The Best One Yet - 📚 “Pimp My Dorm” — University spending splurge. Target’s Starbucks bet. Brightline’s Olympics train.

Episode Date: August 14, 2023

The WSJ examined 20 years of collegiate (over)spending — but the buck stops with the boards. Target added Starbucks to curbside pickup at 1,700 locations — turning a weekly shopping habit into a daily coffee habit. And Brightline, the first private Amtrak competitor, is breaking ground on rails from LA to Vegas — and it didn’t set a deadline, it set a finish line. $TGT $SBUX Want merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.com Follow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypod And now watch us on Youtube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, August 14th. And today's pod, it is the best pod yet. It's a T-boy, baby. Oh, this just smelled like a T-boy all weekend long. Jack, first story, what do we got on the pod?

The biggest spender of the last 20 years is America's universities. Here is why higher education has an even higher price tag. Spoiler, it's the deans. Also, spoiler, it's the e-sports gamer lounges. And the Italian monasteries for study abroad. and that football coach. For our second story, Target, is rolling out curbside Starbucks pickup at 1,700 Target locations. Because Target and Starbucks aren't partners.

No, they are lovers. And our third and final story. Have you ever wondered why there's no competitor to Amtrak? Actually, yes, we've all wondered that, Jack. Well, now there is. Get this, Bright Line just became the biggest private passenger train in America. But yet is before we had that wonderful mix of stars. A fantastic mix of stories to kick off the week, Jack.

We're flipping it open to Horters' Ammanac, week 178. Yes, we are. Things were running out of in this economy. Jack and I have been keeping track for you. Right now, America has a shortage of vacation. Vacation, yeties. Not a shortage of vacation days. No, a shortage of vacation days taken. Because, get this, compared to 40 years ago, Americans are half as likely to take vacation these days.

We're half as likely to be kicking it out in Cabo. We're half as likely to turn it off in Tulum. We're half as likely to decompress in the wilderness. Breathe in? Breathe, why are you still on your email? Get off your phone for a second. And here's how we know, Yeties, because every month, the U.S. Census Bureau

calls 60,000 Americans at random and asks us how we spend our time. It's actually the same survey they used to calculate the unemployment rate. But they also ask us about our vacation plans. That is a real thing. That is the vacation rate. And the vacation rate has plummeted.

by half since 1980. Jack, could you whip out the whiteboard and tell us the numbers on the vacation rates? Every week, only 1.7% of us Americans are on vacation. Every week, only 1.7% of us Americans are out of office. It was twice as high 40 years ago. Yeah, those baby boomers really worked hard, Jack. Now, here's why this is so vexing. Because America has a record high number of vacation days.

But we're using a record low number of them. Which means Jack and I, got a whip up an update for the Yetis out there. For the next two weeks, we're taking an annual summer vacation. Yeah, we're going to finish out this week. But after that, our last two weeks of August, no daily T-Boys show. We're going to honor Labor Day by not laboring. We're going to fully rest up so we can properly whip up the takeaways for you.

That way, we'll have a fully charged best fall yet. But besties, vacation is not till next week. We still got a full week of pods to whip up for you. We still have five full days with the Yetis before our vacation. In the meantime, we have all got to remember. Reverse the vacation shortage. Let's all say yay to vacay. And then let's hit our three stories.

15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural. 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. For our first story, why has the price of college soared in the past 20 years? The Wall Street Journal just. found out. We just got a look into the wild world of university splurging. University splurging. Yet it is the most exciting thing at a college campus right now. It's not the party at SIG-Up, is it, Jack? It's not the foam party down at the campus whatever. Yeah, it's the construction site

over by the quad. Because the Wall Street Journal just finished a massive investigation to figure out why the cost of college in America has risen so damn much in the last 20 years. So the The WSJ jumped in T-Boy style to look at the finances of flagship universities in all 50 states from 2002 to 2002. And what did they find? They found an incredible spending problem. Jack, can you take us on down to the University of Kentucky? Down in Lexington, Kentucky, they spend $805,000 to upgrade their campus. $805,000 every day for 10 straight years.

And what do they have to show for it, Jack? A video game theater for competitive e-sports and dorms where every bed has a temperedic mattress. Jack, let's head west. Can you take us over to the University of Oklahoma? They purchased a monastery in Italy and spent $14 million to renovate it. Yeah, like they literally redid the frescoes. Don't pit my ride. Pimp my library. You cannot go on a campus tour these days without someone walking backwards saying, here's our new space station to let. That's our hyperloop. Did Elon pay for that?

We did. You're going to love the sauna. It's for everyone. Get this, Yeties. According to the Wall Street Journal, even after adjusted for inflation, those 50 flagship schools averaged 38% more spending than 20 years ago. That's a lot of spending. And how do they pay for that higher spending over those 20 years? Well, Jack, they didn't pay. You paid for it. Correct. Because the universities all increased their tuitions and fees by 64% on average. In fact, the Oklahoma Sooners jacked up the price. of tuition by 166% over the last 20 years.

Now, we should point out besties, the schools do have a defense. The schools say that they had to increase their tuition because they were getting less state support. Yeah, state legislatures have cut public support for their public universities, so they needed to get the cash from somewhere. But yeties, if these universities are strapped for cash, they're not acting like it. No, they're not because according to the number is half of university spending actually goes to the faculty, the staff, and the coaches. And at the University of Florida, the flagship

University of Florida, they have 160 assistant deans, associate deans, and executive deans. The University of Florida literally made an alligator a dean. I heard they just hired a dean, dean. With your fee fee, yet he's in 43 states in America. The highest paid state employee isn't even a dean. It's the football coach or the basketball coach of the public University. And that's after they built a new gym slash dance hall slash food court with a meditation room and a jamba juice. Yeties, this adds to the reckoning for big education in America. Last month, we got that Harvard report about elite schools giving huge admissions boost to the wealthy. And now we have a Wall Street Journal report that your student loans actually went to dozens and

dozens of deans and a brand new dance hall with a jamba juice. Jack, can I get you a massage before that 2 p.m. calculus class? I'm sorry, it's booked. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone running a university? Don't blame the schools per se. Blame the boards. Yiddies, who's actually responsible here? Well, it's the board of trustees, the board of regents, or the board of chancellors. Or the board of chancellors.

Whatever the university calls its board, it's the board's job to approve big decisions. And they're supposed to provide oversight on things like spending. Okay, but this was wild. According to research, the Wall Street Journal cited, boards of these schools approved 98% of the cost-increasing plans. So 98% of the time that a board was presented with a spending plan that boosted spending big time on campus, 98% of the time the board said yes.

Debit or credit, both. Yeties, the University of Kentucky spent $4 billion to add bells and whistles to their campus, even though they're in one of the poorest states in the United States. And of the 16 board members, only one. One voted against the spending plan. Each of these universities has a provost. They need themselves a novost. Yeah, because right now, it's not an oversight board.

That is an underside board. For our second story, Target's newest product is actually curbside Starbucks Starbucks delivered to your car. Because you shouldn't fight habits. No, you should hug them. I know you're always cold and you kind of just warmed yourself up, didn't you, Jake? I'm grabbing my arms right now. But, Jack, before we talk Target, let's talk TMZ.

The biggest celebrity couple, uh, Brandelina, do you think? Would we go with that? Benefer? Actually, Jack and I think the biggest celebrity couple is Starget. Or perhaps you prefer Tarbucks. Because Target stores have had Starbucks inside of them. That sounds wrong. Since 1999.

And now the vast majority of Target's 2,000 locations have a Starbucks baked in there. I mean, Jack, let's talk about this couple. Starbucks and Tarbucks. They've been living together for 24 years, cohabitating. Last year, 170 million Starbucks beverages were served at Target. That's like a billion dollars of beverages at Target. In fact, Target and Starbucks are so close that Starbucks baristas working within a Target. They're not actually Starbucks employees.

They're Target employees. At this point, just put a ring on it, Jack. This is the most committed long-term relationship in business today. This is the John Legend and Chrissy Teigen of the business world. And here's the news. 1,700 tarbuses are adding Starbucks drive-in features starting right now. Now, we should point something out yet is we're not talking drive-through. Jack said drive-in.

Yeah, drive-in is Target's word for curbside pickup. Which, Jack, this means we should sprinkle on a little more context here. Yeah, a target employee wearing a Starbucks outfit is going to bring a Starbucks drink to your car, which is sitting in a target parking spot. If that sounds crazy, the numbers show it makes a lot of it. Because Starbucks has already been testing this feature at 250 locations over the last six months. Target, they added Starbucks curbside pickup, and it turns out it didn't just sell more Starbucks. Making Starbucks drinks really convenient resulted in Target sales growing too. Get this. Customers who ordered Starbucks pickup bought 20 to 30% more from Target compared to before.

Convenient Starbucks, more Target. That was the result. Can we talk about your evening routine when you're leaving the studio and heading home, my friend? Yeah. On Monday, I stopped by Target for a Starbucks iced latte and also some diapers. But then, Jack, I checked your diary. On Tuesday, you stopped by for a shaken espresso and that evening boosted Target. But then you also bought the chicken for dinner. Man, this driving so easy.

On Wednesday, I snagged a decaf espresso without getting out of my car. I might as well have the barista bring me a deodorant, too. Because Yetis, the baristas are handing you both your venti latte, Hey, and your Target bag of goodies. And the convenience of the Starbucks drive-thru, and has people stopping by Target way more often than they otherwise would have. So we go with Starget or Tarbucks? Tarbucks for sure.

Tarbucks is great. I love it. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Tarbucks? Don't fight the customer's habit. Hug the habit. Yeti's coffee is a daily routine while shopping is a weekly routine. So Starbucks is a daily habit, while Target is a week. weekly habit. Instead of fighting or ignoring that behavior, Target is hacking and embracing

that behavior. Target was for weekend treasure hunters. But now with Starbucks driving, it can be for daily commuters too. It was a destination. Now it's a pit stop. Instead of fighting the customer habit, Target found a way to hug the habit. Sell you a Frappuccino in a cute tap from Starbucks. Yes. For our third and final story, Bright Line just became a the new private Amtrak. Private Amtrak. They are building a train from Las Vegas to Los Angeles right now. And they're doing it not by setting a deadline, but by setting a finish line.

And we think that is the most exciting part. But yet everybody's got a story about that one time they took Amtrak. I mean, Jack, everyone's got first, you got a bad story. Everyone has one bad story. We sat on a railroad in Springfield for three hours. We weren't moving. Eventually they put us on a bus. Yeah, I went to get a sandwich and the sandwich had already been eaten, the one they

handed me. But we've also got a lot of good stores, especially on the Northeast quarter. I went from D.C. to Boston. I had Wi-Fi the whole time. I finished the entire TPS report. Those seats are spacious. And you didn't have anyone from TSA giving you a pat down. Whatever you think of Amtrak, good or bad, there's one thing you should be a fan of. Competition for Amtrak. Competition. Yeah, these Congress actually created Amtrak back in 1971. And they set it up as a government-permitted monopoly on passenger trains. So Amtrak has been unchallenged Until now. Because now there's Brightline, a private passenger train company.

This is the biggest thing to happen to trains since the cool hat the conductor gets from there. It's like the biggest thing to have the trains since the caboose. Caboose is such a great word. It just rolls off the tongue. But yet he's here's with Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The biggest competition for Brightline isn't actually M-Track. No, Brightline's competition is driving and flying. Brightline's competition is travel alternative.

Here's the interesting thing. Brightline focused on one very particular type of trip. Trips that are too long to drive, but too short to fly. For example, in 2018, they opened Miami to Palm Beach. Brightline already exists. They already have trains that leave every hour from Miami going 79 miles an hour up the coastline to Palm Beach. And this fall, they're expanding that Miami line to Orlando.

And the speeds are going to pick up to 130 miles per hour on that leg of the trip. And then Jack, what's the eventual goal down in Florida? Tampa Bay. They're going to have a Tampa to Miami Railway. The new Tamiami Trail. Is that the new Alligator Alley? It's the new Tamiami Trail Neck. But Yetis, in 2028, they're biting off something even bigger.

Westward expansion. Yeah, a second line that connects Los Angeles to Las Vegas, two of the biggest economies in the country. Yep. And the states of California and Nevada just asked the federal government for a grant to offset the $12 billion cost. But either way, they bring. Break ground this year on the Los Angeles to Las Vegas line. Wait, Jack, you hear that? That means it's time for our takeaway.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Brightline? Deadlines motivate. Finish lines inspire. Yeti's Bright Line is about to break ground on that Bright Line West, connecting Los Angeles to Las Vegas. And the train's going to be 50% faster than in Florida. It's going to hit top speeds of 186 miles an hour. This thing's like a Japanese.

Bullet train all electric, but in America. But Yetis, we think the real beauty of this project isn't the speed. It's the deadline. The deadline is 2028. And Jack, why do we think a deadline is such a beautiful thing suddenly? Because 2028 is when Los Angeles hosts the 28th Summer Olympics. And they want this train to deliver people from Las Vegas to the opening ceremony. Yeties, for such a huge project to get done, motivation isn't enough.

To make an iconic, an arduous, a concept. Complex project happen. Stakeholders need inspiration. Finish by 2028. That's a deadline. Finish by the Olympics. That is a finish line. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week?

American universities are recklessly spending. And it's driven tuition up by 64%. Who's to blame? The boards. They're not doing oversight. They're doing undersight. For our second story, Starbucks is already inside Target. Now they'll bring Starbucks outside of Target to your

car. Yeti's target's not hating the habit. They're hugging the habit. And our third and final story is Brightline. This is the private Amtrak. They're already in Florida. They're coming to L.A. by 2028. Here's the beautiful thing. They don't have a deadline. They have a finish line. Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Sam Bankman-Fried old SPF. His bail has been revoked and now he is actually literally in jail. And as a reminder, he took customers deposits and then bought homes in the Bahamas for himself and his family. And second, a new Reuters poll shows that 28% of workers use chat GPT regularly at work. Even though only 22% said their employees allowed chat GPT.

And finally, Jack, can we talk about Amazon's newest product? You can order a product on Amazon and get it delivered without a box, just like the basketball, just the item. We call it naked shipping and we've been asking. for it for years. Three years ago, we said Amazon should launch naked shipping to reduce the amount of boxes that we all waste. Three years ago, we forgot to trademark naked shipping check. But at least it's happening. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Jason Raymond Werner in Portland, Oregon, who's also the birthday boy. We've all eaten a delicious trisket cracker. But get this, the name Triscuit is actually a portmanteau of two different words. Triscuit comes from the word

electricity. And Scut comes from Biscut. Triscut. Because Triscuit crackers were the first cracker to be baked by electricity. So it's the electricity biscuit. And that's a finish line. Yetis, you look fantastic to kick off the week. Jack and I still got four more days with you before vacation. I got a feeling they're each going to be T-boys. And if you've got the best fact yet before vacation, we want to get it on the pod. We have a link on our website for you to send in subcation. T-boypodpod.com, Jack and I, we'll see you there. That's a finish line. No, Jack, that's a caboose.

And before we go, happy birthday to a couple of Yetis, Diego and Camilla Lester, both turn in five over in Spokane, Washington. And happy birthday to Trixie Cruz Pay, and welcome to California. And Nariman Hashemi, happy birthday up in Toronto, Maple Leaf, Canada. And a big shout out to Chicago. for the birthday of Michael Air Jordan. And Hannah Milliron is celebrating some wins because she just passed all the sections of her CPA exam. And congratulations to Diego for landing that sweet new job at McKinsey

down in Bukkah, Columbia. And Claire Atkinson, happy first day of Miami Law School. Have fun over there. Take a bright line. Congratulations to Chris and Pallavi for having a new boy, Joel Oakley, in Vista, California. And congratulations on one year of running Sonata Design Company to Jacob Perry. And happy anniversary to Serge and Gabby Ianu in Bear Delaware. Celebrate that win. And that's a Finnish caboose.

This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon. I don't think we've ever come full circle more times. And now the pod just starts over. Oh my God, Jack. That was brilliant. A finish caboose.