Black Friday felt underwhelming despite record sales

Have you ever wondered what Alix Earle, AI, and Gen Z’s ‘Absurd Era’ Reveal About the Future of Business, Entertainment & Influence?

Black Friday flopped. Booking.com became sexy. Dancing With the Stars is now a full-blown creator pipeline. And the average influencer? Officially over.

In this week’s episode, Maggie and Katie break down the cultural chaos shaping 2026, from unhinged micro-trends to the new class system emerging from AI… and why the myth of overnight success is the most dangerous lie online.

They explain:

• Why Black Friday felt flat even as it broke records

• How tweens and micro trends reshaped consumer behavior

• Why cultural relevancy beat traditional product launches

• The travel planning study every woman is sending her partner

• How Booking dot com became the most unexpected breakout brand

• The creator to reality TV to entrepreneur pipeline

• Why business shows struggle on video while Shark Tank still wins

• The new rules for storytelling in business and education

• The top AI predictions for 2026 and the HSR point of view

• Why Gen Z will become entrepreneurs by necessity

• How micro companies and tastemakers will shape culture

• Why human imperfection will become a trust marker

• Why analog living is emerging as a new luxury

  
  

Chapters:

01:00 Black Friday was underwhelming but record breaking

03:00 Why cultural relevancy beat product drops

05:00 Tweens and absurd micro trends

06:00 The travel planning attractiveness study

08:00 Why Booking.dot com finally became cool

10:00 Dancing With the Stars and the new creator pipeline

11:00 Alex Earl, Brooke Nader, and the reality TV effect

13:00 Why business shows fail on video

15:00 Shark Tank works because it is emotional, not logical

17:00 What brands get wrong about content

19:00 The new rules of education and entertainment

20:00 Breaking down the top AI predictions of 2026

21:00 Gen Z forced entrepreneurship

23:00 Micro companies and the rise of taste makers

24:00 Personalised education and the end of the classroom

26:00 Human assisted services becoming luxury

27:00 The death of the average influencer

28:00 Trust premiums and human proof labels

29:00 Analog living becoming aspirational

31:00 Using AI to evolve your business

33:00 The myth of overnight success

34:00 Mashki’s decade long rise

35:00 Build to sell or build to keep

36:00 How founders should think about public building

38:00 Privilege, backlash, and the messy middle

40:00 Vulnerability as a competitive advantage

42:00 Why creators struggle to pull back

44:00 Sharing outcomes versus sharing in real time

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