. And right now you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash T-Boy. ZipRecruiter's powerful matching technology finds qualified candidates quickly. And the candidates tell you in their own words why they want your job. That's why ZipRecruiter is the number one rated hiring site based on G2.

6:16And if they fold your bathing suit like origami, give them a signing bonus as well. Try ZipRecruiter and meet great candidates who will go the extra step for your job. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. So try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash T-Boy. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash T-Boy. meet your match on ZipRecruiter. For our first story, Burning Man is an insane, crazy playground for artists, techies, and CEOs going on right now. But why is Burning Man losing so much money? We'll explain. And we'll also tell you our radical solution to save the business of Burning Man.

6:56Ah, it is. Everyone's got one buddy who went to Burning Man, but never really came back from Burning Man. We know, Timmy, you're a burner now. Burning Man, it's Coachella for capitalist detoxing. It's not a music fest, it's a desert quest. It is the Woodstock for Wi-Fi, baby. It's a nine-day event started yesterday. 80 ,000 semi-naked human beings have ventured into the desert, specifically Black Rock, Nevada. The pros, they call it the playa. It's got a giant wooden Burning Man sculpture, some artsy performances. is there's drugs, there's parties, there's therapy, and apparently - Yeah? There's an orgy tent.

7:35I'm sorry, Jack, can you direct me to the symposium on mushroom philosophy? Now, this has become a rite of passage for techie types, a pilgrimage for programmers. For example, Dustin Moskovitz and Zuck went in 2012 because as they said, it makes you grow as a person. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin picked a fellow burner to be the first Google CEO. And Elon and Sam Altman agree on one thing and one thing only, and what is it, Jack? This quote from Sam Altman, Burning Man is the most beautiful man-made thing ever. The best is, here's what we find fascinating about this story. For all these billionaires, the business of Burning Man is burning right now.

8:12Like burning through cash. Yeah, burning through cash. The first Burning Man happened in 1986 on a beach in San Francisco. They started a tradition that continues to this day, setting a giant human sculpture on fire. Well, 41 years later, they moved to the desert and ticket prices are now$575 per person. So they brought in$59 million in revenue last year. Pause the pod. $59 million in revenue? Burning Man should be a profit puppy. Not so fast, Nick. Because last year, for the first time since 2011, Burning Man did not sell out. In fact, at the same time that hype for Burning Man is waning, costs are rising.

8:49The result was that Burning Man lost$20 million last year. According to Bloomberg, for just a nine-day event, Burning Man has a 140-person full-time team with a thousand seasonal workers. Burning Man's become a bit of a bureaucracy. And herein lies the key contradiction of Burning Man. What is it, Jack? It's both capitalist, attended by the billionaire titans of our economy, but it's also anti-capitalist because of its founding principles. Get this, the Burning Man Project is actually a mission-based 501c3. That's right, it's a non-profit. And they're financially handcuffed by their own philosophy.

9:27Burning Man has these rules, like money cannot be exchanged at the Burning Man event, right? It's a barter economy. You can trade your hat for that dude's hot dog. Burning Man actually forbids itself from commercializing the 1.6 million followers it has on its own Instagram page. Burning Man cannot seek a sponsor. It cannot have advertisers. it's even forbidden itself from selling Burning Man merch. So add it all up, Jack, and with 59 million bucks in revenue resulting in a$20 million loss, even nonprofits can't last long if they're losing that much money. You know, I've been acting like I've been to Burning Man, Jack.

10:02I actually have not been to Burning Man. I thought you haven't. I wasn't going to out you. But I always see the cars coming back to San Francisco. They're covered in dust. It's a telltale sign. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in Burning Man? We have a wild solution for Burning Man. Income-based ticketing. Yetis, Burning Man has had a huge influence on art and technology. On the titans of our economy. Google, Tesla, SpaceX, Meta, OpenAI. They were all inspired by Burning Man. That is gigantic value creation. And yet, Burning Man only asked to be paid$575 for a single ticket to attend?

10:40What if instead of charging a flat ticket price, Burning Man charged a percentage of your income? Yeah, like we bet Elon, Sam Altman, Sergey, they would pay more given the impact Burning Man has had on them. I think they'd happily pay more. Think about it, Burning Man is all about radical, mind-bending, never-before-done ideas. So for Burning Man, making the rich pay more? That would be in line with their anti-capitalist founding principles. How's this for radical? Charge your attendees a percentage of their paycheck. To save Burning Man, if you're on the Forbes list, you should pay a fortune.

11:15For our second story, the most valuable chip company in the world, NVIDIA doesn't actually make computer chips, but you know who does? Intel. And get this, Trump said on Friday that the U.S. government is getting 10 % of Intel's stock. Yetis, let's start by sprinkling on some context. Last week, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wang showered another company with more praise than a father of the bride speech. Here's what he said. Yeah. I think TSMC is one of the greatest companies in the history of humanity. Okay, and then he went on. And anybody who wants to buy TSMC stock is a very smart person, the NVIDIA CEO said.

12:00Worth a reminder, NVIDIA, the legendary chip company worth$4 trillion, doesn't actually make the chips. They just designed them. It's TSMC who makes computer chips, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation who NVIDIA's CEO was just talking about. NVIDIA's like Apple. Yeah. Designed in California, but made in Asia for the most part. So, Yetis, let's add it all up. NVIDIA is America's biggest chip company, but it's not our biggest chip maker. And who is, Jack? Intel. Yeah. Intel produces one and a half billion units of chips per year in the United States of America. Which leads to the news, Yetis.

12:41President Trump said on Friday that Intel agreed to give the American government 10 % equity in the company. Sweet. Why do us taxpayers, though, deserve to own a chunk of Intel? Well, Jack, that would be because we gave Intel$8 billion. It sounds like I should sprinkle lots of context. In 2022, the Biden administration passed through Congress the U.S. Chips and Science Act. And why'd we do it? Well, we learned during the pandemic that we can't just depend on China for everything, especially critical chips. Even not critical chips. Like we were waiting two years for a new electric hairdryer because it actually has chips in it and we didn't have any.

13:22China was hoarding all of them. Yeah, my hair is still wet. So Congress placed most of our chips into Intel's basket. Intel got$8 billion of grants from the U.S. government thanks to the U.S. Chips and Science Act. And that was the key. That$8 billion handout from the United States to Intel is for factories to make chips in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon. It was to make us less dependent on China for computer chips. But since then, besties, it hasn't really been a happy ending. Honestly, Intel is blowing it. Despite all that money, the stock's down 50 % in the last five years. Despite all of that free money.

13:56Intel's business is declining because they just can't make top-notch chips that AI companies actually want. So I guess the government is intervening now. It's not Uncle Sam, it's CEO Sam. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Intel? We've seen Uncle Sam own American companies, but we've never seen him run American companies. Yetis, last week, all the news was about the Trump administration negotiating a shocking deal with Intel. Here was the deal. You only get the rest of your$8 billion grant if the U.S. government gets stock in Intel in return. Okay, but before you get all shocked, Jack and I want to point out there is precedent for this, right, Jack?

14:37Basically a bailout. Yeah. Like during the financial crisis, the U.S. government bailed out a bunch of big financial institutions. Our government became the biggest shareholder in Citibank with 34 % of the company. Uncle Sam and us taxpayers, we actually owned 79 % of AIG, the insurance giant at one point. The way we see it, it makes sense that if the U.S. taxpayer is putting money on the line to save a company, we should take part in the upside. And we actually got a big return in our stakes in Citibank and AIG. But here's the big question. If President Trump controls 10 % of Intel, will he meddle with the management?

15:10Will he push big tech companies to buy chips from Intel, the White House-owned chip company? And Jack, will big tech companies do that even if Intel makes an inferior computer chip? Those are huge questions. Yetis, we've seen government bailouts. We've seen government's own pieces of U.S. companies too. But we've never seen the U.S. president run a private company, and we just may will. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. Built. Yetis, full disclosure. I used to own an apartment, but then my wife and I sold it, and now we're back to renting, baby. I'm owning, but we both suffer the same issue, Nick and me.

15:45Yeah, we do. We're not getting points on rent or mortgage payments right now. Yeah, that's why we were shocked and are now both seriously considering what we just heard from Built. This is wild. Because paying for the roof over your head, it's our single biggest expense. Whether you rent or you own, that's the case. Well, Built will pay your mortgage or your rent for you, so you get the points. Points can be redeemed toward your next flight, hotel, Lyft ride, Amazon.com purchase, and more. Personally, I'd use them in the Built travel portal or simply use them toward a future rent payment. And one unexpected benefit of Bilt is that every member gets access to its agentic neighborhood concierge in the Bilt app.

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17:19For our third and final story, it's the reading recession. Reading for pleasure has fallen 40 % in the last 20 years, and you can blame TikTok and busyness for that. But we're going to make a case for leisure reading. Actually, we'll let the billionaires and CEOs make the case. Yes, we will. But besties to tell this story, let's go back to 2004 when Zuck created Facebook. Or was it the Winklevi? Nevermind. Every year since then, the percent of Americans who read for pleasure has fallen by 3%. That is the wild finding from a study published last week by the University College of London and the University of Florida.

17:59Today, just 16 % of Americans read for pleasure. That's down from 28 % in 2004. Jack, we're in a reading recession right now. After those 20 years, it's a 40 % decline in the number of American readers. I'm sorry, we're actually in a Dickensian depression right now. And all the more surprising is that reading, according to the study, includes books, magazines, and newspapers, crucially in print, electronic, and audio. So Jack, this is the first study to include e-books and audio books as a form of reading. And even if you include those forms of reading, still reading is down 3 % every year for the last 20 years.

18:37So the reasons for the reading recession, what are they, Jack? First, it's Facebook. Second and third, it's Instagram and Snapchat. Fourth and fifth, it's TikTok and YouTube. I think Oscar Wilde is laughing at us right now. Another reason, though, is busyness. Yeah, the tech paradox. The iPhone, it made us more productive, but it also made us more busy. But Jack, can I please quote Ralph Waldo Emerson for a moment here? Oh, transcendentalist, huh? Yeah, it is. Do not go where the path may lead. Instead, go where there is no path and leave a trail. Very nice. We think, Yetis, that you should buck the trend and pick up a book.

19:14Because business leaders do. Yeah, trust us. We read about it. Warren Buffett once spoke before his alma mater, Columbia Business School. And one student asked him, what's the best way to prepare for a career in investing? Jack, what did Warren Buffett say? I read 500 pages every day. That's how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest. Besties, we repeat, Warren Buffett rips through 500 pages of physical books between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. every day. He went on to say, all of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will. In fact, Warren Buffett reads 182 books a year. That's where his genius comes from.

19:53That's a book every two days, Jack. Mark Cuban reads 109 books a year. Bill Gates reads 50 books a year. Oprah Renfrey reads 36. So besties, add it all up. And Americans, we're reading less. But the billionaires, they're reading more. So Jack, from what I can read here, what's the takeaway for all our ambitious yetis out there? Have one book you listen to and one book you read. Yetis, that's how Jack and I do it. And you know what? We're always excited to share with you what we are reading because it influences the show. I have an audio book that I listen to in the car when I'm doing chores or multitasking.

20:25And I have a physical book for my bedside table for rest and relaxation. Okay, so what are you into right now? What are you reading right now? The physical book I'm reading is Alex Karp's Technological Republic. Okay. I want to understand what's going on at Palantir and the way he sees the world and patriotism and technology. Okay. That's good to know. Good, good, good. On the audio book, I'm going full World War II. Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt during the war by Doris Kearns Goodwin. All right, Jack. I am reading Paris in Ruins, Love, War, and Impressionist Painting. It's an audio book about the birth of Impressionist painting and how it was influenced by a bunch of different things going on in Paris.

21:01Very cool. Okay. And then as usual, every summer, I like to read a James Bond novel. Yeah, it is so much of the insights that we share on this pod come not just from the news that we read, but from the books that we read. In fact, Jack and I come up with creative takeaways, sometimes inspired by the fiction books that we read. Yeah. Fiction inspires our takeaways about business, finance, and economics. Many of you DM us about how we develop storytelling skills. It's because we read stories. Books provide context that make what's happening today make sense. So, Yetis, we're about to go on our annual summer vacation, but Jack and I will be doing plenty of reading because the billionaires do too.

21:40Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us before vacation? Burning Man started yesterday, but they're in some financial trouble, partly because they're a non-profit. So, to save Burning Man from burning through all its cash, charge tickets as a percentage of income. For our second story. Intel is now part-owned by the U.S. government, which demanded equity in return for government grants. Uncle Sam has owned parts of U.S. companies, but we've never seen Uncle Sam actually run them. And our third and final story. Reading for pleasure is down 40 % in the last 20 years, but CEOs are reading more, not less.

22:15So besties, have one book you listen to and one book you read to. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, stocks surged at the end of last week. The S &P 500 jumped 2 % to an all-time high. The reason? Jerome Powell. The Fed chairman gave his strongest signal yet that he's going to cut interest rates to boost the economy this September. Jerry wasn't explicit, but here's what our Fed chair said. The balance of risks appears to be shifting. He's less concerned about inflation, more concerned about the jobs market. And second, Cracker Barrel lost 100 million bucks in stock market value last week on a rebrand gone wrong.

22:55The down-home country chain cut the old man from its logo and conservatives weren't happy. Yeah, they say the store has gone woke, so the stock fell down 10 % on boycott worries. It's the same but opposite of the Sidney Sweeney American Eagle drama. Yeah, it is. Capitalist culture wars. And finally, big news for Jack. Delta and United just got sued for window seats without windows. Okay, is this a class action lawsuit? Where can I sign up? Okay, apparently these airlines showed you were in a window seat, but then there was no window for you to look out of at that window seat. Yeah, no kidding.

23:29I bought the ticket for 17A. I think I had to pay extra for it. Yeah. And then it was just a massive wall next to it. Jack, you deserve window justice. You should sue for the windowless window seat. I think you should. I don't like to play the victim, but for five hours from FFO to O 'Hare, I was the victim. You know, Jack, you also could like, you could become an aisle guy. Like, come become an aisle guy. We're great. Aisle guys are fun. Yeah. We have space. We have freedom. We have access to the bathroom. Jack, in the aisle, sometimes I go to the bathroom just because I can. I don't even have to go.

24:01Now, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me because this is some T-Boy trivia. Trivia. What state is best when it comes to vacation? What state is best when it comes to vacation? What do we got, Jack? What state has workers that take the most PTO? It's not New Yorkers. New Yorkers leave so much PTO on the table. Oh yeah, it's negative. Like New Yorkers are working 25 hours a day on this one. I mean, is it Hawaii? Like you got so much natural beauty, you want to take your vacation days. Well, the answer actually is for the most vacation usage of any US state, Colorado. It's Colorado.

24:36Good for Colorado. South Park, Crocs, and vacation. Congratulations to Colorado. Yetis, you look fantastic today. Jack and I are going to miss you while we're off for the next two weeks for this IBO, but we're not going to leave you hanging, are we, Jack? No, we got a bunch of episodes. Check out our Instagram if you want to see the schedule or just come back to this feed because we're going to have something new pretty much every day the next two weeks. In fact, tomorrow, we're dropping a special episode of The Best Idea Yet right here about Disneyland for you. Disneyland, how could you say no?

25:09What a vacation theme. That is fantastic. In the meantime, we can't wait to see you celebrate the wins and Jack, check please.

25:23And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Nicole Hued over in lovely Bellevue, Washington. And happy birthday to Byron Pitts in Westtown, New York, a Yeti since 2018. And a happy birthday to Fiona Chung over in Brea, California. Happy birthday to Sabrina Schlack, turning 13 years old in El Dorado Hills, California. And Lareña Yoshida is turning 13 years old with the best birthday yet in Boca Raton, Florida. Happy anniversary to Christian and Michelle in Lichty. And Lolo Rowley is turning nine years old in lovely Saratoga Springs, Utah. Congrats, Lola. Happy birthday to Roca in Tustin, California.

26:00Who's a good boy? And Gus Castilla in Austin, Texas is a freshman at Alpha School. Enjoy the AI teachers. Congratulations, Gus. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to Nam Tran in San Diego, California. And Andrew Merringer over in Chicago doing some birthday logistics. And congrats to Brooke Morgan in San Diego, who's celebrating their first day at the new job. And a happy birthday to Joey Hasty, celebrating the best birthday yet in Woodland Hills, California. And a big shout out to Nick and Molly. So excited for you to have your second kid, dude. Thank you, Jack. Big deal. The second pod child from the Martell family.

26:34You led the way. Very pumped. Celebrate the wins.

26:41This is Jack. I own Stock of Intel. Although now we all do, apparently. We all kind of do. Because of the second story in our pod today. And Nick and I both own stock of Apple and ETFs at the S &P 500. Hi, this is Paige from Giggly Squad, and today's episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Honestly, Caesar sauce and a Diet Coke at McDonald's might be the perfect girl dinner. And McCrispy strips dipped in Caesar sauce, no notes. Right now at participating McDonald's, the$2.99 Caesar snack wrap is making me rethink my entire go-to order. Caesar sauce is at participating McDonald's for a limited time, so go try it before it's gone.

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