no. 22: talk is not cheap.
90 dollar cookies and podcasts galore.
it would be remiss of me to not acknowledge last week’s election. i am sure there is plenty of news surrounding it inundating your lives, but i did find some interesting trends and tidbits i wanted to share. if you’re not feeling like reading it, go ahead and jump to where i talk about 90-dollar cookies. hopefully, you take what you need from this week’s edition.
mini-news roundup 🗞️
you could have bet on the election legally? and the election betting placed by thousands of people did in fact predict that trump would win.
switching gears — gap posted their holiday campaign, and i really like it. the marketing and creative teams behind the launches are killing it. also, circling back to my last post, i recently bought a few things for winter at gap on sale and i am really happy with them… i think i like their fall/winter collections more than their spring/summer. also speaking of their previously stale storefronts, they recently renovated their fifth avenue location and it looks really good.
there is a random insurgence in celebrity look-alike events right now - see timothe chalamet one in nyc, where he actually showed up, and recently one for a dev patel lookalike in sf. this feels like the beginning of the internet where IRL events probably happened more organically. an excerpt i laughed at: “I just moved to S.F., so having things like this is a really great way to meet the community,” her friend and fellow san francisco resident adaeze chukwaka, 22, chimed in, adding that she was also “husband-hunting.” i am intrigued… but it all aligns with the trend that people want to meet people in person again…. and they are finding really random and novel ways to meet people.
you can buy frozen cookies for a pack of 3 for only 90 dollars! you read that right, this has to be satire…? shoutout to my roommate for submitting this to talk about — these cookies also have the most generic product positioning ever: “it's about creating a movement towards living happier and more balanced lives. our cookie dough is just the start.” if anyone has seen this or fallen victim to purchasing these, please give me your feedback in the comments section.
trends to watch 👀
podcasts are the most important form of media right now. “to get the word out,” trump said, is important in politics, and television was becoming “a little bit older and maybe less significant.” the online sphere—podcasts and forums such as spaces, on X—has usurped its importance. “i just see that these platforms are starting to dominate; they’re getting very big numbers,” trump added.
as we saw with the election, podcasts are becoming increasingly important in politics. in 2023, nearly 70 million people in the united states listened to podcasts, and that number is expected to increase to over 110 million by 2029. trump conveniently benefited from talking on the world’s most popular podcast - the joe rogan experience. rogan’s deal with spotify is worth more than $200 million over three and a half years. by the way, i did not know what the world’s most popular podcast was until this week. also on the list of interviews by trump were ai researcher lex fridman and the all-in podcast — both of which I listen to. when i realized how i learned about these podcasts, they were recommended to me by men. meanwhile, the harris campaign reportedly spent 6 figures on the call her daddy podcast — spotify’s second-biggest podcast. the episode with harris failed to break even 1M views. for alex cooper, behind call her daddy, she received loads of backlash from conservative and conservative-leaning women who listened to the episode, which she met with an apology.
what i find more fascinating here is that podcasts can literally reach young, impressionable listeners like no other platform can right now. a very ingenious strategy employed by the trump campaign, as trump literally went on hundreds of minutes of podcasts leading up to the election.1 musk said “i think this really makes a difference because people like joe rogan’s podcast, which is great, and lex fridman’s and the all-in podcast. to a reasonable-minded, smart person who’s not like hardcore one way or the other, they just listen to someone talk for a few hours, and that’s how they decide whether you’re a good person, whether they like you.” so maybe trump’s outcome with male voters can be linked to a not-so-ephemeral source, after all… in any case, if next election cycle, we see politicians debut on all of our favorite podcasts, will it be less appealing? less surprising? i’m not sure what the answer to this is, but i do think this election proves that there is serious $$ to be made in podcasts and audio streaming: in recent months, several hugely popular podcast personalities have struck megadeals with audio platforms that promise them payouts on the order of a-list actors. so maybe, talk is no longer cheap?
links to all of these podcasts are below, in case you didn’t listen previously or you have an extra-long commute coming up soon.
the joe rogan experience with trump
call her daddy with harris
the all in episode with trump
i am sparing you from more links to more political podcasts. instead, here are some that i listen to on the train and stuff:
i would like to add that the top spotify podcasts are largely dominated by white men, which should come as no surprise.
90 dollar cookies? They better be the best cookies I've had in my life to spend that much. I'd rather spend that amount on a fine dining experience, but that's just me.
The rise in podcasts means everyone will have a microphone (for better or for worse). I wonder how this is going to impact free speech in the Western world.
Love that Gap holiday ad and all their marketing lately!