The Best Paragraph I've Read...

Zac & Don

A podcast that discusses an interesting article or concept.

  1. 25 SEP

    Is Mexico's Molar City the Answer to America's Dental Problems/Costs? Why the Focus On Non Medically Necessary Procedures? 75% of Kids Now Get Braces! Why Do People Despise Dental Visits?

    The Best Paragraph I've Read: "Crossing the border can be a little daunting the first time, some said. “Took us three years to work up enough nerve,” Ken Foshaug, a retired Coast Guard engineer who was staying at a nearby Sleepy Hollow R.V. park with his wife, told me. “All the guys holding guns and checking you out.Plus the whole thing of going to a foreign country to let someone drill into your teeth.” But Molar City was built on leaps of faith. It’s a place for the poor, the afflicted, the huddled masses without dental insurance. Just a shortwalk away, on the other side of the wall." This paragraph comes from The New Yorker. The article is titled: "Mexico's Molar City Could Transform My Smile. Did I Want It To?" The author is Burkhard Bilger. You can read the full story here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/04/mexicos-molar-city-could-transform-my-smile-did-i-want-it-to Zac & Don discuss the idea of going to the dentist in Mexico. They also wonder why so many are afraid of going to the dentist and why dental coverage is so bad in America. In addition they discuss the history of human teeth and the vanity behind it all.

    36 min

  2. 18 SEP

    Sports Gambling! Problem for Young Men? Ok If the Gambling Companies Only Allow Losers to Play? Should Schools Be Required to Teach About Sports Betting? How Did Betting Become Legal?

    This week Zac & Don discuss all of Season 5 of the Against the Rules Podcast. This is the podcast by Michael Lewis. You can listen to individual episodes and the entire season here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-rules-with-michael-lewis/id1455379351 Zac & Don wonder about what it means to be a sports fan when there is such a heavy emphasis on sport gambling. They also discuss sports gambling and the companies that work to only keep the losers playing.

    38 min

  3. 11 SEP

    Private Equity's Youth Sports Investment! How Did America End Up Spending $40 Billion to Watch Kids Play? What About those Who Can't Afford? Why Sports & Not Other Kid Activities? Is This A Bubble?

    The Best Paragraph I've Read: This year, a team of researchers from Ohio State University and Oregon State University found that success in competitive youth sports might have more to do with money and opportunity than with talent and hard work.  The researchers determined that 70 percent of 10th-grade high school students from families with high socioeconomic status played a high school sport, while only 43 percent of 10th graders from low socioeconomic status families played. This paragraph comes from The New York Times. The article is titled: "Youth Sports Are a $40 Billion Business. Private Equity Is Taking Notice." The authors are Joe Drape & Ken Belson. You can read the full article here: Youth Sports Are a $40 Billion Business. Private Equity Is Taking Notice. - The New York TimesZac & Don discuss the business of youth sports. They reflect on their own youth sport spending while also wondering what the impact is on kids and those kids who cannot afford to play. They wonder if America is identifying the best talent while also wondering what the end game is. The following article from the New Yorker is also referenced in the discussion: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/30/heir-ball-how-the-cost-of-youth-sports-is-changing-the-nba

    43 min

  4. 5 SEP

    Fantasy Food Brand Draft!!! Pepsi, Hershey, Campbells, General Mills, Nestle, & More! Which Companies Can Turn their Stock Price Around? New Products or Spin Offs? Zac & Don Discuss their Picks!

    The Best Paragraph I've Read: the big packaged food brands that dominated Americanpantries and refrigerators for decades are struggling as consumers spend less on brand-name cookies, spaghetti sauce and cream cheese. The companies are grappling with a number of stressors. Shoppers, feeling pinched by higher food prices over the past two years, are cutting back or trading down to less expensive private labels. Others areeschewing highly processed foods for healthier, more natural items. And the continued rise of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are reducing cravings for sugary and salty snacks. This paragraph comes from the New York Times. The article is titled: "As Consumers Lose Their Appetite, Food Brands Fight to Keep Wall St. Happy." The authors are Julie Creswell & Lauren Hirsch. You can read the full article here. Zac & Don discuss the current plight of the large food brands that Americans have consumed for decades. They talk about some of the options that brands have at trying to grow again. Then Zac & Don have a fantasy food company draft with the following companies: Pepsi, Hershey, Campbells, Kraft/Heinz, General Mills, JM Smuckers, Mondelez, Conagra, and Nestle. Zac's Picks: Hershey, Pepsi, Kraft/Heinz Don's Picks: Nestle, Mondelez, Campbells NPC Picks: General Mills, JM Smuckers, Conagra In one year we will determine which set of three companies saw the biggest stock percentage increase. Here is the spreadsheet keeping track of the competition. Both Zac & Don invested $100 equally among their three companies. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12ITjfJdOovZj3-0V3LA5Ph9YK5P31bcK-QhTFvktjsY/edit?usp=sharing

    39 min

  5. 21 AGO

    Superintendent Heidi Mercer Joins to Discuss The Anxious Generation, Smartphones in School, Free Play, Her District's New Cell Phone Policy, & What Her Stakeholders Are Saying. About It All

    The Best Paragraph I've Read: "Gen Z became the first generation in history to go through puberty with a portal in their pockets that called them away from the people nearby and into an alternative universe that was exciting, addictive, unstable, and - as I will show - unsuitable for children and adolescents. Succeeding socially in that universe required them to devote a large part of their consciousness - perpetually - to managing what became their online brand. This was now necessary to gain acceptavnce from peers, which is the oxygen of adolescense, and to avoid online shaming, which is the nightmare of adolescence. Gen Z teens got sucked into spending many hours of each day scrolling through the shiny happy posts of friends, acquaintances, and distant influencers. They watched increasing quantities of user-generated videos and streamed entertainment, offered to them by auto play and algorithms that were designed to keep them online as long as possible. They spent far less time playing with, talking to, touching, or even making eye contact with their friends and families, thereby reducing their participation in embodied social behaviors that are essential for successful human development. The members of Gen Z are, therefore, the test subjects for a radical new way of growing up, far from the real-world interactions of small communities in which humans evolved. Call it the Great Rewiring of Childhood. It's as if they became the first generation to grow up on Mars." This paragraph comes from the book The Anxious Generation. The author is Jonathan Haidt. Zac & Don are joined by Heidi Mercer, the Superintendent of Lake Orion Community Schools. The three discuss how children have grown up differently in the age of the smartphone. They talk about how family concerns and student behavior have changed over the past couple decades. They also discuss cell phone bans and how Lake Orion has arrived at its new policy as a new school year begins.

    43 min

  6. 14 AGO

    A Potential AI Scenario: 20-30% GDP Growth! Mass Unemployment! Higher Wages for Trades & Service Workers! 30% Mortgage Rates! Capital/Land Owners Win! 0% Saving Rate! Could this AGI Future Come True?

    The Best Paragraph I've Read: "The likelihood that AI may soon make lots of workers redundant is well known. What is much less discussed is the hope that AI can set the world on a path of explosive growth. That would have profound consequences. Markets not just for labour, but also for goods, services, and financial assets would be upended. Economists have been trying to think through how AGI could reshape the world. The picture that is emerging is perhaps counterintuitive and certainly mind-boggling." This article is from The Economist. The article is titled: "What if AI made the world's economic growth explode?" You can read the full article here: https://www.economist.com/briefing/2025/07/24/what-if-ai-made-the-worlds-economic-growth-explode Zac & Don discuss an interesting GDP growth scenario if AGI becomes a reality. How is the economy impacted with 20-30% growth? What happens to labor markets, the stock market, and interest rates? What should a person if AI takes all the jobs?

    41 min

  7. 7 AGO

    More Lonesome Dove! Does the Book Get Too "Hollywood" In Action & Natural Disasters? Why Don't We Get the Native American Perspective? Why Is this Book So Captivating & Hard to Stop Reading? Spoilers

    This is Part II of our Lonesome Dove discussion. Zac & Don discuss more of their favorite quotes while also wondering why the story does not get told from a Native American perspective. They wonder if the story gets a little too "Hollywood" and if they have interest in reading the sequels. Lots of spoilers.

    40 min

  8. 24 JUL

    Not Everyone Wants A Buc-ee's In their Community??? Who's Right In this Colorado Gas Station Fight? A Billionaire's Involved! Is this an Abundance or NIMBY or Western Land Issue? Who Will Win?

    The Best Paragraph I've Read: The Buc-ee’s representatives tried to outline the planfor about 300 locals packed into the cafeteria at Palmer Lake Elementary School on Dec. 3. But they were met with jeers. “We don’t want your Buc-ee’s, we don’t need your Buc-ee’s, we don’t desire your Beaver Nuggets,” lifelong Palmer Lake resident Alexandria Olivier shouted from the front, waving her arms angrily as the crowd applauded. This paragraph comes from the Wall Street Journal. The article is titled: "The 'Cable Cowboy' Battles a Giant Gas Station for the Soul of the West." The article is written by Jim Carlton. You can read the full article here. Zac & Don discuss the fight over Buc-ee's trying to build along a Colorado Highway. They discuss the issues along the lines of the Abundance and NIMBY Movements. They also wonder how the issue gets settled.

    26 min
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A podcast that discusses an interesting article or concept.

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