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🎧 We’re obsessed with an Olive Garden influencer · Open Tabs

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to OpenTabs, our,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: usually twice weekly,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: we've been a little slacking lately,
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: but our Substack Live,
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: where we talk about the stories that are in our tabs,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: our feeds, and our brains each week.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, memes.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: Hi.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, sorry to our community for being a little bit lax while Megan
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: is out.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's been a very, very busy few weeks, so for no else.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: But we're back, and we're going to make up for it by talking about three stories today.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: We usually just do two.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: So we're just going to dive straight into it.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: The first one is this really interesting article from Vox.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: The cost of youth sports is out of control.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: And Melissa,
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: I know you have anecdotally talked about this on calls
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: before this article even came out.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like,
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: I saw it and I was like,
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: oh, we need to talk about it because you are famously a sports mom.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't even know.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's so funny that you've even brought this up because I went on a walk this morning.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: It was actually for Swell, which was really fun.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a 10K before 10A walk.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Big group of moms in the area.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: I ended up walking with my one friend, Ann, for a while.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: She was actually, we interviewed her on Swell, too.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: She's part of Benefit Cosmetics.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: She has a really cool job there.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And we were just talking about how to think about sports for our boys.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: you know, again,
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: for anyone who listens or watches us on here,
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: you know that I like stress over this because it is really hard to navigate.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like we're in a time of change right now with how kids are in sports.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: And it's hard to Figure out where to support and where to sort of dial back as a parent.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: So for example, my son Wally, he's an athletic kid.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like he can pick up, he has really good hand-eye coordination.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: So it really doesn't matter if it's dodgeball or if it's baseball or if it's soccer
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: or something.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: He's pretty good at doing all of the things.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: What happens is,
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: is that in like in a town,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: there's like A rec program that like anyone, recreation, like anyone can do.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then there are club teams,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: which is, you know, I've seen, I saw how you like have broken these bullets out, Em.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: And the club teams are like,
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: for the,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: theoretically for the kids that like want to level up and really lean in,
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: they are astronomically more expensive.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let's just say like if you do rec, like Lucy is in rec, she's, it's 250 bucks.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: If Wally goes over to his club team, you know, lacrosse is like over $1,000.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: It can go up for the year.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think soccer is like $4,000.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's just dramatically more expensive.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think where the problem lies in,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: and this is funny because it's actually making me think of another article you have
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: that I don't think we're talking about,
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: but it's like mom algorithms are targeting moms.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know where to sort of lean in or where not to and how to guide your kid.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, like,
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: for example,
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: like, of course you want to pick the things that your kid wants to do, right?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: So there's just that.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's kind of like if you're going to do the club,
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: it sort of overtakes your time, right?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this weekend Wally has a soccer tournament all weekend.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Which means other things he can't do, you know?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's also like, well, we're not going to do that.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're not going to like participate in this.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to like have a more chill existence.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: But then there's this anxiety of like, okay, great.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's how you grew up, you know, and you're like thinking back to your own childhood.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: But then you're like, is everyone just leveling up though?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Meaning that like,
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Are you doing your kid a disservice if you sort of don't have them in it at all,
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: right?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: And what's interesting is that like we've actually experienced
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: that firsthand too more recently with swimming.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like we live in an area where in Northern California, swimming is a big part of the culture.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's kids in swim team and there's kids in like water polo.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a big thing in this region.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Wally's not the biggest swimmer.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not losing sleep over this.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't swim growing up, like, competitively at all.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we took him out of it.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't, you know, it was like, let's prioritize other things.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then it was interesting because he ended up in this,
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: like, duathlon thing for fun with all these swim team kids.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, he could barely, like, finish it, which is fine.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: The point being, though, is that we debriefed it with him after.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, bud, Let's just, like, up-level a little bit.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we don't have to, like,
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: whatever,
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: but let's just get back into swimming so you feel confident when you're
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: in situations in open water with, like, kids.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So it sort of just has me, a type A mom in person, like, spinning, you know?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just don't know.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm feeling a little bit at a loss.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it makes you think all the way ahead to, like, okay, he's 8.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, they've got to go through puberty.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: By the time they get to high school, it's a completely different environment than youth sports.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Are they going to burn out?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Who's really going to make it to the pros?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: But you are forced to think of all of this now.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's interesting.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like you've obviously talked a lot about Wally's involvement in sports
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: and being a sports mom.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: And in previous episodes, you talked about Kim Kardashian is producing a show about sports moms.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think they're the mothers of these young boys who go to a private school
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: that specializes in baseball in Arizona.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: And it's kind of like the baseball version of Dance Moms.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then I know you have mentioned like you're seeing a bunch
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: of like youth sports influencers,
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: like youth golf content producers and they're getting sponsorships and these,
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: you know, 13 year old kids are talking to colleges and like getting scouted already.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's so interesting that youth sports has really come to the forefront.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like this has been brewing for a bit, but it's really hitting this year.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like the other week I was at a sports bar and
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: the Little League World Championship was the game that was playing at this bar.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, that's so interesting.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: And this article from Vox talks exactly what you just said.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of parents and also kids are experiencing FOMO because other kids
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: in their class, their friends are in these private leagues.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: And also what comes with that is the risk of burnout.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: And unfortunately,
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: as always,
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: when something becomes very popular,
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: Private equity has come in to monetize every aspect of it from their talking
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: about uniforms.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: I saw a clip.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'll make sure to find it and hyperlink it here.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: But this guy was talking about they don't want parents to film video at
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: the games anymore because they want to film it themselves and then charge for
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: the tape after the games.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: So parents can't go and just take videos of their kids at their baseball games.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: Just kind of mind-blowing.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up, I mean, we grew up in the same place.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like sports were not a thing.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: I did soccer,
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: but it was more of like a social thing when I was little because my friends did it.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: It was more for fun.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I had one friend who did,
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: we called it travel soccer because she was traveling around the state.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: And it took up her whole weekends.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: We like didn't really see her on the weekends because she had a game.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: But she was like the only person I knew who did that.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Did she end up playing like in high school?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: She played in high school and she was like the star of our team.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: She decided not to do it at the college level.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: She decided to do sports.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: I think she got burnt out of like the pressure of it
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: because she started doing travel when we were like eight.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think really young.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: But she still loves it.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: She plays in a club league now.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: We're 29.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: But she decided not to play it for her university because she was like,
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not enjoying it anymore.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: But she was able to, like, regain her love and she's still doing it now.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: But it's just such a different environment from, you know, 15 years ago.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think where I'm landing on it,
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: and again, I'm not, this is, like, such a fresh conversation.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I am not, I don't have the answer, let me just say.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think in 10 years' time, when these I feel like
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: where I'm landing, and it does suck.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that this is right or wrong.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think that in a given season,
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: it's best if you have your child just in one of these elite clubs where it's like...
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: One tournament team.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: right now,
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: like even I have Wally in advanced lacrosse and he hasn't even been able to attend.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, he's so tired and like, I don't know.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and it's not even lacrosse season, right?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Lacrosse is actually in the spring.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: He's going to have to choose between baseball and lacrosse.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Sort of sucks because he's really good at both.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I kind of wish lacrosse was fall and then he could do baseball in the spring.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like with hand-eye coordination and stick work, that actually would make sense.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like lacrosse players would be good at baseball and vice versa because of
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: the way you play it.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why that sport is actually a spray sport.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think in a given season, you can relate in one tournament team.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's incredibly healthy and data.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone says you should be playing other sports.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't specialize too early.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: There are some kids here who are like, I am a baseball player.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Hard stuff.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I play it five days a week.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I do.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's actually really unhealthy.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: For body, I think...
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: There are stats that say baseball players,
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: especially pitchers,
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: that motion of throwing the ball like that, it can really damage your arm.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's one of those,
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's one rack,
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: which is really hopefully filling the bucket of playing with your friends.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Wally's club team, he doesn't know anyone.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now he does because he's been doing it for a year and a half.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: But like last year was brand new.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's the only one from our town that made this like one team.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I think there's character building there.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like making new friends.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: And this is like a whole different group.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And like this group is intense.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what that environment is.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Rec should be more like, I'm with my buddies and win or lose, whatever.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: He's on Rec soccer right now.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Or it's not Rec.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's still club soccer.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: He needs to be in Rec.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: But he's in a club soccer team and they're not winning.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like his bracket, they're playing gold teams.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: These teams are all practicing three or four times a week.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: His team practices twice a week.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't mean the kids are less talented.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's just they're just not doing it as much.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Logging last time.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: But he doesn't seem to be bothered by the winning or losing, which I think is cool.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then, yeah, and then you got to do other stuff.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's why I like swimming.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think just throwing in a swim, he's not going to be a swimmer.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's really good to move your body in that way.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Where, like, Lucy and Teddy are both in gymnastics.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: No one is going to the Olympics here.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe Ted is.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Ted's starting.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: I love my daughter wholeheartedly.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Her cartwheel is like a bear hop.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And she has been in more gymnastics classes than anyone I know.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it's great.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't, you know, that's not the point.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the point is to really feel strong and to build muscle.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I was talking about this with my brother earlier.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's why I was late on this call.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: But my dad went through a stroke like two years ago.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: And he's in his 70s.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I don't think that generation...
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: really thinks like our younger generations do about like your physical body
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: and how like I really do believe in today's world where it's like you have
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: to train like an athlete at every age, really.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like you should be like you can't take things for granted.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like I was talking to a mom friend this morning also about grip.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, grip strength.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, grip strength is, like, actually a huge indicator of longevity.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I've, like,
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: she was like, yeah, like,
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: don't wear gloves when you lift weights
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: because everyone is lifting heavier weight now.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, because they can actually, like, decrease your grip strength.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: She's like,
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: tape up the weight because you want to be able to do,
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: like, you don't want to diminish the grip strength.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, that's so smart, thoughtful.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, I see my dad now in his...
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: You can't take things for granted.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: You can age really fast if something happens.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: It makes sense when you think about it,
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: but I don't think we were all raised in this way where you want to be ready
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: for anything that can come your way,
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: whether it's illness, whether it's This year I broke my foot.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: I've never broken a bone.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was not on my radar.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: I was impervious and I'm not.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Or I fractured my face.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I do think I've healed knock on wood pretty quickly because of how I take care of my body.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: And going to tennis and going to workout classes and lifting the weight and doing
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: the hikes and all of that.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's coming down for me where it's like if we have this amount of time
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: to do recreational activities,
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: it's kind of like I think I just have to be more intentional on his behalf.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: And as he keeps doing it, he'll get older.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: He'll figure out what he likes and what he doesn't.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's really interesting.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really interested to see.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: I have to check when Kim Kardashian's show comes out,
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: but I feel like this is only the beginning of it.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I want to send this.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is a good reminder because I do want to send this to my friends.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think everyone's going to want to watch it and see.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean, it is a thing.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it just makes me sad for the pressure on the kids,
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: though, because there is A whole psychological aspect to it too.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: The pressure, which is like, again, I am a bit of a tiger mom with certain things.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, my kids play instruments and I feel pretty strongly about making them do that.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Is that something my kids want to do?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, probably not.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: But, so I think that there is something to this a bit.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: And like,
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think Being able to support your child into doing something at an elite
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: or higher level,
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: whatever that is, it could be math, could be chess, could be like whatever.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that's actually cool to coach them through like the, oh, this isn't fun.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to do it.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I don't know.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what this is going to like lead to.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think the question is like,
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: I certainly think right now,
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: like I get all this speaking of gymnastics like stuff in my algorithm
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: and it's like gymnastics from the 70s versus like, you know, the Olympians now.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it's so, it's so different.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it makes me wonder like what, what is baseball?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like what is the MLB going to look like in like 20 years, 15 years, 10 years?
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's that far away, honestly.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like these kids are eight plus 10.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Boom, you know.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, would it be at a higher level?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or is this, like, all for naught, you know?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Or how will, like, the media aspect change?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we're seeing youth sports influencers.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: What is it going to look like when these kids start getting into college?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: And professional sports,
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: like we talk about the Savannah Bananas all the time and how they've figured out how
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: to merge sport and media, sport and entertainment.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder if that could be coming to traditional pro sports, but yeah, it's interesting.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, next topic I want to talk about, this one's very fun.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: So this was included, this article we're going to talk about right now.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: I included it in our Monday Cultural Gems Roundup,
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: either this past Monday or the previous Monday.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it was the top clicked link of that email.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like I felt like we should pull it out and talk about it.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: So this article is From Wired,
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: it's about Brendan Sinclair and how he has created a cult internet following based
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: on his love of Olive Garden, the restaurant.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's really fun.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Brandon is
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: one of just 50 people in the world who have an Olive Garden Lifetime Pasta Pass.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: So this means he gets unlimited pasta, toppings, breadsticks, and soup and salad for life.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: He doesn't have to pay for it, I don't think.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: He just tips.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: And this is something that Olive Garden has been doing for a bit.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it was at the beginning of summer,
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: they sold a batch of 10,000 unlimited pasta passes.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: I believe those only lasted for like three months for $100 a piece.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: And they sold out within silence.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Temporary pass.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was just temporary.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: It was a permanent.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: However,
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: the first 50 people that bought those original Yeah,
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: they got the opportunity to, for $400, upgrade to a lifetime pass.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: And Braden was one of those people, although he does suspect, he's like, I have DMs.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, I feel like they might have just given it to me.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, I don't know if I was one of the first 50 people to sign up for this.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: They're smart.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: They're very smart.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Is he an influencer or is he like a normie?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: He's a normie.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: And this all took off.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: So he got his pass.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: He then upgraded for $400 to his Lifetime Unlimited Pass.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: And he has created a website, lifetimepastapass.com, where he tracks his visits.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: He goes to different franchises.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: He tracks the different meals he's eating,
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: the calories,
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: how much he's spending on tipping,
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: how much the meals cost themselves,
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: his favorite orders,
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: restaurant locations,
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: and then people on the website can vote on what he orders
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: on his next Olive Garden visit.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: He started doing this on this website.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: He's not even posting about it to social media,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: but he decided to post about it to Reddit
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: where it went viral, took off.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: And when he posted it- This is like Reddit perfect.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: This is like the perfect- Reddit eats stuff like this up,
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: like hyper niche kind of like fixations that people have always do really well
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: on Reddit.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: And when he posted it on Reddit,
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: more than 700 people have since then,
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: 700 people have voted on what he should order next.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: So he has an audience of over a thousand people who are engaging with his website
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: and tracking his Olive Garden meals.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Does his pass let him get anything on the menu or does he have to...
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think it only applies to pasta, breadsticks, soup, and salad.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I think if he gets like...
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: A protein, you know, like entree.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: I believe he has to pay for that.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: I don't believe that's on it.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: But he has said a lot of times he goes to these restaurants.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: And since a few of these lifetime passes, only 50 people have them.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of times the restaurant, like they don't know what it is.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: They think it's fake and they have
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: to like call corporate to confirm that it's a legit pass.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it's so much fun.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like totally gamified the Olive Garden fandom and his love of Olive Garden.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't seen the brand.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: This is like new.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: This article went out in Wired,
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think maybe a week and a half ago,
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: but I'm waiting for Olive Garden to like do a
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: formalized thing with him.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: Literally like words out of my mouth.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: And like, what does Olive Garden do with him then?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he already has a lifetime pass.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it would be really fun.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: He's already traveling to different—and I don't know how far he's traveling.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's just within his state right now,
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: but he's going to different franchises and restaurants and then rating them.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like they should take him on a tour of around the country
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: to every Olive Garden, and he should document that experience.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: One thousand percent exactly what they should do.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: When we post this, you need to like pull that out of the shop.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: They should have,
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: it should almost be like a mini documentary series and he could like have a YouTube
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: and like super niche and it's just like exploring each of
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: the different Olive Garden franchise, like every single one and like interview.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Are they franchises where like people own them?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what it is or is it, I don't know.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they're franchises, or just every restaurant.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's so fun.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: You can interview the different people that work there.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like it would be so fun.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: It reminded me,
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: one of my favorite YouTubers,
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: Eddie Burback, did a series where he became fixated on the Rainforest Cafe.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: And he did a cross-country road trip and he ate at every single Rainforest Cafe restaurant.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: I thought that they were just in Disney World.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: They're apparently everywhere.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: And they're even like a couple in Canada.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: So we went up to Canada for this.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: And he took, it was just him and another content creator They documented their journey.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think that they did it over a little bit over a month.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: And they documented their car breaking down and all the different restaurants.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: And they raided the different rainforest cafes.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: And at the end, they voted on their favorite.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: It was very fun.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: And the video Last time I checked, which was a while ago, had well over 6 million views.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that he ended up extending it and he maybe did another.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: He might be doing another restaurant.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was going to say, like, similar, like, first of all, I love that example.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was also going to say, you know what comes to mind for me for something like this, too, is...
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder if Olive Garden does any, like, regional specialties also.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, kind of reminds me a little bit of McDonald's.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think McDonald's has really capitalized on, like,
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: theirs is more global,
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: but like, oh, if you go to McDonald's in Japan, you can get the shrimp burger.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you go to McDonald's in Canada, they have poutine.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you go to, you know what I mean?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's different cuisine in different regions that sort of It inspires people
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: to check out every McDonald's and it's like,
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they have like a passport thing,
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: but I know that like so many different,
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: like the national parks have a passport,
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: where it's like you go and you get a stamp and it's like,
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: okay, I went to blah, blah, blah, you know?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And like one thing that's cool I've heard about like,
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think the McDonald's headquarters is in like the Midwest.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's in Chicago or something,
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: but like You can go to,
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: they have a restaurant,
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: a McDonald's there you can go to and they highlight different menu items from around
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: the world at like different times.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: So you can go to that location and then order like,
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: you know, in Hawaii you can get like You know, guava donuts or something.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Or like they have spam for the breakfast.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like spam and eggs.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: So like if I were Olive Garden right now looking at this,
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they have a regional kind of thing,
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: but I feel like I would consider that.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: I would be like,
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: and I don't even know how many Olive Gardens there are,
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: but like if you look across the country,
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: like maybe make regional things and then A,
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: do the documentary like we were talking about.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: He should go to each one and highlight each one or whatever.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: It would be cool if he had different food to review at each one.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Even at a minimum,
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: if they're releasing something new, have him review it and do a restaurant review.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then also,
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: how fun would it be if they did something where it's like people could Like eat
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: with him or like do like an event at Olive Garden where it's kind of like
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: the Tink's, you know, Rich Mom Walk.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's like what we just did for Swallow, what I was talking about earlier, 10K before 10A.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like so fun if he got his community to like come and like,
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: you know, add a certain location and whatever.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just think that there's so many fun ideas you could do with a creator like this.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the only downfall is if Olive Garden doesn't do anything.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: That would be so lame.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's very fun.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just one of those lighthearted internet stories that we don't see as much anymore.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I think he tracks every meal he eats.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like he could do a meal special at Olive Garden with his favorite pasta,
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: soup, salad, toppings.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's infinite.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Infinite what they could do.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm watching their accounts because I'm very...
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you see them post anything about it, like, I mean, this is hilarious.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: This is infinite tour of Italy.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: You know what?
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: And the funny thing is that Olive Garden has had this, like,
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: funny thing about it for a while.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I remember a long time ago...
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: When I lived in New York City, I was like, I think it was even before I lived in the city.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think it was a long time ago.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I have to go to the Olive Garden in Times Square.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like a thing.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Am I right?
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's definitely a thing.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know why.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: More so than like any other chain, I would say.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's 100% a thing.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: I know a New York City influencer, Jazz, I forget her last name.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: She goes to the Olive Garden Times Square by herself because she's like, I want breadsticks.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: I want breadsticks.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like Alfredo Pasta.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: And the best place to get it is the Times Square Olive Garden.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: And it's true.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's so funny in there.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: I go, actually,
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: me and my friends,
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: when we go see movies, we will meet at the Times Square AMC a lot.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: And we will go to Olive Garden before or Applebee's.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just really funny and kitschy.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know what's so funny, though?
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think it, like, used to be, like, more, like, oh, this is, like, a cost-effective meal.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it's, like, not that cheap.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think that that's actually a misnomer with that.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: I want to say for, like, the Times Square one, it might be more expensive.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's, like, high stuff.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: It probably, I mean, it's New York.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: I just remember
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: going, though,
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: and being,
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: like, whoa, this is not, like, I thought this was, like, a cheap meal out.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: They really sell you on the unlimited breadsticks, and that's how they get you.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: Looking at their Instagram, they're very into the memes.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not seeing Breeden, and I want to see him on there.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: I know, they need to get on that.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully they're doing something behind the scenes.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, very fun, and I will be following along to see what they end up doing.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: Third final topic, YouTube is investing in community management.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: So the typical journey for a creator on YouTube has been to build their following on
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: the platform and then once they get to a certain point,
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: they usually have to Outsource community engagement to a platform like Discord
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: or Patreon because YouTube, you can't DM.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: You can't share videos with each other.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: You can't DM on YouTube?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know if I knew that.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: You can now.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: Now you'll be able to.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: Now you can.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's so silly that you haven't been able to.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: You could share a video via social media DM.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: I could send somebody a YouTube video via Instagram DMs, but there were no DMs.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: Within the YouTube app itself.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: So that was the typical thing.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: A creator would get to a certain point and then they'd have to go to Discord
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: if they wanted to chat,
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: you know, directly with their fans or Patreon if they wanted to paywall some of their content,
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: do voting, you know, just go a little bit deeper with engagement.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: So YouTube wants creators to be able to stay on their platform.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: They kind of want to be a one-stop shop for people.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: So they're expanding their features to do members-only communities.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: So a few years ago,
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: YouTube started like YouTube premium subscriptions where you can pay
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: to get paywalled content from creators on the platform.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: So now Creators can have communities specifically for their paid subscribers.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: You can now do direct video sharing.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: There will be group chats in the app.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: You can send reaction GIFs in the comments because it was just text.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: And you can also do voice-to-text comments on TV and more interactive live streams.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: So it's interesting that YouTube was kind of the OG social platform.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like Instagram,
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: Twitter, X, TikTok,
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: these newer platforms came up and were able to kind of supersede
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: or get more creative with their features and kind of overtook YouTube a little bit.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked about how we feel like it lost a bit of its shine and felt
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: a little complacent and I feel like this is them Trying to build
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: that audience out more,
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: keep people on the platform and keep their creators happy since so many
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: of them are jumping ship for other streaming platforms.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean,
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: I was going to say,
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that's exactly like writing films like they're trying to course correct
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: for innovations they haven't made.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think this goes back to like A theme we've talked about with YouTube
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: where it's like, you know, they have enjoyed being in the position they've been in.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: And
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think they landed at the right time and they make a ton of money
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: and they can pay people all like really well.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that they definitely have maintained It's funny,
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: I can't really think of a time where,
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: at least for me,
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: and I actually think you might feel differently,
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: where YouTube was the number one social platform.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a millennial, and it was Facebook to Instagram, really.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think TikTok has popped up,
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: maybe spent a little bit of time,
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: but I think Instagram really still, as far as millennials, is the main platform.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I don't think YouTube has ever been there, um, for us.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so, I don't know.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I, I just, I think this is great.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's good that they're doing this.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's hilarious that they don't have these features.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, the DMing thing is really wild to me.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um,
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: Also, this idea,
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: like you said,
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: like Discord,
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: like the fact that people were going off platform to go do that,
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: like why they wouldn't try to foster that kind of engagement on there is...
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: And this has been happening.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_02: Creators have had to do this for, you know, 15 years.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, why?
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: I just, why now?
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder if Netflix coming in and like very blatantly poaching creators
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: from their platform was kind of what lit the fire underneath them.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm just like, Creators have had to outsource community engagement for over a decade.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: What was it about 2026 that they were like,
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: okay, now's the time we actually have to invest in these
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: additional features?
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think you just hit the nail on the head.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's the talent.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: Again, for so long,
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: it was always the platform that creators would graduate to, especially TikTok.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you've gone viral on TikTok, but YouTube is where the money can be made.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think right now, with the creator economy, where we're at in the evolution of it, is that...
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: The opportunities for creators are now beyond social platforms.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: So Opportunity is on Netflix,
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: it's on Dear Media, it's books, it's like so many different things.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so YouTube
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: has kind of become a stepping stone as opposed to the
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: The pinnacle, yeah.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: The pinnacle.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm sure, I mean,
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: this feels silly to me that, I mean,
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: it's a way to sort of probably like address what creators have complained to them
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: about, you know.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I don't know.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm skeptical of all the platforms.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I wonder.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: They don't innovate that much, though.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: They really don't.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: This is the first, like,
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like true innovation that has come to the platform
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_02: since maybe they started enabling live streams, which was 10 plus years ago.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like, I think the word is complacent, like you said.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I just wonder if it's too Because now creators have been on Discord and Patreon
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_02: or Substack for how many years now?
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like, okay, I'm going to move this audience back over to YouTube now.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if that juice would be worth the squeeze for them if they're
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: so comfortable on these platforms.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: And to your other point, YouTube was definitely...
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I would say Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Vine when I was using it.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_02: Or Vine.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: I was a real, like, YouTube fan.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: It was, like, empty, kind of mindless consumption.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: But me and my friends and my roommates in college,
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_02: any time we had dinner, we would have to pull up a YouTube video.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: And we would all sit down and watch it.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_02: And it was, like… It was so wild to me.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like, not my experience at all.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: Which is great.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_02: I, like, didn't eat a meal without watching a YouTube video.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's so crazy.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_02: And it was a part of our daily routine and it got like it had my full concentration.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_02: I felt like super hyper-connected to the creators that I watch because they're
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: a part of my, I felt like I was eating dinner with them every day.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: They're part of my daily routine.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: It was much more deeper than like the surface level Instagram follow in my life.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not sure.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's a combination of getting older and kind of aging out of that.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of the creators I watched back then now are married and have kids
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: and can't dedicate the time to YouTube that they used to.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: But I also feel like A lot of those creators now have podcasts.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_02: So if I want to consume content from them,
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'll listen to a podcast while I'm answering emails or, you know, doing my laundry.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's moved to different And YouTube is definitely now,
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: if I'm scrolling through Netflix or HBO and I can't find anything,
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: it's like, oh,
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: well, I guess I'll just look at YouTube and see if there's something random there.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's become what was a part of my daily life that's become an afterthought.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, my God.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know what's so funny?
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: In a totally different way, that has been my relationship with the Real Housewives.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: It parallels your YouTube experience, but think of it as the Housewives.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: The minute I saw the first one, I was in my 20s living in New York by myself.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: I went from college to living by myself for four years before I then was like,
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: I need a roommate again.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: I loved that show and like I think the early versions of like the New York one,
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: New Jersey, like all of it.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: And now it's so funny because you see it's like all part of like nostalgia content
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: from like the 2000s.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_02: But now it's so funny because like my husband, you know, Jeff likes it too.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: Especially when we're really tired and it's like a Tuesday and it's like
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: The kids have taken forever to put down to bed and it's like already 930
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: and it's like, okay, let's just like put on Housewives and like zone out.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't watch it now.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like I cannot.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like he had on one of the, it's like the group trip where they like mix them all together.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: Ultimate girls trip.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I forget.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: I was just like watching it and I was just like, this is painful.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: This feels like, A form of acting now, like it doesn't feel at all authentic.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm anxious watching this and I don't feel invested in these people.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like it feels too, I don't know.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I don't know.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I feel like I have been a huge Housewives fan and I don't know what it is.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's,
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: we've talked about it on this show before with Megan too,
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: about just how like,
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: in today's, like,
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: media consumption world,
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_01: like, you can't, like, jump into a community in the way that they did back then.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: That is, like, uninterrupted with the drama and everything.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like, now everyone is so hyper-aware of, like, all the things.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's just funny, like, For me,
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: the relevance, like, just, it's, like,
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: it almost feels like the same relevance thing has changed for you with YouTube.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, I don't know what that means.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, YouTube seems to always sort of figure it out and survive.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: But, like, I don't know.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Also, I will say, though,
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: too, before I, like, I do also love this idea of just, like, we are who we are.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like, they're a
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: little bit Reddit in that way where they're, like, eh.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_02: No, they're definitely right.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_02: You definitely, that's a very good point because I am criticizing YouTube for not innovating.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then I will roll my eyes.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: What about,
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_02: social media apps becoming everything apps and them all merging into the same.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that is a very good point.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like hypocrites.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: That is a very, very good point.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: I just think I don't know.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe if they were investing more in their creators, it felt more like an ecosystem back then.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: They would do YouTube Rewind every year where they recapped the year on
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_02: the platform, and it would be the 20 biggest creators on the platform in one video.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_02: They got criticism for one.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_02: People really didn't like it.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_02: And then they stopped doing it.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like that's kind of when it stopped feeling like this is
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_02: a connected ecosystem and I know all these people who are creating content
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_02: on this platform.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now I feel like it just feels more disconnected and Not like they're investing
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_02: in their creators in the way they used to, but I think this is a great step.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: And it'll be interesting.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm genuinely interested to see how it plays with creators.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: Is it rolling out now?
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_02: I believe they've started rolling out some of the features.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: I think communities are now on, but not all of them.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it'll probably be over the course of the next month or two that these features are.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we should look it up and see if Wubi and Fadi has any sort of
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: But they're like YouTube kids, I guess.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: You can't do anything with YouTube kids.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a kids creator on YouTube, people can't comment on your videos.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_02: You can't post community notes.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's very annoying.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: I get it, child.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's all moderation and safety for kids.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_02: But as a creative, it's a little frustrating.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have as much, as many options.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like discoverability and stuff.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_02: But I think this is a good step for them as much as I'm complaining about it.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah,
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_02: it'll be really interesting to see if this kind of invigorates creators on
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_02: the platform and audiences.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yay.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: Great conversation.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Em.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: Great stuff to discuss.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still like, I need to follow Brayden.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a website.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_02: How fun.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to have to keep, that'll be one of the many tabs that now live on my page.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you so much.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: And we will be back next week.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yay.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, thanks.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.