From the Phone Screen to the Silver Screen

From the Phone Screen to the Silver Screen

Is YouTube the new film incubator? In the wake of two hit movies from internet native directors, Max, Stacey, and Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw figure out if the buzz around Backrooms and Obsession is a trend or a fluke. Plus, we check in on the Iran conflict and China’s role in it with Javier Blas, some clumsy alleged insider trading, and a couple different instances of international art theft. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

A Different Way to Lower Your Grocery Bill

Across the country, Americans are cutting back on groceries, but maybe they don’t have to. With an eye to one of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s signature initatives, Max and Stacey take you inside a city-run grocery store in Atlanta that keeps some prices low no matter its profit margins. And then, what’s the difference between art and slop? Max sits down with AI filmmaker Matt Zien to weigh the pros and cons of a nearly human-free cast and crew. (We promise that neither Max nor Stacey has been replaced by a chatbot.) Plus, we discover 2026’s song of the summer, and doping in sports is so back. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Is That T-Shirt Worth $100 Million?

This week, Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman joins Max and Stacey to break down her latest scoop: direct-to-consumer pioneer Everlane has been acquired by fast-fashion giant Shein for $100 million. What does an opaque e-commerce behemoth want with a brand that built its name on "radical transparency?" Lauren unpacks the corporate irony and offers sanity-saving shopping advice for the ethically whiplashed. Plus, Businessweek contributing writer Megan Greenwell drops by to discuss the roaring success of the WNBA. Fresh off a historic new collective bargaining agreement engineered with the help of a Nobel Prize-winning Harvard economist, the league's growth seems limitless — even if skyrocketing ticket prices are giving day-one fans a bit of sticker shock. Then we debut our new segment, Super Savers, with the story of one resourceful soccer enthusiast who built a viral workaround to attend the World Cup. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Big Take Bonus: The $100 Billion Gen Alpha Economy

We here at Everybody’s Business are big fans of our colleagues and friends over at Big Take, Bloomberg’s daily news podcast. They just released and episode hosted by our very own Stacey Vanek Smith and we'd love to share it. Please enjoy, and hop on over to subscribe to their feed if you like what you hear! —— The oldest Gen Alphas are still in high school, but some of the early reviews have been scathing. Unruly. Nihilistic. Bad at reading. Yet when Bloomberg Businessweek’s Stacey Vanek Smith dug into the research, she emerged with a more optimistic view on the most online generation yet. Tech savvy. Globally minded. Also, preternaturally good at skincare. On today’s Big Take podcast, Smith tells host David Gura about the cohort that accounts for $100 billion a year in direct spending power in the US alone – and what it might look like when it begins to enter the workforce. Read more: Gen Alpha Can’t Be Ignored [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-17/gen-alpha-born-between-2010-and-2024-is-driving-consumer-spending] We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. [https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/podcasts] Hosted by David Gura; Produced by David Fox; Reported by Stacey Vanek Smith; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott. Fact-checking by Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Alex Sugiura. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

A Stock Market of Amazonian Proportions

Amazon is everywhere, from your doorstep to outer space. So, what is the current state of the Everything Store? This week, Max and Stacey look at the company that is more utility than retailer with Bloomberg Businessweek editor-in-chief Brad Stone. Plus, have you wondered why the stock market has been doing so well even though lots of things don't seem to be going great at home or abroad? Author and economic commentator Kyla Scanlon explains why the record highs keep coming even as oil prices double and the job market is at a standstill. And: a special guest gives us an underrated story that makes the case for booing. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.