The Best One Yet - 👠 “D(ad)dy Gang” — Alex Cooper’s ad agency. Lamborghini’s $6K stroller. CBS’ radical moderate. +Knitting Economy.

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy launched an ad agency… It’s vertical integration, daddy-style.Lamborghini & Aston-Martin now sell $5k baby strollers… and fertility explains the trend.CBS News named Bari Weiss as Editor in Chief… The new target customer? 70% of Americans are “radical centrists.”Plus, more Americans are sewing & knitting… and that’s an economic indicator.Vote for The Best Idea Yet to win “Best Business Podcast”: ​​https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/genre/business$PSKYNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, October 7th. Today's podcast, it's the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. I'm sorry, Jack. I'm checking the record books here, and you are in debt, my friend.

Don't you owe us a publicly traded poem? Do you know us a poem on a company? I spent an hour last night, pouring my heart and soul into a poem. I have an excellent draft, but I'm not ready to reveal it yet. You know, it took Robert Frost. 12 years to write that thing about the woods. So take your time, Jack. Take your time.

In the meantime, you know, we got three fantastic stories for today's tea boy, Jack. What do we got on the pod? For our first story, it's Alex Cooper. The host of Call Her Daddy just announced her next big product. The founding father didn't launch a protein

and she didn't launch a tequila. She launched an ad agency. For our second story, it's a thing you didn't know existed. Totally. Lamborghini Strollers and Aston Martin, Strollers. Besties, fancy race car companies are now making baby strollers, and Jack and I will tell you why.

Maybe it'll also tell us why you did a leprechaun voice for fancy race car companies. You know, it's something in the Ferrari. I was channeling Ferraris. And our third and final story is CBS News. They're getting disruptive. It has a new editor-in-chief, 41-year-old Barry Weiss. And she's targeting a new customer in the news industry. Radical moderates. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

fantastic mix of stories. So like, is there an ETA on this poem or like, am we going to circle the date? What are we thinking here? I'm not sure when it's going to be read. Spoken like an artist. Spoken like an artist. I like it. But Nick, does inflation adjusted thimble mean anything to you? Because Nick and I are always looking for early signs of the next big trend, the next cool brand, or the cutting edge idea you need to know about. Basties, you know, Jack and I got your back. So we noticed in the latest edition of Vogue magazine that the hot new fashion for the fall is hand-knitted sweaters. Jack, is nothing hotter this season than a giant string of cotton, you could drown in.

Now, I DIYed this thing. Well, I didn't hand knit a sweater, but I went to the farmer's market, got a knit wool sweater with a neck opening so big, I got lost in that thing. I saw it, like, was that a duvet you were wearing? What was going on there? Let's just say I'm not going to wear this thing in public. But Nick and I dove in T-boy style. Knitting is actually an economic indicator. You see, besties, when inflation rises, so does sewing. Now, it's only a tiny, part of our population that sews or knits. But when that population is growing, it's a bad sign for the economy. Because when your clothes are too expensive, you start knitting your own. Get this,

according to the New York Times, the New York Knitting Center has seen a 75% jump in revenues in the last year. And that data point isn't a canary in the coal mine. It's a canary in the cotton mill. Yeah, yeah, it's not a sell signal, Jack. That is a sew signal. Because in this economy, with high inflation, knitting is cool again. And according to Paris Hilton and Vogue magazine, it is hot, too. So whip out that singer-sewing machine you've hung on to from your grandma's attic. Brother, can you spare a symbol? Inflation-adjusted symbol.

If you know, you know, Jack, let's hit our three stars. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list.

If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story. Alex Cooper's new big call her daddy product. It's the unwell advertising agency. It's the ultimate business move, too, because it leaves no opportunity unmonetized.

It's vertical integration, daddy style. Oh, Yeti's Alex Cooper. We're not even going to quote Magatu on this one because it's so obvious, right? Jack, you know what we say. Top 10 podcast in the world, NBC Summer Olympics commentator, Hulu documentary, Call Me Alex. Alex Cooper, she already expanded her personal brand to media networks with the Unwell Media Network last year. And like every other famous person, she launched a functional hydration drink, which is water with benefits. But Jack, I got to ask, the next big product from Alex Cooper, is it a tequila? Is it a protein? Is it a tequila filled with protein?

None of those things. She is taking her talents to Madison Avenue instead, launching an advertising and creative agency. That's right, the unwell creative agency, and they've already got their first two clients in it, who are they, Jack? Google and T-Mobile. Don Draper lost the pitch, and he is not happy about it, Jack. Now, this announcement puts Alex in the upper echelon of celebrities, who don't just star in commercials. They create those commercials. Yeah, it's a new industry, Jack and I have been covering this year.

It's the creator, creative agency industry. And Ryan Reynolds and David Beckham, they're both a part of it. Ryan Reynolds and David Beckham, they don't just show up to set and read a commercial script. No, no, no, these guys, they initiate the idea, they write the script, and then they produce the entire advertisement. And that's what makes their ads feel not like ads, but instead an original piece of, like, funny content that you actually enjoyed watching. Well, now Alex Cooper, the podcast star, is doing the same. same thing. Oh, and the Google and T-Mobile commercial that launched yesterday, it's classic Alex. And strategically, this commercial co-stars an S&L comedian and the Italian actress from White Lotus,

both of whom are Alex's friends. And also the strategic part being they're not A-list celebrities, they're viral fame celebrities. So Alex and those two are stuck on a road on away to Vegas without service in the middle of the desert. Thank goodness their pixel phones have T-Mobile satellite emergency signals, and this all happens mid-relationship drama. Hey, Trey, let's play a clip of the commercial so we can give the best. He's a taste of it. Jared said he's never been more in love in his life. And he wants to move in together.

Time to move on. Yeah. Like we said, classic Alex. Oh, and spoiler, look closely at the dude in the commercial. Big Al? Yeah, you know who that is. Well, spoiler, it's Alex Cooper. Separates Alex from Ryan Reynolds and David Beckham here.

What is it, Jack? It's the ads that she's creating. will buy space in her shows. And that is an economic tale as old as time. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over and call her daddy? The ultimate daddy business move leave no opportunity unmonetized. Yeties, this Google deal that Alex Cooper signed, it shows how much power she has amassed as the Gen Z whisperer.

Previous celebrities would have simply starred in the Google commercial, but Alex makes money on it like nine different ways. Yeah, nine revenue streams. And we count on them. Here we go. First, she's the star, producer, and creative agency of the ad. One, two, and three. And then this ad is placed on her own podcast. That's four. Which are filmed on the Google Pixel phone. Which is revenue stream number five because... As part of the ad, the entire Unwell podcast team is switching to pixel devices, Google Workspace, and Gemini AI. Six, seven, and eight. Plus, Google and T-Mobile will be promoted at activation events like Alex Cooper.

live show in Las Vegas this weekend. Like we said, she's going to make money on this deal in nine different ways. I mean, Jack, I'm going back to business school here. This is a classic case of vertical integration, is it not? Like an oil company buying the trains that transport the oil, Alex wants to own the entire value chain. So besties, the ultimate daddy business move leave no opportunity unmonetized. For our second story, the new peak of parenting It's luxury strollers, specifically luxury car strollers. Because Aston Martin now makes a $5,000 stroller. True story.

And this is part of a much bigger trend. Now, yeah, it is full disclosure. We just had our second baby a few weeks ago. And as part of this, you know, Jack, we upgraded to the double-decker bugaboo stroller. You know how much this thing is? I can tell you it was at least $1,000. Oh, yeah, my joke has been it's $1,000.

It's like the Lamborghini of strollers. Nick, that's nothing. because Lamborghini literally makes their own stroller. Yeah, Lamborghini is now making their own stroller. The Italian luxury car company, $6,000 for the Lambo stroller. It's apparently engineered with the same precision and dynamics as their car. But Jack, we should point out it's not just Lamborghini making strollers these days. Aston Martin, the preferred vehicle of James Bond, launched a stroller last week too.

Visit your tri-state Astin Martin dealer to see it in. In person. Same logo, same leather, even the same seatbelt of the $270,000 sports car. Now, there's no V-12 engine under the hood, which is probably good from a public safety perspective. This thing's not driven by horsepower. It is driven by parent power. Now, racing cars making prams and strollers. Yeah, what's going on, Jack? Never thought I'd see the day. But it's actually not that surprising when Nick and I jumped into the earnings. Because Yeti's Ferrari is the most valuable car company in Europe. They're worth $93 billion.

And Ferrari famously limits the numbers of cars they will sell in order to keep the brand exclusive. Okay, but here's the key. If we look in the latest Ferrari earnings, we noticed a line item called brand, and 11% of the revenue comes from brand. Brand is things like Ferrari merchandise. They sold $780 million of it last year. So if you're asked in Martin and you only make 6,000 cars per year, oh, you want what Ferrari's having. That's why they're selling a $5,000 stroller to Upper East Side Moms, a new revenue stream that will still keep the car brand exclusive.

And Jack, having grown up in Manhattan, I can tell you, the moms aren't driving to drop off, so they need a status simple to stroll to drop off. Now, Fashionista brands, they're doing it too, in addition to the car companies. Christian Dior, Fendi, they're also selling multi-thousand-dollar strollers this year. Loro Piano, which is the preferred brand of Kendall Roy in Succession, they sell a $6,000, quote-unquote, thermo-regulating stroller. Does that mean there's climate control in there?

Well, Jack, it means it comes with a custom cashmere interior, and at that price it should be a self-driving stroller, my friend. If Kendall Roy has a third kid with his second marriage, his assistant is buying one of these things for their fourth yacht. Now, Besties, Jack and I have covered the fashion industry pivoting to experiences over the last year. Fashion brands are opening coffee shops, hotels, cruise lines, even Pilates Studios.

But now it appears that fashion brands and luxury car companies are coming for the most expensive experience of all. Children, kids. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the $6,000 Lamborghini stroller? Fertility is affecting everything. Now, Yetis, the number of babies born in America and other developed countries continues to hover near a record low,

just below two kids per couple, the break-even rate. And it's been interesting. to track how that low birth rate is affecting the economy in unexpected ways. Yeah, we covered it over the summer, the summer matcha shortage. As Japanese farmers are retiring, they don't have kids to take over the matcha fields. And that explains the shortage of matcha at your local coffee shop. Here's another example, Jack. Low fertility rates have us treating babies like royalty.

Here's why. Americans are having fewer kids, so you can spend more on each individual kid that you do have. And if you are having kids, you tend to be having them later in life when you have more income and savings. Plus, there's financial sorting happening. Those who are having babies tend to be financially better off. Add all of that up and you get the emergence of sports car strollers. Parents have more money to spend on a smaller number of kids. And that has created this ultra-premium baby gear industry. And it's why Aston Martin is driving right into it. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, you've seen it in the news.

Paramount has acquired the free press for $150 million and promoted its 41-year-old leader to lead CBS News. One of the oldest news institutions in the country is getting disrupted to reach a new customer. Radical moderates. Radical moderates. Now, yet he's, Jack and I follow the New York Times in particular because it feels like my hometown newspaper,

I haven't grown up in New York, and Jack's basically a round-up New Yorker right there. That's incredible. That is insane that you used to send like your report card to the New York Times, hoping that they would publish that you made the honor roll. Yeah, well, they didn't publish it, Jack. And in July 2020, we noticed a New York Times opinion editor resigned from the famous newspaper very publicly. This was right as the U.S. was having its post-George Floyd racial reckoning,

or awokening, as some called it. The journalist, Barry Weiss. She said she was bullied at the Times for her dissenting views and called the newsroom illiberal for do. doing so. Six months later, she founded the media startup, the free press, with this as the founding goal. Marry the quality of the old news world to the freedom of the new. Perfect timing, because that's the same moment that free speech warriors were assailing the mainstream media for alleged censorship. So Barry got investments from Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm, and David Sacks, the crypto tech leader. And her first big interview, what was it, Jack? It was with Elon Musk. And now

her startup is getting bought for $150 million by Paramount Skydance. And Larry Allison, owner of Paramount, is putting Barry in charge as CBS News as editor-in-chief. Larry's son, David, who's the CEO of Paramount Skydance. And we all know where the allowance came from, though. Yet he's 98-year-old CBS News. It'll now be led by 41-year-old Barry Wise, but that's not the only disruption coming to CBS. No, it's not, Nick, because her stated goal, as the new head of CBS News, is to cater to the unappreciated but huge customer known as the Middle 70. Ah, the Middle 70, Jack. Can you

sprinkle on some context for us, please? CBS's new owner, David Ellison, says that 70% of Americans define themselves as center-left to center-right. Maybe you're one of them, people who are turned off by both Fox News and MSNBC, the quiet majority in the middle. That's who she's targeting with CBS News. Her other goal is to make CBS the most trusted news organization of the 21st century, and that's a wide open opportunity. Jack says wide open, by the way, because for the third year in a row, trust in mass media organizations has hit a record low among Americans. Barry says that she will gain Americans trust by bringing news that reflects reality.

In her words, more facts, less bias, and less political tribalism. Although we can share as a couple guys are in the news, everyone brings some type of bias to the news. Like, in Barry's case, she's anti-woke and very pro-Israel. But she's not a staunch pro-Trump person. For example, last month, we noticed she criticized Trump's FTC for pressuring cable networks and broadcasters to cancel Jimmy Kimmel's show. In fact, the label Barry Weiss likes to wear is what she calls radical centrist. Or what's another way to put it, Jack? Raging moderates, if you will. Yeah,

raging moderates. Well, now Barry Weiss is going to have an unlimited budget from the Ellison family to change the editorial tilt of CBS News. David Ellison is going to pivot some allowance money. Yeah. whatever she needs money for. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at CBS? When hiring someone to disrupt your organization, experience can be a negative. And yet he's, Barry Weiss is inheriting a newsroom with terrible morale right now. Staffers were very upset that CBS News settled with the Trump administration over that Kamal Harris interview

and that Stephen Colbert's show got canceled. And now their new editorial leader is an outsider from a startup who's coming to disrupt. Will this be an Elon Musk's? style wrecking ball takeover, like with Twitter. Now, interestingly, Barry Weiss has no experience in TV news, but is taking over one of the three major TV news icons. And her lack of status quo is likely a plus in this hiring decision, because she won't be anchored by how things have been done in the past. And now, yet, in general, we do think experience is positive, and we call on our own experience all the time, Jack and I won't run in this company. But when your organization

has a big problem and you're hiring someone to disrupt that organization, experience in the same industry can actually be a liability. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? Alex Cooper launched the Unwell Creative Agency to produce the ads that Alex stars in. It's a vertical integration, baby. Leave no opportunity unmonetized. For our second story, Aston Martin and Lamborghini both sell strollers for $5,000 and $6,000 each. Oh, you like the sound of those pistons? Yeah, that's my three-month-old. Fewer babies, but more money for each.

Each one. Yeah, fertility. It explains everything. And our third and final story is Paramount Skydance. They bought the free press and named Barry Weiss as the editor-in-chief of CBS News. When hiring someone to disrupt your organization, experience can be a negative. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

First, Sheehan, the Chinese super-fast fashion app is opening its first physical store. Sheehan's brick-and-mortar store is opening in a department store in Paris, France. And we should say the Parisian mayor is not happy about it, said Sheehan is against Paris's sustainable ways. Can Sheehan win over the French fashionistas though, Nick? I think we know the answer, Jack. Not possible. Or our second story. Open AI is involved in another outrageous financing and equity deal. Okay, let's check the whiteboard here. One week after Nvidia invested $100 billion into OpenAI, open AI announced a deal with AMD that could be worth up to three. $35 billion. Open AI will use AMD chips to build a new data center that uses the same amount

of electricity as Massachusetts. Oh, AMD, their stock jump 28% on where an open AI isn't an open chip relationship with them. Invidia, you're not open AI's only boo. No, you are not. And finally, Tesla stock searched 5% yesterday, all because of a 10-second tease video. The video simply showed a Tesla branded wheel spinning, and today, date, October 7th. There's a lot of speculation, early rumors. It's either the roadster sports car

electric version from Tesla or a mass market low-priced electric car from Tesla. Although we watched the video and to us just looks like a box fan. Now time for the best fact yet this one an answer to our T-boy trivia. Jack, what do we got? Yesterday we asked you, why are so many baseball teams known for their socks? I mean the red socks, the white socks, the sock, socks, what's going on? They used to be the white stockings and the red stockings, too. And the red stockings, they're the reds now. Well, the answer, it turns out, is that socks were pretty much the only distinguishing part of baseball uniforms a century ago. Yeah, 100 years ago, when players suited enough to play, they just put on, like, very generic, white or grayish clothing. Yeah, it was a khaki look, very khaki.

Sox were the only sign of which team you were playing on. Like, not shirts versus skins, red socks versus white socks. So newspapers covering the game started calling the teams by their socks. The Red Sox became the Red Sox. Yetis, you look fantastic for Teaboy Tuesday. Jack, everyone wants to know, not just when your publicly traded poetry is coming, but are you going to wear that sweater on the show,

the big one, the nice bogey one you knit? No, dude, I don't wear that sweater. That sweater wears me. Dude, my confidence shrinks to the size of an almond when I'm wearing that. Well, you shrink inside of that thing, Jack. Bezies, if you've got the best fact yet, or you want a shout out on the show, we got a link in the episode description.

Fill it out. We'd love to make it happen. And if your body is the size of Hagrid, I have a perfect wool sweater that would fit you perfectly. Hagrid, if you're listening, and we know you are, have your people color-allic people. Jack and I, we'll see you all right. And before we go, a congratulations to Yeti's Alexis Concordia and Dave Law down in Pittsburgh and Calgary,

who just got engaged on Yosemite. Send us some ring picks. We've got to see the views, guys. Congratulations. You don't even need a good photographer. That's going to be up on the wall, beautiful friend. And baby Lucia and Mama Marley in Charleston, South Carolina are celebrating one week of beautiful life together. And happy birthday to Barbara Swig, the Long Island Legend of Garden City, Nassau County.

New York style icon, mayor is Mayor Maradian in Tampa, Florida, is the best dentist on the Gulf, baby. Happy birthday to Jack Crary in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, who's rooting for the Brewers in the Playoff Series against the Cubbies. And Jack, we just got to wish a shout out to Daniel Galliano, a bestie who's been listening to of this show for over a year from Honduras, but just opened up a coffee business in Barcelona, Spain. You got this, Daniel. Fantastic to have you with us. And to anyone else celebrating something today,

make it a tea boy. Celebrate the wins.