Top Podcasts of the Week

October 14, 2019

Below is our “Top Podcast” episode with our new curator, Colby Donovan! Holler with any feedback!

Today we have episodes on the yield curve, WeWork, and happiness.

The Compound Show: The Yield Curve Indicator (with Josh, Michael, and Campbell Harvey). Campbell Harvey is a Professor at Duke University and a partner as Research Affiliates. He discusses the meaning of the inverted yield curve indicator, which he discovered in 1986 and has occurred before the last seven recessions. He also addresses some ideas around why this time may be different. For a longer interview with Harvey, you can listen to him on Meb Faber’s podcast here. [October 7, 2019–25 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Overcast |Breaker | Website Link

The Acquirer’s Podcast: Sector Bets: Lawrence Hamtil talks about the influence of uncompensated sector bets on value, small, and micro and international. Hamtil is a Principal and author at Fortune Financial Advisors, and joins the episode to discuss how focusing on sector concentration instead of growth/value will help produce better returns. He also elaborates on factor returns, including low vol & the small cap premium, the sin premium, and why investors in general focus too much on whether they are growth or value investors. [October 4, 2019–1 hour, 1 minute] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Overcast |Breaker | Website Link

a16z Podcast: The Environment, Capitalism, Technology. This episode is a great cross of economics, capitalism, finance, technology, and the environment. It features Marc Andreessen, Sonal Chokshi, and MIT economist Andrew McAfee about some ideas covered in his new book, More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources — and What Happens Next. His argument is that the relationship between economic growth and the environment isn’t zero-sum and the world is at a place today where developed economies continue to grow while using fewer resources than before. [October 3, 2019–46 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Overcast |Breaker | Website Link

Planet Money: #943: Unicorn Cowboy. If you’ve been following the financial news the last month, you know that WeWork went from being the most valuable startup in American to withdrawing their IPO. The situation wouldn’t have been possible without the $10 billion raised, mostly from Masayoshi Son and his Vision Fund, the biggest venture-capital fund in the history of the world. The episode explores Son’s background, how the Vision Fund changed how startups raise money, and the impact that had on the WeWork blowup. [October 4, 2019–21 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Overcast |Breaker | Website Link

***Must Listen***The TED Interview: Dan Gilbert on the surprising science of happiness. Gilbert is a Harvard psychologist, professor, and author of New York Time’s bestselling book Stumbling on Happiness. While the episode is mostly about happiness, my takeaway is the different ways our minds deceive us. He says the delta between how we expect to feel when something bad happens in the future and how we actually feel if that bad experience happens is large, and we need to realize we are poor at predicting our emotions in the future. He also discusses the fact that we’re prone to self-deception and struggle to think long-term since humans haven’t had to do so until recently. [October 9, 2019–1 hour, 1 minute] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Overcast |Breaker | Website Link

EconTalk: Ryan Holiday on Stillness Is the Key. Best selling author Ryan Holiday talks about his latest book, Stillness Is the Key. The book explains how stillness (serenity + focus) can have a positive impact on how we live and experience life, and how we can get clarity and experience inner peace when the world slows down. He does a great job explaining how he applies some of the topics to his own life, including how he schedules his days and devoting time to both journaling and reading. [October 7, 2019–1 hour, 23 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Overcast |Breaker | Website Link

Robert Shiller (Professor of Economics, Yale University): 1)Thinking Fast and Slow, 2)The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 3)The Journals of James Boswell: 1762–1795
Andrew McAfee (Principal Research Scientist, MIT Sloan School of Management): 1)The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
Michael Mauboussin (Director of Research, BlueMountain Capital Management): 1)Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy
Dan Ferris (Extreme Value Editor, Stansberry Research): 1)The Intelligent Investor (specifically Chapter 20), 2)The Most Important Thing, 3)The Elements of Investing, 4)Models.Behaving.Badly., 5)Bursts: The Hidden Patterns Behind Everything We Do.
Ryen Russillo (Podcast Host, The Ringer): 1)Grant, 2)Washingt on: A Life, 3)The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld, 4)Bruce Lee: A Life, 5)Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Michael Lombardi (Former NFL Executive, New England Patriots): Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives (Trailer here). Lombardi recommends this for anyone who’s in a hiring position. The general idea of the documentary is that if Davis could match the right song with the right artist, he could create a star, which he did many times over.

Here’s ours:

Good investing,Meb Fabertheideafarm.com