The Best One Yet - 📭 “The business of mail” — USPS’ $6.5B surprise. Amazon’s 1st car sale. TikTok’s TV show.

Episode Date: November 17, 2023

The US Post Office just revealed that it lost $6.5B this year — So we’re going to tell you the story, the history, and business model of the mail service… that we all own.For the 1st time ever, you can now buy cars on Amazon.com — Amazon will sell Hyundai cars, but only because Hyundai will put Amazon in its cars.And the creator of “Anchorman” just launched a TV show on TikTok — Because TikTok is now TVtok.$FDX $UPS $AMZNSubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday the real Friday, November 17th. And today's pod, it is the best one yet. It is a team boy for the weekend, Jack. It's the end of the week and the Wall Street winning streak just keeps going on. Jack, I'm checking the whiteboard here. Stocks, they're up 3% this week.

Stocks are up 10% so far this month. The Santa Rally kicked off before Black Friday, man. Santa Rally just committed Christmas creep. Turkey's not even in the oven. and Santa's rallying the stock market. Jack, first story for today's show. What do we got? For our first story,

the U.S. Postal Service just revealed they lost $6.5 billion this year. But Yetis, you own the postal service, so this story is your business. For our second story, for the first time ever, you can now buy a new car on Amazon.com. Jack, toss that Hyundai in my shopping cart, please.

And our third and final story is TikTok. TikTok just got its first ever Hollywood TV show. Talk just became TV talk. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix on the Real Friday, it is a really good mix, Jack. I love this mix. Researchers just proved that dogs get jealous.

Get this. They just discovered that a puppy can have jealousy. This is thanks to a study over at the University of Auckland, which brought 18 different dogs in for their study. Jack, let's jump into the experiment room. Can you sprinkle on some context for us, please? They tested how those. dogs reacted when their owner approached another dog. And they also tested how the dogs reacted when

the owner approached a traffic cone. A traffic cone, not something to be jealous about another dog? Drama. But here's the big question, Yeties. How do you measure the jealousy of a dog? The answer, it turns out, is the leash. Yeah, because the harder the dog pulls on the leash than the more jealous that dog happens to be. So if the dog is just chilling, not pulling on the leash at all, Then that cockapoo just doesn't care. But if the dog is ferociously pulling at the leash neck? Then that Jack Russell is jealous, baby. All right.

So here are the results of this dog jealousy study. The dogs tugged at the leash three times harder when the owner was with another dog versus when it was with a cone. For centuries, scientists have thought that humans were the only animal capable of jealousy. Yeah. For centuries, scientists were wrong. So, Yeties, if you're walking your whime rotter right now. Besties, if you're strolling with your spaniel as you listen to this pod How hard are they pulling on that leash when you're going down the street?

Because that's not strength. No, it's not. That's envy. Bark twice if you want me to stop petting this other dog. Man can have two best friends, puppy. Jack, let's hit our three stories. 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. 50%. That's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know you know, because we. We're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. For our first story, the U.S. Postal Service just shared its financial performance with us,

and we got some numbers. So we're going to jump in T-Bois-D out to the business of the United States Postal Service. Greatest mailman of all time. Who you got in the list, Jack? We all got a list going on. Newman. Newman. Remember this.

When you control the mail, you control information. But the second greatest mailman of all time, who is that, Jack? The Postmaster General, a man named Louis DeJoy. Louis DeJoy Postmaster General, he's been running a 10-year turnaround plan for the entire U.S. Postal Service. And this business-focused postman predicted that this year, the Postal Service would break even. Well, he threw on some shorts and he delivered some numbers. We jumped in T-boy style. And Jack, what number did they actually announce at the post office?

Yeah, he was wrong. They didn't break even. They did worse than break even. They lost $6.5 billion. The post office lost $6.5 billion because revenue slipped 0.4% to $78 billion. $78 billion. That's a big business we're talking about. Actually, Jack, can we sprinkle on a little context of these postal office numbers? That's slightly less revenue than UPS, a huge corporation.

Or FedEx, another huge corporation. It's a lot bigger than like Goldman Sachs doesn't make that much money, right, Jack? Like Netflix, they're not making that much money. Social Service makes twice the revenue of Netflix. But Yetis, they did lose $6.5 billion. So Jack and I had to figure out what were the reasons why? And the first reason, total mail shipped fell by 9% last year. You're not getting as many love letters these days.

You're mostly getting furniture coupons for 12% off your first order $500 or more C terms and discounts apply. Yeah, a lot of junk mail. The second reason, the amount of first class mail fell by 6%. First-class mail that happens to be the profit puppy for the postal service. But yeties, you can't understand the post office's business until we understand the post office's history. So Jack and I jumped in T-boy style to the post office's history. Jack, take us back to 1776. The first ever postmaster general of the United States was none other than Benjamin Franklin.

Benny Franklin, the USPS, it turns out, is the second oldest government department in the entire country. And it's the only federal government agency explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7, look it up. Yeah, we'll pause the pod. Take your time. Don't look it up. Just count on Nick and me.

We looked it up for you. Trust us. We spent a lot of time. Now, the first post office was actually behind a bar in a saloon. So basically, in New Hampshire, you would go and get a drink at a tavern, and then, boom, you'd send a postcard after a beer. I think that was the first drunk text message, Jeff, technically, right? True, true. It was a message sent in text.

Can I delete that? And it makes sense that the first post office was in a bar, because historically, the post office was a broader community resource. For example, the post office also offers banking services, including money orders still today. Speaking of today, the U.S. Post Office happens to have the largest vehicle fleet in the entire world. 200,000 delivery vans. That's more vehicles than the U.S. military has. And all of them had the steering wheels on the wrong side, Jack. Well, the right side, if you're a mailman. That's left right.

And the right side directionally. Correct. Correct was the right word. Right. And yet this one is a doozy. We found this statistic on the United States Post Office website. According to the USPS, 44% of all the world's mail is delivered by them. 44% of the world's mail is delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

Maybe that's why the Postmaster General is paid more than the United States Vice President. Full disclosure, Nick and I don't believe that 44% of the world thing, unless we're the only country that has junk mail. That would explain it. Newman respectfully disagrees. But Yeties, anytime you think of the Postal Service, don't forget this. You own the Postal Service. That's right, because Yeties, this is the rare case when you are both the customer and the owner. All 330 million of us own the Post Office because it's a.

public agency. And even more impressive, the post office is the rare government agency that is not funded by taxes. It's funded by stamps and postage fees. Now when the post office loses billions of dollars, the taxpayers do pitch in, but for the most part, it's financially independent, isn't it, Jack? Because when you control the mail, you control information. Well, it's still not totally clear we need those zip codes. So Jack, can you lick the back of a takeaway and tell us takeaway for our buddies over at the post office. Hold on. I just got a paper cut. Yeti, the U.S. Postal Service is not a profitable business, but it is a public service. Every year, the post office reveals its earnings, just like a public company would. And every year,

people get mad because it's not performing profitably. But here's the thing, Yeti, the post office, it isn't supposed to run like a company. Like, it's supposed to do what a company doesn't do. That's actually the point of the post office. For example, the post office. The post office, office is present in every zip code in the United States. Yeah, it's an essential service that serves the entire country where FedEx and UPS do not necessarily want to operate. The post office, they don't set prices to maximize profits. They set prices to serve the people. When it's not profitable for UPS or FedEx to open up in a location that's super remote, like the middle of Wyoming, they just don't do it. But the post office is legally required to. So yes, the post office most years, they lose

money. And we hope that this turnaround finds some waste and cuts it. But the post office, it isn't supposed to be a business. Like a library, the post office is a public service. Because neither snow nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion. From being an unprofitable, but public service. For our second story. For the first time ever, Amazon.com is now selling cars. You can soon buy a Hyundai. on Amazon. But that's not why Amazon is doing this. But Yetis, whip out your browser.

Jack, you can buy a lot of crazy stuff on Amazon these days. Can't you buy edible live insects on Amazon? You can, haven't done it, but that is a thing. You can buy boyfriend pillows. You can buy wine for cats. That's a thing we found it on Amazon. Dude, that was a test. You failed.

They're not living insects, but you can order edible insects. They're just no longer living. Because Amazon is the everything. store. But there was one thing that you just could never buy on Amazon, right, Jack? Cars. It was the everything store except cars. Well, here's the news. Amazon just partnered with Hyundai to sell cars on Amazon.com in 2024 for the first time ever. And Amazon described Hyundai as the first car company that you can buy on Amazon.com. Yet he's next year, you can just toss that SUV in the back of your shopping cart. Not too shabby. You can get Hyundai two-day prime delivery. Four-seat sonata.

Uh-oh, why not a Jack? You can get that Pontiac and order it through Prime. One second, I'm just adding a chassis and another chassis, and boom, I've hit the minimum order requirement. Now, we should tell you, you're going to have to go pick up the vehicle at your local Hyundai dealership or scheduled the dealership to drive it to your home. Unfortunately, this thing isn't going to show up in a box on your doorstep with a giant red Lexus ribbon.

Yet. Yet. But also importantly, this means buying a car with no haggling. The price is the price. Now, we know what you're thinking, Yetis. Don't Carvana and CarMax already sell used cars online, kind of exactly like this? Yeah, they do. And news that Amazon is entering their industry, that sent their stocks down by 5%.

But Yeties, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. That headline that we just said, that headline got all of the attention. But we think the details that got buried under the headline are the most important part. Because Amazon isn't just selling Hyundai cars. Amazon is getting inside of them. As part of the deal, Hyundai will install Amazon's Alexa voice technology in all their future cars. So what we're saying yet is that like you could yell out, hey Alexa, order me a car. And the car will arrive because you ordered it on Amazon.

And then when you get inside the car, you can be like, hey Alexa, play the best one yet podcast. On the car, I just ordered by asking Alexa to order it. That's right. You can do all that. And here's another detail of the Amazon Hyundai deal. Get this, Hyundai's connected cars of the future will be connected to Amazon's cloud, AWS. Boom. So, Yetis, you just used Amazon to buy a car for the first time online.

And Amazon is in that car that you bought on Amazon. And the car's data is in Amazon's cloud. See, much more than the headline that you're seeing on Instagram. Prime members get shotgun. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon? Amazon isn't selling the car. It's getting into the car. Get this, Yetis. The majority of Amazon sales actually don't come from e-commerce anymore. The biggest and fastest growing parts of Amazon's business are AWS, their advertising business, and all those subscriptions you can buy. And Yetis, when you buy a car on Amazon from Hyundai, Amazon probably won't even make much money on it. The real value for Amazon of selling cars is being the consumer-facing technology in that Hyundai. Because with Alexa as your onboard AI co-pilot, Amazon is deepening that relationship with you in a place where you spend a lot of time. It'll end up winning more of your shopping.

It'll do more of your streaming and it'll own more of your data. Cars on Amazon.com, that headline, that got all the attention. But Amazon Inside Cars, that's the headline that's even more important. For our third and final story before the weekend. The top talked about comedy show right now. It isn't Netflix. It's not on HBO. and it's not on Disney Plus.

It's on TikTok. Because the small screen is more important than the big screen. Jack, let's talk about our buddy Adam McKay. He listens to the show, right? Yeah, I think he does. He's probably a Yeti. He seems like a Yeti. Adam McKay is a Hollywood producer behind some incredible comedies.

He's behind Anchorman. He's behind Step Brothers. He is the legend behind Talladega Nights. And he doesn't just do Will Ferrell movies. Yet he's. He also did The Big Short, Vice, and Gets. don't look up. But his biggest new Hollywood production, it's a TV show called Cobal Energy. Coble Energy is a family-run oil company that's been in the same family for five generations.

And they hate this movement for clean energy that's happening right now. Okay, so episode one, a huge explosion causes an oil spill. And then this family goes into defense mode in just the most hilarious way. Well, they don't give a darn about the seals that are slick with oil. No, this family, though, they might lose their fortune. They might lose their private jet. They may even lose their giant extra large vintage Hummer. They start freaking out. So they go into PR attack mode. Without petroleum products, we would die. That's the commercial that they put out. Okay, but the best part, they rebrand the oil as what's Jack? Organic oil. They say that they sell organic oil. This is like organic oil. It's good for, he actually drinks some of the oil in one of the

episode, it's like it's a juice cleanse. Oil, the original plant-based substance. That's actually not true, because oil used to be dinosaurs. What? Some of it used to be plants. Svehettis, it sounds like a funny premise. Jack and I got curious. We jumped in T-boy style and we realized there was something more here. This show is Succession meets Eastbound and Down. And both of those happened to be Adam McKay shows that he did with HBO. But this isn't on HBO. Yeties, here's the plot twist. Cobal Energy is on TikTok. The hot new Hollywood-funded TV show, it isn't even on TV. Festi's Coble Energy's first episode, it premiered this week, but it premiered on TikTok.

And Instagram and YouTube shorts. That's right. They turned their $1,000 fancy Hollywood cameras vertical because you can only watch this show on your phone. Cobal Energy is not on CBS. It's not on Netflix. It's not on ABC. It's not on the big screen at AMC, and it's not in your living room screen. in your home. It's in your pocket. Because anyone can create a TikTok, a YouTube, or an

Instagram video these days. But this is the first time a Hollywood studio has created for TikTok. And it's backed by Adam McKay's nonprofit studio to shine light on the oil industry. Now, yet is we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Quibi, which tried to do this three years ago, but apparently was three years early. Apparently the secret was just waiting a few years, Quibby. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over at TikTok? The biggest screen is now the small screen. Eddie's the average American adult spends, get this. 56 minutes a day on TikTok.

And guess what? That's about to pass Netflix for number one. Meanwhile, cable TV and movie theaters, they're both shrinking. But TikTok just keeps growing. And it's not just the viewership. TikTok also has vastly superior shareability. With TV and with Netflix, sharing only happens through word of mouth, which is slow. But with TikTok, growth happens.

with one click. Yeties, we don't think this first made for TikTok TV series is going to be the last made for TikTok TV series. Because the biggest screen is now the smallest screen. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the Real Friday? The U.S. Postal Service lost money this year. While FedEx and UPS, they made money this year. But the post office, it isn't a business enterprise.

The post office is a public service. For our second story, starting next year, You can buy a new Hyundai on Amazon.com. But the more important headline to us, starting next year, Amazon is going to be inside hundays. And our third and final story is Coble Energy. It premiered this week, not on TV or streaming, on TikTok. Because the biggest screen is now the smallest screen.

Jack's holding back a laugh at. But yet is this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, remember how Jack and I. I told you China was taken back all those pandas from our zoos that they lent us? Well, now, after a nice visit to San Francisco, China's president, Xi Jinping, he suggested they may lend America more giant pandas again. Big diplomatic win from this meeting was we're getting more pandas.

And second, congratulations to the great state of Maryland. Maryland just set a U.S. record for lowest unemployment. 1.6% unemployment in Maryland is the lowest state unemployment rate in American history. And finally, the most shocking news of the day actually came from Snoop Dog. Get this. Snoop Dog is giving up smoking. He spoke to his family and he's not going to smoke weed every day anymore. Yeah, Snoop has asked for some privacy during this moment. But in the meantime, Snoop Dog will not be smoking.

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Zaya, Micah, and Orion, three brothers in Santa Barbara, who we happened to run into last weekend. Everyone knows the blue whale is the biggest animal in the world. But you may be wondering, how do we know the age of every blue whale that you may come across? Because you can't check their ID. And you can't ask them because they don't speak that much English. But you can find out a blue whale's age by checking their earwax.

That's right, Yeti's. Blue whales can live up to 90 years old, and each year they gain a layer of earwax in their ears. So scientists count the earwax layers to determine the whale's age. So Yeti's added all up, and today you learned that you can count. Count a whale's age by their earwax, and your dog is, in fact, very jealous of you. The takeaways? Give your local whale a cue tip and stop petting dogs that aren't yours in front of your dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or like the takeaway, if you give a whale a cut tip, your dog will get jealous. Yeties, you look fantastic all week. Jack, so many wins to celebrate. I mean, the show is sold out. That was amazing. I can't wait to see in a couple weeks. This is going to be great. Do you realize Thanksgiving is next week? I know. It came out of nowhere. Talk about Christmas creep. It's like turkey creep.

Yetis, we have shows Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week. Then we're taking a four-day weekend. So besties celebrate some wins this weekend. Jack and I will see you Monday. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti, Alice Martel from Philadelphia, now in New York City, commuting to Midtown right now. And she happens to be the best mom yet. Okay, Alice Martel has incredible taste. She's a great cook. Have you seen, seen her cabs? And she's a lawyer. I'm very happy I got her tax, Jack. Happy birthday mom. And congratulations and happy birthday to Jose Novaro, a Dinkwad turning 30 in Mexico City. And happy birthday to Lali Anguiano, who's celebrating a birthday at a conference in Palm Springs.

And Lisa Caps is celebrating that birthday in Jackson Hole, California. Happy birthday to Natalie Camargo in Astoria Queens. And Ty Dinger, enjoy that birthday celebration in Boulder, Colorado. A huge shout-out to Marcus Dolphins, who's celebrating his birthday in Hickory, North Carolina. Oh, with some pulled pork. And Courtney Harbert and her cat are celebrating the birthday in Sin City, Cincinnati. Happy birthday, who's turning 17 in Fremont, California. And Manoon Mystery is celebrating the birthday this weekend at the F-1 races in Vegas. And happy birthday to Chet Moriades, from Strong Island. He's turning 31. And David Yan, happy birthday in Brookline, Massachusetts. Just so awesome. And happy 47th birthday to Robert Nodine, who's celebrating with a pint of ice cream.

Oh, no, sorry, an ice cream cake. Now we've got to issue a correction, Jack. And Anthony Pika just got his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Washington. Congratulations, Anthony. Congratulations to Morgan Dickinson, who's got a new job, a new baby, and a new house in a wild year over in Iowa. And a congratulations to Grady Liston and Jenna Brumley, two Yeties who are getting married this weekend in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Oklahoma, it's going to be fantastic. And congratulations to Chris and Dee,

who are getting married in Idlewild, California. And Vanessa and Drew just got engaged eight years after meeting at Michigan State. Guys, send us some ring picks, we can't wait to see it. And to anyone else, celebrate something today, make it a tee boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon.