The Best One Yet - 🧊 “Sell America” — Greenland’s stock drop. Netflix’s Matt Damon formula. Aldi’s parking lot.

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

President Trump has spanked a trade civil war… America’s historic allies are getting tarrif’d.Netflix revealed earnings… but Matt Damon revealed Netflix’s secret film formula.Aldi just passed Trader Joe’s in sales… and will soon be America’s #2 grocery.Dos Equis brought back The Most Interesting Man in the World$SPY $NFLX $AMZNBuy tickets to The IPO Tour (our In-Person Offering) TODAYAustin, TX (2/25): SOLD OUTArlington, VA (3/11): https://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com/shows/341317 New York, NY (4/8): https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000637AE43ED0C2Los Angeles, CA (6/3): SOLD OUTGet your TBOY Yeti Doll gift here: https://tboypod.com/shop/product/economic-support-yeti-doll NEWSLETTER: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 Wednesday, Saniche Wednesday, January 21st. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Well, Yeti stocks just had their worst day since October. The S&P 500 fell over 2% on Tuesday because of our first story. Jack and I got your backs with the best mix in the business. Jack, what do we got on today's show? Three stories. For our first story, Donald Trump's attempted hostile takeover of Greenland is coming. causing a U.S.-European divorce. It's a trade, civil war, but everyone in business is wondering, is it too late to stop it from happening? For our second story, Netflix just reported earnings yesterday.

But the bigger news is what Matt Damon said about Netflix. Because Matt Damon just revealed Netflix's secret formula for films. And our third and final story. Last week, we asked you on the pod if you want us to do a story about Aldi, America's fastest growing grocery chain. Well, the response was, yeah. Akya. So we want to tell you about Aldi's parking lot test because it's the key to why they're beating Trader Joe's.

No one's talking about it, but it's the Aldi parking lot test. But Yeti's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Oh, the mix. Love the mix, Jack. Wonderful work today. Dry January is almost over. But honestly, the decline in beer has been brewing for years. Anizerbush Inbev. They own 400 different beer brands, but their stock is down 50%. Craft beer? Only your extremely stubborn friend is still ordering IPAs. I see you, buddy Timmy. But Jack, can I please tell you about dos eckis?

Because Dosakis has brought back their spokesperson from the brighter days. They've brought back the most interesting man in the world. He speaks Russian in French. He gives bear hugs to wolves. His feet don't get blisters. His shoes do. And he can parallel park a train. This famous legend was born in 2006.

True story. He retired from TV in 2016. And now actor Jonathan Goldsmith is a lot. 87 years old and the face of dosacis once again. It's a Hail Mary marketing strategy. Yeah. Nostalgia never dies. Nistalgia never dies. But yeah, can we re-share one funny element of this whole story?

Yeah, 21-year-olds today, they were barely alive when the most interesting man began. My illegal drinkers were still in diapers when these original ads came on. For Genzi, it's not, I remember that guy. It's, why does this guy speak in a Spanish accent? So, Dosakis had to update the most interesting man's catchphrases for a Genzi audience. In today's commercials, you hear him say, his phone is addicted to him. Starbucks orders gift cards of him. His Uber's order him way most.

Besties, we don't know his podcast, but when we do, we make it the best one yet. Stay thirsty, my friends. Let's hit our trace stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused 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. For our first story, the president has escalated his desire to own Greenland into a trade

civil war with our allies. It feels like Liberation Day all over again. So we're hoping Trump chickens out. We're hoping for another taco mom. moment. Yaddies, you've seen the headlines. President Donald Trump wants Greenland. Anyone standing in the way, they're going to be financially punished. We know because over the weekend, Donald Trump threatened 10% tariffs on Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and four other countries. Unless they get out of the way and let him buy Greenland by February 1st. Quick reminder, tariffs are

taxes on Americans. So what the president is talking about is taxing Americans because Europeans are our attempted annexation of Greenland, which is their territory. And mark your calendars because those tariffs raised to 25% if the United States hasn't annexed Greenland by June 1st. Why is President Trump so fixated on Greenland? He says it's because of national security, trying to get rare earth minerals, maybe even their abundance of fresh frozen water.

It is an interesting fresh water story in this as well. But on Sunday, he also said it's because he didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize from Norway. Quick reminder, Nick, I'm going to go Econ 101 and Math 101. Taxes are tariffs on Americans. So we are taxing Americans because Europeans are blocking our attempted annexation of Greenland, which is their territory. And Jack Foss the Pot, I got to have you circle the calendar too, because those tariffs raised to 25% if America has not annexed Greenland by June 1st. I feel like we just typed in an equation to Excel, and it's saying does not compute. Well, most of the business community, especially over in Davos, not a fan of this situation.

Even the polar bears did not see this coming, we should point out. Which begs the question, why is Donald Trump so fixated on Greenland in the first place? We did do a story on this last year. There's a lot of value in Greenland, national security, rare earth metals, an abundance of fresh water, which we made do a story on because that's a whole new angle. But Trump also actually said on truth social on Sunday, one of the reasons he's so interested in Greenland is because he didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize. But either way, the president is saving the biggest punches for our historic allies, as he believes they have been freeloading on American security for decades. It's not a trade war. It's a trade civil war. It's the United States against its friends.

Meanwhile, we're seeing an opposite and equal reaction. Our friends are moving closer to our enemies, like Canada, which just announced a trade deal with China on Monday. At Davos, which is the burning man for billionaires. Yes, it is. Good for you if you got a ticket to that. Canada's president got a standing ovation after announcing that trade deal. So besties added all up, and for the first time in history, Greenland just made the U.S. stock market red. Stocks fell 2% yesterday because Europe is punching back.

And the name of this concept right now is Sell America. This is the Sell America Trade. The European Union actually has a list of symbolically American products that they're going to toss $100 billion of retaliatory tariffs on. All right, Jack, can you read off the list because it kind of looks like a wall at Applebee's when I'm reading this thing. Boeing airplanes, Tennessee whiskey, Florida orange juice, Harley-Davidson, and of course, Iowa soybeans. If you live in Paris and you want to buy a Yankees hat, not possible for a cheap price anytime soon. But that's not even the end of the tariff story.

Because Trump is also trying to create a quote-unquote board of peace to compete with the United Nations with Trump and only Trump as the veto power. But when France said they would not join this group, Trump threatened 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne. Okay, so seeing all this, Denmark isn't waiting to see if Trump will follow through on his tariffs. No, no, no, no, no. The Danes have already started selling America, literally. Starting Tuesday, Denmark started selling $100 million of U.S. treasuries because they're just not into the U.S. anymore. And yeties, it's not just Denmark. The sell America trade is hot again. The U.S. dollar just fell and U.S. stocks dropped 2% yesterday. Yesterday, we had the largest drop in the value of the U.S. dollars since Trump's

Liberation Day last April. Europeans are even trying to redefine the MAGA abbreviation, and what are they doing on hats, Jack? Make America go away. The EU Commission President even called for a permanent economic independence from the United States. And buying a Bordeaux for Saturday night, probably going to cost you like 400 bucks. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in this trade civil war? There are off-ramps everywhere. The question is, will Trump taco this time? We hope so. Yet these strangest thing about this Greenland situation is that we probably could have achieved a lot of this through a peaceful strategy instead. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally of the United States. We have a military base in Greenland

already, and in the past, we had as many as 50 military installations during the Cold War. So when you understand that fundamental history, questions you may ask are, did we try asking them if we could reopen those bases instead of doing a full takeover. And pay them rent while we do. Did we ask Greenland if we could invest money to mine there and extract rare earth minerals instead of owning the entire giant island? Did we try framing it as a business transaction instead of have imperial conquest? Jack, everything you just described, that's basically the art of the deal. And those deals are still achievable. These could be off ramps that end this Greenland issue, end this trade civil war. Yeties, remember the acronym, Taco, Trump,

always chickens out? Well, today, Trump speaks at Davos. Will he taco? Will he stand down from his aggressive threats? After all, most of the American public is frustrated by high prices and not in support of American conquest overseas. There are plenty of off-ramps to this trade civil war. We and pretty much every economist and business person hopes he takes them. For our second story, Netflix just announced earnings, but Matt Damon just announced Netflix's movie formula. Which is way more interesting. Spoiler, every Netflix action movie must have a major action scene in the first five minutes. Besties, if Siskel and Evert had a brokerage, they'd be given Netflix earnings two thumbs up.

They announced yesterday record revenue and growth of 18%. And for the first time in a year, Netflix gave us an update on the number of subscribers. 325 million Netflix subscribers. Jack, can you sprinkle on some contacts, please? That is more paid subscribers than Spotify or Amazon or any company, to our knowledge. Combined. Not combined, not combined. Okay. To dumb, I meant to say to dumb jack.

Oh, also, Netflix updated their bid to acquire Warner Brothers. It's now an all-cash offer. That's right. A $72 billion splurge. Except the shareholders aren't happy. As they would put it, nobody wants this. You know what we're talking about, Adam Brody. But we found a much juicier drama about Netflix,

and we found it in the Joe Rogan podcast episode last week. Yet is, this is fascinating. Matt Damon just revealed Netflix's secret formula for making movies, and it makes sense. But first, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, they grew up in the same neighborhood just outside Boston. Just outside Boston.

They've actually done 14 films together, but Jack, get this, only two of them took place in Massachusetts. Sounds like a trivia question. I'm going to think about it and answer it at the end of the episode. Goodwill hunting, and we'll save it for the end of the pod.

Matt and Ben, they're Hollywood's most lucrative Bostonian bromance and Pedro and Big Poppy. The latest movie these two are doing is called The Rip, and it's on Netflix right now. It's an action thriller about two Miami cops who find a stash of cash and then have the moral ethical dilemma of what to do with it. Sounds a lot like bad boys with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, but much wider.

Oh yeah, the sequel was better than the first. Well, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck went on Joe Rogan's podcast last week to promote their movie and they ended up spilling the beans on Netflix's secret strategy. Matt Damon told Joe Rogan that the standard action film has three acts with one action scene in each act. Strategically, a director or studio will save the biggest budget action scene for the finale of the film. The town, the born identity, the departed, they all follow that action movie formula. But get this, Netflix has a different formula. They actually asked Matt Damon, hey, can we get a big action scene in the first five minutes? They need to hook you fast.

And they want to keep you on track with the plot. So Netflix also asked Matt Damon, hey, can you reiterate the plot three to four times in the dialogue to make sure the audience is still with us? Which is why in the movie The Rip, Matt Damon's character awkwardly repeats why the cops need the cash right in the middle of the movie for three times in a row. Anyone who's paying attention is like, I got it. We should point out, Ben Affleck interrupted Matt and pointed out Netflix doesn't do this for all their films like their award-winning film adolescents. But still, Matt Damon revealed Netflix follows a recipe for a lot of their films. Like content is a cake mix. It's all science.

Not much art. All right, guys, just storyboarding this here. we're going to need a big bang at minute three, an explosion at minute four, and let's repeat the reason for the revenge at least 12 times. I got it after seven repeats, okay? You know what we're talking about stranger things? So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Netflix? The force making everything we consume feel more TikTok, its second screen syndrome.

Yeties, the reason why Netflix in particular is so focused on keeping your attention, you're watching at home. As Matt Damon says that Netflix told him, people are distracted on their phones while they're watching Netflix. It's not about attention, it's about retention. Now, traditional movies, which make all their money in theaters, they do not compete with phones, so they do not do this. You're not allowed to have your phone on it in a movie theater,

so traditional Hollywood movie makers don't worry about TikTok. But Netflix does. Netflix movies, they compete with Mr. Beasts 50 titles to maximize clicks on YouTube. And Netflix movies compete with formulaic dopamine doses served up on your Instagram Reels. I mean, Jack, we did a story on this last year, even in audio,

Songs are getting shorter and courses are moving up earlier in order to win on Spotify. We interviewed DuoLingo CEO? Yeah, he knows that the biggest competition isn't Babel. Sorry, is it Babel? I think it's Babel. It's TikTok. And Netflix knows it too. Oh, guess what?

Podcasters, public speakers, even your girlfriend or boyfriend, they know it as well. Unless your audience has their phone put away somewhere, their phone is competing with whatever you're saying. Besties, the force making everything we consume more like TikTok, it's second screen syndrome. A case of second screen syndrome. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, bigger than Trader Joe's. Aldi is on track to be the number two grocery chain in America behind Walmart. You can see why, by looking at the cars in their parking lots.

If we're going to tell the story, Jack, can we please talk about Brooklyn's hottest new club? Aldi. Yeah, house Aldi. New Yorkers are lining up at 6 a.m. to be the first 100 into America's newest Aldi. We repeat engineers, publicists, investment bankers, the interns for those investment bankers, the VP investment bankers,

they're lining up for a German grocery store. Now, I studied abroad in Germany. Yeah, and I can tell you that Aldi is known for their German frugality. And in this economy, German frugality, oh, that's the new fetch, baby. And here's the news. Aldi is adding 180 new stores in America this year. The goal to hit 3,000 stores.

and become number two behind only Walmart, and they're on pace to do it. Here's the other news. Aldi has $29 billion in U.S. revenue last year, which is more than Trader Joe's for the first time ever. I was joked on my orange chicken Mandarin after I heard that check. Now, Nick, to make sure that German study abroad money paid for itself, Aldi is actually an abbreviation for Albrecht discount. Yeah? It was the Albrecht discount store, and it was two brothers.

One of them went to America and ended up owning Trader Joe's. The other stayed in Germany until more recently when they came. to the states. So the two are actually cousins. And just like Batman was born in the darkness, Aldi was born in a post-World War II German inflation situation. What do we have right now in America? Yeah, an inflation situation. But besties, what Jack and I find fascinating about Aldi is the Aldi unlock. Their unlock is the IKEA principle. IKEA realized they could save costs on furniture and sell at a lower price if they let the customer assemble the furniture. Honey, where's the third part for this Schmorgan sofa?

Well, at Aldi, you basically assemble the groceries. That's right. Aldi's German approach is actually kind of a German stereotype, Jack, if you will. Deutsche Sparsam Kite, or German frugality. Yeah, we can say that because Jack studied abroad there and his three-quarters. German. Besties, you want some examples of this? Well, what happens if you want a shopping cart at Aldi, Jack?

You need to insert a quarter to unlock the shopping cart, and you only get your quarter back if you bring the shopping cart back to the place where you found it so they don't have to pay someone to corral those things. Jack, when I'm in aisle 6 at Aldi, why is the can of beans still in the giant shipping container? Because they save money by letting you unpack it yourself. What's that thing your grandmother used to say, Jack, all the time? I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself, and that's what Aldi expects of you to. Okay, the Aldi business model, no prepared foods, no bakery, and no deli to waste time while you're asking for extra mayo on that Sammy.

And they pack all the food into just 10,000 square feet, one quarter of a typical grocery store, so they save on real estate and overhead, too. Add it all up and the Aldi kind of feels like a post-Ford Germany situation in there, Jack. Yeah, it's a little harsh. Yeah. But each example of austerity signals the brand's dedication to offering the lowest price. Get this. Even the music is cheaper at Aldi. There's no music because paying for one of those enterprise Spotify accounts would cost a lot of money.

But the key profit puppy for why they're in business on those razor thin margins is that 90% of the products are private label. which is even higher than Costco with their Kirkland brand. You don't need a German degree to understand that the Aldi business model kind of feels like a German fairy tale. Yeah, it feels grim. And yet every U.S. town wants an Aldi across from their trader juice. Including high-end U.S. towns. Two-thirds of their new openings are in high-income zip codes. Including that 32-story luxury tower in Brooklyn with the line out the door filled with investment bankers.

with the investment banking interns. Filling up those giant blue Aldi sacks. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who all wanted us to do the story and want us to do more, so we may have to do another episode on it. Aldi. If you want to know Aldi,

look at their parking lot. Yet he's one Wall Street analyst made an interesting observation about Aldi's parking lots. You see every type of car in them, from a Mercedes all the way down. The bigger perspective here for Jack and I, if you want to understand the store's customers,

look in its parking lot. Cars are strong signals of income, wealth, and status. And Aldi seems to have all of them. Remember, besties, frugality is not cheapness. Value paying what something is worth, that has universal appeal. That's why wealthy Karen demands to speak with a manager about a $2 fee. Yeah. Well, Aldi's parking lot, it's a reminder that not wanting to waste money, that transcends economic status. And it's a heads up that if you want to understand a business, look at the cars parked in the parking lot. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Trump tries to take Greenland.

Europe and Canada appear more united than ever to resist. It's resulted in a trade civil war. There are plenty of peaceful off-ramps, and we, and most of the business community, hope the president takes them at Davos. For our second story, Netflix told Matt Damon about their film formula. You must repeat the plot several times. Because the audience is distracted by their phone,

and this is second phone syndrome. Hey, hey, hey, yetis, we see you there. What are you not disturb? Okay, third takeaway, what do we got? Aldi is on track to become America's number two grocer, thanks to Deutsche Sparsumkite. It's das German frugality. Whether you're driving a beamer or your car is busted, that has appeal. That is the parking lot test. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, update from OpenAI. They're going to unveil their first hardware device in the second half of this year.

This is the thing they're developing with Johnny Ive, who created the iPhone. In fact, there's wild news speculation that this could be either a pen, which knows what you're writing. Or AirPods that are always listening and always watching because the AirPods have front-facing cameras. Wow. And second, De Beers has cut diamond prices for the first time in a year. Natural diamonds, which De Beers specializes in,

is taking a hit from the lab-grown diamond industry, which is booming. So De Beers, the biggest diamond distributor in the world, is cutting prices on their rough diamonds over three quarters of a carrot in size. So if you're on the fence about popping the question, that news from De Beers could be your bicycle. Let's do this, guys. Come on, let's do this.

And finally, the Moon Hotel. A space startup has revealed plans to build a hotel on the moon and book rooms for $1 million a night. They caused the media stir by taking reservations starting now. Talk about manifesting. I mean, they're not even in inner space yet, much less outer space. I mean, Jack, we did have a business wish this year that SpaceX would launch the Olympics in space. You're going to need a hotel for that.

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one, an answer to yesterday's Tea Boy Tuesday trivia. What do we got, Jack? Daniel Eck is no longer the CEO of Spotify. Last year, he appointed two co-CEOs. Now, Jack, specializes in German, but Jack, I got to ask you, in Swedish, what is the similarity between the names of those two new Swedish CEOs? Alex Nordstrom and Gustav Soderstrum. Jack, sprinkle on a Swedish translation for us, please? Both of their names end with Strom, which in Swedish means, stream. We repeat, the new co-CEOs of Spotify have last names that have the word stream in them. That's like an ice cream business being founded by a man named Cone. We could go on for this, Jack. We could. Yiddies, you're looking fantastic for Civece Wednesday.

And if you want to get this pot every day, the best thing you can do, we love it, the algorithms love it, Netflix loves it. Tap to follow us. So you get us every day. There's a little plus sign somewhere wherever you're listening. If you don't tap to follow us, Nick and I are going to repeat the plot of this episode at least a dozen times each episode, which is going to really annoy you. If you know, you know, Bessie, Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Emmy Eelbeil, the Tiger, over in Greenwich, Connecticut. Happy birthday.

If you know Carmen, you know. And Cynthia, happy birthday, and congrats on 10 years with your husband. Thanks for listening all the way in Guatemala City. Enjoy Cancun. Happy birthday to Stevenson John Lewis in Brooklyn, New York. And Wing Tong Wang, happy birthday. enjoy the 32nd down in Sunnyville. And happy anniversary to Michael Dravo and Erica

down in South Florida. And Kristen F, enjoy the supply and the demand over at Emory's Business School. You're going to have a blast. And Elizabeth Dwyer, congratulations on launching found fish. If you're looking for cool gifts, my sister-in-law, Jack, she has the eye. She has found the fish.

If you know, you know. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix and Amazon. Nick and I both own stock in Spotify and Apple, and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500.