The Best One Yet - 🫡 “TikTok Refugee” — TikTok’s final countdown. Jack Daniels’ bourbon bust. Anduril’s new language of business.

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday the real Friday, January 17th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a tea boy. By the way, my mouth feels so roomy. I was going to say, you're going to be over. Like, the wisdom toothed out.

Starting point is 00:00:15 I got all this room for my tongue and my teeth. He didn't need that tooth. I feel fantastic. By the way, Jack, celebrate the wins. Our new show was just named New and Noteworthy on Apple. There you go. If you go to Apple Podcasts right on the front page, you're going to see the best idea yet.

Starting point is 00:00:32 Oh, so cool to see that promotion. Celebrate the wins. Jack, three stories for today's T-Boy, though. What do we got on the pod? For our first story, TikTok is scheduled to shut down on Sunday. Yeah. We repeat, TikTok is going dark in two days. So Jack and I will tell you what to expect on Sunday morning

Starting point is 00:00:49 when you instinctively try to open that app. For our second story, for the first time in a generation, whiskey sales are falling in America. The Great Bourbon Booms become the Great Bourbon Bucs, bubble bust. But Nick and I have a solution for Jack Daniels. We do, we do, we do. We call it Whiskey World. For our third and final story, language is changing across America, and you can see it in business. In fact, you can see it specifically in Anderil, a drone startup that just made a huge announcement. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. No one else is doing that

Starting point is 00:01:23 mix. Love the mix of stories, Jack. Nick, as a former Olive Garden waiter, yes, yes, yes. Can I share the worst part of working at a restaurant. Jack, you were the wine salesman of the month. I would love to hear the worst part of your olive garden job. Rolling silverware. Oh, that doesn't sound fun. You needed to stack up a knife, a spoon, and a fork, and then wrap it up in a napkin so it looks elegant. And you couldn't leave your shift until you do that 50 times. Sounds like a torturous jenga. But over at Chick-fil-A, Jack, what is the most hated part of the job? Squeezing lemons. That's right. Lemonade. Yetie. At Chick-fil-A, the thing employees hate the most is the lemonade. Because squeezing lemons get citrus all over you.

Starting point is 00:02:04 You burn your hands, you sting your eyes, you smell like lemon pledge, and if there's a crack in your finger or if you have a cut, if lemon gets in there, don't even start, but get this yeties. Chick-fil-A has an elegant new solution. Robots that will squeeze the lemons for you. That's right. Chick-fil-A just built a 200,000 square foot factory that is full of one thing and one thing only, lemon squeezing robots. That's four football fields full of lemon squeezers. None of them are humans. This chick-fil-a-ro-lemonade factory, it's actually processing 50,000 lemons a day.

Starting point is 00:02:41 That's 13,000 glasses of lemonade squeezed by these robots. Which is apparently enough juice to supply every chick-fil-A in the continental United States. The reason this factory is so productive, the robots smash citrus 24-7. Robots don't need pee break. No, they do not. And honestly, Jack and I were looking at this epic Chick-fil-A factory. We're all for it. Or are we seeing all these headlines about AI that will do poetry? Or AI that will make a movie for us. Yetis, we don't need robots hosting podcasts.

Starting point is 00:03:11 We need robots making lemonade. That's the best use. Let's stop creating robots and AI that will do the things that are essentially human things. So Chick-fil-A, they turned laborious lemons into lemonade. Literally. But Yeties, we want to hear from you. What's the worst part? part of your job that you wish bots or AI could do for you.

Starting point is 00:03:31 Drop an answer in the comments and we'll pass your request on to Big Tech. In the meantime, Jack, let's squeeze 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 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.

Starting point is 00:03:55 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, TikTok will shut down this Sunday. So Jack and I are going to tell you exactly what to expect. We'll also tell you the two most likely ways that TikTok could be rescued in the final hours.

Starting point is 00:04:32 But before we do tell you all that, a strange thing happened this week in the last language learning app called Duolingo. And what was that, Jack? Out of nowhere, Americans learning Chinese on the Duolingo app tripled. Why did Mandarin suddenly surge in America? What's going on exactly? Because we're about to lose TikTok. So people are trying to find a TikTok replacement app, such as Red Note. Red Note. It happens to be a Chinese app, so Americans are learning Chinese. They're calling themselves TikTok refugees, and they're downloading Chinese apps. This is all part of the dramatic, fine. 48 hours of TikTok. Yes, it is. Because a law passed by Congress requires that Apple and Google remove TikTok from their app stores this Sunday, January 19. So we know what you're wondering, because everyone's wondering and what is going to happen? Well, ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok said it plans to just shut the thing down. On Sunday, ByteDance plans to show Americans what life is like without TikTok. And that's the most likely outcome. That is outcome number one. On Sunday morning, TikTok will not open on your phone.

Starting point is 00:05:40 Very, very demure. It will be a no-bones day in America, Jack. But, Nick, two other things could still happen between now and Sunday morning. And that's a good point, Jack. You must be talking about outcome number two and outcome number three. Outcome number two is that the Supreme Court intervenes at the last second. Yeties, the Supreme Court actually heard arguments from TikTok just last week, but they still haven't ruled on whether the law will be canceled and TikTok could be saved.

Starting point is 00:06:11 Yeah, the justice is probably just downloaded it for the first time. And they're like trying to figure out what to do. Yeah, like, I don't know what this corn kid is, but he's pretty funny. It's a good video. So the justices could rule last second. Like Saturday night, they could rule that the TikTok bill is unconstitutional so TikTok would live on. Yeah, Chief Justice John Roberts just found out who Addison Ray is. Apparently he's a big fan now. But Nick, there's also a third potential outcome. Yes, there is. Yeti's bite dance could sell TikTok in the next 48 hours as the bill demanded in the first place. That would allow TikTok to live on under non-Chinese ownership. And that option, that's getting pretty interesting because of the latest news. Well, TikTok's CEO, a man named

Starting point is 00:06:56 Shu Xi, is attending Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday. Yeah. In fact, he even got VIP tickets from Donald Trump. Which suggests that some kind of deal between TikTok, the Trump administration, and some buyer in America could be in the works. And that would prevent a TikTok ban. We could get a TikTok ban block. Nicely done. Also very demure, Jack. So, Jack, we got to get these while we can. What's the takeaway for our buddies over a TikTok?

Starting point is 00:07:27 Zuckerberg wants outcome number one. TikTok wants outcome number two. And Elon Musk wants out. Outcome number three. Yetis, follow us on this one. If outcome number one happens, then TikTok will shut down on Sunday. As expected, the app will just go dark. That would be fantastic news for Mark Zuckerberg.

Starting point is 00:07:47 Yeah, would. Because Instagram and Facebook are expected to take 40% of TikTok spoils. Yeah, meta's stock's already up on this. But TikTok's parent company prefers outcome number two, that the Supreme Court saves TikTok. Because bite dance in TikTok, they were. want to just not be banned. Yeah, because TikTok is China's tech gold medal. It's beloved in the West, even though it is banned in China. And they love that. TikTok is China's middle finger to Western democracies in the entire tech industry. But Jack, those are the first two outcomes. Who would love

Starting point is 00:08:21 option number three a sale? Elon Musk would love that option. Yeah, in fact, besties, there are reports that ByteDance would only sell TikTok to one American and one American only, Elon Musk. And Elon would love outcome number three. Oh, totally. Because if he could acquire TikTok, then he could merge it with X and become the supreme overlord of American media. And here's the interesting twist. China might be okay with it because Tesla's huge business in China makes Elon surprisingly pro-Chinese. So Yetis, we are 48 hours away from January 19th. TikTok's D-Day. We still don't know what will happen with TikTok. But we know that Zuck wants outcome. number one, a ban, TikTok wants outcome number two, a save, and Elon Musk wants outcome number three.

Starting point is 00:09:08 A sale. For our second story, the great bourbon bubble has officially burst. Whiskey sales are falling for the first time in a generation because of five fiascos. All right, well, Jack, it is Friday. We got to share a Friday tradition. Can I share this with the Yetis? You cool that? Okay, we celebrate the winds on Fridays. I pour a glass of Hill Rock whiskey every Friday afternoon after the show, straight up, and then I send a picture to Jack, a little toast. The picture implies he's about to drink the whole glass. I know you're just having like one sip and then putting the glass down. Yeah, you know how spaghetti's for the last decade. There has been a bourbon boom. It's been a lot of fun, honestly. Sipping whiskey is a luxury flex. Every time I order a bourbon or a whiskey at the bar, I feel way more

Starting point is 00:09:58 sophisticated. You grow more hair too. Bourbon, live, scotch. Revenues for the whole sector were growing 10% a year. They hit an all-time high in 2022. Old fashion, felt young. In fact, whiskey got so big and so expensive, it became an investment vehicle. Get this, a rare bottle of McCallin Scotch sold for $4 million at an auction in 2023. Forget the 401k. Bourbon was the new Bitcoin, baby. But here's the news. whiskey sales have fallen in America for two straight years. Yes, they have. It's the first declines for this alcohol category in a generation. Yeah, we've been charting it.

Starting point is 00:10:34 The bourbon boom has become a bourbon bubble bust. And here's the latest news. Brown Foreman, the owner of Jack Daniels, cut 700 jobs this week. Oh, and Jack, what was the quote from his CEO when he made the news? He said, to be honest, it's not really getting a lot better. Maker's mark? Gonna need to make some more marks. So, Yeties, why is the bourbon bust house?

Starting point is 00:10:55 happening right now. It's not just dry January. No, it is not. In fact, there are so many reasons for the bourbon bust, you're going to want to fix yourself a drink when you hear this story. The first reason, Gen Z is simply the soberest generation in American history. Gen Z drinks 20% less than millennials did, and we drink like 20% less than our parents do. The second reason is Ozambic. Yeah, Ozambic. It's got you craving fewer caloric beverages, and that includes that craft rye cocktail with a whole bunch of maple syrup. The third reason we're experiencing a bourbon bust is cannabis competition. With the legalization of weed, people are trading drinks for dubies. And finally, cancer. Yeah, last week, we told you exactly about this. The surgeon general said that alcohol causes cancer and he wants to add warning

Starting point is 00:11:39 labels to that bottle of jack. But the final challenge for the bourbon category is the biggest surprise of all. It's actually Donald Trump. Because American whiskey is going to be a victim of his trade war. And we've seen this before back in 2018. What happened then, Jack? Donald Trump put tariffs on European goods and the EU retaliated by tariffing American whiskey. Which wasn't good for the entire whiskey industry. Jim Beam just can't catch a break. No, he cannot. But Jack and I, we've got a solution to save the whiskey industry. We're going to help Johnny Walker start running again. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in bourbon? Whiskey should borrow an idea for Ferrari. Whiskey world.

Starting point is 00:12:24 Yeah, it is. There is an interesting arbitrage opportunity that we see here. Sales of bourbon are down, but the bourbon brand is at its highest recognition ever. People are drinking less whiskey, yes, but whiskey recognizably stands for something. Yes, it does. That's the brand. So whiskey companies should expand that brand into the products that you do actually buy that are in alcohol. We're expecting a Jack Daniels branded leather chair. Yes. That you're You can handsomely sit on next to your fireplace. Whether you drink whiskey or not, you'd probably enjoy that. Or a Jeep Wrangler with Jack Daniel branded interior.

Starting point is 00:12:58 Whether you drink whiskey or not, you understand what that version of the car stands for. Nick, when I was studying abroad in Berlin, Germans loved wearing Jack Daniel's t-shirts, Jack Daniel's hats. It was wild. It represented something Americana. Right. That people just wanted to be a part of. That's it, Jack. And we've seen this before with Ferrari.

Starting point is 00:13:18 Ferrari expanded their brand to clothing, furniture, and even a theme park to reach an audience that didn't buy their cars. Because Ferrari stands for Made in Italian Excellence and Precision. So one way to pivot from The Bourbon Bust is to double down on the brand, which stands for rugged Made in America, historic. Borrow an idea from Ferrari and open up Whiskey World. Even Gen Z would go. Maybe. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story.

Starting point is 00:13:51 A $14 billion drone startup just announced a huge factory for the U.S. military. But what the startup and Daryl really shows us right now is how American business language is about to change. The lingo is about to change, and we'll tell you how. But yet he's, in 2014, Mark Zuckerberg started his journey into the metaverse by acquiring a startup called Oculus. And by acquiring Oculus, it made Palmer Lucky, the founder of, Boculus, a billionaire at the age of 22. Palmer Lucky happens to look like Tony Stark with a goatee, doesn't it, Jack? Well, Tony Stark has a goatee.

Starting point is 00:14:31 I think it looks like half Tony Stark, half Hank Hill from King of the Hill. Either way, he's got a good barber. And after selling his virtual reality headset company to Zuck, Palmer Lucky, he started a U.S. Defense Company. It's called Andorill. And yesterday, they announced a new factory they were going to build in Ohio to build next generation military weapons. Bessies, this is a private company valued at $14 billion.

Starting point is 00:14:55 They already have factories in Rhode Island. Focused on submarines. In Mississippi. Focused on rocket motors. And already in Texas. To test their autonomous drones. But none of those existing facilities compare to what Anderil is building next. And that is Arsenal One.

Starting point is 00:15:11 Arsenal One. It's going to create 4,000 new jobs and hyper-scale America's weapons manufacturing. personal one. It sounds like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. And that's the striking detail that we noticed about Andrews products. Yeah, that's what we found fascinating here. All of this company's products are named after violence. For example,

Starting point is 00:15:33 the barracuda. It's a cruise missile that can shoot 100 pounds of explosive payload 500 miles. Or Jack, what about the menace? That's a utility vehicle. Not that different than the Jeep, but it looks like it's a transformer. Jack, what about this thing they make called The Fury. Fury is a fighter jet, like an F-35, but without a pilot.

Starting point is 00:15:54 And it's designed to terrify the enemies of the United States. It sounds terrifying. Even think about, like, the name of this new factory. It's called The Arsenal. The Arsenal, a 5 million square foot factory in Ohio that's going to build the barracuda, the menace, and the fury. Bessies, pause the pod for a second. These are products meant to kill people, but their names sound like they're straight

Starting point is 00:16:16 out of a video game. Enderil's products names make Lockheed Martin's fighter jets sound cute. Yes, they do. Also, side note we should mention about the company, the founder's brother-in-law is Matt Gates, and he's full-on MAGA. Which leads, actually, to our takeaway. Yes, it does. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in American business?

Starting point is 00:16:37 Over the next four years, the language of business will change. Yeties, last week, Jack and I told you how Zuckerberg ended fact-checking because Trump won the election. And then he said on Joe Rogan's podcast that there's space for more masculinity in corporate America. Now, all of this is a sign that the business world is adapting to a more Trumpy style of speaking. We're starting to see it already. CEOs are going to be more unapologetic, more macho, and more wrapped in USA flags with the way they talk. We think you're actually going to start noticing this in how companies write, speak, communicate. Like, tell it to you straight, as Zuck said.

Starting point is 00:17:15 Some CEOs are going to start telling it to you. straight because that's how they genuinely feel. Other CEOs will do it to signal to the Trump administration that they're on their side. But get ready for a different kind of business speak, a new kind of business lingo, and a fresh style from CEOs. You're going to start feeling and sensing and hearing a lot more macho lingo. Because over the next four years, the language of American business will change. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us heading into the weekend. TikTok is scheduled to shut down on Sunday morning, but there are still, three potential outcomes.

Starting point is 00:17:52 Zuck wants outcome number one, TikTok wants outcome number two, and Elon wants outcome number three. For our second story, for a bunch of reasons, whiskey sales have fallen for two straight years in America. To end the bourbon bust, they got to do what Ferrari did. Open Whiskey World.

Starting point is 00:18:08 And our third and final story. Anderil is building a five million square foot factory in Ohio to build next generation weapons of war. Yadies, keep your ears open, because for the next four years, the language of business is going to change. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

Starting point is 00:18:26 First, Jeff Bezos, his space company, Blue Origin, successfully launched a giant rocket into space. It's a big deal. Blue Origins New Glenn is a huge rocket. It's the height of the Statue of Liberty. It puts a lot of pressure on other billionaires to get more rockets up into space. Well, unlike Elon SpaceX rockets,

Starting point is 00:18:45 they failed to land it back on Earth safely. And second, State Farm just canceled their Super Bowl ad one month before the big game. Why'd they do it? Because State Farm is an insurance company, and the commercial they took was filmed in Los Angeles. So given the Los Angeles wildfires and the existential challenge of home insurance there, not the best look to pull off a Super Bowl ad. And finally, Severance, which just launched season two on Apple TV, just pulled off a wild stunt in Grand Central Terminal. Okay, the TV show is directed by Ben Stiller, and Ben Stiller, and like the whole cast took over Grand Central Station.

Starting point is 00:19:20 They built a fake office in the middle of the terminal and had the actors in the show, one of whom is Adam Scott, a really famous actor. They had them act like they were working in an office. Bessie, before you jumped on the six train, if you saw this while you were commuting and took a picture of it, we'd love to see it. A wild scene. Every passerby must have been like, what's going on? Oh my God, those are famous actors.

Starting point is 00:19:44 And I'm already watching the show. Now time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me for our Yeties and lovely Los Angeles. The Hollywood sign is still standing strong in the Hollywood Hills. And it's fantastic because it's actually turning 102 years old this year. Now, the sign originally said Hollywood land. Yes, it did. And it was a sign to promote a brand new real estate development.

Starting point is 00:20:07 It was a real estate ad, basically. Each letter is also larger than you realize. That L, that W, 50 feet tall. Now, it fell into disrepair in the 1970s, but it got saved by, get this, Hugh Hefner. Well, now the Hollywood sign is maintained by a trust, and it's safe from the fire and hopefully becomes a wonderful sign of the city's great resilience. Yetis, you look fantastic for the three-day MLK Junior weekend. Whether you're making lemons out of lemonade or lemonade over a chick-fil-A.

Starting point is 00:20:36 And remember to drop a comment, tell us the worst part of your job that you wish AI or bots could do for it. By the way, Yetis, Jack and I are whipping up a special surprise for you tomorrow morning on Saturday. We're dropping a teaser to our new series. You've got to check it out. All right. Jack, we, it feels like it's, yeah, it's celebrate the wins time. Should I pour a little whiskey for you?

Starting point is 00:20:58 Apparently we're the only one's still doing it, man. That's true. Yeti's celebrate the wins. Jack and I will see you tomorrow morning. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti, Amy Klein, and Sputting Devil, the greatest neighborhood in the Boogie Down Bronx. It's actually just outside Manhattan, Jack, and it used to be part of Manhattan.

Starting point is 00:21:24 Wild story there. Just outside Manhattan. And Kubri Yaradilmas in Istanbul, Turkey is celebrating the best birthday evening. Happy 36th birthday. Great year, by the way, to Devin Young. An 88 are living down in Atlanta, Georgia.

Starting point is 00:21:38 And Andrew Blazer in Woodinville, Washington, is celebrating a birthday on two poles, two skis, and three black diamonds. And Cassie Parko down in Phoenix is growing veggies and eating a Romanesque for the birthday. And good luck to Ivy Iers, Minneapolis, who's got a skating competition in Duluth. And get this, Ivy says that T-Boy is her Taylor Swift. We've never been compared to Taylor, and we are so proud and thankful for that comparison. Honestly, Ivy, thank you so much for enjoying the show with your whole family.

Starting point is 00:22:09 Fantastic to have all the Ayer's with us. And finally, a big shout out to Ryan Everhart, who wants us to do a live T-Boy show, outside of Dallas. An outdoor show. I love it. The space. Okay. They walk through.

Starting point is 00:22:20 Pretty good. Pretty interesting. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, pour yourself whiskey. I mean, make it a team. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick and I both on stock of Apple, and we both own a Bitcoin. Say hello to my little friend.

The Best One Yet - 🫡 “TikTok Refugee” — TikTok’s final countdown. Jack Daniels’ bourbon bust. Anduril’s new language of business.

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