The Honest Broker

2 weeks ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

Netflix’s CEO gave an interview a few days ago, and made clear how much he hates movie theaters. He insists that he’s not the only one—in the year 2025, the audience shares his loathing. They also hate going to the cinema. Or so he thinks. “The theatrical box office is down 40 to 50% from pre-COVID,” he points out, “and this year is down 8% already—so the trend is not reversing. You’ve gotta look at that and say, ‘What is the consumer trying to tell you?’”I have a different opinion.

3 weeks ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

Two years ago, I shared an account of Christopher Burney, a British spy captured by the Nazis in World War II. He spent 526 days in solitary confinement under brutal conditions. He survived by developing deep skills of mindfulness and silent mediation. Then he wrote a book about it. The book was unfairly forgotten. But my article helped bring it back to life. A new edition of Solitary Confinement has just been released by Recovered Books, and it features my essay as introduction.

3 weeks ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

I keep telling young musicians to see the new Bob Dylan biopic. But this has nothing to do with nostalgia. And it’s not for the songs either (which are great). Or for the acting (which is fine). And not even for the filmmaking (which is solid). I tell them to see the movie as a powerful reminder that songs are change agents in human life. Music is transformative. It shakes people up. And people want to be shaken. The audience is hungry for this catalytic force—and the Dylan movie shows that repeatedly.

3 weeks ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

Nike stock has been falling for almost four years. It never recovered from the pandemic—the company got sicker as people got healthier. Not long, Nike was invulnerable. How could a company with more celebrity endorsements than any other consumer brand in the world ever lose it glamor? But celebrity endorsements don’t help anymore. Maybe they even hurt. The same is true of other companies linked to celebrities.

4 weeks ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

I have a favorite music genre that doesn’t actually exist. That’s especially odd—because these songs are all about existence. I call it existential pop. But I’m the only person who uses this label. There are no existential radio stations or playlists. But the songs are painfully real. They deal with possibilities, uncertainties, and difficult choices. Most hit songs tell you about what’s happening, but existential pop is more about the elusive might-have-beens.