WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.740 It's Friday. January 23rd, 2026. This morning, 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:07.700 I was looking at the price of milk in Mississippi, 00:00:08.259 --> 00:00:11.400 and it sent me down this rabbit hole that somehow, 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.240 weirdly, ended with Dungeons and Dragons. That's 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.559 quite a jump. It is, isn't it? But then you look 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:18.699 at the stack of research we have for today. You've 00:00:18.699 --> 00:00:21.480 got economic data from Arbor, the political reporting 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:23.480 from Electoral Vote, and some really fascinating 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:26.199 stuff on cognitive science. And it actually starts 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:29.079 to make a weird kind of sense. It does. It really 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:31.530 does. When you lay it all out, you stop seeing 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:34.130 just, you know, random headlines. You start to 00:00:34.130 --> 00:00:37.409 see a very specific story about pressure. Exactly. 00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:39.469 And that's the mission for this deep dive. We're 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:41.329 not just recapping the news. We're trying to 00:00:41.329 --> 00:00:44.130 map out exactly where the walls are closing in 00:00:44.130 --> 00:00:46.909 financially, legally, politically. And then, 00:00:46.909 --> 00:00:49.270 and this is the important part, how people are 00:00:49.270 --> 00:00:51.549 trying to find a way out. because the data really 00:00:51.549 --> 00:00:53.310 suggests we're hitting some kind of tipping point. 00:00:53.429 --> 00:00:55.869 I think so. It's about how much noise the average 00:00:55.869 --> 00:00:58.070 person can actually handle. That really is the 00:00:58.070 --> 00:00:59.829 theme. We're looking at a world that just feels 00:00:59.829 --> 00:01:03.130 more and more expensive, more politically volatile. 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:05.750 We've got this inflation data that just refuses 00:01:05.750 --> 00:01:08.590 to go away. A constitutional showdown brewing 00:01:08.590 --> 00:01:11.109 in Minneapolis. And a political theater in D 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:13.609 .C. that seems to be, well, losing its audience. 00:01:13.730 --> 00:01:15.750 Right. And the response to all that pressure 00:01:15.750 --> 00:01:18.329 isn't what you'd think. It's not mass protests. 00:01:18.829 --> 00:01:21.560 It's... Rolling dice. But we'll get to the escapism. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:23.959 First, we have to look at the reality. Let's 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:26.879 start with the money. We've got fresh inflation 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.700 data for early 2026 and well. The kitchen table 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:33.060 is looking pretty expensive. It really is. The 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:35.420 numbers are in and they paint a picture of what 00:01:35.420 --> 00:01:38.500 economists like to call a sticky situation. Sticky. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.760 That's the polite way of saying painful and not 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:42.939 going away. Precisely. The headline number that 00:01:42.939 --> 00:01:46.019 really jumps out is food away from home. So that's 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:48.579 restaurants, takeout, even your morning coffee. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.219 It's hovering right around 4 .10 percent. That 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:54.260 feels incredibly high for 2026. I mean, aren't 00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:56.180 we supposed to be past all the post pandemic 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:59.159 shocks? We are, but this isn't really about supply 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:01.840 chains anymore. This is more structural. What's 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.319 driving this is labor costs and service overhead. 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:06.560 You know, those wages went up, which is great 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.539 for workers, but it means a $15 burger is probably 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:12.039 the new normal. not just a temporary spike. OK, 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:14.419 so dining out is a luxury again. And historically, 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.000 that's fine. You just you stop going out to eat. 00:02:17.099 --> 00:02:20.620 You cook at home. That's the classic relief valve 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:23.039 that financial adviser Thomas Moreno mentions 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.439 in our notes. Right. Moreno's whole point is 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:28.360 that consumers used to have agency. If the restaurant's 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:30.840 too expensive, you just retreat to your own kitchen. 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:33.680 You dodge that four percent inflation by shifting 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:36.340 how you spend. But the data showing that valve 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:39.080 is getting jammed shut. It is. Because grocery 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:42.599 prices are going the wrong way. Exactly. Back 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:45.939 in 2024, food at home inflation had dropped to 00:02:45.939 --> 00:02:48.919 nearly 1 percent. Everyone thought, OK, we've 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:52.500 stabilized. But here we are early 2026 and it 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:54.460 has completely reversed course. It's climbing 00:02:54.460 --> 00:02:57.340 back up to 2 .4 percent. So what's behind the 00:02:57.340 --> 00:02:59.860 reversal? If it's not the supply chains, why 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:02.039 is my grocery bill getting bigger? That's the 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:04.979 million dollar question. The data suggests there's 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:08.319 a kind of decoupling going on. The raw costs 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:11.780 things like fuel grain. They've mostly stabilized 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:14.699 What we're likely seeing now is retailers and 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:16.860 producers trying to preserve their margins So 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:19.400 they raised prices when they had to and now they're 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:21.860 not lowering them even though they probably could 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:24.500 They found out that the consumer has a much higher 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:26.979 pain tolerance than anyone expected. We're just 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:29.740 getting used to the pain but That pain, it's 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:31.979 not spread out evenly, is it? This was the part 00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:34.080 of the Arbor data science report that just, it 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:36.520 blew my mind, the geography of this squeeze. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:38.620 It is stark. I mean, if you live in the southeast, 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:41.780 especially Mississippi, you are facing a really 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:45.590 brutal reality. The data shows a staggering 10 00:03:45.590 --> 00:03:48.990 .57 % of the median household income is going 00:03:48.990 --> 00:03:50.810 just to groceries. Wait, let's just pause on 00:03:50.810 --> 00:03:52.930 that for a second. Over 10%. Now, I know food 00:03:52.930 --> 00:03:55.189 has always been a major expense, but wasn't it 00:03:55.189 --> 00:03:56.650 historically higher? Like, if you go way back 00:03:56.650 --> 00:03:58.449 to the 50s or something? It was higher in the 00:03:58.449 --> 00:04:01.530 50s, yes. But here's the context that makes all 00:04:01.530 --> 00:04:04.949 the difference. Back then, things like housing, 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:08.509 healthcare, education, they took up a tiny fraction 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:11.639 of the budget compared to today. It's going 2026. 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:13.939 You're paying modern prices for your house and 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:15.840 your health insurance, and you're losing over 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.899 10 percent of your income just to put food on 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:20.379 the table. There's just no margin for error left. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:23.319 It's the combination that gets you. Right. Now, 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:26.819 compare Mississippi to the Northeast. In Massachusetts, 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:30.180 that number is 6 .13 percent. New Hampshire is 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:33.000 6 .25 percent. So is food just that much cheaper 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:35.259 in Boston? That doesn't feel right. It's not 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:37.480 about the price of milk. It's about the size 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:39.879 of the paycheck. The income baselines in the 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:42.720 Northeast are just significantly higher. And 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.339 that cushions the blow. Pennsylvania, for example, 00:04:45.379 --> 00:04:48.000 sits in the middle at about 7 .75 percent. The 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.459 big takeaway then is that for a huge part of 00:04:50.459 --> 00:04:53.240 the country, that relief valve of cooking at 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.839 home is still incredibly expensive. You're squeezed 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:57.660 at the restaurant and you're squeezed at the 00:04:57.660 --> 00:05:00.120 grocery store. OK, so that's the economic pressure. 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:02.220 Now let's pivot to the legal pressure, because 00:05:02.220 --> 00:05:04.060 if the money stuff makes you feel broke, this 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:06.699 next story might make you feel, well, unsafe. 00:05:07.420 --> 00:05:10.079 We need to talk about ICE and the Fourth Amendment. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.000 This is where we move from tightening belts to 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.100 tightening rights. There's been a whistleblower 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:18.079 leak and it involves a memo from the acting ICE 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:22.339 director Todd Lyons dated May 12th, 2025. And 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:24.660 this isn't just some bureaucratic paper shuffling. 00:05:24.939 --> 00:05:27.220 This memo tries to fundamentally change how federal 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:29.560 agents can enter a private home. It absolutely 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:32.759 attempts to, yes. The memo asserts that ICE officers 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:35.600 only need an administrative warrant to enter 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.500 a home without consent, not a judicial warrant. 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:40.639 Okay, let's be really clear for everyone listening. 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:43.860 That's not just legal jargon. What is the actual 00:05:43.860 --> 00:05:45.740 functional difference between those two pieces 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:47.240 of paper? It's the difference between checks 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:49.720 and balances and Well, just checking yourself. 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:52.180 A judicial warrant has to be signed by a judge, 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:54.279 a neutral third party in the judicial branch. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:56.660 They look at the evidence and have to agree, 00:05:57.259 --> 00:05:59.980 yes, there is probable cause to violate this 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:02.660 person's privacy. That's the bedrock of the Fourth 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:05.480 Amendment protection. Exactly. An administrative 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:08.279 warrant, on the other hand, is signed by an ICE 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:11.139 official. It's the executive branch giving itself 00:06:11.139 --> 00:06:14.180 permission to act. Historically, these were for 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:18.310 arresting someone in, say, a public place. couldn't 00:06:18.310 --> 00:06:20.550 use them to kick down a door. And this memo just 00:06:20.550 --> 00:06:23.129 says actually you can? It argues exactly that. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:26.180 It's a massive erosion of the separation of powers. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.060 You're just bypassing the judge entirely. And 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:31.439 we're seeing this play out on the ground right 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.800 now in Minneapolis. We are. The reports coming 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:35.959 out of Minneapolis are intense. We're hearing 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:38.980 phrases like house to house raids. And the really 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:41.660 damning part is the video footage. Residents 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:44.139 are filming these encounters and you see agents 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:46.660 flat out refusing to show any paperwork. That 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:48.980 refusal is everything. If you have a valid judicial 00:06:48.980 --> 00:06:51.100 warrant, you show it. It's your legal shield. 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:53.740 Of course. If you're refusing to show it, it 00:06:53.740 --> 00:06:55.699 strongly suggests you're operating on this new 00:06:55.699 --> 00:06:57.620 administrative authority. You're essentially 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:00.079 saying, we're coming in because we said we can. 00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:02.620 And the administration, they're not even denying 00:07:02.620 --> 00:07:06.040 the activity. JD Vance went to Minneapolis himself, 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.970 but his take on it was. Something else a classic 00:07:09.970 --> 00:07:12.230 political pivot. He didn't defend the lack of 00:07:12.230 --> 00:07:14.529 warrants instead. He blamed the local leadership 00:07:14.529 --> 00:07:17.209 He claimed Minneapolis officials were obstructing 00:07:17.209 --> 00:07:19.490 IC forcing them to take these kinds of measures 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:22.670 He labeled anyone who opposed it as far -left 00:07:22.670 --> 00:07:26.509 agitators. So you shift the debate from Why are 00:07:26.509 --> 00:07:29.110 you breaking into homes without a judge's permission 00:07:29.110 --> 00:07:32.870 to why does Minneapolis hate law and order? Exactly. 00:07:32.870 --> 00:07:35.269 You turn a constitutional question into a partisan 00:07:35.269 --> 00:07:38.899 culture war But this isn't just a blue city issue. 00:07:39.139 --> 00:07:40.939 Look at what's happening in Maine. Right. Operation 00:07:40.939 --> 00:07:43.180 Catch of the Day, which I have to say is a grimly 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:45.779 cute name for a raid operation in lobster country. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:48.600 It is. And the politics there are just fascinating. 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.740 Maine is usually pretty quiet, but you have Senator 00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:54.399 Susan Collins in the fight of her political life. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:56.680 The polling data we have shows her in some real 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:59.319 trouble. She is struggling, yeah. She's facing 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:01.360 potential challenges from Governor Janet Mills 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.500 or Graham Plattner, and she's down in a few of 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:06.519 those hypothetical matchups. Now normally, a 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:09.620 Republican incumbent runs on safety and security. 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.899 But does a heavy -handed ICE operation in quiet 00:08:12.899 --> 00:08:16.449 Maine towns actually help her? That's the question. 00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:18.670 It's a double -edged sword. It might fire up 00:08:18.670 --> 00:08:21.370 her base, but for that moderate independent who 00:08:21.370 --> 00:08:24.589 really values privacy, and that is a very main 00:08:24.589 --> 00:08:27.629 trait, seeing federal agents swarring the neighborhood 00:08:27.629 --> 00:08:30.410 could really backfire. It brings the chaos right 00:08:30.410 --> 00:08:33.549 to their doorstep. Exactly. And speaking of doorsteps, 00:08:33.690 --> 00:08:35.549 the surveillance isn't just coming from guys 00:08:35.549 --> 00:08:37.629 in vans anymore. It's coming from our own front 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:40.299 porches. We have to talk about this partnership 00:08:40.299 --> 00:08:43.240 between Flock and Amazon's Ring. This is where 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:45.440 the pressure just becomes almost claustrophobic. 00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:47.559 So Flock is an AI surveillance company. They 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:49.879 do license plate reading, movement tracking, 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:53.059 and they've now partnered with Ring to get access 00:08:53.059 --> 00:08:56.100 to user footage. So if I buy a Ring camera to 00:08:56.100 --> 00:08:58.480 watch for my packages and I opt in to this program, 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:01.899 my footage now goes to Flock and then potentially 00:09:01.899 --> 00:09:05.399 to federal agencies. Yes. You essentially become 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:08.980 a node. in a massive federal surveillance network. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:11.700 But here's the real problem. And the source material 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:14.659 points this out so clearly. What about my neighbor? 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:18.440 The involuntary participant. That is the core 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:20.860 issue. You might consent to share your footage, 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:23.419 but your camera is pointed at the street or at 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:25.980 your neighbor's driveway. they never consented. 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:28.740 And yet their movements, their visitors, their 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:32.100 daily patterns are all being fed into Flock's 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:35.039 AI. It creates a situation where you can't really 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:38.269 opt out of being watched unless you I don't know, 00:09:38.269 --> 00:09:40.210 move to a cabin in the middle of the woods. And 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:42.570 even then, a satellite probably gets you. It 00:09:42.570 --> 00:09:45.149 just creates this low -level, constant anxiety. 00:09:45.169 --> 00:09:48.429 You're always potentially on air. And when that 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:51.190 spills over into actual protest, the crackdowns 00:09:51.190 --> 00:09:53.610 are getting more and more severe. We saw a rest 00:09:53.610 --> 00:09:55.809 in St. Paul from a protest at City's church, 00:09:56.149 --> 00:09:58.070 including the activist, Nikima Levy Armstrong. 00:09:58.389 --> 00:10:01.090 And significantly, they tried to charge the journalist, 00:10:01.370 --> 00:10:03.970 Don Lemon. That felt like a real line being crossed. 00:10:04.250 --> 00:10:06.629 A magistrate judge threw it out, didn't he? They 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:09.740 did. initially. But the fact that Attorney General 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:12.840 Pam Bondi was publicly pushing for charges against 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:15.679 a journalist who was just covering a protest, 00:10:16.659 --> 00:10:19.779 that sends a chill down your spine. It signals 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:21.740 that the executive branch is willing to test 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:24.000 the boundaries of the First Amendment, just like 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.519 they're testing the Fourth with ICE. So let's 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:28.759 just take stock here. You have economic tightening. 00:10:29.019 --> 00:10:31.440 You have Fourth Amendment erosion. You have a 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.980 surveillance dragnet expanding. You would think, 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:36.679 in a functioning democracy, this is where the 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.200 political system would step in to provide some 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:42.100 leadership. Or at least clarity. One would hope. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:44.559 Instead, we look to Washington and what do we 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.330 get? Theater. Pure theater. I want to talk about 00:10:47.330 --> 00:10:49.330 the Jack Smith testimony because it feels like 00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:52.009 the perfect example of this. This noise that's 00:10:52.009 --> 00:10:54.309 just exhausting everyone. It was a real steady 00:10:54.309 --> 00:10:56.610 in contrast. You have the former special counsel, 00:10:56.750 --> 00:10:58.950 Jack Smith, testifying before the House Judiciary 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:01.690 Committee. And on one side, you have this very 00:11:01.690 --> 00:11:03.950 specific performance art from the GOP members. 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:07.149 The reporting described them as struggling to 00:11:07.149 --> 00:11:09.149 land blows. Because they were just playing to 00:11:09.149 --> 00:11:10.730 the cameras. There was a lot of yelling, a lot 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:13.450 of soundbites designed to be clipped for social 00:11:13.450 --> 00:11:17.440 media. But Smith. the sources describing as being 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:21.230 almost unnervingly calm, just professional. There 00:11:21.230 --> 00:11:23.570 was that one moment about the phone records that 00:11:23.570 --> 00:11:25.929 really just laid bare the hypocrisy of the whole 00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:29.250 thing. That was the key exchange, I think. Republicans 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:32.169 were acting outraged that Smith has subpoenaed 00:11:32.169 --> 00:11:34.950 their phone records. And Smith just humbly pointed 00:11:34.950 --> 00:11:36.990 out that the only reason he needed those records 00:11:36.990 --> 00:11:39.049 was because the president Donald Trump had tried 00:11:39.049 --> 00:11:41.610 to enlist those specific members to help him 00:11:41.610 --> 00:11:43.710 overturn the election. It's like I wouldn't be 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:45.450 looking at your phone if you weren't on the phone 00:11:45.450 --> 00:11:47.809 with the guy trying to stop the transfer of power. 00:11:48.029 --> 00:11:50.679 Exactly. And The Democrats really hammered that 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:52.879 point. They highlighted that we have the records 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.600 of these members condemning January 6th in private. 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.879 We know what they really think. But publicly, 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:02.440 they support Trump. It just reinforces that what 00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:04.220 you're watching in these hearings isn't governance. 00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:07.100 It's content creation. And speaking of content, 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:10.299 Trump's reaction was, of course, immediate. He 00:12:10.299 --> 00:12:13.480 went on Truth Social and called Smith a deranged 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:16.500 animal. Standard operating procedure. Attack 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:18.840 the messenger. But... And this is where I think 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:21.019 we're seeing a real shift. Is anyone actually 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:23.779 listening anymore? We have this fascinating bit 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:26.580 of data about Trump's recent interview on News 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:29.220 Nation. This falls under the Schadenfreude part 00:12:29.220 --> 00:12:31.159 of our notes, but I think it's actually a serious 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:34.139 metric of public fatigue. So Trump sits down 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:37.200 with Katie Pavlich. This is the former president, 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.100 the leader of his party in a prime time interview. 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:43.840 And the viewership was. 75 ,000 people. 75 ,000. 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.379 That is that's statistically negligible. To give 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:48.860 you some perspective, in that same time slot, 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:52.279 he was outdrawn by reruns of Gunsmoke, the Golden 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:55.720 Girls and my personal favorite, SpongeBob SquarePants. 00:12:55.899 --> 00:12:57.820 SpongeBob pulled better numbers than the president. 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:01.240 Significantly better. Now, Trump has mentioned 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.480 ratings over 600 times on social media. He understands 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.100 that currency better than anyone. For him to 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:10.399 pull numbers that low, it suggests the audience 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:14.100 is just tired. The shtick as one source puts 00:13:14.100 --> 00:13:16.440 it just isn't working anymore. People are tuning 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.019 out the noise. They are And that brings us full 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:21.200 circle, doesn't it? We've described a world of 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.899 immense pressure, financial, legal, surveillance, 00:13:25.259 --> 00:13:27.659 and a political class that offers nothing but 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:30.360 noise instead of solutions. People are tired. 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:32.460 They are checking out. And that explains the 00:13:32.460 --> 00:13:34.919 final and most surprising piece of research we 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:37.419 have. The renaissance of play. Board games. We 00:13:37.419 --> 00:13:40.240 are seeing a massive surge in analog gaming. 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:42.259 And we're not talking about dusting off Monopoly 00:13:42.259 --> 00:13:44.200 to have a fight with your grandma. No, no. This 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:46.220 is a very sophisticated industry now. We're talking 00:13:46.220 --> 00:13:49.159 about modern class. like Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.379 the juggernaut that is Catan. Which I learned 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:53.539 is just Catan now. They dropped the settlers. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:57.320 They did. But the study by Gray Atherton really 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:00.919 digs into why this is happening. Why, in 2026, 00:14:01.340 --> 00:14:03.860 with all the VR and AI and infinite streaming 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:06.559 content, are people buying little pieces of cardboard? 00:14:06.899 --> 00:14:09.639 It's the control, isn't it? It has to be. Think 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:11.799 about everything we just discussed. The rules 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:13.659 of the economy are changing under your feet. 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:15.919 The rules of privacy are changing. The rules 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.460 of politics seem non -existent. But when you 00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:20.960 open a box of Cat An, the rules are right there 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:24.159 in the booklet. They are rigid. They are fair. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.480 And they apply to everyone at the table equally. 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:29.200 A sheep is always worth a sheep. The robber always 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:31.500 moves on a seven. It's a relief valve for your 00:14:31.500 --> 00:14:33.779 brain. You enter this little world where you 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:36.379 have agency, where your decisions actually matter, 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:39.379 and the outcome depends on strategy, not on which 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:41.820 politician is yelling the loudest on TV. There's 00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:43.799 also a really interesting medical angle here, 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.419 too, about neurodivergence. Oh, this is fascinating. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:48.860 The research shows these games are incredible 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:51.820 tools for social connection, especially for neurodivergent 00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:54.080 individuals, like those on the autism spectrum. 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:56.850 Take a game like Dungeons & Dragons. The game 00:14:56.850 --> 00:14:59.909 that caused a satanic panic in the 80s is now 00:14:59.909 --> 00:15:02.210 considered therapy. It really is. It gives you 00:15:02.210 --> 00:15:05.070 a structured environment to practice social dynamics. 00:15:05.529 --> 00:15:07.570 You have to collaborate, you have to empathize 00:15:07.570 --> 00:15:10.230 with other characters, but there's a clear framework 00:15:10.230 --> 00:15:12.669 for it all. Your character sheet, the dice rolls. 00:15:12.929 --> 00:15:16.549 It removes so much of the ambiguity of real world 00:15:16.549 --> 00:15:19.409 social interaction that can be so exhausting 00:15:19.409 --> 00:15:21.950 for people. And for people who are just emotionally 00:15:21.950 --> 00:15:24.509 burnt out, there was one specific game they mentioned, 00:15:25.029 --> 00:15:28.269 Dixit. Dixit is wonderful. It uses these cards 00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:31.610 with very abstract, dreamlike artwork, and you 00:15:31.610 --> 00:15:33.990 tell stories based on the images. The research 00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:36.649 highlights how this lets players express complex 00:15:36.649 --> 00:15:39.110 emotions without having to find the exact words. 00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:41.629 So if you're feeling that low -level dread about 00:15:41.629 --> 00:15:44.470 the surveillance state or the grocery bill, you 00:15:44.470 --> 00:15:46.409 can just pick a card with, like a storm cloud 00:15:46.409 --> 00:15:48.750 or a trapped bird, and you're communicating that 00:15:48.750 --> 00:15:50.539 feeling without having to give a whole political 00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:53.240 speech. Exactly. It's connection without the 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:56.259 confrontation. In a world this polarized, just 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:58.120 sitting around a table and agreeing to play by 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:00.240 the same set of rules is, well, it's kind of 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.000 a radical act. It's reclaiming the kitchen table. 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:05.019 We started the show talking about the kitchen 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:07.840 table as the source of stress. It's where you 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.799 pay the bills. And we're ending with it as a 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:12.779 source of relief. It's where you play the game. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.720 That's the cycle. pressure and release. So what's 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:18.659 the takeaway for us for you listening on January 00:16:18.659 --> 00:16:22.480 23rd, 2026? I think it means we have to be vigilant, 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:25.159 but we also have to protect our own sanity. The 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.220 economic and legal pressures are very real. This 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:30.679 administrative warrant idea is a development 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.279 that every citizen needs to watch because it 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:34.960 fundamentally changes the relationship between 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.210 the government and the governed. But at the same 00:16:37.210 --> 00:16:39.570 time, we have to recognize when we're just being 00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:42.250 fed noise. Right. When the political ratings 00:16:42.250 --> 00:16:45.309 are tanking, that's a signal. It's a signal that 00:16:45.309 --> 00:16:47.350 we don't have to engage with the theater. We 00:16:47.350 --> 00:16:50.509 can choose to tune out the deranged animal posts 00:16:50.509 --> 00:16:52.370 and the performative hearings. I want to leave 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:54.330 you with one final thought, something that's 00:16:54.330 --> 00:16:56.070 been nagging at me since we talked about that 00:16:56.070 --> 00:16:59.490 ICE memo. We all talk about the castle doctrine, 00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:02.190 this idea that your home is your ultimate sanctuary. 00:17:02.389 --> 00:17:05.759 A core American concept. So if a government agency 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.420 can grant itself permission to bypass a judge 00:17:08.420 --> 00:17:11.720 and enter that sanctuary, where does the boundary 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:15.500 of that castle actually lie in 2026? Is it still 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:18.259 a castle or is it just a leasehold that the executive 00:17:18.259 --> 00:17:20.279 branch can inspect whenever it feels like it? 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:22.460 That is the question, isn't it? And frankly, 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:25.279 until the courts or Congress step in with a clear 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:28.859 answer, the answer is pretty unsettling. Something 00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:31.259 to think about tonight. Or maybe better yet, 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:32.920 something to forget while you're setting up a 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:35.299 board game. Thanks for diving in with us. Stay 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:36.640 safe out there. We'll see you next time.