Bookstores typically aren't seen as the most attractive businesses in the year 2021. Add in the pandemic, and that makes it even tougher. And if you're in Texas, dealing with multiple blackouts, then it gets even harder than that. Our guest on this episode did all of that. We speak with the author Ryan Holiday, the author of several books including The Daily Stoic and Ego Is the Enemy, as well as Conspiracy, a book about the takedown of Gawker. He talks about his new bookshop in Bastrop Texas, and all of the various difficulties he's faced over the last year in running the operation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a lot of hype about so-called DeFi (decentralized finance) these days, and much of it is based on enthusiasm over what can be built on Ethereum. Ethereum is seen as easier to build on for multiple reasons. But the Bitcoin world is increasingly interested in some of the same mechanics and similar types of projects. On this Odd Lots, we speak with Alyse Killeen, the founder Managing Partner at Stillmark, a Bitcoin-focused VC fund, on what's being built there, and how its vision of DeFi is similar and different to what's being built on Ethereum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By now you've no doubt heard about DeFi: the hot vision of crypto that aims to disrupt traditional lending and fundraising. But the space remains really difficult to grasp. There's all kinds of jargon — Automated Market Makers, Impermanent Loss, etc. — and the markets don't quite operate like traditional markets do. So how does it all really work? Where's it going? And what will it all be used for beyond speculation? On this episode, we speak with Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly Capital to break it all down.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world's central bankers are facing challenges the likes of which they've never seen before. We're in a unique moment for the macroeconomy, coming out of the pandemic crisis at a rapid clip. What's more, the nature of money is changing. Cryptocurrencies are on the rise. More commerce is becoming digital. The pandemic showed weaknesses in the existing payments system. On this week's episode, we speak with Hyun Song Shin, the Economic Adviser and Head of Research at the Bank for International Settlements on the future of central bank digital currencies, and other challenges they face right now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can't talk about the problems in logistics and supply chains right now without talking about trucking. Once goods are unloaded from ships, trucks are the dominant mode of domestic freight. However, unlike shipping, the trucking industry was something of a mess even before the pandemic: prone to extreme labor problems and rapid boom/bust cycles. On this episode, we speak with Craig Fuller, the CEO of the information and data firm FreightWaves, to discuss the current and long-term state of the industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone knows that tech stocks performed amazingly well amid the coronavirus crisis. In the last few months, there's been a little bit of a cooling off. But for the most part, betting on tech has been a fantastic bet for a really long time. This week's guest says there's a lot more to come. On this episode we speak with Ram Parameswaran, the Founder and CIO at Octahedron Capital — which does VC investments and invests in public equity — on what he learned over the last year, and the big things he's betting on now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By this point, you're aware that shipping anything internationally is pretty tough right now. It turns out, it's getting worse. Earlier in the year, Tracy tried shipping a teddy bear from Hong Kong to the U.S. on a vessel, but, for a variety of reasons, it ended up not working out. At least she tried. Right now, she wouldn't even be able to try because international shipping has gotten that much more messed up. So what's behind this logistical nightmare? On this episode, we speak with Mercury Group CEO Anton Posner and President Margo Brock for a granular deep dive into the state of shipping and why it's so hard for Tracy (and even shippers with higher dollar value goods for sale) to get space on a vessel right now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the last year, numerous celebrities and athletes have gotten into crypto in some way. For example, some have announced plans to put part of their salary into Bitcoin. But Brooklyn Nets star Spencer Dinwiddie has been in the space for a lot longer, having held Bitcoin for several years. And, in addition to owning Bitcoin and other coins, he's also the co-founder of a new company called Calaxy, which aims to let fans buy tokens associated with their favorite stars. On this episode, we speak with Spencer as well as his co-founder Solo Ceesay about the world of creator tokens, and how various technologies, including crypto, are changing the relationship between fans and celebs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Home demand is booming. By some measures, the market is even hotter than it was during the peak prior to the financial crisis. But there's one big problem: There just aren't many homes available to buy. Whether it's existing inventory or new home sales, there simply isn't enough to meet the demand, even with prices surging. On this episode of Odd Lots, we speak with housing economist Ali Wolf, the chief economist at the data and research firm Zonda, about how the boom happened; how America became so under-housed; and how constraints of land, labor and materials are making it brutal to build more of them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dan Ariely is one of the most famous behavioral economists in the world. And in his latest act, he's attempted to apply his research to investing. His five-year-old firm Irrational Capital searches out companies that foster human capital: that companies which do a better job of nurturing their employees see stock market outperformance. In this episode, we talk about why human capital matters, how to measure it, and what kind of investment returns he's seen by betting on it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.