This Time Is Different

By Malcolm Ethridge and Ricky MulveyBusiness Technology Investing

This Time Is Different episodes

October 27Netflix Has a YouTube Problem
If Netflix listens to two podcasters, then the company will turn around.
Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss:
Netflix’s earnings, and if a management shake-up can solve long-term problems.
What Netflix should do with the $2.8 billion breakup fee from Paramount Skydance.
Why Tesla and SpaceX should just merge, and what to make of Elon Musk’s $1 billion investment in Paramount Skydance.
Credit default swaps on CoreWeave, Oracle, and Meta: why Malcolm sees a warning sign in Meta’s debt, and why Ricky isn’t convinced.
Why a New Yorker profile of Barnes & Noble makes the case that the age of reading isn’t over.
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Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey
Engineer: Heather Horton

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53 min
October 20The Risk You Didn’t Choose
Some of the biggest risks are the ones that crash into you.
Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss:
Why avoiding taxes can be the bigger investment risk, using an Oracle case.

Malcolm’s two-step risk test: what can go wrong, and can you absorb it?

How a recent car accident changed the way Ricky weighs everyday costs against catastrophic risk.

Why Malcolm argues the money that matters belongs at large, battle-tested institutions.

The cost of AI performance falling roughly 13-fold over a few years.

McKinsey’s AI interviews: a way for smaller employers to punch above their weight, or another shift of power toward the employer?
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We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey
Engineer: Heather Horton

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52 min
October 13 Who Does Your AI Actually Work For?
AI agents want your credit card, and new research suggests they may not find you the best price. Ricky and Malcolm ask who these tools are actually beholden to.
Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss:
- Why Malcolm is watching Apple’s Mac mini, and how it became a way to skip the line for GPUs.
- The Financial Times report that OpenAI’s annualized revenue is closer to $50 billion than $70 billion and why that the AI trade under the microscope.
- How Paramount’s $52 billion financing package for Warner Bros. connects to the Ellison family’s other company, and what it could mean for the big, risky movies Ricky wants to keep seeing.
- New research that suggests AI shopping agents may steer higher-income users toward pricier options.
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We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey
Engineer: Heather Horton

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46 min
October 06Bilal Little on Leveraged ETFs and AI Agents
Leveraged ETFs have a reputation problem, and AI agents are already slipping past the security checks meant to stop them. Direxion's Bilal Little joins Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge to separate the real risks from the misconceptions.
Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge, and Bilal Little discuss:
International equities trading at a 30-35% discount to US peers.

Bilal pushes back on the idea that leveraged ETFs are driving widespread market volatility.

An AI agent that lowballed a Facebook Marketplace sale, let a stranger show up unannounced, and left its owner holding a bad review — and what it means that these agents are already slipping past CAPTCHAs and light authentication.

Why there's currently no real guardrail layer standing between an AI agent and your inbox, bank account, or social media, and what that gap means for retail investors experimenting with tools like Meta's Muse.
Want to contact us? [email protected]
We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky Mulvey
Guest: Bilal Little
Engineer: Heather Horton

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52 min
September 29Will Healthcare Costs Take More Jobs Than AI?
Mark Cuban says rising health benefit costs will get more people fired or not hired than artificial intelligence will. Ricky and Malcolm dig into the claim that polite society isn’t supposed to talk about.
Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss:
Why healthcare costs, now close to $19,000 per employee per year, could cost more jobs than AI.

What GLP-1 drugs are doing to company budgets, including Bank of America's $250 million a year in spending.

Why Oracle is warning its creditor that it may struggle to make payments on a data center, and what OpenAI's delayed IPO has to do with it.

Why SoftBank's near-10% high-yield bond offering to buy more OpenAI shares is a sign markets are getting more skeptical, and why bond fund holders may already be exposed to the AI trade.

Why Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara might be the book Malcolm needs to download next, plus Ricky's case for Costco, Disney parks, and Trader Joe's.
Want to contact us? [email protected]
We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky MulveyEngineer: Heather Horton

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57 min
September 22OpenAI Really Cares About Safety
Sam Altman told Fortune that OpenAI is delaying its IPO because of safety concerns. Ricky and Malcolm think the real story is something else.
Ricky Mulvey and Malcolm Ethridge discuss:
Why Sam Altman's "safety" excuse for delaying OpenAI's IPO looks a lot more like a company that isn't ready to speak to Wall Street.

The AI researcher who quit his job over how "dangerous and irresponsible" these companies are, then admitted on national TV that he still owns his shares.

Why the federal government is quietly taking equity stakes in companies like Rigetti Computing.

What a Yahoo Finance analysis of 17 companies that cut deals with the Trump administration says about who actually profits.

Ricky's new car purchase, the used-car market that refuses to depreciate, and tips for speeding up time at a dealership.
Want to contact us? [email protected]
We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Hosts: Malcolm Ethridge, Ricky MulveyEngineer: Heather Horton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
48 min
September 15Apple Finds the Crease
Apple dropped a new folding iPhone. Are you ready to pay $2k for one? Ricky and Malcolm are joined by special guest Dylan Lewis, now with The Morning Brew! They discuss:
Malcolm's case that this is Apple's "Jordan Mania" moment even if he's not buying one himself.

Why Apple's stock is up roughly 40% over the past year, why it’s a "safety trade" story as CEO John Ternus takes over.

Robinhood's tokenized-stock push and why AMC's CEO isn't a fan.

Aura's IPO: 74% revenue growth, 5 million paid members, and a killer word-of-mouth acquisition number. Are fitness wearables investable?

Why Dylan is interested in financial planning for new parents, like setting up a 529 plan.
Want to contact us? [email protected]
We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Hosts: Ricky Mulvey, Malcolm Ethridge
Guest: Dylan Lewis
Engineer: Heather Horton

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
48 min
September 08Real Money Secrets Aren't on TikTok
Tax tricks used by billionaires are now showing up in the algorithm, but the real money secrets aren’t going out on social media. Ricky and Malcolm discuss:
Winmark, a royalty-collecting franchisor (Play It Again Sports, Once Upon a Child) trading at a 52-week low, and why Ricky is interested as a long-term investor.

The 351 exchange strategy the ultra-wealthy use to defer capital gains taxes, and why the version being pitched to retail investors on TikTok rarely pencils out.

Gary Vaynerchuk's VeeFriends, how their being sold to collectors, and if cards can provide “alpha”.

K Money, a suspended securities broker turned Facebook "investing luminary," and how his $800,000 fund actually got spent.

Why "if they were really that good at it, they wouldn't be telling you about it" is a solid rule of thumb for filtering financial advice on social media.

A few real-life "avoidable risk" lessons from Red Rocks, and Ricky's Tesla-vs-Civic dilemma as his EV lease runs out.
Want to contact us? [email protected]
We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Host: Ricky Mulvey
Co-host: Malcolm Ethridge
Engineer: Tim Sparks

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51 min
September 01Cybersecurity Stocks' Comeback
AI didn’t kill all software. In fact, some of the big dogs in cybersecurity may be stronger than before. Ricky and Malcolm discuss:
Bitcoin's return to favor, and whether it's a trade or a decade-long hold.

Why CrowdStrike and Okta are rallying, and the CISO survey stat behind the next leg of cybersecurity spending.

The "SaaS-pocalypse" that may still be coming, and how private equity gets hurt.

Ricky's Medicare for All reporting, and the cost assumption nobody's talking about.

TRICARE's opaque drug pricing, and why other developed nations pay less for U.S.-made drugs.

A mailbag question on investing real money for a college asset management timeline.
Want to contact us? [email protected]
We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Host: Ricky Mulvey Co-host: Malcolm Ethridge Engineer: Tim Sparks

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
51 min
August 25 Matt Argersinger: The AI Trade Is Musical Chairs
Future US stock returns may not follow its historical success. Former Motley Fool senior analyst Matt Argersinger sits in for Malcolm this week. Ricky and Matt discuss:
- 30-year Treasury yields near two-decade highs, and what that means for income investors who remember 2% bonds.- A real estate investment trust that Matt thinks is a great value.
- The case for playing defense on the AI trade.
- Ricky’s reporting on debanking.- Mercado Libre, gold, and covered-call ETFs.
- When it actually makes sense to pay for active management, versus indexing.
Want to contact us? [email protected]
We are proud to be in the Airwave Media network! Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast.
Host: Ricky Mulvey
Guest: Matt Argersinger
Engineer: Tim Sparks

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
52 min

About This Time Is Different

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Long-form conversations that challenge consensus thinking about markets, money, and the economy. We question the narratives everyone else accepts and welcome contrarian ideas.