1
00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,040
Speaker 1: This is the weekend edition of Fear and Greed business News.

2
00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:11,960
Speaker 1: You can use are Michael Thompson and good morning, Sean Aylmer.

3
00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:13,520
Speaker 2: Good morning Michael.

4
00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:15,840
Speaker 1: Sew On our weekend show, it's all about the two

5
00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,480
Speaker 1: of us each nominating the biggest business story of the week,

6
00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,080
Speaker 1: the most remarkable business story, a mystery category, and our

7
00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,520
Speaker 1: favorite story. It is a different show though this week,

8
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,560
Speaker 1: in light of last Sunday's terror attack at Bondeou Beach,

9
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,080
Speaker 1: this will not be a competition. Instead, we will take

10
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,040
Speaker 1: a look at the business stories of the week. Acknowledging

11
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,400
Speaker 1: though that the loss of fifteen lives at Bondo is

12
00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:38,920
Speaker 1: going to change Australia forever.

13
00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,520
Speaker 2: Yes, Michael, and our thoughts are with the victims, their families,

14
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:44,800
Speaker 2: everyone affected by last week's tragedy.

15
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,599
Speaker 1: All right, With that in mind, Sean, a focus very

16
00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,760
Speaker 1: much strictly on business news, the main story of the week.

17
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,480
Speaker 2: What was mostly business news? Michael, I've just you know

18
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,800
Speaker 2: at the end there I kind of diverge a little bit,

19
00:00:57,800 --> 00:00:58,720
Speaker 2: but we'll see how we go.

20
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,600
Speaker 1: There's been an animal trend this you speaking animal stories

21
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:04,760
Speaker 1: in every day, but go for it.

22
00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:05,600
Speaker 3: Give us the biggest one.

23
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,960
Speaker 2: I think the biggest story is my EFO, the mid

24
00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,240
Speaker 2: year Economic Fiscal Outlook the federal government released. It's basically

25
00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,279
Speaker 2: it's midyear budget update. Forecast higher inflation, slower economic growth

26
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,800
Speaker 2: growth as well as they lift in unemployment. Note none

27
00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,880
Speaker 2: of that sounds too good, but it's not too bad either. Also,

28
00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,240
Speaker 2: a lower than forecast deficit thanks to a higher tax

29
00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,280
Speaker 2: take a surge in taxes on income on companies on

30
00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,120
Speaker 2: superannuation accounts really was the highlight. Government spending slightly lower

31
00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,160
Speaker 2: than where it had been forecasts, but it's still running

32
00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,680
Speaker 2: at about twenty seven percent of GDP over the next

33
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,000
Speaker 2: few years. That is close to a forty year high

34
00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,240
Speaker 2: if you exclude COVID. All in all, solid set of

35
00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,040
Speaker 2: numbers on the back of a higher tax take. But

36
00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:55,720
Speaker 2: it's disappointing that the government is doing little torain in spending. Now. Now,

37
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,000
Speaker 2: I mean, now's the time to do it, Michael, because

38
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,680
Speaker 2: you're getting all this extra money from tax take. Things

39
00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,800
Speaker 2: like iron ore prices remain high, commodity prices remain high.

40
00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,080
Speaker 2: This is when you pull things back and the government's

41
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 2: not doing it.

42
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, and not to mention the fact they've got a

43
00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,080
Speaker 1: very large majority that there is an opportunity for big

44
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,960
Speaker 1: picture reform here right as well as part of this.

45
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,520
Speaker 2: And there's just Michael, I've never thought that you'd never

46
00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:20,560
Speaker 2: sound like Adam Lang.

47
00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,040
Speaker 1: I know someone has to represent the reform agenda.

48
00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:31,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, Adam's taken off on holidays early, he's skipped out,

49
00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:34,720
Speaker 2: and we've given it to Michael Thompson to beat the

50
00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:36,040
Speaker 2: reform agenda. Man.

51
00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:39,440
Speaker 1: One of those things to the reform agenda, Man, I

52
00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,320
Speaker 1: think you just absorb these things by osmosis. The more

53
00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,080
Speaker 1: you hang around with Adam, the more you start to

54
00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,960
Speaker 1: care about reform and abolishing one level of government and

55
00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,960
Speaker 1: fringe benefits, tax and various other bits and pieces. Anyway,

56
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,839
Speaker 1: my story, Sean yours, Yes, that was a big one.

57
00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,760
Speaker 1: My story is perhaps a sign of things to come

58
00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:00,800
Speaker 1: when it comes to the economy. Not long ago we

59
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,560
Speaker 1: were talking about this surge and consumer confidence. Things were

60
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,680
Speaker 1: looking up. Wasn't everything rosy? We were also happy interest

61
00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,600
Speaker 1: rates for coming down. We were expecting them to kind

62
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,720
Speaker 1: of keep going, maybe next year. Then we had that

63
00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:17,239
Speaker 1: spike in inflation, talk of great hikes. Now consumer confidence

64
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,360
Speaker 1: has tumbled once again. There are more pessimists than optimists.

65
00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,639
Speaker 1: We are a miserable bunch, as you've described us on

66
00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,040
Speaker 1: many many occasions, now, Sean, this is according to the

67
00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:32,040
Speaker 1: Westpac Melbourne Institute survey. And as you pointed out through

68
00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,280
Speaker 1: the week, if consumers are confident, we tend to spend

69
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,560
Speaker 1: more money, which has a beneficial effect more broadly on

70
00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:42,000
Speaker 1: economic growth. The survey also suggests, perhaps worryingly, that the

71
00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:43,600
Speaker 1: cost of living crisis is.

72
00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,440
Speaker 3: Not over nowhere near over.

73
00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,839
Speaker 1: With a drop in people saying that it's a good

74
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:53,280
Speaker 1: time to buy major household items or houses themselves, things

75
00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:58,360
Speaker 1: Sean are looking grim once more, without being without being

76
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,720
Speaker 1: too miserable about it. But I mean it's not looking great,

77
00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:02,120
Speaker 1: is it.

78
00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,840
Speaker 2: No? Consumer confidence has certainly maybe we should say, spiked

79
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,120
Speaker 2: and has come back rather than those died from last month.

80
00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,280
Speaker 2: Whichever way, miserable bunch of people out there.

81
00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:16,400
Speaker 1: Look, I'm going to count myself among them as a

82
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,839
Speaker 1: man of the people. If the people are miserable, so

83
00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,360
Speaker 1: am I, Sean. Let's go to most remarkable business story

84
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:26,440
Speaker 1: this week? Shall I nominate one?

85
00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,719
Speaker 2: Here? Go for it and look, I reckon.

86
00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,839
Speaker 1: I mentioned Elon Musk on this show more than is

87
00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,800
Speaker 1: reasonable and more more than I probably should. But I'm

88
00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,479
Speaker 1: doing it again this week, because it's been a heck

89
00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,479
Speaker 1: of a week for his businesses, two of them in particular,

90
00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:49,200
Speaker 1: SpaceX cruising towards a potential eight hundred storian Yeah, well,

91
00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:50,920
Speaker 1: I mean it's at cruising altitude.

92
00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,240
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, maybe, I don't know.

93
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:59,480
Speaker 1: Eight hundred billion US dollar IPO potentially next year after

94
00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,039
Speaker 1: an insight to share sale set the value of the

95
00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,200
Speaker 1: company at that phenomenal level, which would make it the

96
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:13,359
Speaker 1: largest initial public offering of all time. The reason for

97
00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:18,239
Speaker 1: the IBO I need to raise some funds to build

98
00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,200
Speaker 1: a base on the Moon, of course, obviously, to put

99
00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,240
Speaker 1: AI data centers in space yes yes, yes, run out

100
00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,240
Speaker 1: of land here to do it, and to fund the

101
00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,680
Speaker 1: insane flight rate for the Starship Rocket, which sounds entirely

102
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,280
Speaker 1: like Elon Musk wrote all of that himself, right. The

103
00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,599
Speaker 1: other thing going well for Elon at the moment is

104
00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,440
Speaker 1: the share price of Tesla, which is obviously the ev

105
00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,560
Speaker 1: maker that he runs. It hit a new record this week,

106
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,640
Speaker 1: giving it a market cap of one point five to

107
00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,800
Speaker 1: four trillion US dollars, and that's off the back of

108
00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:54,599
Speaker 1: driverless cars being tested in Texas, not just self driving,

109
00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,760
Speaker 1: but nobody at all on board, no one there to

110
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,000
Speaker 1: grab the wheel in an emergency. This is a big

111
00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:05,159
Speaker 1: step takes Tesla closer to that robo taxi dream.

112
00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:10,200
Speaker 2: It is a remarkable week for Elon Musk, totally remarkable

113
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:15,520
Speaker 2: week for Eeline Musk's a remarkable week for Meg O'Neil. Oh. Yeah,

114
00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,560
Speaker 2: she is the chief executive officer of Woodside Energy, the

115
00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:24,039
Speaker 2: ASX listed oil and gas giant. Well, she's just got

116
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:29,080
Speaker 2: the top job at global major BP. Apparently her track

117
00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 2: record of driving transformation, growth and discipline capital allocation makes

118
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,320
Speaker 2: her the right leader. That's according to the chair of BP,

119
00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,919
Speaker 2: the beautifully named Albert Manifold.

120
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,360
Speaker 3: That is a great That is a great.

121
00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,839
Speaker 2: Name, isn't it now? I said during the week the

122
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,240
Speaker 2: CEO I have always wanted to meet. Is Meg O'Neill

123
00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,000
Speaker 2: running an oil and gas company? You know, a female

124
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,120
Speaker 2: running an oil and gas company. It can't be easy

125
00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:03,040
Speaker 2: from a range of standpoints. Environment number one, government policy

126
00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:07,840
Speaker 2: number two, plus the normal employment relations, capital allocation, all

127
00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:09,680
Speaker 2: that sort of stuff. I'd just like to know what

128
00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,600
Speaker 2: makes her tick. Now she has got this job running VP,

129
00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,680
Speaker 2: which is about you know what, what's the equivalent BP

130
00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,120
Speaker 2: in media land? It's probably like running the New York

131
00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,520
Speaker 2: Times in technology is probably like running in Video or

132
00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,000
Speaker 2: Tesla or somewhere like that.

133
00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:25,600
Speaker 3: Yep.

134
00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:34,720
Speaker 2: In TV Land, it's like running seven, nine, ten and

135
00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,920
Speaker 2: ABC altogether maybe yes, yep, something like that. You get

136
00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:39,360
Speaker 2: the gist.

137
00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,360
Speaker 3: The sale of this is it is, It is huge.

138
00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:44,880
Speaker 1: It is one of the prime gigs, right.

139
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,600
Speaker 2: First female, first outsider to lead BP in its one

140
00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,640
Speaker 2: hundred and sixteen year history. It put I mean you

141
00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,560
Speaker 2: mentioned Tesla, so Robin Denholm is the chair of Tesla,

142
00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,800
Speaker 2: So she's an Australian, but she's not running the business,

143
00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:00,920
Speaker 2: so I don't think she kind of makes the great

144
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,360
Speaker 2: of course, Rupert Murdoch, he's probably the greatest Australian leader,

145
00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:10,320
Speaker 2: went and recreated the media guy called Andrew Levers Rendow Chemicals.

146
00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:11,880
Speaker 2: He's done a lot of work for the government in

147
00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,520
Speaker 2: more recent years. Charlie Bell a lovely man. He unfortunately died.

148
00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,800
Speaker 2: He was running McDonald's globally at the time out of

149
00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,960
Speaker 2: Chicago and he passed away. But you know, sort of

150
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,200
Speaker 2: this put Meg O'Neil in that sort of echelon with

151
00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:29,840
Speaker 2: those types of people.

152
00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,640
Speaker 1: I think Robin dan Home needs additional credit though, for

153
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:40,840
Speaker 1: having having to manage Elon Musk the unmanageable.

154
00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,160
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, yeah.

155
00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:46,440
Speaker 1: Goodness as it is, Meg O'Neill. That is a great story,

156
00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:51,480
Speaker 1: and what an incredible job to take on, especially at

157
00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,560
Speaker 1: this time in history as well. Like it is, it

158
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:59,840
Speaker 1: is an interesting sector to be working in, a tough

159
00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,080
Speaker 1: to be working in. But if anyone can do it,

160
00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,600
Speaker 1: mego o' neil can do it. So I'm excited for

161
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,440
Speaker 1: that one. Okay, let's take a quick break and we

162
00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,160
Speaker 1: will come back with a mystery category and then what

163
00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,480
Speaker 1: I'm sure is going to be an animal story to sure,

164
00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,960
Speaker 1: knowing that that you have been following this week.

165
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:18,760
Speaker 3: Okay, back in a.

166
00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:28,760
Speaker 1: Second, Sean, we are looking now for our mystery category.

167
00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:32,120
Speaker 3: This is it is quite a good one.

168
00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,920
Speaker 1: These are stocks that you thought were good at the

169
00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,760
Speaker 1: beginning of the year, but by the end you really wish.

170
00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:39,480
Speaker 3: You hadn't held them.

171
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,079
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, a couple of good options here.

172
00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:44,880
Speaker 3: Why don't you like?

173
00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,000
Speaker 2: Well, I reckon at the beginning of the year, I

174
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,560
Speaker 2: thought ASEX couldn't get any worse. It had been a horror.

175
00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:54,360
Speaker 2: Well I was totally wrong. Down twenty two percent this year.

176
00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,080
Speaker 2: Let's hope we're coming to an end of the problems.

177
00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,360
Speaker 2: Though I'm not exactually throwing my money at it. This week,

178
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,760
Speaker 2: ASSEIC and AX have agreed to a strategic package Action

179
00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,760
Speaker 2: of Action designed to improve confidence in the AX. It

180
00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,720
Speaker 2: came after an inquiry by ASEK, which calls for stronger

181
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,319
Speaker 2: independence and governance at the group, an extra one hundred

182
00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,080
Speaker 2: and fifty million dollar capital charge, and a commitment to

183
00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,920
Speaker 2: strong leadership. ASEX will also be forced to reset its

184
00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:28,480
Speaker 2: long running Accelerate Transformation project. So what that is all

185
00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:33,559
Speaker 2: about is upgrading bringing the AX into the twenty twenties.

186
00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,199
Speaker 2: It has had all sorts of problems, particularly around technology.

187
00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,920
Speaker 2: Its settlement infrastructure has really failed. There's been outages, ongoing

188
00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,480
Speaker 2: delays and errors with its back end systems. The previously

189
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,920
Speaker 2: planned blockchain based replacement for Chess, which is the big

190
00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,240
Speaker 2: black box that you buy and sell a share. Someone

191
00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:53,720
Speaker 2: has to do all that work that's a Chess system. Well,

192
00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,480
Speaker 2: that replacement was canceled after years of delays, costly write

193
00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,000
Speaker 2: offs and technical failures. All this is costing AX money.

194
00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,520
Speaker 2: Of course, sentiments against the company. Not much going right

195
00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,120
Speaker 2: for the AX year a horror year in one which

196
00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:10,360
Speaker 2: at the beginning of the year I thought I SX

197
00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:14,440
Speaker 2: beer right well, totally wrong, down twenty two percent. Let's

198
00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,560
Speaker 2: hope for them it will get better. We're not an

199
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,560
Speaker 2: investment podcast, clearly because I would have bought ax Limited

200
00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,920
Speaker 2: twelve months ago look what happened. So clearly not an

201
00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:24,920
Speaker 2: investment podcast.

202
00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:26,520
Speaker 3: Yep, yep, yep.

203
00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:32,559
Speaker 1: Get qualified advice from someone from someone in the course.

204
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:39,599
Speaker 1: So the the other one is Treasury Wine estates. This

205
00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:44,280
Speaker 1: time last year looking too things weren't looking too bad,

206
00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,480
Speaker 1: right because the sector was recovering in China, for instance,

207
00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:53,280
Speaker 1: after COVID and after all of the tariff dramas with China,

208
00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:59,959
Speaker 1: and everything was looking at it was looking okay. No,

209
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,680
Speaker 1: not this year. This has not been Treasuries year. The

210
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,439
Speaker 1: owner of penfolds having an absolute shocker. It's down what

211
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,400
Speaker 1: fifty eight percent or so over the past year. A

212
00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,600
Speaker 1: sharper than expected slow down in global wine demand is

213
00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,160
Speaker 1: hitting it hard, and now it's having to rain in

214
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,040
Speaker 1: its expansion in China, which I just mentioned, and in

215
00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,480
Speaker 1: the US, these are two of its biggest markets. Earnings

216
00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,959
Speaker 1: in the US in particular were below market expectations by

217
00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,360
Speaker 1: more than fifty percent, and now it's having to take

218
00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,840
Speaker 1: the pretty extraordinary step of cutting shipments of seven hundred

219
00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,560
Speaker 1: thousand cases of wine across those two markets in an

220
00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:46,440
Speaker 1: effort to stabilize prices. This is a wine crisis, Sean,

221
00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,880
Speaker 1: and it has smashed Treasury this year, and it is

222
00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,480
Speaker 1: on track to perhaps win the title of worst performing

223
00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,199
Speaker 1: ASX two hundred for twenty twenty five.

224
00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:03,560
Speaker 2: I don't know that it's on track. I think we

225
00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:04,720
Speaker 2: can pretty much say it's there.

226
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to just give it a little bit

227
00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,840
Speaker 1: of a glimmer of hope, a little bit a little

228
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,080
Speaker 1: bit of optimism that things might turn around in the

229
00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,040
Speaker 1: next I don't know, ten days or so, but it's

230
00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,000
Speaker 1: not looking good, and I suspect that it is. It

231
00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,320
Speaker 1: will be receiving that award, which is a gong that

232
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,960
Speaker 1: no company wants to receive, and now is hoping to

233
00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,160
Speaker 1: a better twenty twenty six for Treasury Wine or states.

234
00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,800
Speaker 1: Let's do our favorite story, Straw. You know what, I'll

235
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,360
Speaker 1: go first on this one because I know that you're

236
00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,040
Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna have a really a feel good animal.

237
00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:38,640
Speaker 2: Story to finish on.

238
00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,040
Speaker 1: But I want to mention two things out of the

239
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:42,600
Speaker 1: White House this week.

240
00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:43,360
Speaker 2: Right.

241
00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,320
Speaker 1: White House Chief of Staff Susie Wilds gave her a

242
00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:52,800
Speaker 1: series of arguably unusually frank interviews to Vanity Fair. Because

243
00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,959
Speaker 1: she doesn't normally speak publicly, she doesn't give interviews.

244
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,040
Speaker 3: She's the first woman to hold the role.

245
00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:02,440
Speaker 1: But in these interviews, as she said, a bunch of things,

246
00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,880
Speaker 1: President Donald Trump is using his position to settle scores

247
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:12,280
Speaker 1: with opponents and wants regime change in Venezuela. She called

248
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,640
Speaker 1: Vice President J. D. Vance a conspiracy theorist, probably accurate.

249
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,880
Speaker 1: Budget Chief Russell Vaught is a right wing zealot. Elon

250
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,720
Speaker 1: Musk is an odd, odd duck. Well, that's not news. No,

251
00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,160
Speaker 1: she'd probably just say what everyone's thinking. She said that

252
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,480
Speaker 1: there were internal disagreements over the trade tariffs and said

253
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,360
Speaker 1: that the rollout involved a lot of thinking out loud

254
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:44,040
Speaker 1: and caused more pain than expected. She has since the

255
00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:48,280
Speaker 1: article was released. She's described it as a hit piece.

256
00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,560
Speaker 1: She didn't disagree or dispute the content. I mean, if

257
00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,040
Speaker 1: you listen to what she said since it, she has

258
00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,680
Speaker 1: not walked away from saying it. No, and if anything,

259
00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,280
Speaker 1: she's just given more text around it. And all of

260
00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:05,200
Speaker 1: the comments that she made made complete sense, and she

261
00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:08,080
Speaker 1: just explained the context. And the thing is the White

262
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:13,400
Speaker 1: House completely backed her on this, and they praised her loyalty,

263
00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,200
Speaker 1: praised her leadership. It's just extraordinary and a great little

264
00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,360
Speaker 1: insight and just some fantastic lines, some headlines out of that.

265
00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,800
Speaker 1: The other thing we need, we need to mention Sean

266
00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,880
Speaker 1: out of the White House. The President has made another

267
00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,600
Speaker 1: addition to the Presidential Walk of Fame this week. These

268
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,120
Speaker 1: are the portraits of all the former presidents in the

269
00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:36,840
Speaker 1: West Wing. We've talked in the past about its previously

270
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:41,320
Speaker 1: replaced Joe Biden's portrait with a picture of the auto

271
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,200
Speaker 1: pen that Biden alleged to the used to sign documents. Now,

272
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:51,240
Speaker 1: the president has added plaques underneath each president, dictated by

273
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,480
Speaker 1: Donald Trump himself, where he gives his.

274
00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,360
Speaker 3: Verdict on their achievements in office.

275
00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,600
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, And just to give you a taste of it,

276
00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:08,680
Speaker 1: Joe Biden's plaque starts with sleepy Joe Biden was by

277
00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,480
Speaker 1: far the worst president in American history.

278
00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:15,480
Speaker 3: It's nice to see that these plaques are impartial.

279
00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:19,840
Speaker 1: But the thing is, and I'm really conflicted about this

280
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,560
Speaker 1: and about a lot of what Donald Trump does, because

281
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,840
Speaker 1: the thing is a lot of people voted for him, right,

282
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,800
Speaker 1: and he has shown that he is an incredible communicator,

283
00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,840
Speaker 1: and he has also shown a rem remarkable ability to

284
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,760
Speaker 1: get things done. That he has set an agenda and

285
00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,520
Speaker 1: he has carried it out right. And so love him

286
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,960
Speaker 1: or hate him, there are things that he has done

287
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,400
Speaker 1: that have shown his capacity as president. Then there are

288
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,640
Speaker 1: things like this that feel like they almost undermine the

289
00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,640
Speaker 1: integrity of the office right, that make it a bit

290
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:58,040
Speaker 1: of a laughing stock, And I just like it causes

291
00:16:58,080 --> 00:16:59,840
Speaker 1: great internal conflict within me.

292
00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,320
Speaker 2: Democracy is not the winner, Michael, Democracy is not the winner.

293
00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:06,439
Speaker 3: I don't think so.

294
00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,679
Speaker 1: Did you see the latest was that the Kennedy Center

295
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:16,080
Speaker 1: board the performing Arts Center is moving to the board

296
00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:21,000
Speaker 1: is moving to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center. Now

297
00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,880
Speaker 1: in the US, it is just the stories every day

298
00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:27,399
Speaker 1: out of the US.

299
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,960
Speaker 2: Extraordinary, extraordinary. Can I move on to something a little nicer?

300
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:31,960
Speaker 3: Yes? Please?

301
00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:38,200
Speaker 2: Polar bears ah my favorite stories. Researches tracking wild polar

302
00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,679
Speaker 2: bears in Northern Canada have witnessed something extremely rare, a

303
00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,360
Speaker 2: mother bear adopting a cub, as in she didn't give

304
00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:49,360
Speaker 2: birth to it, not biologically her own. The five year

305
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,960
Speaker 2: old mother bear was wandering around with two ten or

306
00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,719
Speaker 2: eleven month old cubs, one was an adoptee. One was not.

307
00:17:57,359 --> 00:17:59,760
Speaker 2: They know this because they had tagged the mum six

308
00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,400
Speaker 2: month or about six months earlier, had tagged the mum,

309
00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:05,800
Speaker 2: and the cub knew she only had one cub. Six

310
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,040
Speaker 2: months later she appeared with two cubs. About the thirteenth

311
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,080
Speaker 2: known case of adoption out of forty six hundred bears

312
00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,520
Speaker 2: studied for nearly five decades in the area. It was

313
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:20,440
Speaker 2: in the western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, well known

314
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:22,880
Speaker 2: for people going up there and looking at polar bears.

315
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,640
Speaker 2: So I thought that was beautiful. Mean, a cub has

316
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,639
Speaker 2: a fifty percent chance of making it much higher, or

317
00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,680
Speaker 2: it rises if it's got a mum. So this adopted

318
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,760
Speaker 2: this orphan. It's got a mum.

319
00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:35,240
Speaker 3: Lovely.

320
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,919
Speaker 2: The other thing is the story about the killer whales

321
00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,200
Speaker 2: and the dolphins working together, or because the killer whales

322
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:47,600
Speaker 2: they're actually the largest known dolphin. They were cooperating, swimming, hunting, diving,

323
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,159
Speaker 2: doing all sorts of things off the coast of British

324
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,320
Speaker 2: Columbia in Canada, basically searching for salmon. I think it

325
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,640
Speaker 2: was talking to each other, like eavesdropping on each other

326
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:00,919
Speaker 2: and then sharing the spoils of the kill is that

327
00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:06,320
Speaker 2: wonderful nature bringing us back to kind of what's important life,

328
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,479
Speaker 2: looking after your family, food, stuff like that.

329
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:15,720
Speaker 1: I have to change your name to Sean Attenborough, the

330
00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:21,800
Speaker 1: great wildlife commentator and viewer. This is a would you

331
00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,080
Speaker 1: ever go on a bird watching tour? It feels like

332
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,800
Speaker 1: theother thing that you are kind of inching towards.

333
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:29,880
Speaker 2: Don't you think that would be the dullest thing possible,

334
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,240
Speaker 2: a bird watching tour? I know you want to go

335
00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:33,600
Speaker 2: on one.

336
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,119
Speaker 3: No, I'm not rolling it out at some point in

337
00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:38,440
Speaker 3: the future. No I don't.

338
00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,919
Speaker 1: I'm I'm just keeping an open mind that I'm not

339
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:44,360
Speaker 1: even forty yet.

340
00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:45,880
Speaker 2: Give it time, yep.

341
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:47,399
Speaker 3: I could get to myself.

342
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:48,560
Speaker 2: You'll be out there bird watching.

343
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:54,280
Speaker 3: You could be a notorious twitcher, is all right?

344
00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,960
Speaker 2: Sean? Thank you very much, goodbye. Thank you.

345
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,320
Speaker 1: Michael, make sure you're following the podcast. I'm Michael, Tom

346
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,439
Speaker 1: out Fear and Greed. Have a great weekend.

347
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:05,760
Speaker 3: Bird watches. They're twitches, aren't they?

348
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:12,560
Speaker 2: They are now yeah ah