Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci

What a refreshing podcast. Thank you!

I love listening to Anthony but if the Kerri Lake ads continue I will stop listening until after the election

I've been a listener of the podcast since the beginning. While I didn’t know what to expect at first, I was impressed with Anthony’s ability to engage authors in critical discussions about their work—not just simple promotional chats. However, I was disappointed by the latest episode featuring Charles Gasparino and his book Go Woke, Go Broke. Anthony, I’m disappointed because this episode lacked the usual depth and balance I've come to appreciate. You allowed Charles to present a narrow and skewed take on a critical issue: the role of corporations, wealthy capitalists, and government in shaping cultural narratives and agendas. His points about companies like Target and Disney were presented without considering similar examples that don’t fit his argument, like Hobby Lobby, Cracker Barrel, and My Pillow. For instance, Hobby Lobby went all the way to the Supreme Court to win the right to deny contraception coverage for its employees—a highly influential stance on personal rights. How is this not equally heavy-handed? How is this different from the influence of the corporations Charles criticizes? Moreover, the conversation around "virtue signaling" felt insincere. Charles seemed to focus only on the companies he takes issue with, conveniently ignoring figures like Elon Musk, who regularly makes strong ideological statements. The fact is, almost every high-profile billionaire today engages in virtue signaling in some form. In a pluralistic society—a melting pot like ours—it’s crucial to discuss how we can prevent cultural tensions from boiling over. Unfortunately, this episode felt more like adding fuel to the fire than fostering understanding. Lastly, as a journalist, Charles seemed surprisingly loose with his claims, offering few facts or data to support some very strong assertions. I love your show, but this episode felt like a miss for me. The two-star rating may be a bit harsh, but I felt genuinely disappointed.

Normally, my thoughts about someone who started out his career at Goldman Sachs would get an automatic snub for being a hoity-toity rich dude who couldn't possibly relate to most people - certainly not those out of the New York high society folks. But Anthony Scaramucci is cut from a unique cloth. You can tell by his demeanor and especially through his media interviews and this podcast that he has both a love of learning and a respect for folks from all walks of life (that's my impression anyway). It's also easily apparent that he's incredibly smart and a critical thinker. If it weren't for his ill-fated short stint in the Trump administration, I would have likely never heard of him. Seeing his efforts to reach as many people as possible to warn of the prescient dangers of another Trump presidency has been a fascinating look at a type of person I didn't really believe existed among the wealthy folks in the US - a rich guy with genuine humility.