S8 Ep16: CD Sales Rise, Netflix Suffers Big Loss, Why the Book Industry Loves Barnes & Noble Again

Why are CD sales on the rise? What year is it?! Fake philanthropist Elon Musk has secured the funding to purchase Twitter for $44 billion. Do we think Twitter will change much under his leadership? Are we leaving? It's like Netflix wants to lose subscribers: too many choices, canceling hits, and doing an about face on password sharing. Since they anticipate losing 2 million subscribers in the next quarter or so, why are they proceeding with these unpopular decisions? Speaking of, Netflix is considering implementing ads and other sponsored content in an ad-supported tier. A Nielson survey shows that consumers are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of streaming services. It also seems like Florida wants to take a tourism hit: Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week that would dissolve the special Reedy Creek District, which has allowed Disney to self-govern for over 50 years. In addition to hurting business, tourism, and taxpayers, we think it's highly unlikely that this will actually come to pass. Laura predicts that DeSantis knows this, and is picking this fight to shore up his base ahead of a 2024 presidential run. Independent booksellers may have once hated Barnes & Noble, but the bookstore chain is warning up to them with some changes to their business model. We've got all of the entertainment recommendations this week: 'White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch' on Netflix (Andrew), the Archive 81 podcast (Laura), and Dissect podcast's 7-part miniseries on Bo Burnham's 'Inside' (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available exclusively on Patreon: It's another 'Am I the Asshole?' installment, featuring submissions from our Patrons! What grandma doesn't know won't hurt her... a tale of installing a smart thermostat to thwart stifling temperatures. Sometimes, your parents are the assholes. Hard stop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices