EP 23 | Saks Bankruptcy, Detroit’s EV Hangover & Bugonia vs. AI Slop

Season 2 is back Jason Sanjana & Kevin Eckhardt open with a quick life update, then the warm up turns into a real world bankrupt brand mishap when Jason gets bamboozled over the break by a distant bankruptcy friend, Party City, and suddenly a normal errand becomes a reminder that nothing is safe (00:03:14). The main event kicks off when the guys move from that moment into the headline story, Saks Bankruptcy, and what happens when luxury tries to operate like a discount chain, vendors stop shipping, and even relationships like Chanel’s start showing up as nine figure problems (00:06:58). They’re joined by Krishan Sutharshana, Senior Distressed Analyst at Octus, to break down the timeline, the vendor death spiral, and why an Amazon partnership can turn into a structural trap instead of a lifeline (00:09:41). From there, they pivot hard to Detroit’s spectacular $25 billion EV write down mess, with Ford taking a $19.5B hit and General Motors following with $7B, as the policy pendulum between Joe Biden and Donald Trump leaves automakers stranded mid pivot (00:25:11). This episode’s unofficial sponsor, the entry level job market, makes its pitch while side effects may include applying to 150 fake jobs and getting filtered out by AI (00:35:47), before the show closes with Culture Corner and a spoiler warning on Bugonia, plus a detour into Matt Damon on the state of movies and why Netflix keeps making everyone mad (00:37:55). The final moments land exactly where they should, with Producer Tanya’s celebrity crush Jon Bernthal and the love language conversation taking over like it was always inevitable (00:44:42). Hosted by Jason Sanjana & Kevin Eckhardt Guest: Krishan Sutharshana (Senior Distressed Analyst, Octus) Produced and Edited by Tanya Hubbard A Production of The Octus Podcast Network (00:00) - Season 2 Returns (03:14) - Party City DoorDash (06:58) - Saks Bankruptcy (09:41) - Krishan Sutharshana Breaks Down Saks (11:21) - The Retail Death Spiral (15:19) - The Inventory Cliff (18:57) - The Vendor Leverage Bet (22:15) - Even Amazon Wants Out (25:02) - Detroit’s EV Hangover (25:11) - Hands Up for Detroit (35:48) - Unofficial Sponsor Returns: Entry Level Job Market (38:03) - Culture Corner: Play the Jingle (42:32) - Matt Damon on Movies (44:54) - Producer Tanya’s Love Language