All Episodes

What should you not say to a struggling coworker?

When a coworker is struggling, what should you not say to them? Well the most common, I think, habit is to do what you do in every other situation which is to relate like, "Oh I also love the color blue" but that usually ends up meaning that if you say like, "hey, I have cancer." Then suddenly they're like, "Oh, my aunt had cancer!" Dot dot dot... "And then, she..." You know, you're like stuck in this terrible conversation about outcomes, when really all you meant to do is build the bridge. So usually you really don't have to offer them anything from your own life. Just make a little space and say, "I'm so sorry to hear that."

What kind of candidates is Trump trying to put on the Fed?

Was President Trump's "Salute to America" a campaign rally or an Independence Day celebration?

Well it was a weird hybrid of both. He didn't do a lot of the red meat stuff from his campaign rallies. But clearly he was trying to hijack the Fourth of July for political purposes.



What kind of candidates is Trump trying to put on the Fed?

Well he's looking for rate-hike flip-floppers just like himself. People who said under Obama that rates were way too low, who now rail against the Fed and want to see rate cuts. People like Judy Shelton.

In What Order Should You Pay Off Debt?

I have several loans outstanding. In what order do I pay them off?



OK, so there are a couple of different ways to approach them — both, it's sort of a weird snow analogy. So, make a list of the loans you have outstanding, the balances and the interest rates. Now, the snowball method is you start with the smallest loan you've got, right Deedi? OK, the smallest loan you've got. You pay that off first, then you pay the next in size, the next in size, the next in size. So the snowball sort of builds, if that analogy works for you.



The other is the avalanche method, where you start off with the highest interest rate, you pay that one off first, then the second highest, third highest, fourth highest. Now I happen to be a fan of the avalanche method, because it saves you money, but a lot of people can find the snowball method to be more motivating because you're sort of checking the boxes, you've got the first one paid off. OK?

Will Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Succeed?

Is YouTube tracking children?



YouTube collects data on all of its users. Lots of its users are younger than 13, because they like to look at screens and some of them can't read. But tracking children is a little more nefarious than what they do. They are in trouble though with the FTC for this.



Will Facebook's cryptocurrency be a success?



That is a trillion dollar question because quite literally Facebook wants to replace a huge part of the world financial system. It is off to a decent start. People still don't trust Facebook, so, complicated.

Is anti-trust action a good way to deal with tech companies?

Is anti-trust action a good way to deal with tech companies?

It is certainly a way to get the attention of tech companies. They fear it massively. But breaking up these companies into different components - way harder than most people think.



Is Apple changing the iPad?


Why yes they're totally changing the operating system of the iPad. They've given it a new name. They are making it more like a computer and less like a big phone or a tweener more like a laptop

Should you trust someone who pitches an idea with confidence?

"It depends on where they sit in the hierarchy. In a rigorous new study, managers actually overestimated the value of their own ideas by 42%, whereas employees underestimated the value of their own ideas by 11%. Managers were overconfident. As they gain power, they privilege their own perspectives."

Why did Greece just call snap elections?

"Well I think probably that Tsipras was forced to go earlier. There was supposed to be elections anyhow in the autumn. But in view of the big losses that they took in the European, the local, and regional elections he said let's shorten the period of agony. Now July the 7th will see an election campaign is always uncertain but it's most likely that there will be a change of government."