The Best One Yet - 🇳🇴 “Viking Victory” — How Norway wins. Budweiser’s revenge. Apple’s video podcasts. +Slytherin’s’ Lunar New Year

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

Norway has the most winter olympic medals ever… Their strategy? Joy is the new “invisible hand” of economics.Alcohol’s disappearing, but Budweiser stock hit a 6-year high?... Turns out Dry January is a fad.Apple is finally adding video to podcasts… And it reminds us of LeBron James.Plus, Draco Malfoy is the unofficial mascot of the Lunar New Year (yeah, from Harry Potter)...$BUD $AAPL $SPOTBuy 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, Saviche Wednesday, February 18th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-Boy. Here's the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, whip out the calendars. We got one week to the live show down in Austin, Texas. Tomorrow, what are we going to share, man? Well, last week we asked you for your travel recommendations. Basically, where should we have dinner and where should we work out? Nick, we got 14 different barbecues recommended to us. 14! Apparently Franklin's is in. So, basically. Franklin's is in. Solwick is out, and there's someplace run by an Egyptian dude. That's the best barbecue in the state. So tomorrow we'll announce the one workout and one restaurant.

We're choosing from your recommendations. And the Yetis and besties who submitted them, yeah, we're inviting you to join us. We're bringing a plus one. But Jack, we've got three fantastic stories for today's tea boy. What do we got on today's show? For our first story, it's Norway. They're number one in the metal count and number one in gold so far,

despite having a population of Minnesota. Because Norway's youth sports strategy is actually a business strategy. For our second story, why is Budweiser stock at a six-year high despite falling alcohol consumption? Because Wall Street thinks Gen Z sobriety is a fad. And our third and final story. Apple is finally cashing them on the category they invented. This category. Video podcasts are coming to Apple, so we'll tell you what took them so long?

But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Hey, Siri, what took you so long? The Siri's not going to get it right, Nick. And that's actually part of our story. But happy Lunar New Year to all those who celebrate, which is 2 billion humans. Lunar New Year, largest migration of humans on Earth, the biggest spending holiday of the year. Goodbye Year of the Snake. 2026 is the year of the horse.

Besties, the next 15 days of festivities are for our four-legged Zodiac friend, the horse. But here's the strange thing. Across China, the most popular image to celebrate Lunar New Year is Draco Malfoy. I'm sorry, Jack. that's Draco Malfoy? Yes, Nick, that Draco Malfoy. That's right, the bleached blonde snake-tonged-tonged Slitheran student from Harry Potter. The evil Nepo Baby of the Wizarding World is also a symbol of celebration for the Chinese New Year right now. Get this, Draco Malfoy's face is painted on doors. Kids are dressing up as Draco right now in school. There are offices in China waving 10-foot

banners of Draco's smug face. But why? Why is the official mascot of New Year a horse, but the unofficial one is Draco Malfoy. Well, here's why. It all comes down to one word, and Jack, could you please translate Malfoy for us? Malfoy sounds like Mandarin for fortune and horse. That's right, fortune and horse in Mandarin Chinese. Total coincidence of translation right here.

Call it Transfiguration. Five points to how Slytherin for luckily being named the year of the horse, basically, in Chinese. Oh, Jack, Professor McDonald's upset by this. Snape, probably smiling somewhere. That's how a pure blood wizard just joined the Chinese Zodiac. So Muggles, happy lunar New Year out there, enjoy the year of the horse. And Ron, if you're listening, don't take this personally.

Hermione will be there to comfort you. Just wait till my father hears about this, Jack. 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 storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the 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 Our first story

Norway, a country with just under 6 million people Is winning the Olympics And it turns out Norway's secret To Olympic success is also an economic principle Oh Jack, let's whip out the scoreboard Team USA Olympics so far How are we looking my friends?

Good numbers on the medals, but some of the biggest names have disappointed. They have Lindsay got hurt, Ilya fell twice, and Michaela, she is medalist so far. Although today is the slalom, and that's her best competition. So pause the pod, watch it after. Italy is number two in the medal rankings, by the way, which would be Italy's best Winter Olympic performance ever. Isn't it wild how much of a home field advantage there is at the Olympics? I think it's technically a home ice advantage, Jack, but yes, that is wild.

And yet the hottest country in the coldest Olympics so far is Norway. There's no home field advantage that will get you to beat Norway on the ice. Basically, the Vikings have sacked the podium. What kind of numbers we're looking at, Jack? Speed skating, curling, cross-country, their first in total number of medals and total number of gold medals. Jack, we talk about Norway's Johann Hussflot Klebo, please? I know him better as the King Claibow.

He just won a record ninth gold medal. That's the most of energy. Winter Olympian. Dude, I forgot to mention. Great highlight for Team USA. That mother of two who just won a gold medal at the age of 41. Pretty legendary. But still, Jack, this is Norway's third straight Winter Olympics with the most medals. They now have the most total medals in Winter Olympic history. It's the biggest international victory for Norway since the battle of Flavog. Yeah. Oh, you hear that, by the way? That is Thor thundering for the Norwegian bobsled team. But here's the question. How is a country with the population

of Minnesota beating the rest of the world. I'm sorry, Jack, how is a country with a population 2% of the United States have twice the number of medals? A country that's number 31 in GDP, but number one on the podium. Well, Basties, we jumped in T-boy style, and it turns out the origin of Norway's success comes from its biggest defeat. The 1984 Olympics. Norway won just three gold medals.

It was considered a national failure. So bad, the country was so upset that they launched an emergency plan involving the Norwegian government. They created what's called the Olympia Tulpin, a government organization for the recruitment and training of young athletes, so that this 1984 failure never happens again. Norway even tapped into their famous oil reserve, which today is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. And they did it to fund what's today $400 million a year into their youth sports programs. Okay, that's impressive, but here's the key. Norway's approach to youth sports is the exact opposite of everything here in America. First, they have team camps.

They get their Olympians from across all their sports to spend a lot of time together. For example, last spring, they sent the whole Winter Olympic team of Norway over to Spain. Basically hang out, get tan, build bonds. That way, when they compete in the games, which they're doing right now, they're competing among their friends who they have great relationships with. Okay, also impressive. But what Jack and I find fascinating is what Norway does before. for all of that. What Norway does when the athletes are kids, because the goal of youth sports in

Norway isn't to win, it's to have fun. Get this, in Norway, they're not allowed to keep score in a sport until the kids are 13 years old. You literally can't lose a game until you're a teenager. But here in the United States, I mean, Jack, football lacrosse, more we looking at when we're their age. I mean, in Little League, they do have a pledge of allegiance that ends with and win or lose, all that matters is try my best. But in Norway, there is no winner-lose. Jack, in the United States, the focus is often on one sport, and that one sport you play is expensive. And then you get cut from the lax team at age nine, and you think about it for the rest of your life. Just look at inside out, too. The anxiety that causes the kids is huge. On the other hand, in Norway,

you try multiple sports. Those sports are affordable. And there's no middle-aged nightmare about some rando pee-pewee hockey practice. In America, we treat recess like sports, but they treat sports like recess. And what's the result, Jack? We get burnout. They get gold. Yeah, I guess Jack, as a backup second string ready to go high school quarterback, always ready to go. Indeed, to college, you'd say Americans have optimized for college scholarships. Norway's optimized sports for national success. Our takeaway. Jack, what's the tagline for our buddies over in Norway? It's the invisible hand of joy. Yeties, in economic history, you learn about Adam Smith, the father of modern day capitalism.

You learn about the invisible hand, a phrase he coined that forcing people and companies to compete drives the best economic outcomes. And Jack and I agree, we love that concept of competition, but Norway highlights the existence of an additional unseen force. The invisible hand of fun. The hand of fun. Norway reveals that fun can drive success too, not just competition.

For example, Norway describes its youth sports philosophy as joy for all, that the happiest athletes are motivated to continue on training. Smith would kind of agree. He would say that the end goal of competition and capitalism is happiness and that money is a means to reaching that happiness. But basically, Norway remix that formula, that if you pursue happiness in competitive sports, then the success will follow you. It's the invisible hand of joy. Yes. And Norway's record medal count proves it. For our second story, alcohol consumption is at a six-year lows. So why is stocking Budweiser at six-year highs? Here's why, Nick. What if dry January and sobriety wasn't the new lifestyle? What if it was actually just a fad? Besties, Jack, and I are

jumping in T-boy style, because Budweiser is back? I'm sorry, what's going on, Jack? Three of the top ten ads in the Super Bowl this year, according to USA Today, were from A.B. In-Bev. That's right. Your favorite macro brew, Budweiser had a bald eagle befriended to Clydesdale, and that was top ad number one. The number five best Super Bowl commercial was Kurt Russell sipping a Melobeau at Apreske. And number 10, you've got Peyton Manning and Post Malone drinking a Bud Light at a wedding. Well, A.B. M.B. M. Bev, a name that reflects the dozen beer mega mergers that

created it. Actually, A.B. Inbev has a whole segment called Mega Brands. Who's included in that check? Self-proclaimed mega brands include Budweiser, Corona, and Stellar. And this beer glomerate AB InBev just reported 7 billion bucks in profits on $60 billion worth of beer sold last year, not too shabby. Now, that's half the profit that AB Inbev made 10 years ago when it was proasting to peak Pilsner back in the day. This was still enough to send Bud stock to 80 bucks. It is now at its highest level since 2020. It's foaming over the glass, figuratively. And literally, but besties, here's the check. I find shocking. Um, ever heard of Gen Z's sobriety trading tequila shots for Tamaric shots, going from blackouts to biohacks? Check, I thought alcohol got canceled, man.

I thought so, too. Everyone is drinking less alcohol right now. Everyone I know, pretty much. So, why is an alcohol stock popping off at six-year highs? The first explainer for why Budweiser stock is up so high is that beer is global. Yeah, it's easy to forget, but alcohol sales in the U.S. are down, but not in the rest of the world. The U.S. is only 19% of AB-Inbeb's business. In Colombia, for example, they're drinking more A.B. M. Bev's beer than they're drinking more AB-Mbev beer than they ever have before. You want to enjoy a beer? You head down to Bogota. Now, the other explanation here is the stock market rotation that we talked about in yesterday's show. Investors are shifting their portfolio out of tech stocks and into stocks that AI can't hurt, like beer. And also, Jack, there's the

defensive play when it comes to this stock strategy. Beer sales rise during good times. You're celebrating, but they also rise during bad times. That's right. You toast a beer when you get a promotion, but you also crush a can when you get canned. So if we're at a time, you're at. So if we're at into a recession, a beer stock is not the worst thing to own. Oh, but Jack, I think I know what some yet is going to point out. What about that Bud Light boycott from a few years ago? Well, Bud Light used to be the number one beer consumed in America. Now it's Mickelope Ultra. Right. Which AB and Bev also owns. Yeah. So Budweiser's winning either way. It's basically a right-pine, left-pine situation for our buddies over at AB&BF. So Jack wants the takeaway for our buddies over at

Budweiser. Less alcohol is a fad. We're calling it. And the reason we know, less meat was a fad. Besties, back in 2019, Jack and I covered the Beyond Meat IPO. The plant-based meat was the rage we even bought the stock. Back then, if you weren't vegan, you were definitely vegetarian or reducitarian. Eating less animal meat was millennial chic. You traded out your beef steak for your cauliflower steak. But Beyond Meek's revenue peaked in 2021.

The stock is down 99.5% since then. and we think it's the perfect proxy for this alcohol situation. After all, people ate less meat for the same reason people are drinking less alcohol for their health. Jack, we said it a hundred times. The three industries most vulnerable to fads are the three Fs. Because food is full of fads, eating less meat turns out was a fad. But Nick, food includes beverages too. And that is why we think in a year or two, maybe three,

year are going to be back drinking a little bit more again. We think in a few years, dry January may get a little more wet like it used to So here's the theory, besties. Less alcohol is a fad. And Budweiser stock up 50%, that's because Wall Street agrees. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Apple is finally introducing video podcasts to your podcast like this. After 22 years. Oh, how long is it? What we're saying is Apple is now playing catch up finally in the category they invented. Reminds us of Siri. Besties, you probably didn't know that Apple did not invent the term podcast.

No, a journalist did when they were writing about this new way to listen to things in the Guardian newspaper back in 2004. Basically, they took the term broadcasting of audio, and they merged it with the fact you were listening on an iPod. And Apple has been benefiting from that coinage of a new term ever since then. But video podcasts actually go back that far too. Yeah, they do. I mean, Jack, you were working at a German.

Bank back when we were living in the East Village and you were doing German video podcast. You have the old grammar, yeah? On the subway ride home, I tried to sharpen my German by listening to Finance German TV. And it was actually on Apple Podcasts. Jack and I'd be whipping up dinner together. He'd be like, Mark Schnell. Nick, Mark Schnell. And I'm like, all right, he's watching his German pods again.

But Apple made one critical technical error when they launched video podcast 22 years ago. And here's the error. Unlike Spotify or YouTube, Apple said that video podcast, had to be a separate feed from your audio podcast. And as two podcast hosts, we can tell you, no host wants two separate shows to upload two separate files every day to have two separate shows to promote. With two separate audiences, just...

It's the same show. Why do it twice? It's just annoying. And the result has been that Apple is the one major podcast platform with no video podcasts, until an email we got yesterday. Starting this spring, creators can upload video files

instead of just audio files. Ipso facto, video podcasts are coming to Apple. That is right. And Jack, are we going to be partaking in this whole bold new era of Apple video podcasts? Very, very likely, yes. As long as we can monetize, we will launch video on Apple ASAP. Stay tuned. Besties, what Jack's saying is, we're having conversations.

We think we can make this happen if we can monetize and make it work. It might be imminent. But besties, pause the butt for a sec. Because Apple ain't UNICEF. they're not just doing this out of the charity of their own audio hearts, are they, Jack? They're doing it to make money, actually. Exactly. And here's the key. To investors, this will allow Apple to, for the first time, actually make money on podcasts. You see, Apple invented the podcast category. And when it did,

back 20 years ago, it made podcasts free and open from the start. Jack, there are benefits to that, aren't there, man? It's proliferated the medium. 10 million shows have been created because it was free and open from the start. But while Apple made podcasts big, they made no money off of them. Basically, Apple was podcast poor. But now Apple can start to make profits off podcasts because they also announced this week they're launching an advertising platform

that creators can opt into for their video podcasts. And here's the deal. Apple now can take a cut of every ad brought in through its new video advertising platform. It's the same as YouTube and the same as Spotify. Apple can start making money off video podcasts. But it also is a sign that Apple's playing catch-up after blowing a big lead in an industry named after one of their core products.

Why is it taking Apple so long? Well, is it a cost center or a profit center? That determines whether something gets prioritized at a big company like Apple. That's the Shakespearean question. And for Apple, podcasts have long been a cost center. They cost the business money. But with a video ad sales department, it's now a revenue center. Like that old bugle song, Video killed the podcast star. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Apple? Apple toll booth is growing, and advertising is the biggest opportunity by far. By far, besties, tea boy tribute for you. What's the most profitable part of Amazon?

Hint, it's not AWS Amazon Web Services. It's advertising. Advertising at Amazon has a huge profit margin and is now an $80 billion a year business. Jack, what about Alphabet? Our buddy's over at Google, best stock of 2025, thanks to advertising. Open AI just launched Advertising. Meta, another trillion-dollar company, only does advertising. Same thing, it's all ads.

Now, Apple has largely kept their advertising limited, like to the app store having ads or Apple News having ads. But with Apple's new product pipeline stagnant and with new iPhone upgrades being very incremental, Apple's jumping into the ads swim and pooled deeper than ever before. And it all begins with the video pod. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Norway is leading both in total medals and gold medals, thanks to their youth sports philosophy.

The invisible hand of joy. It breeds success, too, not just competition. For our second story, Budweiser stock is at six-year highs thanks to a bunch of reasons. But the biggest bet for Bud's future is that dry January is actually a fad just like plant-based meat. And our third and final story, Apple is finally letting podcast listeners see the hosts without going to YouTube. It's us over here. Well, it's all because of video advertising. That will be the newest over at Apple. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Warner Brothers, which had committed itself to Netflix, is giving Paramount another shot at hooking up. Paramount has seven days to convince WBD's board that their offer is better than Netflix's.

And second, the word just dropped about Warren Buffett's last move as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and this one, yeah, it's going to surprise you. In the fourth quarter of last year, Berkshire Hathaway sold some of their stock in Apple. And Jack, what did he buy after six? selling Apple stock. The New York Times. We repeat, Warren Buffett, legendary investor sold Apple stock to buy the Grey Lady instead. Either brilliant final move or justified his retirement. And finally, Emily Bronte fans swamped movie theaters last weekend and they were willing to pay, baby. Because Wuthering Heights was number one at the weekend box office bringing in $82 million. That's time for the best fact yet. This one, an answer to our DeVoy trivia from yesterday's

Jack, what do we got for this one? Of the 12 teams competing in the Winter Men's Hockey Olympics tournament, which one has zero NHL players on the roster? The answer is Italy. Italy has no NHL players on the roster, but they're in the tournament because they're the host country and they're allowed to have a team in the tournament. Yetis, you're looking fantastic over there.

And Jack, you're looking fantastic too, and the Yetis can actually verify if that's true or not, right? Not yet on Apple. Right. But they can right now on YouTube. Go on YouTube right now, and you can let us know if we do look fantastic or not. Search the best one yet or click the link in the episode of description and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We got a bunch of great content there.

We can leave a comment with your judgment we can handle it. And Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Marley Miranda from lovely Charleston, South Carolina, thriving right now with 3 under 3. She's in her stay-at-home era, and she is crushing it. a Charleston mom's ambassador. And happy 66th birthday to Jean Rubin celebrating in the lovely city of San Antonio. Happy birthday to Derek Borelski, turning 40 with a baby and a new

startup. Oh my goodness, this man is doing everything. Oh, Andy Srebren on Hawaii, not too shabby. And M.B. Mark from Duluth, Minnesota is getting the best birthday yet and Gloria is getting the assist. Happy birthday to Travis, Batman Davis, and Ben to Oregon. And David Chad, enjoy that 31st birthday up in Ontario, Canada. Happy birthday to Connor Molloy. and Greenwich. And Shayla Cantysmith has got 20 years of military service. Thank you, Shayla, and a birthday from Georgia. We'll see at our DC show.

Happy birthday to Andrew Chagrin. Turning 12 years old in Chicago, this man came to our last live show. And he's doing logistics even as a teenager. And Aaron and Tatiana, congratulations on the IVO, the initial baby offering. Baby Mila D. was born up in Toronto, already a lease fan. Big shout out to the Dutchman Thomas Smolders, who just published a book about the European Disney called For Hand NAR 100. Translation, Jack?

I don't know. Do you know? If you don't, I guess you don't know. To anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I'm stock in Disney, Amazon, and Netflix, and Nick and I both on stock in Apple and Spotify.