Ben and James discuss the Theory of the Conservation of Attractive Profits, Intel, Netflix, and how it all applies to Disney. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Disney’s Choice — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Disney Follow-up — Stratechery

Episode 119 — Amazon and Avocados

1 Jun 23rd, 2017 59m 54s

Ben and James discuss Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, when acquisitions make sense, and the potential future of antitrust law. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Amazon’s New Customer — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Acquisitions and Ne

Episode 127 — The Worst-Case Scenario

Oct 13th, 2017 1h 5m

Ben and James discuss Facebook and where both its critics and executives go wrong. It’s time for everyone to consider the worst-case scenarios. NOTE: We unfortunately had significant audio issues this week on both sides (which, by the way, had

Episode 126 — Getting to the Future Faster

Sep 29th, 2017 1h 7m

Ben and James discuss the development of theory, why blogs have disrupted books, and why too many in tech are too pessimistic about humanity. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregatio

Episode 120 — Google, Antitrust, and Aggregation Theory

Jun 30th, 2017 54m 38s

Ben and James discuss the European Commission’s antitrust ruling against Google and the challenges of antitrust in a world governed by Aggregation Theory. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Ends, Means, and Antitrust — Stratechery Episo

Episode 181 — Competing with Spotify and Regulating Acquisitions

Feb 21st, 2020 54m 59s

Ben and James discuss Ben’s new Daily Update Podcast, and why Exponent is not on Spotify. Then, should regulators roll back acquisitions or prioritize the avoidance of unintended consequences? Links Ben Thompson: The Daily Update Podcast — Stra

Episode 125 — The Super-Aggregators

Sep 22nd, 2017 1h 8m

Ben and James discuss the different levels of aggregation, Facebook and Russian ads, and why it’s worth defending the future. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Super-Aggregators and the Russians — Stratechery Facebook Enabled Adver

Episode 197 — ChatGPT (at Normal Speed)

Dec 9th, 2022 1h 5m

Ben and James reunite to discuss the potential impact of AI on white collar work. Subscribe to Stratechery Plus, including Sharp Tech and Sharp China. Links Ben Thompson: AI Homework — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview With Daniel Gross an

Episode 196 — Forecasting the Metaverse

Nov 5th, 2021 1h 14m

Ben and James discuss Facebook and Microsoft’s metaverse announcements, and how the future might play out. Links Ben Thompson: Meta — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview with Mark Zuckerberg about the Metaverse — Stratechery Ben Thompson: AR

Episode 195 — Technological Revolutions

Oct 18th, 2021 1h 9m

Are we in the middle of the IT revolution, or on the verge of something new? Links Ben Thompson: The Death and Birth of Technological Revolutions — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The End of the Beginning — Stratechery John Perry Barlow: A Declaratio

Episode 194 — Back on Spotify

Apr 30th, 2021 1h 6m

Ben and James discuss the history of podcasts and why Spotify’s recent announcements are so compelling for creators. Links Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Surprise — Stratechery Episode 185 — Open, Free, and Spotify — Exponent Ben Thompson: Podcasts, A

Episode 193 — Sovereign Podcasters

Mar 26th, 2021 57m 22s

Ben and James discuss Substack and the rise of the sovereign creator. Links Ben Thompson: Sovereign Writers and Substack — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Never-Ending Niches — Stratechery Bruno Maçães: History Has Begun — Hurst Publishers Ben Thomps

Episode 192 — The Australian Perspective

Feb 19th, 2021 49m 14s

Ben and James discuss Australia’s Media Bargaining Code and its fall-out. Links Ben Thompson: Google Makes Deal With News Corp, Facebook Blocks News in Australia, Microsoft’s Shamelessness — Stratechery Daily Update James Allworth: Australia’s

Episode 191 — Facebook, Twitter, and Trump

Jan 8th, 2021 1h 6m

Ben and James discuss whether Facebook and Twitter should de-platform President Trump. Links Ben Thompson: Tech and Trump — Stratechery Ben Thompson: New Defaults — Stratechery James Allworth: Prioritizing Economics is Crippling the U.S. Econom

Episode 190 — Intel, Apple, Disruption, and Differentiation

Nov 13th, 2020 1h

Ben and James discuss Apple’s new chip announcement and what it means for both Apple and Intel. Links James Allworth: Intel’s Disruption is Now Complete — Medium Ben Thompson: Apple’s Shifting Differentiation — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Int

Episode 189 — Bundles

Oct 6th, 2020 49m 17s

Ben and James discuss the state of bundles in 2020, including Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Microsoft, and Apple. Links Ben Thompson: 2020 Bundles — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Great Unbundling — Stratechery Reed Hastings: 2018 Q4 Letter to Shareh

Episode 188 — Big Tech, Antitrust, and Democracy

Aug 7th, 2020 54m 35s

Ben and James discuss the antitrust subcommittee hearing, the problems of mixing antitrust and Aggregators, and how to think about regulation and democracy. Links Ben Thompson: Antitrust Politics — Stratechery The New York Times: Here’s which t

Episode 187 — India, TikTok, and the U.S.

Jul 10th, 2020 56m 50s

Ben and James discuss the Indian internet, TikTok, and whether or not the U.S. should ban it. Links Ben Thompson: Facebook Invests in Jio Platforms, The Building of Jio, Understanding the Deal — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The China

Episode 186 — Speech and Systems

Jun 5th, 2020 43m 56s

Ben and James discuss the current protests and Facebook’s decision to not take down Trump tweets. Links Ben Thompson: Zero Trust Information — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dust in the Light — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zuckerberg’s Choice, Zuckerbe

Episode 185 — Open, Free, and Spotify

May 15th, 2020 48m 51s

Ben and James discuss Dithering, how Spotify is like Facebook, and a bit about working from home. Links Ben Thompson & John Gruber: Dithering — Dithering Ben Thompson: Dithering and Open Versus Free — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Daily Update

Episode 184 — Good is Better than Perfect

Apr 3rd, 2020 55m 40s

Ben and James discuss masks and Twitter’s decision to delete tweets about COVID-19. Links Zeynep Tufekci: Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired — The New York Times Ben Thompson: Unmasking Twitter — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Compaq

Episode 183 — A Search for Everything

Mar 13th, 2020 47m 23s

Ben and James contrast U.S. and China’s response to the coronavirus, and the choices facing society about how to handle information. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Earnings, Slowing Services Growth, Apple and the Coronavirus — Stratechery Ben Thom

Episode 182 — Scale Scale Scale

Feb 28th, 2020 1h 5m

Ben and James discuss the FTC’s decision to block the acquisition of Harry’s Razors, the DTC market, and the difference between being a monopoly and being too big. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Investor Warning, Foxconn’s Investor Warning, An Int

Episode 180 — It’s Been a Week

Jan 31st, 2020 57m 37s

Ben and James eulogize Professor Clayton M. Christensen Links Clayton M. Christensen: How Will You Measure Your Life? — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Clayton Christensen Pas

Episode 179 — The Water We Swim In

Jan 18th, 2020 55m 54s

Ben and James discuss whether mobile and hyper-scale clouds are the natural endpoint for this stage of technology, or if new companies will ride new paradigm shifts to replace Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Links Ben Thompson: The End of