25 episodes
The McFuture with Steve Faktor Steve Faktor | SteveFaktor.com
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- Society & Culture
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4.8 • 24 Ratings
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Freakier than Freakonomics. More funny than Planet Money.
Join futurist author and innovation maharishi Steve Faktor for provocative predictions and prescriptions for a world drowning in Avengers, but starved for meaning…and laughter. The show features ferocious, funny monologues on how tech, economics and culture will shape our future – and what it'll take to succeed in it. Spectacular guests like Larry King, comedian Jim Jefferies, Governor Jesse Ventura, Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz, former ACLU President Nadine Strossen, Megachurch Pastor AR Bernard and many more. Come explore the deep, dark, hilarious underbelly of The McFuture - from healthcare to media to virtualized lives.
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TOPICS: Economics, Innovation, Comedy, Culture, Technology, Futurism, Happiness, Purpose, Philosophy, Political Humor, Politics, Psychology, Healthcare, Media, Social Media, Religion, Self-Help, Self-Improvement, Social Sciences, Society & Culture, Parody, Talk Radio, Talk Shows, Culture of Technology, Belief, Humor, Political Satire, Ideas, Strategy, News
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FOR THOSE WHO LIKE: Joe Rogan, Jon Stewart, Scott Galloway, Tim Dillon, Michael Malice, Patrick Bet-David (Valuetainment), Andrew Schulz, Dan Carlin, Ryan Long, Louis CK, Mike Rowe, Megyn Kelly, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Seth Godin, Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Bill Maher, Jordan Peterson, Russell Brand, John Oliver, Tim Ferriss, Tyler Cowen, James Altucher, Bari Weiss, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Eric Weinstein, Bret Weinstein, Ricky Gervais, James Lindsay, George Orwell, Adam Carolla, Ben Shapiro, Stephen Colbert, Malcolm Gladwell, Penn Jillette, Bill Burr, Tony Robbins, Dennis Prager, Bryan Callen, Thomas Friedman, Pete Holmes, Dick Masterson, Niall Ferguson, Ezra Klein, Nate Silver, Jordan Harbinger, Bridget Phetasy, Whitney Cummings, Steven Crowder (Louder with Crowder), Kyle Dunnigan, Kurt Metzger, Jack Murphy Live, Anthony Cumia, Andrew Santino, Crystal Ball, Saagar Enjeti, Ian Bremmer, Dave Rubin, Dave Portnoy, Matt Yglesias, Barry Ritholtz, Yannis Pappas, Glenn Loury, Yuval Noah Harari, Jason Whitlock
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FOR FANS OF: Freakonomics, Planet Money, Hidden Brain, Armchair Expert, TED, Reason, The Hill, The Economist, The Atlantic, Forbes, Politico, New Yorker, NPR, Pivot, The New York Times, Psychology Today, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, Evonomics, Wait But Why, Harvard Business Review (HBR), FiveThirtyEight, The Future of Everything, Marginal Revolution, Ben Thompson at Stratechery, Crazy/Genius with Derek Thompson
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10 Radical Ideas To Reanimate The CNN Zombie & Reinvent TV News
CNN just fired it's CEO Chris Licht, who overhauled the network, fired a bunch of people, but failed to revive its rotting corpse. In 2018's Trump Save The Media, I warned about corporate television's temporary Trump Bump, then laid out 12 new rules for the future of media (1 & 2), and business strategies to save it. Those held up way better than CNN. So here's how I'd approach re-imagining the Corporate News Network and dying TV news model.
Let's face it, network news is dead, especially:
* in its current format
* with the current talent pool
* among young people
* at current levels of corporate media distrust
Sure, The Trump Circus is coming to town and the Presidential campaign might give TV news one last Zombie Bump, but at best, it's a stay of execution. No stale insider, clinging to big offices and fumes of network prestige, can save a model whose best shows are trounced by podcasts of mid-level comedians.
So what now?
The first step is acceptance. News must accept its death and use its waning brand and financial capital to make offers that can't be refused to podcasters, podcast networks, YouTubers, and other talent who've developed large, trusted audiences. Then give them time and resources to build something new.
This means hiring an unconventional leader with a flair for entertainment, instinct for what audiences want, vision, and integrity. This won't come from a stale insider, but from someone ready to bring these qualities to the news category — and think differently. Could be someone like Tom Segura, a comedian with a sharp business mind, who's built a podcasting monolith at YMH Studios, who regularly performs to massive international audiences in both English and Spanish. Or, Mr. Beast who's a YouTube prodigy, with an encyclopedic understanding of media, platforms, and audiences.
To have any chance of innovating, here are 10 principles CNN should consider embracing:
1) Accept platform ubiquity and agnosticism. Be everywhere people stream — podcasts, YouTube, Rumble, Twitter, Substack, Patreon, etc.
2) Find ways to monetize everywhere you are through sponsorships, events, or whatever is native to those platforms.
3) Be transparent about your sponsorships, potential conflicts of interest, and post your contract terms publicly. Maybe even automate ad buys, based on journalistic principles. Make your ad business work like open source code on GitHub - editable and reviewable by anyone. Wikipedia is another model to consider (and build on). Done right, this could be a trust game-changer.
4) Surrender the impulse for corporate content policing, backslapping deals, status games, and political agendas. One way to do that is replace the current opaque system of truth vs. lies with a community fact check system, like Twitter. And address all criticisms on air. But not defensively. Invite your critics on for real dialogue.
5) Make everything interactive. Let fans to nominate guests, choose which ones they want to return, submit questions, and participate in live events where they ask questions the hosts might not. -
What We’re Forbidden To Say About Aging, Immigration & Wakanda | The McFuture Podcast
https://youtu.be/dLnwnF7tXv4
HUGE episode. The ONE TREND that will decide the future of humanity and the balance of power in the next 50 years—is buried deep inside a conspiracy theory whose name we dare not speak. Every untouchable subject gets touched — a lot. Plus, a huge surprise ending, fit for Aristocrats. And killer bonus outtakes. It's all here. Sit back and enjoy.
EPISODE CONTENTS:
* 00:00 Intro/Why "The Great Repla...Substitution Theory" Matters
* 04:52 A Bried History of Hate; Worst Hannukkah, Ever!
* 06:41 Analyzing "Replacement" straight from the source: Renaud Camus
* 14:52 A HUGE Realization! 'Replacement' is Exactly Like........
* 18:12 SHAME
* 22:24 Camus Blind Spots
* 23:13 The Problem With Aging
* 28:58 The Real Replacement Is FAILING, across Poland, Hungary, China, South Korea
* 34:10 The Real Reason Birth Rates Fall is STRUCTURAL
* 38:13 So What's A Dying Country To Do? The 4 Options
* 39:40 The Perils & Perks of Immigration
* 43:25 The ONE QUESTION That Decides if Immigration Succeeds or Fails
* 44:01 The American Unicorn
* 46:26 The Unspoken Advantage of the US
* 49:03 How Many Americans Do We Need??
* 51:21 8 Ways To STOP BLOWING Immigration
* 53:42 Legitimate Fears & The Baumol Effect
* 57:07 STOP BLOWING (Cont'd)
* 59:28 "American Migrant Warrior"
* 01:00:51 Blood and...WHAT??? Reality Check
* 01:03:47 Solutions BEYOND Immigration: DeGrowth
* 01:08:00 The Real Case For Birth Incentives
* 01:11:37 The Gipper and I Dream of Fluidity
* 01:14:33 HUGE SURPRISE ENDING... -
Fixing Bud Light’s Hannibal Lecter Strategy | The McFuture
https://youtu.be/FhA5iYSNISs
Why the real problem with Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney trans influencer campaign is...Hannibal Lecter. This is a good one.
CONTENTS:
* 00:00 Dylan is KILLING IT!
* 00:57 The Infamous Bath Tub Ad
* 01:42 Bud Light’s VP of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid Explains Her Strategy
* 02:56 Bud Light's Market Is...?
* 04:23 It's Not Belgian!
* 05:34 Brand Cultural DNA
* 07:32 Why Bud Light is a Public Good
* 10:23 The Hannibal Lecter Strategy
* 12:24 Innovation & How To Butcher a Cash Cow
* 17:42 Corporate Genius?
* 20:27 Disdain
If you enjoy this, please support the show on Patreon & get tons of member exclusives!
Also please give a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Really helps with visibility.
Share & subscribe on: YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn, RSS -
CheatGPT & Other Devious ‘Open Hacks’ | The McFuture Podcast
https://youtu.be/_iOp68VGzKA
What do Netflix, Google, ChatGPT, New York Times, and Chipotle have in common? Open hacks. A devious little mind trick that makes us feel special and gets us to buy more. A short but proud episode of The McFuture. Watch it in its full graphic glory on YouTube or read the article on LinkedIn.
If you enjoy this, please support the show on Patreon & get tons of member exclusives!
Also please give a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Really helps with visibility.
Share & subscribe on: YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn, RSS -
Surviving Twitter | The McFuture Podcast
https://youtu.be/CoFV4q3TBGw
If you thought social media was bad for your mental health, wait till you meet Helen. An episode about surviving Twitter that dares to be free of Elon Musk love or hate. Twitter's problems are human problems, even above Elon's pay grade. Fortunately, not mine!
Contents
* 00:00 Which of these people has a better grip on reality?
* 02:15 Why Twitter is Stupid & Inescapable
* 05:20 The Difference between celebrities & e-lebrities
* 07:44 Mila Kunis & The Last Batch
* 09:06 PewDiePie Who???
* 09:55 In Memory of Helen
* 12:54 7 Ways To Survive Twitter
* 20:29 The Unstable States of Twitter
* 24:05 4 Building Blocks For Successful Online Communities
* 30:28 I have not been radicalized
* 31:08 The Mediatrician: Job of the Future
* 32:21 The Punishment Spectrum
* 34:58 Man Deals
If you enjoy this, please support the show on Patreon & get tons of member exclusives! Brand new member-only episode goes up shortly!
Also please give a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Really helps with visibility.
Share & subscribe on: YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn, RSS -
That Socialistic Feeling | The McFuture Podcast
https://youtu.be/cMjTuahie2Q
Bludgeoning all our well-meaning but ill-conceived flavors of socialism — private college, housing & mortgages, crypto, crazy Fed incompetence, and much, much more. You can also watch the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/cMjTuahie2Q (Be sure to subscribe to the channel!)
If you enjoy this, please support the show on Patreon & get tons of member exclusives! Brand new member-only episode goes up shortly!
Also please give a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Really helps with visibility.
Share & subscribe on: YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn, RSS
Customer Reviews
Futurist Comedy
There are many stand up comics that do hilarious and biting current social commentary. And there are many serious commentators that insightfully discuss how the present is shaping our future. Steve Faktor is the only one I have found to combine the two. He sees the hilarious, scary, absurd ways the future is rushing towards us. very few have the lightness of touch to pull this off. If Futurama was a podcast it would be The Mcfuture.
Hands Down the Most Engaging Social Commentary Podcast Out There Now
I am a firm beleiver in flattery by analogy - so here are my top 3 comparisons of my new favorite podcast host. 1) Steve Faktor is like Fareed Zakaria after he's had 7 drinks -- still brilliant but enough sauce to be unfiltered but not incoherent 2) Steve Faktor is what Joe Rogan would be if he hadn't been kicked in the head so many times --- by that, I mean provocative but able to able to speak in complete sentences 3) Steve Faktor is like Dennis Miller eating a pastrami and rye sandwich -- you can take the boy out of New York but you can't take New York out of the boy
So Inspiring, It Blew Me Away
I just heard Steve's conversation with Professor Glenn Loury, who teaches economics at Brown University. Kudos to Steve Faktor for having the credibiity to attract a person of Prof. Loury's caliber to his podcast. Of course, Faktor is no slouch; he's a highly productive and thoughtful person in his own right. These two men conducted one of the most intelligent, coherent, candid and inspiring conversations about politics, race, and social justice that I've heard in a long time, maybe ever. What a change from today's favored conversational mode of partisan finger pointing, virtue signalling, jargon, guilt-tripping, and bizarre claims. I will now go back and look at the entire catalog of Steve's podcast episodes here. And I'm making a list of select friends to whom I'll be sending this conversation with Prof. Loury. These are the kinds of conversations the whole country needs to be having right now. Unfortunately, a dogmatic, authoritarian, metaphysical narrative is ascending at the moment. But as long as I can still access the ideas of people like Steve Faktor and Prof. Glenn Loury, there's hope.