Everybody's Business

This week we take a look at Trump's latest AI gambit: letting Nvidia sell their AI chips to China. Will this move help feed AI's growth or is it just another step towards making the bubble all the more explosive when it pops? The Verge's Nilay Patel joins Max and Stacey to get to the bottom of this.

Also on this show, Lucas Shaw goes through the ins-and-outs of the complicated fight over Warner Bros. Will Netflix succeed in their bid for the storied media giant, or will it be Paramount with its attempt at a hostile takeover?

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We here at Everybody’s Business are big fans of our colleagues and friends over at Big Take, Bloomberg’s daily news podcast. So when they released an episode with our very own Max Chafkin, we can’t resist to share it. Please enjoy, and hop on over to subscribe to their feed if you like what you hear!
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Excel. If you work in corporate America, that word either inspires laser-focused productivity or pure dread. Over the last 40 years, the spreadsheet software has become synonymous with the best — and worst — of late-stage capitalism. It’s seeped into popular culture and, along the way, made Microsoft one of the world’s most valuable companies.But in a world of AI and new competition where Excel=Sum(39+1), can it stay on top? On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Dina Bass and Businessweek’s Max Chafkin join host Sarah Holder to track the rise and challenges ahead for one of the most ubiquitous programs around.

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Live from the stage at our Dec. 4 event at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York, Ellen Huet joins Max and Stacey to talk about her recent story on chatbot delusion. As people’s lives get increasingly entangled with AI, cases of intense human-bot connections breaking up families, businesses, and even pushing people to question their own sanity is raising with an alarming rate. They also discuss Huet's recent book Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult.

Also, back in the studio, Max and Stacey take a look at puzzlingly positive Black Friday sales.

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To celebrate Black Friday, this week’s Everybody’s Business is all about two staples of this unofficial US holiday: commerce and football. First, New York Times’ Ken Belson sits down with Max and Stacey to discuss his new book Every Day Is Sunday: How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Roger Goodell Turned the NFL into a Cultural & Economic Juggernaut. Belson explains how the National Football League has managed to grow into the most valuable sports league in the world and why the game is so perfectly suited for television.

Also paying a visit to the studio is Wirecutter’s Annemarie Conte. She breaks down how the popular site manages to dig out and organize such a barrage of deals, and previews what jaded consumers can expect this Black Friday, amid tariffs and trade wars.

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Reporter Max Abelson gives Stacey and Max a primer on the business dealings of disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein. Abelson has sifted through thousands of emails to and from Epstein and explains to Max and Stacey what Epstein's business dealings, both legal and unlawful, really was. He also describes why - 20 years into a career of reporting on money and power - he is taken aback of the cruelty involved.

Plus, as America gears up for Thanksgiving, there’s a lot of anxiety about rising food prices. But are the worries warranted? A recent report shows that the average Thanksgiving meal might actually be cheaper in 2025 than previous years. What gives? Deena Shanker joins Max and Stacey to set the record straight.

For more information about the first Everybody's Business live event - happening December 4 in New York City -  click here!

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As the government reopens, the Trump administration introduces a new solution to the American housing crisis—the 50 year mortgage. The idea is getting hammered from the right and the left alike but gets support from at least one person: economist and Bloomberg Opinion contributor Allison Schrager. Can this new concept take some pressure off of struggling first-time homebuyers or will it be yet another white whale in an increasingly impossible financial game? Max and Stacey pick Allison’s brain to find out.

Also, Amanda Mull joins in the studio to talk about her new Businessweek cover story on Ulta, which she dubs the " Home Depot of the beauty industry.” While other retailers are struggling, Ulta is thriving as the largest beauty store in America. Does all this success ultimately come down to the so-called “lipstick effect?” Amanda explains.

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Matt Yglesias, author of the Slow Boring newsletter, sits down with Max and Stacey to discuss the recent string of Democratic victories in US elections. The most remarkable happened in New York City, where Democratic socialist Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani will soon be in charge of one of the global capitals of capitalism. Will Mamdani be able to go through with his ambitious agenda or will he soon realize - like many before him - that being a mayor is more about garbage collection than transforming the transit system and launching city-run grocery stores?

The duo also talk to The Atlantic’s Ellen Cushing about her recent story on food delivery apps and how they are impacting US food culture and social life.

Also, for this week’s underrated story, Max presents a surprising attempt for a government bailout.

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Max and Stacey are joined by Leo Feler, an economist with a unique perspective on the Trump administration’s immigration and deportation policies. During a  recent renovation project, Feler’s property was raided by federal agents looking to detain workers they believed were in the country illegally. Feler recounts the dramatic incident and explains how raids like these could have a chilling effect on the US economy.

Also on the show, Sean Fennessey, chief content officer of The Ringer, and co-host of The Big Picture podcast joins to debate just how bad of a year this has been for Hollywood.

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Kyla Scanlon visits the studio armed with her three most pressing indicators of the state of the economy. What do we make of all those auto loan defaults? Is Jamie Dimon’s new $3 billion “fortress” a harbinger of fundamental changes in the labor market? And why does an economically anxious population keep on spending? Lots to discuss.

Max and Stacey also sit down with David Papadopoulos to talk about the forthcoming, high stakes election in Argentina and try to make sense of the Trump administration’s attempt to help the country out: a currency swap. Is it a bailout or does the US really need $20 billion worth of pesos?

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Make sense of the world with one essential conversation, every week. Mishal Husain, one of Britain's best interviewers, brings her signature blend of curiosity and tenacity to weekly conversations with world leaders, business titans, and cultural icons, revealing who they really are and how they see the world changing around them.

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