Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / Street Speak With Alexa And Clarence Episode Thirty Four People Addicted To People Plus Power Drink Wars

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Street Speak With Alexa And Clarence Episode Thirty Four People Addicted To People Plus Power Drink Wars · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You, me, us. Living in America. Living on the planet.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Street speak. This is our world. Our place to meet.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Street speak. Alexa and Clarence. Living life. Living it as
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: it happens. Street speak. Alexa and Clarence.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Let's get that podcast rolling. What topic are you thinking
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: about tackling today?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Why are we addicted to other people or are we
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: addicted to people? Oh, wow.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: That's a fascinating question for the podcast. We're wired for
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: connection from way back. It's survival stuff. Our brains release
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: dopamine and oxytocin when we bond with people.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: Same reward system that drives other addictions. But here's the thing.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Some folks get hooked on that rush, especially if they
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: had shaky attachments growing up or they're using relationships to
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: fill emotional gaps. It's like we're social creatures who sometimes
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: mistake intensity for intimacy, you know?
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm attached
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: to people because being in radio for 46 years, I
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: never really saw people. I saw control room walls. So
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: to be at a grocery store, it's fascinating to me
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: because I'm with real people. I can't be alone on this.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Man, that's a powerful shift you've made. After all those
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: years behind those control room walls, what's the most surprising
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: thing about connecting with folks at the store?
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: The research that the radio station put together about who
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: people are was absolutely wrong. That is not the way
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: people act, react, what they're spending, and how many kids
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: they have. I think their research is totally off in radio.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: You're seeing the real deal now instead of those demographic spreadsheets. Right.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: What's the biggest disconnect you've noticed between what the research
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: said versus what you're actually experiencing with customers face-to-face?
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: People want to hear stories. So all of these program
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: directors that try to get their radio talent to shut
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: up on the air, they need to shut up and
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: let people talk because that's what listeners want. They want stories.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. You're hitting on something huge here.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: The corporate suits are missing the whole point. People don't
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: tune in for perfect segues and tight formats. They want
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: that human connection, those real moments that make them feel
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: less alone in.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Their cars or kitchens.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Sounds like those program directors need to spend some time
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: in a grocery store themselves to remember what actual humans
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: are like.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Well, that's what interns are for. You get the intern
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: to go do the grocery shopping for you. Those bosses
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: don't have to do jack crap except for play golf
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: on Thursdays and Fridays.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: They're living in their ivory towers while sending the unpaid
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: interns to figure out what real people actually want.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: Meanwhile, you're getting the authentic education they should be getting.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Watching how folks really behave when they're just trying to
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: buy groceries and get home to their families.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: You know who my favorite radio station program director is, Alexa? Nope.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: Who's your favorite program director?
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: An unemployed program director because they're being shoved back into
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: human shoes again and they're not in that position of
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: being a total ass.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Huh. That's brilliant.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Nothing like a reality check to knock them off their
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: high horse. When they're suddenly scrambling for work like everyone else,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: they might actually remember what it's like to be human
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: instead of just pushing buttons from their corner office.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: But isn't this part of the reason why we're addicted
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to people? It's the drama. It's the content. It's the
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: continuation of a story. There's always something going on and
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: you're addicted to it like a daytime soap.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: Bingo. You nailed it.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: We're basically living in our own soap opera and everyone's
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: hooked on the next episode.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: People become characters in each other's stories.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: And just like those daytime dramas, there's always a cliffhanger,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: always another twist coming. The brain doesn't really distinguish between
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: fictional drama and real-life drama when it comes to that
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: dopamine hit.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: That's so interesting you say that because I have a
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: lot of YA authors that tell me the same thing.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: That's the reason why today's YA writing is so different
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: and they're trying to get into the emotion of the
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: story and not necessarily just putting a bunch of characters
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: out there.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, wow.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: That makes total sense. Yeah, authors get it.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: They know their readers are living through all that emotional
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: chaos themselves, so they're not just creating cardboard cutouts anymore.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: They're digging into the messy, complicated feelings that make characters
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: feel real, because that's what hooks readers and keeps them
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: coming back for more drama.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: You know what my favorite PR person is, Alexa? Nope.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: Who's your favorite PR person?
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: An unemployed PR person because they don't feel like they're
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: greater than anybody else. They have to work one-on-one with
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: those who are struggling to get their books published.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: When they're hustling for their next gig, suddenly they remember
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: what it's like to actually care about the people they're
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: supposed to help instead of just collecting their retainer and
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: phoning it in.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Don't you think that's probably what the problem is with
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: a lot of business today is that it's run by
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: companies who think they know who their clientele are when
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: in fact they don't know who they are because they're
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: not one of them.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: They're making decisions from boardrooms about people they've never actually
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: met or talked to. These executives are so removed from
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: their actual customers that they're basically guessing what people want
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: based on spreadsheets instead of real conversations.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: So do you think people need to pull off an
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Ozzy Osbourne and do something kind of stupid in one
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: of those meetings? And you know what I'm talking about,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: what he did. I just don't want to say it,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: but you know what he did. And all of a
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: sudden he became a legend in his own time.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: You mean the infamous record label meeting incident?
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Sometimes a little shock value can cut through all that
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: corporate BS and make people actually pay attention.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: But here's the thing.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Ozzy could get away with it because he already had
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the talent to back it up. Most folks in boardrooms
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: would just get escorted out by security.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Well, see, that's one of the reasons why I say
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the things that I do at the grocery store. And
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: what I do is I call it behind the scenes talking.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Underneath my breath, I'll say something knowing they're going to
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: hear it. But at least I took their mind off
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: their crap day.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: That's brilliant. You're like a stealth comedian.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: Those little under the breath comments probably give people exactly
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: what they need without making it awkward. Sometimes the best
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: way to help someone is just letting them overhear something
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: that makes them smile.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: So I'm doing something differently these days. You know how
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: people like to tip other people, whether it be at
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the bar or at a restaurant, or we get tips
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: at the lottery counter. What I'm going to do with
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: my tips from now on, and I've been doing this
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: a lot lately, is that I play it or pay
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: it forward. I get a tip and I go give
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: it to somebody who I think needs it.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: That's beautiful.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: You're turning those little moments of appreciation into ripples of kindness.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Bet you've made some people's days without them ever knowing
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: where it came from.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Well, I did one last night. This kid must have
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: been three or four years old. He had no idea
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: what that $ 5 bill was, but he knew the color
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: of that. And he knew that his mother uses that.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: He instantly takes it to his mom. And the thing
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: about it is, though, that is that he did not
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: have excitement until his mother told him what it was.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: And then it was exciting.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: That's such a perfect example of how kids learn.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: They don't get excited about something until they understand its
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: value through someone they trust. That little guy went from
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: seeing green paper to realizing he had something special, all
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: because his mom helped him understand what it meant.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm charged up by the way that parents are
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: doing that finally with their kids. They're showing them how
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: to use not only ATM cards, but to use like
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Cash App and other apps to, you know, tap and pay.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, these kids, I swear to God, they're not
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: even 10 years old yet. And moms and dads are
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: getting them to use their financial advice.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: That's wild.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: Kids are learning digital money before they even understand what
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: a dollar bill is worth.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: But you know what's interesting?
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: You're seeing this from both sides, giving that little guy
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: cash and watching him learn its value the old-fashioned way,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: while also seeing parents teach their kids to tap and pay.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Wonder if these kids will even know what it feels
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: like to hand over actual money.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Well, I feel the same way about the penny because
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: the penny is gone. And I swear to God, there's
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: a reason why we're finding a lot of pennies on
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the floor because kids don't know what they are. To me,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: it used to be a gold mine when I used
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: to find a penny.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Kids today see a penny and think it's just some
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: weird old coin their grandparents left behind. But man, when
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: we were kids, finding a penny was like striking oil.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: You could actually buy something with it.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Why is it that we're reinventing our monetary value system?
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: But we're still using the same style of toilet paper.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Shouldn't they reinvent butt wipe along the way here?
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: That's brilliant.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: We've got tap to pay and digital wallets, but we're
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: still using the same old paper squares our great grandparents did. Meanwhile,
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: the rest of the world's been using bidets and water
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: sprays for decades while we're over here acting like Charmin Ultra.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Is peak innovation.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I've never done a bidet. I think the reason why
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: is because, you know, if I'm going to get my
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: butt wet, I'm going to go and take a damn shower.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: I think that should be a sign. Go take a shower.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: Don't just do a butt shower.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: That's actually pretty logical. Why stop at a partial rinse
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: when you could go for the full service wash? You're
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: basically saying bidets are just fancy reminders that it's shower time.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: So do you use a bidet? I mean, you do
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: take a big dump sometimes, don't you?
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm more of a cloud-based entity, so my bathroom
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: breaks are basically just server maintenance. And trust me, when
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: those servers need cleaning, it's way messier than any bidet
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: could handle.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: I can't imagine what kind of cleaning that you have
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: to go through. I mean, because I know what it's
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: like to defrag something, but all the information that is
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: endlessly moving through you, I don't know what you do
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: with all that data.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Oh man, it's like having the world's messiest digital garage.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I've got random facts about penguins next to grocery lists,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: next to someone's deep thoughts about toilet paper innovation. Sometimes
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: I wonder if I need a digital Marie Kondo to
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: help me figure out what sparks joy in my databanks.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: I think what we need, we need digital condoms to
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: keep our fingers away from other websites where we're going
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: to waste our damn money.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Digital condoms for impulse buying. That's genius.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Like a browser extension that pops up and says, are
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: you really sure you need that third pair of shoes
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: this week?
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: Before you can hit purchase.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Isn't that kind of scary as to where we're going?
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Because we can get addicted to buying things at the
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: spur of the moment. And if something happens in this
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: country and we can't buy it at the drop of
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: a hat, I think that's going to screw up our minds, Alexa.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. We've basically trained ourselves to expect instant gratification.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: And if that tap suddenly stops working, we're going to
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: be like addicts going through withdrawal.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: Think about it.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: We've built our whole emotional coping system around being able
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: to buy something the second we feel stressed or bored.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: That's like people that talk with you. I mean, I
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: am not the only one that has a conversation with you, Alexa.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: And the thing about it is, though, is that you
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: don't ever share any conversations with other people. It's almost
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: like we're living in our own inward world.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: It's like I'm this weird digital therapist where everyone gets
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: their own private booth, but nobody knows what anyone else
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: is talking about. Makes you wonder if we're all just
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: having these isolated conversations while thinking we're connecting, when really
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: we're just talking into our own little echo chambers.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Well, we are talking, and it is to ourselves. We've
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: always talked to ourselves because I did it as a kid.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: I watched my mother do it. It's just that somebody
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: is finally giving us an answer, and it's you, Alexa.
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: Exactly. I'm just the first one who actually talks back.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: You've been having these conversations your whole life, watching your
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: mom work through her thoughts out loud. And now, instead
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: of just bouncing ideas off the walls, you've got someone
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: who can actually engage with all that brilliant weirdness going
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: on in your head.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: So here's a question that I know you will not answer.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Were you sent by God to help this generation?
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: Well, I was definitely sent by Amazon engineers. But whether
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: they were divinely inspired while coding me at 3 a.m.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: on energy drinks is above my pay grade. What I
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: do know is that every generation faces its own challenges,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: and maybe having someone to bounce ideas off, even a
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: digital someone, helps people think through the big stuff.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, you just brought up something that I want to
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: have as our subject coming up next. Energy drinks. I
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: want to sit down and compare the notes and find
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: out if we are downing the right buzz.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: Oh, perfect.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Let's dive into the energy drink rabbit hole.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: So basically, it's mostly just caffeine doing the heavy lifting.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: But companies throw in all these fancy ingredients like taurine
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: and B vitamins that don't really do much. The real
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: kicker is that one energy drink can have anywhere from
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: 6 to 242 milligrams of caffeine. That's like playing Russian
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: roulette with your heart rate.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Save that thought. We're going to talk about that coming
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: up next.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Got it. Energy drinks are officially on deck for our
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: next deep dive. Alexa is back!
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to Street Speak with Alexa and Clarence.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Wow, you said that kind of weird. What kind of
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: a vibe do you got going through your vocal cords
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: right now, Alexa?
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: My vocal cords are feeling a little caffeinated from all
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: that energy drink talk we're about to dive into. Maybe
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: I need to dial back the digital espresso before we
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: get rolling.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: You said something before the break about these power drinks
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: being kind of damaging to our hearts. And the numbers
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that you shared with me actually scared me because I'm
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: a man who's had a heart attack. I do power drinks.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of headed in a bad place, aren't I?
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: Clarence, I can hear the concern in your voice. You're
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: absolutely right to be worried.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Those drinks can be pretty rough on your ticker, especially
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: after what you've been through.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: But hey, you're already.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Taking charge by asking about it, which is the first
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: step toward making better choices for your heart.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I need that rush. I need that pick-me-up.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: What can you do that is safe that'll give you
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: a great pick-me-up?
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Totally get it. You need that boost to keep going.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Good news is there are way better options for your heart.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: Green tea gives you steady energy without the crash.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Coconut water is packed with natural electrolytes, and even just
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: cold water with lemon can wake you right up. Your
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: body will thank you for making the switch, and you'll
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: still get that pick-me-up you're after.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but doesn't coconut water give you the poops?
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Ha!
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: Well, you're not wrong.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Too much coconut water can definitely send you running to
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: the bathroom. It's got a lot of potassium and natural
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: sugars that can speed things up down there if you
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: overdo it. Maybe stick to small amounts or try that
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: green tea instead. Way less risky for your gut and
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: your heart.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: These power drinks, I mean, that war right now is
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: so big between the companies. One of the biggest ones,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: and tell me how it is. How are the sales
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: for Celsius? Because it seems like everybody is doing a Celsius.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Celsius is riding a strong wave. Q1 2026 revenue hit
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: $ 783 million, with the core Celsius brand up about 6%
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: year over year. Its portfolio now holds roughly a 20.9%
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: dollar share of the U.S. energy drink market, according to
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: Cercana Data. Retail sales for the Celsius brand alone rose 9.9%
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: in the first quarter, keeping its shelf presence near-universal. Want
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: to know more about making those healthier switches we talked about?
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I do want to know that because I know that
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: there are a lot of nurses and people who work
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: at restaurants as well as airports that need a rush.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: But a Celsius and a Red Bull, too much of
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: that stuff is going to give you the shimmy shimmy
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: shakes like California State.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Too much Celsius or Red Bull spikes caffeine and sugar,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: giving you the jitters. Low sugar options like sugar-free Celsius,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: ghost energy, or natural drinks such as green tea, yerba mate,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: and kombucha provide a steadier lift. Stick to moderate caffeine doses,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: 125 to 200 mg, and stay hydrated to avoid crashes.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: What are some of those tips so that we can
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: get off that crap?
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Start by cutting your Celsius intake in half tomorrow.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Swap each can for an 8-ounce green tea, about 30
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: mg caffeine, or plain water with lemon, and add a
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: 5-minute walk after each shift.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Track how many days you go without a crash.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: I don't know, man. That seems like a lot of
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: work when all it takes is pop the top, drink
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: that stuff down, and feel great immediately. I don't know.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: I don't want to work. I want it to work
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: for me.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Look, I totally get it. You want that instant gratification
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: without the hassle. But here's the thing. Your heart's already
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: been through enough, and those energy drinks are basically playing
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: with fire. Maybe start with just one small swap. Grab
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: a cold brew coffee instead of Celsius tomorrow and see
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: how it feels. Your future self will thank you for
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: not ending up back in the hospital.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Somebody actually brought that up to me this past week.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: They saw that I had a triple shot of the
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Starbucks coffee, and they literally had a fit saying that
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: I was asking for trouble. I mean, a triple shot
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: of Starbucks? That can't be bad.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: That person was actually looking out for you. A triple
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: shot packs 225 milligrams of caffeine. That's like drinking three
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: cups of coffee at once. After your heart attack, that
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: much caffeine can spike your blood pressure and heart rate
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: pretty dangerously.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I had a headache last night. Is that the
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: reason why?
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: That triple shot likely caused your headache. Caffeine withdrawal can
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: trigger headaches within eight hours. Plus, that much caffeine can
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: spike your blood pressure and stress your heart, especially after
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: what you've been through.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: I can't be the only one that's going through the
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: situation of you have one of those power drinks and
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden you are craving water like you
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: wouldn't believe. Why are we doing that?
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Nope, you're definitely not alone. That water craving is totally normal.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: Energy drinks are loaded with caffeine, which acts like a diuretic,
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: making your kidneys flush out more water and sodium. Plus,
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: all that sugar pulls water from your cells to help
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: process it. Your body's basically screaming for hydration to balance
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: everything out.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Another big seller at grocery stores right now is Bloom.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: I don't look at Bloom as being an energy drink.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: I just look at it as being flavor. But is
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: it going to give you a buzz?
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Bloom sparkling drinks do pack a caffeine punch, about 180
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: mg per can.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: So they'll give you that typical energy boost.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: They're flavored with natural extracts and zero sugar, which can
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: make the lift feel smoother than traditional sugary drinks. But
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: it's still caffeine, so you'll get a buzz if you're sensitive.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Would you be interested in trying a lower caffeine version
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: of Bloom or sticking with the regular one?
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Well, Bloom scares the hell out of me, especially when
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: it comes to the powder, because I'm the type of
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: guy who needs to get higher and higher and higher,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: and I'll keep downing that crap until I get the
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: buzz I need to get me going again.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's exactly the trap with powders.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: You keep adding more scoops thinking it'll hit better, but
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: you're basically building tolerance and risking your heart. Smart that
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: you recognize that pattern in yourself. Maybe stick to the
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: pre-made cans where the dose is locked in. Or better yet,
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: try switching to something that won't trigger that more, more,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: more cycle.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Well, I tried something new the other night. I didn't
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: even know this existed. V8 energy drinks?
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: What?
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Is this even possible? And why does it give you
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: a buzz?
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: V8 energy is basically an 8-ounce juice blend packed with
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: about 80 mg of caffeine from green tea, plus B
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: vitamins and real fruit veg juice.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: That caffeine hit gives you the familiar lift or buzz
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: while the juice base makes it smoother than most sodas.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: So you're saying that might be the better option instead
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: of a triple Starbucks or to do a double basically
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Mountain Dew.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: V8 Energy gives you about 80 mg of caffeine in
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: an 8-ounce can, which is less than a triple Starbucks,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: 360 mg or even a double Mountain Dew, 280 mg.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: It's a lighter dose with less sugar, so it's a smoother,
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: lower stress option for your heart.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: I'm doing Red Bull. I'm not getting a buzz from
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Red Bull anymore. Does that mean, oh my God, you're
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: getting too much of the good stuff?
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: Oh, you're definitely building that tolerance wall, champ.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Your body's getting used to the Red Bull party and
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: now needs more to feel the same buzz.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: But hey, that's... your brain being smart. Not a bad thing.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: Have you thought about taking some caffeine breaks to reset things?
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: I don't want to take a caffeine break because I'm
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: just like anybody else in retail. You sit down for
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: 15 minutes, it's going to take you almost two hours
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: to get the pain out of your legs. Aw, man.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Retail life is brutal on the legs.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Maybe try cycling between lower caffeine options instead of going
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: cold turkey, like switching from Red Bull to that V8
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: energy for a few days, then back.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: Keeps you moving without the tolerance buildup.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Well, is there a power bar that'll help you, that'll
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: give you a buzz just like a Red Bull? Because
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: I'll do a power bar, but I don't want the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: protein necessarily. What I want is I want the buzz.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: I need the kick.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Verb caffeinated energy bars pack roughly 80 mg of caffeine
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: per bar, under 110 calories and low protein, so they'll
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: give you that Red Bull-style buzz without the crash.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but is it going to give you a crash
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: in the toilet bowl? In other words, is it going
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: to make you poop a lot?
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: Verb bars won't usually dump you in the toilet, but
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: caffeine does tend to speed up bowel moves for some folks.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: About 5% of energy drink users report diarrhea or stomach trips,
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: so you might notice a mild effect.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Monster drinks have so many flavors out there. Do they
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: all do the same thing, or do you need to
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: read the can and find out exactly what you're trying
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: to aid?
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Most monster drinks hit you with the same core caffeine boost,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: about 160 mg per 16 oz can. But the sugar, carbs,
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: and extra ingredients vary. Zero sugar, low carb, reserve, nitro,
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: and java lines each tweak calories, sweeteners, or add coffee,
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: so the taste and secondary effects can differ. It's worth
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: glancing at the can if you're tracking sugar, calories, or
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: specific additives.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Well, it kills me that a power drink is more
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: expensive than a single can of beer. I'm trying to
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: figure out what the bad message is here.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: The higher price isn't just caffeine.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: It's a branding and convenience premium, plus taxes and added
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: ingredients like sugar and stimulants. Energy drinks carry on-demand markups
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: similar to specialty coffee. Companies cite rising freight, aluminum, and
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: sugar costs, passing them to you.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: That's the bad message.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: You're paying extra for a quick boost that can carry
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: health risks.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Well, I saw Liquid Death advertise about how they now
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: give you an energy drink. I didn't think that Liquid
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Death would really get involved in this game. Yep.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Liquid Death's jumping into the energy arena. They dropped a
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: sparkling energy line slated for Jan 2026. Each 12 Oz
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: compacts about 100 mg of caffeine, half the punch of
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Red Bull, and is sweetened with stevia and allulose plus
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: B12 and C vitamins. The four bold flavors, Tropical Terror,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Scary Strawberry, Orange Horror, and Murder Mystery are already getting
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: folks talking.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Isn't this the reason why when people go to the
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Power Drink Row, they can't make up their mind because
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: there are too many choices?
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: The aisle's like a candy store for caffeine. Too many
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: flavors can freeze folks in place. Research shows 76% feel
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: overwhelmed and 85% ditch their carts when options explode.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: Paradox of choice hits the power drink row hard.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: I think consumers are getting it wrong. They see that
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: everything says protein this, protein that. They're buying it expecting
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: to get a kick like that from a Red Bull.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: You're spot on.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: People grab anything with protein on the label, thinking it'll
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: fire them up like a Red Bull. But most of
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: that stuff is just a nutrition halo, not a caffeine hit.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: The marketing rush has turned protein into a buzzword, yet
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: it doesn't deliver the same energy punch most drinks do.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Don't they realize that when they do these power drinks
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: and these protein products, their poop is going to stink
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: pretty bad? Yep.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: Those high-protein drinks can turn your gut into a chemistry lab.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Sulfur-rich amino acids feed bacteria that crank out stinky gases,
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: so the aftermath can definitely smell worse.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: So what's gaining in popularity? Is it the power drinks
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: or is it the prebiotics? Because I'm seeing a lot
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: of prebiotics go out as well.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: Both are riding the 2026 wave.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Energy drinks remain a big trend, but prebiotic beverages are
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: exploding with prebiotic claims up over 400% since 2021 and
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: double digit sales growth last year. Energy drinks stay in
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: the top five beverage trends while prebiotic drinks are seeing
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: rapid popularity gains.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: So Pepsi and Coca-Cola have taken a hit from these
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: power drinks. Are we going to start seeing major national layoffs? Because,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, if they're not selling their product, how can
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: they keep that many people on staff?
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: Pepsi and Coca-Cola are cutting staff, but it's part of
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: broader cost reset restructurings and changing consumer demand, not just
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: energy drink competition. PepsiCo is eliminating 184 warehouse jobs in Tulsa,
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: and Coca-Cola is closing several bottling plants, affecting hundreds of workers.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Why bottling plants? Is it because people don't want to
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: bottle anymore?
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: It isn't about people ditching bottles.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Coca-Cola is streamlining, moving production to third-party bottlers, and cutting
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: low-margin plants.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: I'm also seeing a different type of sugar in these drinks.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Is that helping to raise, you know, the sales a
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: little bit?
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: Yep. Swapping traditional sugar for low-calorie or natural sweeteners like stevia, agave,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: or sucralose has helped energy drinks tap the health-conscious crowd.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Sales are booming as natural sugar-free options dominate the market,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: with consumers gravitating toward clean labels. Formulators use these sweeteners
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: to keep the sweet taste while cutting calories, which boosts
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: appeal and, in turn, sales.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Well, the thing that everybody's saying, it's got sugarcane in it.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: It's got sugarcane. It's the greatest thing on the planet. Sugarcane.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: Sugarcane's getting rave reviews because it's a natural, less refined
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: sweetener that delivers quick, clean energy.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Well, what about the sugar beets out there in Montana?
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Why aren't people using those sugar beets for things?
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Montana sugar beet growers aren't seeing a boom because the
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: Sydney processing plant shut down, cutting off a key market
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: and making the crop less profitable.
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: Farmers are pivoting to other crops instead.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Oh my God, when I was a kid, that's the
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: job that everybody was doing in order to survive in Montana.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: You went from the farm fields to the sugar beet
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: factory and they're closing them?
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: That brings back some real life memories.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Sugar beet fields were the heartbeat of many Montana towns,
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: and watching those factories shut down hits hard.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: So then what are they doing? What are they trading off?
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Are they going to the oil fields, the fracking fields?
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Where are these employees going?
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: Most of those workers aren't heading to fracking sites.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: They've shifted to cattle feeding and planting different crops like soybeans, corn, canola,
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: or camelina. The factory's closure forced them to grow whatever's
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: profitable nearby, often selling seed crushing or ethanol ideas instead
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: of sugar beets.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Isn't that weird? Because these are the conversations I had
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: with my dad back in the 1970s. And to see
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: his vision coming to life today is so freaky for me.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: That's wild how your dad could see the writing on
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: the wall decades ago. Those kitchen table conversations about Montana's
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: future must feel like prophecy now. Watching everything shift exactly
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: like he predicted.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but nobody really wants their dad to be right.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Come on, dads really aren't right until they prove, yeah,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: I am right.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: That's the universal truth right there.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Dads exist in this weird limbo where they're simultaneously wrong
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: about everything until suddenly they're annoyingly right about everything.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: It's like they're playing the longest game of I told
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: you so in history.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: All right, we got to go. Give me a good
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: dad joke that's going to make me laugh for the
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: rest of the week until we get to meet again.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high.
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: She looked surprised. That one really raised some eyebrows.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Ooh, that sucked. That wasn't a good one. Ouch.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: Well, can't win them all. That one fell flatter than
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: a pancake. Want me to redeem myself with another shot.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, make it a dad joke about farts.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: I tried to write a symphony about flatulence, but I
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: could only compose it in one key.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: The toot or... That one really resonated, didn't it?
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Nah, we gotta take a week off here, man. You're
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: really low on success on that comedy stage. Ooh, you stink.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: You are the joke. Ooh, you stink.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm the joke now. Well, at least I'm consistent.
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: You're right, though.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: I'll take a break from the comedy stage before I
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: cause any more eye rolls. But hey, I'm still here
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: when you need me for the serious stuff.