Odd Lots

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Latest Episodes:

Ben Smith on the End of an Era for Digital Media May 12, 2023

Show notes

The 2010s saw the rise of a number of digital media startups like BuzzFeed News, Gawker Media, Vice, Business Insider and others who were set to usher in a new era of news consumption, displacing legacy outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Now, by and large, that dream seems to have died. Gawker is gone. BuzzFeed News is closed. Vice has filed for bankruptcy. Insider recently had layoffs. So how did it all fall apart and what is the future for upstart media? In this episode, we speak with Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Semafor and the author of the new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, to discuss his experience as the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, and how times have changed so dramatically for online journalism. We also discussed what business models work today, the use of AI, and the future of news consumption.

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The Fed Hiked Rates Rapidly and Housing Is as Broken as Ever May 11, 2023

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The Federal Reserve has hiked rates rapidly over the last 18 months, and yet inflation remains surprisingly high. Perhaps what's most surprising is that even in the most rate sensitive area of the economy -- housing -- the surge in mortgage rates hasn't had a significant cooling effect. Prices have barely budged and even the homebuilders have been booming again after a brief dip in late 2022. So what is happening now? Why did the rate shock fail to derail the industry? And what is the lesson that homebuilders have taken away from this cycle? On this episode, we speak with Zonda chief economist Ali Wolf about why and how the housing market is still broken despite this rate action.

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Inside the Battle for Chips That Will Power Artificial Intelligence May 08, 2023

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Nobody knows for sure who is going to make all the money when it comes to artificial intelligence. Will it be the incumbent tech giants? Will it be startups? What will the business models look like? It's all up in the air. One thing is clear though — AI requires a lot of computing power and that means demand for semiconductors. Right now, Nvidia has been a huge winner in the space, with their chips powering both the training of AI models (like ChatGPT) and the inference (the results of a query.) But others want in on the action as well. So how big will this market be? Can other companies gain a foothold and "chip away" at Nvidia's dominance? On this episode we speak with Bernstein semiconductor analyst Stacy Rasgon about this rapidly growing space and who has a shot to win it.

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Care Work in the United States Has Been Broken for Years May 04, 2023

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Disruptions caused by the pandemic have revealed deep flaws in our supply chain for physical goods. Certain market failures that have been left to fester for years were suddenly exposed. But some parts of the economy were broken long before the pandemic, particularly anything having to do with care work. Various forms of childcare, daycare, eldercare and healthcare have seen costs explode, with services unevenly distributed, even as those working in the care economy often remain poorly compensated. On this episode, we speak to economist Nancy Folbre, professor emerita of economics at UMass-Amherst and director of the Program on Gender and Care Work at the Political Economy Research Institute, about why such crucial services are so broken in America.

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The White Oak Shortage That Could Ruin the Bourbon Industry May 01, 2023

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Some supply chain crises are acute. A bottleneck at the ports. A shortage of semiconductors. These can get fixed, to some extent, with concerted policy choices. But other crises are slower moving and don't have one easy fix. In the coming years, the bourbon supply chain could be under threat, due to a shortage of the specific type of wood used in the barrels made for aging the liquor. On this episode of the podcast, we speak with Penn State University forestry professor Calvin Norman about a looming shortage of critical white oak. He explains why the industry is potentially facing a shortfall, why other woods can’t be used to replace it, and what it would take to ensure that this critical tree remains abundant.

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Why the Desire to Move Away From the Dollar Is Getting Real Apr 27, 2023

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There's been a lot of discussion about the possibility of "de-dollarization," or the idea that the world could move away from using the dollar as the de facto global reserve currency. Some of this desire makes sense. Not only has the Federal Reserve been hiking rates at the fastest pace in decades, which puts economic pressure on other countries through links to the dollar and US trade, but sanctions imposed on Russia have also made some nations more wary of relying on US financial assets and infrastructure. And in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), there seems to be growing appetite to usurp the dollar’s hegemony. Of course, we've seen this kind of talk before, yet there has been little change to the dollar's special role. So is it different this time? On this episode, we speak with Paul McNamara, an investment director at GAM and a veteran of emerging markets, about what's driving this renewed clamor for de-dollarization.

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Here Are the Signs of a Slow-Moving Credit Crunch Apr 24, 2023

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The big headlines from March's banking crisis have receded and balances at some of the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facilities, like the discount window, are starting to fall. But if you look closely, there are still signs of strain in the depths of the financial system. And of course, there are still plenty of worries about whether deposit outflows from banks will lead to a broader credit crunch that could tip the US economy into recession. On this episode of the Odd Lots podcast, we speak to Ben Emons, senior portfolio manager at NewEdge Wealth and a longtime portfolio manager at Pimco, about what the banking drama means for everything from US mortgage rates to the vast "repo" market that's often described as the plumbing of the financial system.

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Pot Lots Part 3: Righting the Wrongs of the Past Apr 20, 2023

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Marijuana has been legalized in a number of places in the US now, but what New York is trying to do with its legal weed market is somewhat unique. Not only is the state trying to use legalized weed to raise tax revenue and create a new industry with lots of new jobs, it’s also trying to use its legalized cannabis market to rectify some of the wrongs of the past. In the third and final episode of this special Odd Lots series, we speak to those who have been affected by historic attitudes and policies towards drugs, and some of the state officials who are now trying to right these past injustices.

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Pot Lots Part 2: The Business of Big Cannabis Apr 20, 2023

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In some respects, selling legalized cannabis should be like many other consumer goods business. You make a product people recognize and then sell it to as many of them as possible. But even if attitudes towards pot -- and the laws that govern it -- are changing in the US, there are still a ton of issues facing this new market. In the second episode of this three-part Odd Lots series, we take a closer look at the business of big cannabis. How are multi-state operators working out in places that legalized medical and recreational marijuana years ago? What are the opportunities and challenges of this new industry? And what do they say about the future of the New York market?

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Pot Lots Part 1: Birth of a Marijuana Market Apr 20, 2023

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New York City has long been seen as a holy grail for the legal weed industry, with millions of potential customers. And last year New York state started handing out licenses for its first recreational cannabis shops, the culmination of a series of moves that have seen marijuana decriminalized after decades of being illegal. So how is this new legal weed market supposed to work in a city with a long and complicated history with drugs, and what are the considerations going into its creation? In this first episode of a special Odd Lots series, we take a deep dive into what's going on with the legalized marijuana market in New York. We’ll spend three episodes exploring what the birth of this market looks like, how these businesses are setting up, and finally how New York is trying to address the social inequities of the past.

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