Group Chat News is back and we got the hottest news of the week including Spencer Pratt is now polling second for LA mayor behind a socialist and we break down why a reality star might actually be the right pick for the city right now. Nick Shirley kicked off a whistleblower wave and we think fraud detection is about to be the next big YC batch.

LAUSD is spending $45K per student while California school enrollment drops over 15 percent. The UK as a 51st state would land below Mississippi on wages. China's GDP went from 78 percent of the US to 64 percent and we get into how the one child policy and going after their wealthy entrepreneurs cooked them.

Nike rolled out a Boston Marathon ad that said runners welcome walkers tolerated then pulled it after backlash. We get into pace shaming, why every kid needs to learn how to lose, and how brands get stuck in a stretch where they cannot do anything right.

Plus 56 percent of Gen Z women now have tattoos, and the Customs and Border Protection portal opens tomorrow at 8am ET to refund $127B in tariffs to 82 percent of US importers. If you imported anything since last April, get on it

Group Chat News is back

1001 and still going.

This week: the Masters broke every record with Rory's comeback. Online gambling is out of control. LIV Golf winding down as Saudi money dries up. Uber's AI budget produced nothing and big companies are rethinking the spend. S&P at all-time highs while Buffett sits on $300B cash. Allbirds became a meme stock. Zuck moved his desk. SpaceX SPV drama. Corporate lawyers getting quarterback money. American luxury thriving, Gucci bleeding, global luxury demand disappearing. Boomers have $90T and every spring break reservation. TMZ set up shop in DC.

Group Chat News is back with episode 1000! One thousand episodes. Nearly nine years. And somehow we're still here. Dee, Anand, and Drama celebrate the milestone by looking back at how it all started, the eras the podcast has gone through. Thank you to all the Kathys who have listened over the years Heres to a 1000 more

This week on Group Chat, Zach White returns and the crew goes deep on Nike's earnings disaster and why the brand has become culturally irrelevant. From losing China to getting outpaced by Salomon and Arc'teryx, the guys break down what went wrong and whether the Swoosh can recover.

OpenAI just acquired TBPN, a tech podcast, for a reported $200M+ after only 18 months. The crew breaks down why 70K viewers of the right people is worth more than millions of the wrong ones, and what it means for the future of media acquisitions.

Kanye sold out two nights at SoFi for the first time in LA since 2019. 45 songs, Lauryn Hill, Travis Scott, and $18M on night one alone. Is cancel culture officially dead? The crew debates what it means when the most controversial artist in the world sells out the biggest venue in the city.

Plus: the Artemis moon launch, the moon landing conspiracy debate (the crew votes), a GCP fan builds a SaaS product from a pod tip, Dee builds a baseball swing analyzer on a Duffy boat, and Venice is the new West Hollywood.

This week on Group Chat NEWS, a Wall Street Journal deep dive reveals 400,000 Americans are now worth over $30 million and the number is climbing fast. The guys break down what that means for the economy, why a real recession might be impossible, and how the $90 trillion boomer inheritance is about to reshape everything.

TikTok is launching its own TV shows, and the crew can't help but point out that Jeffrey Katzenberg and Quibi had this exact idea seven years too early. Short form premium content is now the norm, and China's numbers prove it.

Tiger Woods flipped his car again in Jupiter, Florida, this time with a DUI charge. The guys debate whether anything actually changes for him professionally and why certain icons get unlimited passes.

The average age of a US gamer is now 36 years old. What does that mean for kids on headsets, for the culture, and for dating?

Anand shares an emotional recap of Colin Farrell's event in Pasadena for special needs families and what it meant to his family personally.

Plus: Drama is funding a social experiment, Javi has the wildest story of the year, and Dee finally settles the $350 baseball bat debate once and for all.

Group Chat is a weekly podcast breaking down the biggest trends in business, technology, fashion, sports and more! Hosted by Dee Murthy, Drama aka Chris Pfaff and Anand Murthy successful entrepreneurs with honest perspectives.

Dee and Anand are back with a midweek episode packed with big stories.

OpenAI just shut down Sora — their viral AI video editing app — and Disney pulled their billion dollar investment. Is OpenAI spreading itself too thin while Anthropic quietly wins the AI race? The guys break down why the cost structure of AI doesn't make sense yet and what needs to happen for it all to click.

David Goggins just re-enlisted in the Marines at 51 years old. The Army raised its enlistment age to 42 and the internet is losing its mind. Is this patriotism, content, or both? And what does it mean for military recruiting when the biggest thought leaders of young men in America start signing up?

Meek Mill went viral for pushing AI in underprivileged schools, got clowned on the internet, and then got personally invited by a top tech executive to make it happen. The guys break down what the moment actually means and why Meek Mill might be onto something real.

Plus: The NBA is losing America and nobody wants to admit why. A 20 year old just won $3 million from Facebook and YouTube for childhood social media addiction — and every personal injury lawyer in the country just took notes. Blackstone drops $1.4 billion on an Indian cricket team. And why every billionaire in LA is suddenly obsessed with sleep.

A packed 997. Episode 1000 is coming.

🎁 Ales Grey x Walmart BOGO Deal is still live!

1. Buy the Ales Grey Pro 3 on Walmart.com
2. Screenshot your order
3. DM the screenshot to @alesgreyfootwear on Instagram
4. Choose your free pair — black or white colorway

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🎙️ Group Chat Podcast drops every week — subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Dee and Anand sit down with actor Adam Rodriguez and footwear entrepreneur Steve Pitino for a massive announcement: Steve's American-made comfort shoe brand Ales Grey just landed in Walmart, the largest retailer in the world.

The guys break down how five years living above a factory in China, zero overseas supply chain, and algae-based materials led to a $60 shoe that nurses, doctors, and frontline workers are calling life-changing and why this launch couldn't come at a better moment with tariffs reshaping American manufacturing.

Then the crew pivots to the weekend's biggest sports story: the Fanatics Flag Football event in LA. Was it actually good? What does Logan Paul and Tom Brady's role say about the future of live sports entertainment?

Plus: Jeff Bezos is raising $100 billion to re-enter the game through AI and robotics manufacturing and why that might be the single biggest bullish signal for America's future. Anthropic's new free certification, Waymo going freeway-legal, Tesla Full Self-Driving, and why Sergey Brin showing up at an AI open meetup says everything.

And to close: life expectancy is actually up, fentanyl deaths are down 26%, and GLP-1s are going generic so why does everyone feel like the world is ending?

A packed 996. Episode 1000 is coming.

🎁 EXCLUSIVE LISTENER DEAL — Ales Grey x Walmart BOGO

The Ales Grey Pro 3 is now live on Walmart.com 100% made in America, algae-based comfort, arch support built in, starting at $60.

Here's how to get a FREE pair:

1. Purchase the Ales Grey Frontline Pro 3 on Walmart.com
2. Screenshot your order confirmation
3. Send the screenshot to @alesgrey on Instagram
4. Choose your free pair — black or white recycled cap colorway

⚠️ This deal is for one week only — limited time. Don't sleep on it.

Group Chat News is back and Michael B. Jordan just won Best Actor while we were recording!! For the guys, this one's personal. From Fantasy Factory hangs to courtside moments, MBJ is the real deal. Plus, is Timothée Chalamet peaking too soon, and what does Hollywood actually reward?

Tucker Carlson's name is popping up in Iran spy allegations and the crew breaks down what's real, what's speculation, and why none of it is surprising.

Then the guys get into the AI debate. Chamath says the utility isn't there yet. The crew strongly disagrees. From fixing a $750-a-month water leak with one prompt to small business owners changing their entire operation overnight the future is already here, people just aren't paying attention.

And with humanoid robots coming for blue collar jobs, what does the future of work actually look like? The guys make the case this moment is bigger than the iPhone and the internet combined.

All that on this week's Group Chat Podcast.

This week on Group Chat, the guys kick things off fresh off Daylight Savings — and nobody's mad about it. The LA Marathon took over the city, and with it came one of the most unbelievable finishes in recent sports memory: Nathan Smith, a 36-year-old middle school teacher, came from behind in the final seconds to steal the win in a photo finish for the ages. Nike, call this man. The crew also digs into the controversy around LA handing out medals at mile 18, the logistics of playing Frogger through 10,000 runners on Sunset, and why Boston will always have more credibility.

From there: Is Whole Foods actually one of the cheapest grocery stores in America? The guys make the case — and call out the "whole paycheck" narrative as outdated marketing. Plus, the best days of the week to shop on Amazon, Walmart, and Revolve thanks to dynamic pricing, and what surge pricing has taught us about how we spend.

The five wealthiest counties in the US are all in the DC area. What does that tell us about who's really winning? The crew breaks it down. And finally: matcha is everywhere, vegetarianism might be the new woke, and Drama's Fantasy Factory is going viral on TikTok all over again.

Group Chat News is back with the biggest stories of the week including and update on Drama's dating life, everything going on in Iran, Anthropic exposing China for creating over 24,000 fake accounts to steal American AI technology, Claude just dethroned ChatGPT as the number one app in the U.S. after a wild Pentagon story, Jack Dorsey just announced Block is getting smaller and what that means for the future of Square. A mass shooting on Sixth Street leaves 3 dead and 14 injured with the FBI investigating terrorism ties. Plus the betting market payout controversy that has everyone heated.