The Best One Yet - ☘️ “LIVE from Boston” — Ben Affleck’s AI genius. Bananas inflation-omics. Uber’s data center piggybacking. +Top-smelling cities

Episode Date: October 15, 2026

Bumble got acquired in a happier-ever-after Private Equity ending… We call it D.O.P.E.Apple just unveiled a dozen surprise home products… It’s the new boss’ Living Room strategy.AI stock investing has become “a casino”... so we’ll tell you how to play it.Plus, Mark Zuckerberg can’t finish a Guiness… (is that a sip or a struggle?)$AAPL $BMBL $AVGO $METAGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-ticketsNEWSLETTER: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 Thursday, the new Friday, October 15th. And today's live show from Boston. Just inside Boston is the best one yet. It's the T-Boer. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. And Jack, this is our IPO tour.

Our in-person offering. As usual, we've got three fantastic stories for the coolest place in capital. Jack, what do we got on today's total? For our first story, inflation rose to 3.7% in September, but the humble banana is still 25 cents. Ah, the banana is America's market price martyr for now. For our second story, the smartest brand in artificial intelligence, it's not Sam Altman. It's Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck, Boston's favorite actor has pioneered a new vision for AI, the Ben Doctrine.

For our third and final story, Uber just a lot of... acquired Boston's Easy Cater for $2.3 billion. But Uber doesn't want your corporate lunch, wants your data centers. But besties before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories! The most underrated metric in business? What is it, Nick?

It's smell. There is no sense more tied to selling than smelling. And guess the best smelling city in America, Jack? Baltimore. Baltimore. No, just kidding. Boston. It's Boston.

And that data, it passes the sniff test. Yes, it does, because Boston has 5.8 perfumeries per 1,000 residents, 12 candle stores, 19.2 bakeries, and 20 florists per

1,000 Bostonians. Add it all up, and according to this recent McLuck study, Boston has a smell score of 9.64. So congratulations to our sold-out audience.

You are the best-smelling city in America. But, Nick, what's Boston's favorite, Tell? New York. We didn't even crack the top 10, Jack. Not even on the list. And yet, what we find fascinating is the one data point that hasn't been discussed. Uh-de-Dunkin. Hey, D'Aleen, this guy wants two pumps of hazelnut. No joke. Smell is a key part of Duncan's growth strategy. In 2012, Duncan pioneered coffee-scented billboards. True story. Ads and buses were programmed to emit

coffee smells, but only when the jingle played on the radio. Get this. That boosted Dunk. Sails at locations near bus stops by 29%. But Duncan doesn't just smell like coffee. In Haverhill, Massachusetts, one facility makes one million donuts per day. Duncan, you drop donuts from the name, but Haverhill smells just the same. Now, Duncan is so committed.

Uh-oh. Mispronunciation. They passed a test back. These are real Bostonians. No, you know, these. Duncan is so committed to your nasal cavities that they just launched a partnership with Fabrese.

And the most popular sense so far, what is it, Jack? Strawberry frosted donut. Well, now Duncan is prepping to IPO again. How about them, apple, cider donuts. Jack, why do you sprinkle on some more context? Yankee Candle was founded in Massachusetts. Smells like spruce. Sam Adams is brood in Massachusetts.

Smells like fun. Sure, the Red Sox looked like they haven't taken a shower since the All-Star break. But to quote Goodwill hunting, it's not your fault. Yet he's both Nick and I grew up. Yankee fans, and both of us went to college where everyone at the school is from just outside Boston. So we know Boston's got the top universities. Boston's got the best biotech companies.

Boston's got the best pastel polo shirts from an Antucket golf course that you played at once. Although, to be honest, I prefer those $15 polos they sold at T.J. Max from Framingham, Massachusetts. New Balance, Gillette, marshmallow, fluff, all Boston-braced legendary brands. And if you combine all those things, that's the scent of a new millennial father. True. Boston, the greatest asset behind all your innovation is right under your nose. Just don't tell Bain Capital because they'll have to acquire Matt Damon Schnaz. Boston, you look fantastic tonight and you smell fantastic.

Nick, let's hit the three stories. Yeah, Wicked Story. First years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. 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. story. Inflation rose to 3.7% last month, but the biggest inflation victim is the lowly banana.

The humble 25 cent banana is our market martyr, and it explains the whole economy. Now, Eddie, if you've been following this show, as you all have, the Kim Kardashian of Economic Reports getting all the attention in the last five years, it's the consumer price index. The CPI, it measures the price of everything, from haircuts to hotels to hospital stays. Oh, in September?

The price of that consumer basket rose 3.7%. That is hotter than expected. So on prediction markets, the chance of an interest rate hike in October rose from 15% before the report to 40% after the report. And all of that triggered a big sell-off in the stock market on Wednesday. The NASDAQ ended down 2%. But the biggest driver of rising prices across the economy? What is the check? Energy, diesel, and gas. And the main cause is obvious the war in Iran.

The consequences of the Middle East oil squeeze are global. So, global. So global, in fact, that the humble banana, the most inflation proof of produce out there is getting bruised for the very first time. Now, first, despite what the Bluth family will tell you, there's actually never money in the banana stand. And we have visual evidence. We fact-checked this one. We went into the finances. I visited Amazon headquarters when I was in business school.

There's a giant outdoor banana stand, not just for Amazon employees, for anyone in Seattle, for bananas. Jack and I also did a talk yesterday at MIT Sloan, the business school in Cambridge. And they have a banana lounge offering free bananas. We could not make that up. Free bananas. But grocery store chains have also long considered the banana. They're lost llama. They're giving them away for basically free.

Every bodega, convenience store, pharmacy, even Duncan, they all sell bananas for about 25 cents. Yeah. It's a loss-making price, 25 cents, just to get you in the store. Yeah. Because you come for the banana. and you'll leave with a bag of food. Not too shabby. The result, bananas at Trader Joe's

were priced at 19 cents each for 20 years until what happened, Jack. In 2024, inflation, Trader Joe's had to jack up the price to 23 cents. It's still Frugal Fred's best friend. But Jack, pound for pound, bananas cost one-third of the Red Delicious Applescaut. Don't even get me started with Honeycrisp apples. No, you don't want it.

Jack could go on for hours on that. But apples are grown in the U.S. bananas are not. 99.9% of our bananas are actually imported. And getting those bananas to the United States is extremely complicated. Hey, Jack, why don't you whip up that diagram from the New York Times on the whiteboard? Here it is. Bananas, after they're picked, are carefully packed to avoid bruising.

And then refrigerated trucks must bring the bananas to port. Then, once they arrive in the U.S., green bananas are stored in ripening facilities. Where the temperature is slowly increased, ethylene gasoline is... Sorry, ethanol gas, not gasoline, is introduced to perfectly time the ripening, so it's perfectly yellow at the grocery store. The ship and the logistics, the TLC, as complex as putting on a game of Savannah banana ball over at Fenway Park. And despite the incredible complexity and the costly logistics, retailers have just swallowed

the increasing prices of bananas. They have a pause to pot, Jack. Maybe for not much longer. Yeah. Feels like a takeaway moment. Yeah. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who will never look at a banana? the same way after tonight show.

The banana is a market martyr, but the bill comes due in December. Now, yes. Now that you know the logistics of getting bananas into your hand, Jack and I will connect the dots from policies to the prices. Okay, our foreign policy has diesel prices

up 70% since last year. Banana plantations, they need fertilizer, which comes from the Middle East as well. Now let's look at truck drivers. J.B. Hunt estimates that a new English language requirement of truck drivers has cut the number of drivers by 10%, which adds more price pressure on bananas.

Now, tariffs were adding to the cost of bananas until November when President Trump suspended them on things we can't produce domestically. But because banana contracts are locked in for 12 months, prices are going to be stable until December. After that, we will see if grocery stores finally gave and increased prices on the humble banana. For now, bananas remain the only thing you can get at a grocery store for 25 cents. Don't forget it, best. He's the banana. It's a mark. market martyr to all of our geopolitical mayhem.

For our second story, the surprise savant of artificial intelligence, it's Ben Affleck, who sold his startup to Netflix for $587 million. Matt Damon's work husband teaches us that there's room for nuance in AI. Now, Yeti's. Yesterday, we got to give that awesome talk at MIT's Business School, the filming location of an Oscar-winning movie. Janitor finishes Impossible Math Problem. he's discovered to be a genius and he figures out his life with a hairy therapist.

Yeah, you know, that's the plot of Goodwill Hunting. But while Matt Damon is the main character, it's actually based on Ben Affleck. Ben, the guy who played one of those bozo gorillas from Southie? Yeah. In real life, Ben Affleck is the genius who didn't go to college. Not just because Ben Affleck made $10 million on one Duncan TV commercial. Or because he won an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire this year. Or because he's banned from a blackjack table.

the Hard Rock Casino for being too good at gambling, which he is. Ben Affleck's biggest surprise is that he's the Sam Altman of Hollywood. True. The Cambridge kid who didn't go to college, self-educated himself to create a whole new kind of AI. Now to sprinkle on some contact, please go back to the year 2021. Also known as one BC, as in one year before chat GPT. That's when Ben Affleck got his first taste of AI. And the first thing he did, what was it, Jack? He called Matt Damon and said, dude were screwed. Naturally. He told Matt Damon, no joke, their careers were toast, AI would take their jobs, and they got to make movies while they still can. But then instead of doing all that, Ben went full professor John Nash on this new existential enemy. True. He didn't just study AI.

Ben Affleck launched an AI startup called Interpositive. And according to a GQ interview last week that Nick and I listened to, we love that. Ben Affleck revealed he's actually a super genius of AI, a la Mark Zuckerberg. Get this. Ben Affleck spent eight months creating his own large language model of scenes, styles, and shots from movies. And then he translated his 90-minute films into code that AI could ingest and understand. And then, Ben spent the last four years buying up his quote, a lot of cameras, patents, and LiDAR technology. No big deal. He casually writes scripts in Python and dabbles in neural networks. Ben Affleck keeps a stable of GPUs at his home like their Kentucky Derby thoroughbreds.

Thanks to a wonderful thing called a meme, this is what we think of with Ben Affleck? Yeah. Post-Jalo. But we should really be thinking of this. Yeah. Because in March, Ben Affleck sold his self-built AI startup to Netflix for reported $587 million. Retainer! How do you like them apples?

But Jack, what does Ben's AI actually do? Well, let's look at Animals. His number one movie on Netflix right now that just came out. Okay, it's a crime thriller starring Carrie Washington, Jillian Anderson, and Ben Affleck, not smiling, as usual. The AI started that Ben Affleck. It happens all the time. It made the movie, but the script was not written by AI.

The acting was not AI generated, and the sound effects aren't AI either. You see, besties. Interpositive, his AI startup, they're just tools that adjusted the colors, the reframed shots, they patched up the missing part. Here's the key use case of that startup. If a scene would have looked better taken from,

from a different angle, AI can recreate that scene without having to do a reshoot. Like, yeah, humans would have otherwise been paid to do that reshoot that Ben Afflex AI fixed instead. But that reshoot was waste. So this tech simply reduced the costs of mistakes in a Hollywood. Okay, but the biggest surprise of all? Ben Afflex AI didn't lead to job cuts on a Hollywood set. It led to more jobs. Or so Ben told GQ.

I guess the theory is fewer mistakes led to make more movies. Look, Hollywood writers and actors have been fearing AI and risk it will eliminate jobs understandably. But Ben Affleck is a Hollywood actor and a Hollywood writer too, and he thinks it's a tool, not a job replacer. He doesn't think a one-person prompt is ever going to become a movie. We should point that out. Because he says AI is an imitator, not a creator. That got Jack and I thinking of a takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy, Ben Affleck?

Say hello to the Ben Doctrine of AI. Yeah, the Ben Doctrine. You see besties, there are two camps that have emerged in the AI debate in the last few months. The Doomers and the boomers. Doomers say AI is going to end the world. Boomers say AI is going to save the world. But Ben Affleck has a nuanced voice in the middle of us. There's a lot of room in between those possible outcomes.

A lot of extremes there. And the void is being filled by Ben Affleck? Yeah, and we're kind of listening to his middle road now that no one's really been saying. Ben Affleck built an AI business from scratch with 16 people and is hiring more humans to use it. So maybe the future isn't boom and isn't doom. Maybe the future is Ben Affleck. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Uber is now catering. It's a catering company? I'm sorry, Jack. Uber is now a catering company after acquiring easy cater at a $2.3 billion Catering valuation. Catering is actually a booming industry because of data centers.

Yeah. Now, Eddie, let's set the scene here. It's 2020. You're ordering a six-pack of Narraganssa Loggers to your south end condo, and it was complicated. So the startup Drizzly pioneered alcohol delivery based in Boston. Yeah. Drinks on demand to your door. Well, Drizley got acquired by Uber, and your bar tab basically became a tab in Uber's super app.

But last week, Uber came back to Boston for another bite. Oh, yeah. It acquired Easy Cater for $2.3 billion. Not AI Slop. We're talking sloppy Joe's here for the whole team. Easy Cater, a 20-year-old platform with 40,000 restaurants. It's the king of corporate cater. Besties, if you've been to a sales conference in the Seaport, raise your hand.

Okay, that's half the audience for everyone listening. You've been easy catered to. The whole Northeast sales division just raised their hand, Nick. Totally. Investors like the deal because the average Uber ride is a $14.80 fare. But Jack, what's the average catering order size? $400. Yeah, because where there are more mouths, there is more margin.

Yeah. We all know Carolyn accounting is going to prove that $400 chicken parmore. Yeah, she is. But catering isn't a booming business because the Northeast sales division at HubSpot is hungry now. No. You see, the catering division, the catering industry. It is booming because of data centers. And you've got to hear us out on this.

It's wild. Okay. Data Center Build Out is becoming America's latest Manhattan Project. And they're causing an accidental gold rush for totally surprised businesses. Who need to supply their 2,000 construction workers who are on the job each day. Jack, could you sprinkle on some context for us, please? Data centers are being built in rural communities with small populations. And they need 2,000 people on average to build each one.

2,000 people, huge influx. I mean, a small town can't handle it. A small town can't handle it. No. Where are those 2,000 people going to get, where are they going to park their cars? Well, they need parking. So, data centers are contracting where I park, a company that builds and runs parking lots fast. Where are those 2,000 people who are here for six to 12 months the time it takes to build the data center? Where are they going to exercise after their shift?

Well, hospitality company, Aramark, runs fitness centers and is going to build $150 million in new gyms next year. And where are they going to get their three square meals? Who's feeding those 2,000 construction tennis? I mean, Jack, a town of 4,000 people on a pencil. Slovenia, farm country cannot feed 2,000 workers. So to feed data center workers, catering companies are shipping food in from out of town, which now includes Uber whipping up a burger for the bulldozer team. But Jack, what's the wildest part?

Well, this is hugely economically, like my economic spider senses are going on. After the data center is built, those 2,000 workers leave, and the data center needs just 200 to 400 people to maintain that building. You see, it doesn't make economic sense to build a permanent restaurant or hotel. for a short-term need like that. So it's like these small towns are experiencing their own little Olympics. Like just massive surges of economic activity.

But you don't need an olive garden there is what you're saying. So it doesn't make sense to build a permanent restaurant or a permanent hotel for a short-term need. But that's why Bloomberg just called Data Centers a $3 billion feast for the catering industry. And Uber is skating to where the puck is going. To where the puck's being eaten. Right.

Yeah, exactly. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our budget? buddies over at Uber. For every mega trend, there's a piggyback trend. Look, Yeti's, no one is searching for gold in the California Hills outside San Francisco anymore. But we're still wearing Levi's blue jeans, which were invented for those 1849 gold miners. Botox is a booming industry right now, because people on GLP1 weight loss drugs have extra skin and they want to tighten up. We're talking about piggyback trends. Right. Now Uber's in the catering business because of the insatiable AI demand for data centers and the workers who have to build them.

Besties, if you are lucky, you can get in early on a leading trend. But if you miss the leading trend, there's still an opportunity. Hitchhike on the trend by delivering what the trendsetters need. Because for every trend, there's another one piggybacking on it. Yeah. But besties, this pot's not over yet. We need Amanda from Boston to come on up here and help us end the show. and we also need one other Yeti in the audience

to help us whip up the takeaways. All right, let's get a name in hometown over here. Randy Openshaw. Ashland, Mass. Great, from Ashland. You can go over with Jack. This is unbelievable. Are you kidding me?

This is a dream come true. We're not kidding. Did we manifest this? Thank you, Amanda. Great to be here. Amanda, where are you from again? Just outside Boston from Newton, Massachusetts. Oh, Newton.

What's the takeaway for the new Friday? First story, the banana. It's been a quadruple whammy of cost increases, but it's still only 25 cents. The humble banana is the market martyr of inflation for now. For now. Second story, Ben Affleck is an AI savant, and he presents a middle ground on how to think about AI's impact.

It's the Ben Doctrine. AI is a creative tool, not a creative replacement. And finally, Uber has jumped into the catering biz because data centers are eating the economy. And for every trend, there's a piggyback trend. There we go. A round of applause. Not easy. Jack

trained for 10 years to whip up the takeaways. And now time for the best fact yet from Amanda Whittam just outside Boston. This is truly a dream of Trump. New Balance is based

just inside Boston. Why is the shoe brain called new balance. And why does some new balance boxes mysteriously have a chicken printed on the inside? Because New Balance founder, William Riley, had chickens in his backyard and noticed that the hens could stand on one foot for an extended period of time. The key, the three-pronged foot, that helped the chickens achieve the perfect natural balance. So Mr. Riley built the chicken an observation into the souls of his shoes. And the early branding, I don't know if you remember this,

the early branding in 1906. Probably no one here, but you might have seen it. Any collectors in the audience? I don't know, anyone, any sneakerheads? There's a sneaker out at my table, Cadre. So I know he knows what I'm talking about. They've shaled away from the chicken messaging, for obvious reasons. But in recent years, you know, it's uninspiring for athletics.

Fun fact, a little insider knowledge. one of my friends told me who works at New Balance, there's a conference room in the HQ named the chicken room as well. So there you have it. That's New Balance. Give it up for Randy and Amanda. Thank you all so much, but we're not done yet. This show doesn't end without some shoutouts.

Yes. So who's got somebody to give a shout out to right now? In the crowd. Who we got? Who we got? Who we got? Who we got? Hey, I am Brian from Wolverine, Massachusetts. I just wanted to say I'm helping to start a brewery in Davis Square in Somerville, and you two are both invited to the opening day whenever that happens. Hey you!

Let's toss it on the calendar. I'm Leor. I'm Nord, Massachusetts. I'm here with my buddy Umberto, who just turned 29. Happy birthday, Inberto. Hi, I'm Debbie, and I'm trying to get my mother, and she and I are longtime Yetis. Deborah, thank you.

Thanks for being here. Hi, I'm Garv. I interacted you on Spotify known as Bob. Originally from Wilmette just out of Chicago, but I've lived in Boston for the last 13 years in Chalmster now. And two things. I have a correction from a couple of days ago. Okay, okay.

You said Fenway Park opened in 1914. It actually opened in 1912. And do you remember the June 10th story you did about Brendan Sorsby gambling against his own team? Yes. I was the one who said. submitted that. In Jack's defense, he can't go close to Fenway or he

breaks out in hive, so that's what we got the year wrong on that. Hi, I'm Joe from Medford, Massachusetts, and Warren, Vermont. I just wanted to give a shout out to my beautiful wife, Aaron, and we are having our IBO in January 2027. Dropping in January 2027.

An initial baby offering. And that baby will be skiing sugar bush someday. Hi, my name is Anna. I'm from Dallas, Texas, and I'm here with my partner, Maria, who's submitted two law school applications this week. Nice job getting him in. I'd like to give a shout out to my son Otto Miller, who's 13, and we have listened to all of the best one yet on his way to baseball practice, so we're looking forward to your next series. Wow. Thank you, Otto. Hey guys, my name is Steve from New York, and I just wanted to give a shout to my best friend, Matt.

He got on a plane at 4 in the morning on his day off to get me here to see the podcast. So, thanks, Matt. Nice, Matt. Hey, I'm Erica from Somerville, just outside Boston. And I want to give a shout out to my mom, who has just completed her second knee replacement and is crushing the recovery. What a show. What a show. What a show, Boston.

This has been fantastic. Thank you all so much for letting Nick and me have the best career of all time, which is getting to cover the news every day for you all. This is insane we get to do this, so thank you. Thank you to CityWinerie. Thank you to the Sweet Green team. Thank you to our editor Trey, who's going to be up until 2 a.m. Tonight editing this episode so you can hear it tomorrow.

We're not kidding. He puts everything into this. And to anybody else, celebrating something today, make it a tea boy. Celebrates. Thank you, Boston!