Got some emails last week asking if I was keeping The Game going now that I’m doing a podcast with Morning Brew.

Fear not. We’re not going anywhere.

(Also, go listen to the pod if you haven’t yet.)

WINNER

The Feynman technique

If you’re someone who has spent any amount of time on Twitter, you’ve likely come across a thread explaining the Feynman Technique.

It’s a way to theoretically “learn anything.” It also explains how I approach hosting a daily news podcast every morning.

Each day we pick a slate of 5-7 news stories to talk about. Some are right in my wheelhouse and I can speak on them easily.

Others, like the Ozempic drug shortage from yesterday’s episode, require me to get up to speed with a complex topic extremely quickly.

Not only do I have to get up to speed, I then have to go explain it to an audience—much like the Feynman technique recommends. It’s incredibly intellectually stimulating and oftentimes stressful as hell, but I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge.

And yes, this whole section was essentially a roundabout way of telling you all to listen to the pod (and share it with a friend or three).

But also, try out the Feynman Technique in your life and let me know how it goes.

LOSER

Conspiracy theorists

The last few weeks have been a bonanza for the tin hat wearers among us. From Chinese spy balloons getting shot down every other day to UFOs making headlines, it felt like conspiracy theorists were having their moment.

But as more information about the flying objects emerge, it’s not looking good for them. A small radio-equipped balloon launched by an Illinois high school went MIA off the coast of Alaska right around the same time the Pentagon announced they had destroyed a UFO with heat-seeking missiles. Whoops.

But the final nail in the coffin came yesterday when the unidentified sphere that washed up in Japan—once called dubbed "Godzilla egg"—is probably just a mooring buoy.

A tough week overall for anyone who loves a good conspiracy. But look on the bright side: when you’re a doomsday predictor, you only have to be right once.

Winner: Nvidia

Yesterday, Nvidia reported earnings and blew expectations out of the water. It jumped 14%, which is kinda a big deal when you’re a $580+ billion company.

But it wasn’t just yesterday—Nvidia has been crushing the game for a while now.

When crypto was ripping, Nvidia cashed in because its GPUs were essential to the crypto mining process.

When you couldn't go 10 seconds without hearing the word “metaverse,” Nvidia pumped because its chips power the graphics for metaverse projects.

Now, as AI becomes the new hot thing, Nvidia is once again reaping the rewards as its chips power the supercomputers needed to train large language models like ChatGPT.

Every time a new trend pops up, Nvidia cashes in. It is trend immune.

Big shout out to my Aunt Callie who has been a long-time Nvidia employee and my grandma who is a proud long-term holder of Nvidia stock for 20+ years. Hope you're enjoying the recent returns.

Loser: Carlos Watson

If you don’t work in media you may not be familiar with the Carlos Watson and Ozy scandal.

To get you up to speed, Carlos Watson is the founder of a company called Ozy Media which runs a variety of daily newsletters and podcasts. Think Morning Brew, but worse in every way.

Carlos and Ozy got in trouble two years ago for artificially inflating traffic numbers and view counts on some of their content. We’re talking YouTube videos with 3 comments on them but multi-million views.

The math wasn’t mathing.

Then things really took a left turn a few months later when the COO at Ozy impersonated a YouTube exec on a call with Goldman Sachs in order to try and win an investment from the bank. Super illegal stuff.

But in the months since the impersonation, it seemed like Carlos Watson was going to escape unscathed. That was until yesterday when everything finally caught up with him and he was arrested at his Manhattan hotel. He is accused of falsifying information about Ozy’s financial performance and inflating its projected earnings.

Honestly, I’m going to miss Carlos if he does jail time. Yes, Ozy was a huge scam and everyone knew it, but he was at least good for an absurd headline or two every few months.

Winner: Cocaine Bear

Last week, Winne the Pooh was the ursa major making headlines. This week, it’s all about Cocaine Bear.

I can’t shake the feeling that this movie is going to slap. Everyone involved with the project just has the right attitude and critics seem to be loving it so far.

I’m also a huge fan of Elizabeth Banks and trust her funny bone. This was her at the film’s debut:

“I launched a franchise in Pitch Perfect. I relaunched a game show in Press Your Luck, I got Emmy-nominated for 30 Rock, and I’ve directed a few films along the way, but I’m fully convinced that everything has brought me to this moment in my career, the pinnacle: the rich and deeply cerebral Cocaine Bear.”

You gotta love her.

Winner: Me

It’s my birthday today! I just launched a podcast! Life is good!

Hope next week is more of the same.

TIDBITS

Small talk corner

Bust these facts out at your next office visit or social event:

1. My cohost Neal told me this fact yesterday morning and my jaw literally dropped. Try to guess which country has the top-performing year-over-year stock market in the world right now? Not the US. Not China. But Turkey. Turkey!! You can read more about its remarkable turnaround here.

2. Microsoft has officially been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for building the quietest room on earth. It took two years to design, consists of six layers of concrete and steel, and is slightly detached from the surrounding building. No one can last an hour inside because, after a few minutes, you start to hear the sound of your blood rushing, your heart beating, and your bones creaking. It literally damages your spatial awareness because we rely on sounds reverberating off walls to orient ourselves.

3. Bill Gates, the largest landowner in the US, now owns a $900 million stake in Heineken. Bill Gates also says he doesn't really like beer. Bill Gates is kinda weird.

THE BUTTON

No winners Today…

Last week was a down week for clicks on the Button.

• The final tally was 60.

• The closest guesser Tyler Dupont with 71

Click through rate is falling just a tad so take that into account

No right answer means we’re doubling the prize pool and going again this week!

You know the drill by now—click the button below, then reply to this email with a guess of how many people chose to do the same.

• Current subscribers: 860

• Open rate: 70%
  

Current prize pool: $160

Good luck, Players. See ya next week.