1 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: It's the big take from Bloomberg News and I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: I'm West Cassova today. The most interesting people in the world, 3 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: well some of them anyway. Each year at this time, 4 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week releases the Bloomberg Fifty. It's a list 5 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: of fifty people who have done something important, noteworthy, inspiring, 6 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: are just fascinating to talk about. Who's on this year's 7 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: list and what they've done. My colleague Brett Began joins 8 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: me from New York. He spent months working on this 9 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:53,520 Speaker 1: list with reporters and editors around the world. Brett Vegan, 10 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: thanks for being here. Yeah, my pleasure. So Brett. In November, 11 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: the world's population past eight billion people. How do you 12 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: go about picking fifty of them? Wow, well we start 13 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: with all eight billion, and then we go to seven Now, um, well, 14 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: we are fortunate. We have a huge newsroom and I 15 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: have at my disposal reporters and editors who know everything 16 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: about everything. And starting in the spring, really so we 17 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: go back to almost June when we start putting this together, 18 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: we start reaching out to people. They start nominating people 19 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: that they think are really exemplary for the work that 20 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: they've done this year. So basically, Our goal is to 21 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: find people who have a metric or a data point 22 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: from this year that really stands out. So we break 23 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: the list up into five broad categories. So the first one, 24 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: since we're Bloomberg Business Week West, we go with business, right, Um. 25 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: Then we have science and technology, we have finances, we 26 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: have entertainment, and then politics. Some of them are names 27 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,679 Speaker 1: that you know that are doing things that you probably 28 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: weren't aware of. Some of them are names that may 29 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 1: sound new and are doing really incredible things. And then 30 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: other things other people are doing totally mind blowing things 31 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: that you've never heard about and are crazy, and we 32 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,239 Speaker 1: get really excited about them and put them on the list. 33 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: I mean that is one of the things that I 34 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: like about this list that it isn't just like the 35 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: usual suspects. Yeah, there's some famous people. I think Tom 36 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: Cruise is on the list this year, but like you say, 37 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: kind of for an underspect, why you Tom Cruise on 38 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,959 Speaker 1: the list? Well, Tom Cruises on the list West because 39 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: actually Top Gun Maverick is not only his biggest movie ever, 40 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: but it's the biggest movie of the year. So that's 41 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: actually a great example of someone who everybody knows. But 42 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 1: the sequel to The Night SI movie is taken in 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: about one point four six billion dollars. I like the 44 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: way you say about one point force yet about one 45 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: point four six billion at the box office. So it's 46 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: the highest grossing film of the year and of his 47 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: entire career. When you think about like Tom Cruise, you know, 48 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: think about all the major movies he's had, so for 49 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: this to be number one all time merited him a 50 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: spot on the list. What's interesting about Cruise also is 51 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: he's kind of an exception to the world because one 52 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: of the really cool things about this list is, um, 53 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: a lot of these people just never heard of and 54 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: they're doing really interesting things that you wouldn't ordinarily know 55 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: about it, right, I mean, I think about someone like 56 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: Nicholas Bloom. Okay, he's a professor at Stanford, and he's 57 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: on our list this year because he has become the 58 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: go to person for companies that are really looking to 59 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: try to figure out how to deal with return to 60 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: work hybrid work models, and more than a hundred institutions 61 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: met with him this year, from Wall Street banks to 62 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: startups to the I m F really looking for his 63 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: guidance on how do we manage our workforce, and that's 64 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: a big issue. A lot of people, you know, conflicted 65 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: about having to go back game companies want I'm in 66 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: people who are used to working at home from the 67 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: pandemic that they don't want to go back exactly. And 68 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: someone like Francesco Bellettini, right, that's not a household name. 69 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: She runs the fashion house St. Laurent. So what's interesting 70 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:20,720 Speaker 1: about that. And she's a good example of something that 71 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: I like to put on this list. And this is 72 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: the sixth year we've done it. So she is leading 73 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: ys L and they actually had a better year like 74 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: year over year return than a lot of other fashion 75 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: houses and companies that would sort of be in their 76 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: universe because they were a little bit less dependent on 77 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: China than some of their competitors were. So she actually 78 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: had a really good year. She and her team sort 79 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: of increased sales in the first nine months of this 80 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: year more so year over year than they had in 81 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: the past. And one of the reasons we put this 82 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 1: list together and why like doing this so much and 83 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,559 Speaker 1: finding people like this is this sizes into a larger story, 84 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: really is a COVID story. So her success in many 85 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: ways is not only because people want to buy, say 86 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: Laurent clothing, which they do, but they want people to 87 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: buy more of it. But also because when you're a 88 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: little bit less dependent on China than your competitors, you 89 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: have an opportunity to do better. So here at the 90 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 1: Big Tag Podcast, we have made a list of the 91 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,799 Speaker 1: Bloomberg five from the Bloomberg fifty. Because we just don't 92 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: have enough time to go through the whole list. I 93 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: encourage everyone to go to Bloomberg dot com and see 94 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: the whole list, but we've chosen five who really intrigued 95 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: us among the other intriguing people. So the first person 96 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,479 Speaker 1: on the Big Take B fifty list is Asia Pinky Cole. 97 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: Can you tell us about her? Yeah? So Pinky Cole 98 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: is the founder and CEO. And I don't know is 99 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: this a family program list? It is a family program, 100 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: but it's in the top. It is in the name. 101 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: So the name of her restaurant chain is called Slutty 102 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: V and they're based out of Atlanta, and she's the 103 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 1: founder and CEO. And this is kind of an Irreverend 104 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: burger chain. The names of the burgers are like one 105 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: night Stand things like that. Um In preparation for this podcast, West. 106 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: I actually went to the Slutty Vegan that opened in Brooklyn, 107 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: So this isn't just a list. You had to do 108 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: some serious reporting. That's exactly right. I spent forty eight 109 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: dollars on vegan burgers. It's really known for these overstuffed burgers. 110 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: They have names again like manage Atoix or Hollywood hooker Um. 111 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: And it started as a single food truck about five 112 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: years ago and not to become mini empire. Here's Pinky 113 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: Cole in her own words, there's so many challenges in 114 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: this industry when you talk about vegan food, like I'm 115 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,359 Speaker 1: paving the way right right, I'm one of those people 116 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: in the space where I'm creating a lane where it 117 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: really didn't exist in this capacity. So now you've got 118 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: all these big businesses went to open up vegan concepts, 119 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: which is cool for me because that's more fol for 120 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 1: me to eat. But then also the ingenuity of it 121 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: and the organicness of the whole vegan movement is diluted. 122 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: So what I'm doing to combat that it's monopolized in 123 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: the market. I'm going to continue to create brands that 124 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: people can appreciate when they get a really good experience 125 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: and happen to get really good food that so happens 126 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: to be vegan. The thing that stood out to us 127 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: about her is in the whole context of plant based meats, 128 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: where they had a big splash, some of those companies, 129 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: some of the leading companies, are having a really rough 130 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: time now where initially they were very popular and now 131 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: they're having trouble sustaining those businesses. And she is a 132 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: pretty big success. And of course, as we talked endlessly 133 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: about sustainability and about the problems associated with eating me 134 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: both you know, for your health and environment, these plant 135 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: based meats seems like a pretty big deal and she 136 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: seems to be catching fire in a way that isn't 137 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: kind of like Penians like, you know, eat your peas. No, 138 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: that's exactly right, and that's that's kind of why she 139 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: started this, is that she is a vegan and she 140 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: wanted to eat vegan junk food. One of the cool 141 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: things is that every person on the list that has 142 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: sort of a right up in the magazine report goes 143 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: and says what's interesting. And the person who wrote about 144 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: Pinky Cole is Kate Crater, who's a Bloomberg food writer 145 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: in London and here's what she had to say. Pinky 146 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: Cole is a force of nature. Are you see a 147 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: lot of dynamic people in restaurateurs in the food industry, 148 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: but not that many that really break out and just 149 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: attract a crowd and attention and adulation and love up 150 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: and down the board. And Pinky Cole is that person. 151 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: At the start of this year, she had basically four 152 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: locations in mostly in the Georgia area. By the end 153 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: of next year, she'll have at least twenty one. Thing 154 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: that's also great about Pinky is that she opens her 155 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: restaurants very often in places that are underserved communities. She 156 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: really has her eyes on the black community. She started 157 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: a nonprofit that aims to empower people of color who 158 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: want to get into business and don't always have the 159 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,439 Speaker 1: connections or know how to start doing it. She really 160 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,440 Speaker 1: wants to bring more people into it, offer a lot 161 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: of opportunities to people who haven't always had opportunities. She's 162 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: not just saying it, she's doing it, and the impact 163 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: of that is superb. We'll be right back. Our second 164 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: person we picked in our slim down list is in 165 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: the finance category. That's dal Leap sing So. Dal Leap 166 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: sing in February as a taught national security advisor to 167 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: the White House, really played a very central role in 168 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,199 Speaker 1: efforts to cut Russia off from the global financial system 169 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Basically was able to freeze 170 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: more than half of Putin's six forty billion dollar war chest. This, 171 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: of course, is a really a huge issue because I 172 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: don't know that there's another event in this year that 173 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: has had more far reaching global effects than Russia's invasion 174 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: of Ukraine. Absolutely not. And he really helped turn Russia 175 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: into basically the most sanctioned nation on Earth. The reporter 176 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: who wrote about the leap seeing is Salia mosen Bloomberg, 177 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: senior Washington correspondent, and here's what she said. So, Putin 178 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: has built up something like six hundred and fifty billion 179 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: dollars that he has stored through his central bank in Europe, 180 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: in the US, and in other currencies. He was building 181 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: that up so that he would make sure he had 182 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: a pool of resources to keep funding his war and 183 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: his invasion as soon as U S sanctions came down 184 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: the pike. But he did not see coming. Were two things. 185 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: The first one was that the US and the Group 186 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: of seven would have the audacity to sanction a G 187 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: twenty central bank. Russia is still part of the G twenty. 188 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 1: To cut off a central bank from the global financial 189 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: system of an economy that provides so much of our 190 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 1: food and energy resources had the potential to shake global markets, 191 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: and they did shake global markets. It showed Russia that 192 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: the US and American allies are not afraid to stand 193 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: up to him, even if it's a little bit of 194 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: self inflicted pain. And actually all of us saw that pain. 195 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: We all experienced it through gas prices. Gas prices went 196 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,440 Speaker 1: really high. It added to inflation, and it made all 197 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: of our summer vacations more expensive. And it was all 198 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: to pay for the cost of pushing back against Putin 199 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: in what some people saw could become World War three. 200 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: The second thing that deletes things efforts contributed to was 201 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: cutting off Russia from a very complicated system called Swift, 202 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: which is basically the Gmail for banks and in financial institutions. 203 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: When they send money to each other, they need to 204 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: send messages, and those are secret messages because you don't 205 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: want other people to know how and when into who 206 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: you're moving money to. And the US then led an 207 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:25,959 Speaker 1: effort to encourage Europe to join them and tell Russia 208 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: you cannot use Swift anymore. Now, not all of Russia 209 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: is banned from using Swift, some of the major banks are. 210 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: But all of this to say that Delete sinks. Efforts 211 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: that he led and spearheaded brought Russia in the first 212 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: crucial months of the war to its knees. The ruble 213 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: fell in the first month, and yes the ruble has recovered, 214 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: but the overall picture of the Russian economy is one 215 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: of devastation of really large human toll inflation, people losing 216 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: their job bobs, all because they're cut off from the 217 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: global system. Okay, Brett, moving onto politics. This is a 218 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: person who I think a lot of our listeners won't 219 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: have heard of and has done something really extraordinary. And 220 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: her name is Park G. Hume, right, So, she is 221 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: an advocate for women's rights in South Korea, which is 222 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: a nation that's really struggled with sexism and harassment. And 223 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 1: she helped attract eleven thousand new members of them female 224 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,319 Speaker 1: and soul alone, to the center left Democratic Party right 225 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: after the presidential election in March. Park is a young woman, 226 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: not yet thirty years old, and when the me Too 227 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: revelations Me Too movement was really picking up steam. She 228 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,959 Speaker 1: got interested in those stories, went to journalism school, and 229 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 1: with a partner, was able to expose a vicious online 230 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: spy cameraing. And this ring was blackmail and girls as 231 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: young as aged twelve, And these spy cameraings are a 232 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: real problem. Basically, recording devices are put in bathrooms and 233 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: locker rooms and film women without their consent. And she 234 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: was able to infiltrate basically one of these rings and 235 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,439 Speaker 1: wound up getting a pair of twenty six year old 236 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: men sentenced to more than thirty years in prison each. 237 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: That's kind of how she got started. She was doing 238 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: that anonymously and eventually realizing that in order to have 239 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: a bigger voice, she needed to sort of make herself known, 240 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: and she became an advisor to Democratic Party's candidate in 241 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: this year's elections. Did she have a political future herself? 242 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: Do you think that she has an interest in running? 243 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: So she was named the interim coach here, which is 244 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: really like kind of an astounding feat for someone of 245 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: her age. But then the Democratic Party lost local elections, 246 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: she resigned. She's a writer and an activist, and I 247 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: have to imagine that there probably is a future for 248 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: her in politics, but at this point hasn't said exactly 249 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: what those plants entail. No. Next on our list is 250 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: science and tech, and the person who intrigued us is 251 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: Tom Oxley. This is fascinating, Um, Toma. This whole thing 252 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: is crazy. And I read Ashley Vance's stories the Reporter 253 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: on this one, UM several times to make sure that 254 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: I understood this correctly, and I'm still not sure I do. 255 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: But basically Tom's company, which is based in Brooklyn's called 256 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: synchron They are able to implant something into the brain 257 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: of people who are suffering from a l S otherwise 258 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: known as Luke Garrig's disease. And it's essentially like during 259 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: a coronary operation, like putting a stent in your heart. 260 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: They're essentially able to do that in your brain and 261 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: in doing that, it gets a signal that allows you 262 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: to basically text using your thoughts. Here's Tom Oxley. The 263 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 1: goal of a brain computer interface is to enable control 264 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: of a personal device without having to use your hands. 265 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: That's critical for people who have injury or disease such 266 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: as stroke als, spinal cord injury, who were not able 267 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 1: to use personal devices like you are I. The way 268 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: it works is it records the intended action directly out 269 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: of your brain and then converts that into a Bluetooth 270 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: signal to control your personal device. We had the f 271 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: d A approval to kick off the clinical trial. We 272 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: had to then figure out where we were going to 273 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: do this, who was the right patient, who was the 274 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: right physician. SOO became the year when the first patient 275 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 1: in the US was implanted with a permanently implanted brain 276 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: computer interface. So I was dreaming about how we were 277 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: going to make that happen, and it has happened. In 278 00:16:55,600 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: one word, would be inspiring. Seeing our patient and learn 279 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: how to use the device for the first time, achieve 280 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: reconnection with their families has been nothing short of life 281 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: affirming for the mission that we're on. That to do 282 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: list for three is now expanding our clinical trial to 283 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: include six sites around the world. It's crazy. It's like 284 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: kind of sci fi come to life. Yes, you mentioned 285 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: Ashley Vans, the reporter who has written about this, and 286 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: here's what Ashley said about Tom Oxley. Toms are really 287 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: interesting character. He's he's an Australian, he's a medical doctor 288 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: and he has a PhD. In this field, and so 289 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: he's a bit of a rarity in that he's not 290 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: just a pure startup tech founder. He has this this 291 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: deep background in this field. He's taken his company from 292 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: Australia and based it in Brooklyn, and what's indicative of 293 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 1: where this field is heading. He's raised tens of millions 294 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: of dollars in venture capital. And so we've gone from 295 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: this period where this was this academic pursuit that was 296 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,440 Speaker 1: progressing very slowly, and now we're seeing these companies get 297 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: tons of money um as people rush to this this 298 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 1: future that's in the near term about helping people with disabilities, 299 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 1: which is amazing. And then you know there is this 300 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: kind of sci fi, possibly positive, possibly dark future where 301 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: we're talking about humans with chips of their brain talking 302 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: to computers and this kind of human machine hybrid. So 303 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,200 Speaker 1: we'll have to see where all that goes. The big 304 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: advantage for Synchron today is the surgery that they used 305 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,400 Speaker 1: to put this into the brain is much less invasive 306 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: than something that's being promised by like Elon Musk's neuralink, 307 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: where you you actually have to cut through the skull 308 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: and implant this computing chip. Synchron goes in through a 309 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,360 Speaker 1: blood vessel in your neck and and sort of threads 310 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: this stent in it's it's kind of like an outpatient 311 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: type surgery. Um in the years to come, what the 312 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: company really wants to do is increased the computing horsepower 313 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: on its on its brain computer interface to let people 314 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 1: do many, many more things. And and you know this 315 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,119 Speaker 1: is gonna be no easy task because you're talking about 316 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: putting these chips on this tiny little device that all 317 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: these wires wires in your brain. So that's that's the 318 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: challenge ahead for this company. We'll be right back bread. 319 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: The final person on our slim down list of Bloomberg 320 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 1: fifty is in the entertainment category, and it's Bryan Flores. 321 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: Brian Flores was a head coach for the Miami Dolphins. 322 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: The Miami Dolphins fired him. He was one of the 323 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: very very few black head coaches in the NFL when 324 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: he was fired. He has since sued the NFL. He's 325 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: calling attention to what's known as is the Rooney Rule, 326 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: which requires teams to interview at least one black coach 327 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: that since expanded to two for a head coaching position. 328 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 1: But his point because of an experience that he had 329 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,200 Speaker 1: was that this rule as a sham. The reporter who 330 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,199 Speaker 1: wrote about him is Ira boot Way. Let's listen to 331 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,920 Speaker 1: him when he got fired. And then they were down 332 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: to one black head coach left in the NFL. That 333 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: was Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tomlin hired Flores 334 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: as a linebackers coach, is one of his defensive assistants, 335 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: and that's where he is now. You know, Colin Kaepernick, 336 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 1: who's mentioned in the case, it has been blackballed or 337 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 1: at least many people leave blackballed by the NFL for 338 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: taking a knee during the national anthem. And uh, there 339 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: was some sense that Flores, by filing this suit, had 340 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: sort of made it so he would never coach in 341 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,160 Speaker 1: the NFL again. But it's not true. He's in. He's 342 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,200 Speaker 1: got an assistant coaching job. Which is interesting because part 343 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: of what this lawsuit alleges is that black coaches they 344 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 1: get a different treatment even when they do make it 345 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: into the league. So they they if they fail, they're 346 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: fired sooner. Right, there's a shorter opportunity. They're paid less 347 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: and they're less often put into the pipelines that lead 348 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,679 Speaker 1: to head coaching jobs. So you know, now he's a 349 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: defensive assistant, which is what he was in two thousand 350 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: and eight when he got his first job in the NFL. 351 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 1: It's definitely, you know, not what he wants, and it 352 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: will be very interesting to see whether he becomes a 353 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: head coach again. The case right now, they're trying to 354 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 1: decide whether it will stay in federal court where it 355 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 1: was filed, or whether it we'll go into arbitration. Uh. 356 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: And the NFL arbitration is decided by Commissioner Roger Goodell. 357 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: So Flora's his lawyers are saying he's biased, he's prejudged this. 358 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: The NFL has already said this case is without Merritt, 359 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: how could he possibly be the person to rule. The 360 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: NFL says every coaches contract has language and that says 361 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: you go to an arbitrator for something like this. So 362 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: that's where this belongs. And that's right now. We don't 363 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: know where kind of what will come next. The basic 364 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: problem has not been solved by the Rooney rule, and 365 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:02,719 Speaker 1: this lawsuit actually has done in a way more than 366 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: the Rooney rule. So since Flores filed it, we've had 367 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Bucks hired Todd Bowles, who's black Dolphins to 368 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: replace Brian Flores, hired Mike McDaniels, who's bi racial, Houston 369 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 1: Texans hired Love Smith who's black, and the Carolina Panthers 370 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 1: put Steve Wilkes, who's also in this lawsuit, made him 371 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: their interim head coach. So that's four hires since this lawsuit. 372 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: So arguably that's because of the public pressure that this 373 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: lawsuit brought, because it was a very high profile case 374 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: and teams had to answer for why aren't you hiring 375 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:41,960 Speaker 1: black coaches? So Brett Eye just running into on the 376 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: street and I say, hey, the boomber of fifties out, 377 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: what's the most interesting thing about it? Like, how would 378 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: you sum up this year's list? Wow? So I would 379 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: say the most interesting thing to me is that the 380 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,679 Speaker 1: far reaching effects of the war in Ukraine. So we 381 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: have Vladimir z A Lenski on the list obviously is 382 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: the president of k correct Um. But then you start 383 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: to think about people like Dalip Singh who are also 384 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: really on the list because of the war in Ukraine. 385 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: And then we have people like Robert Habeck, who is 386 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: the economic Minister of Germany and had to spend much 387 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: of this time figuring out where else they were going 388 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,399 Speaker 1: to get energy from. So every year there are stories 389 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: that pop up that do have these sort of far 390 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: reaching impacts on the list, but none I don't think 391 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,360 Speaker 1: in the six years we've been doing this has had 392 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,880 Speaker 1: more than Ukraine Brett Vegan. Thanks so much for talking 393 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: to me today. My pleasure. Thank you, thanks for listening 394 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: to us here at The Big Take, the daily podcast 395 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,400 Speaker 1: from Bloomberg and I Heart Radio. For more shows from 396 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio appp podcast, 397 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen. Read today's story and subscribe to 398 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: our daily newsletter at Bloomberg dot com slash Big Take, 399 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 1: and we'd love to hear from you. Email us with 400 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg dot net. 401 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,119 Speaker 1: The supervising producer of The Big Take is Vicky Burgalina. 402 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Katherine Fink. Our producer is Rebecca Shasson. 403 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Sam Gabauer. Hilda Garcia is our engineer. 404 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: Original music by Leo Sidrin. I'm West Kasova. We'll be 405 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: back tomorrow with another Big Take.