Bezos Is Back, AI Is Taking Over, and Ales Grey is in Walmart | Ep. 996
Group Chat
Group Chat
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2026
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dee and Anand sit down with actor Adam Rodriguez and footwear entrepreneur Steve Pitino for a massive announcement: Steve's American-made comfort shoe brand Ales Grey just landed in Walmart, the largest retailer in the world.
The guys break down how five years living above a factory in China, zero overseas supply chain, and algae-based materials led to a $60 shoe that nurses, doctors, and frontline workers are calling life-changing and why this launch couldn't come at a better moment with tariffs reshaping American manufacturing.
Then the crew pivots to the weekend's biggest sports story: the Fanatics Flag Football event in LA. Was it actually good? What does Logan Paul and Tom Brady's role say about the future of live sports entertainment?
Plus: Jeff Bezos is raising $100 billion to re-enter the game through AI and robotics manufacturing and why that might be the single biggest bullish signal for America's future. Anthropic's new free certification, Waymo going freeway-legal, Tesla Full Self-Driving, and why Sergey Brin showing up at an AI open meetup says everything.
And to close: life expectancy is actually up, fentanyl deaths are down 26%, and GLP-1s are going generic so why does everyone feel like the world is ending?
A packed 996. Episode 1000 is coming.
🎁 EXCLUSIVE LISTENER DEAL — Ales Grey x Walmart BOGO
The Ales Grey Pro 3 is now live on Walmart.com 100% made in America, algae-based comfort, arch support built in, starting at $60.
Here's how to get a FREE pair:
- Purchase the Ales Grey Frontline Pro 3 on Walmart.com
- Screenshot your order confirmation
- Send the screenshot to @alesgrey on Instagram
- Choose your free pair — black or white recycled cap colorway
⚠️ This deal is for one week only — limited time. Don't sleep on it.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | All right, Cathies, before we kick off our big Sunday night episode, we have some special guests in here. |
| 0:05.5 | We have a long-time listener, not first-time visitor, Steve Petino here from Alice Gray. |
| 0:14.3 | Welcome, Steve. |
| 0:15.2 | What's up, Kathy's? |
| 0:16.4 | And we have Adam Rodriguez here. |
| 0:19.7 | You might know them from a lot of television shows and movies. |
| 0:24.2 | And now Angelino. |
| 0:26.1 | So we had some good conversations about living in L.A. |
| 0:28.8 | But, you know, we wanted to get everyone together today because we have some big, big news. |
| 0:34.6 | And, you know, if you've been listening to this podcast for the last, you know, five, |
| 0:38.0 | 10 years, you know that Steve's been on a journey building a brand. Today we're talking about |
| 0:43.3 | history and footwear. History and footwear. Let's go. And it's pretty exciting because you guys have |
| 0:49.5 | all been supporting the brand since it started from Kickstarter, even folks that even bought the shoes |
| 0:55.0 | prior to its original kind of version of the business. And it was exciting to see. And, you know, |
| 1:01.0 | obviously I'm heavily vested in your success as well. And so I've always believed in Steve. |
| 1:08.0 | Steve and I have known each other, I don't know, over 20 years at this point. |
| 1:12.0 | Definitely. |
| 1:13.1 | And, you know, I would say people talk about like being a designer, being in shoes, being |
| 1:20.0 | in, you know, all of these things. |
| 1:22.8 | I would say I, and I'm going to just say this, like I know I got roasted for shitting on Nike the other day |
| 1:29.4 | on the internet. And I was like, what does this guy know anything about shoes? Well, guess what? |
| 1:33.8 | I've sold hundreds of millions of dollars of shoes. I actually, probably one of the best in the |
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