The Best One Yet
👰 “r/bride” — Reddit’s wedding surge. 401k “Modest Millionaires”. Farmer’s $12B bailout. +Pickle pop.
10 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, ceviche, Wednesday, December 10th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack checking the calendars here. We got a two-week warning until Christmas Eve today. I'm watching my watch list here, Nick. I've watched Home Alone and Elf.
This weekend, I got Home Alone 2 and The Family Stone. We're about halfway through the holiday season, so... I noticed Hallmark wasn't on the list, Jack, but that's a story for another pod. Yetis, that's your warning, and these are your three fantastic stories for today's Tea Boy. For our first story, the new go-to source for wedding planning, it isn't Pinterest, it's Reddit.
Reddit, and the subreddit on weddings explains why this stock has quintupled in just 18 months. For our second story, farmers are getting a $12 billion soybean bailout, while China's trade is at all-time highs. Besties, this is the trade war paradox, and Jack and I will explain it all. And our third and final story.
A record number of Americans are now millionaires, most of them thanks to their 401ks. So we'll share our three-step advice on how to become a 401k millionaire. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, what a mix of stories. Love the mix of stories, Jack. Are you tasting more sour lately? Yeah, because the data shows the fastest growing flavor in America right now is...
pickle. That's right. We're in the middle of a unprecedented pickle pop. A brine boom. A fermentation frenzy. Get this, Americans buy $12 billion worth of pickles every single year. Jack, can you sprinkle on some context? That's one left. It is. Because pickles are now on 30% of America's restaurant menus.
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Chapter 2: Why is Reddit becoming the go-to platform for wedding planning?
Yeah, the pickle's been promoted from condiment to appetizer. Oh, According to Yelp, searches for pickle restaurant are up 32% so far this year. Jack, we need a pure play pickle chain out there. Searches for pickle martini are up 600%. Hey, bartender, make it extra, extra dirty. Even searches for pickle store are up 7,000% in five years. Jack, pickle store isn't even a real thing.
I don't know why you'd search for it. Yet. So much untapped pickle demand in this country that Popeye's launched a whole pickle themed menu.
Chapter 3: How does the soybean bailout affect American farmers?
And McDonald's just dropped a Grinch themed pickle happy meal. And one of the fastest growing brands at Whole Foods Market. It's called Hot Girl Pickles. Yeah, personal favorite. It's the Hot Girl Pickles. Yes, millennials are obsessed with gut health, so this makes sense.
And yes, Gen Z likes provocative flavor combos that feel like a dare to your taste buds, and then they film it and post it on social media so it goes viral on TikTok. Put it all together, and we're in our pickle era. It's a big deal, Jack. It's a big deal. Let's hit our three stories.
15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in a dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%, that's a fat tip. T-Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, cause we ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show.
For our first story, Reddit stock has 5x'd since their IPO 18 months ago, and you can see why if you're wedding planning right now. Because the subreddit on weddings went viral this year, and the reason is anonymous. Oh, besties. It's not technically wedding season, but it is wedding planning season. Yes, it is.
So, a New York Times reporter who's getting married posted the two options she's thinking about for wedding gowns on Reddit. One of them's an A-frame, one of them's more of like a princess puff on the shoulders, if you know what we mean. But Jack, what were the results of that post? It got 200,000 reviews, 1,600 comments.
She ended up going with wedding dress number two because one Redditor called the first wedding dress option, quote-unquote... Fugly. Okay, personally disagree with that one, but we support the bride and her decision. But the bigger story here is Reddit for wedding advice? Reddit for weddings? Is that a thing?
Besties, we're talking about Reddit here, an internet repository for opinions and advice from strangers on anything. The stock is up 45% this year, and it has 5x'd since the Reddit IPO last summer. But pause the podjack. Is that because of nuptials? Millions of strangers weighing in on your most personal life decision? Yes, it is, Nick. Wow. Weddings.
They're the fastest growing subreddit in the community. Not in spite of anonymity, because of it. Besties, let's jump in T-boy style. Let's look at the subreddit r-wedding, which was started in 2008, two years before Pinterest even launched. Say yes to the dress was only in its second TV season, and Instagram didn't even exist when this subreddit was created.
And yet, in just the last year, that wedding subreddit has gone viral. Jack, what kind of numbers? Views 6x'd this year to 471 million, and the number of posts and comments has quadrupled. Oh, and it's not just the subreddit on weddings in general. There is the subreddit DIY wedding, which has tripled in the last year. Big budget brides has quadrupled.
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Chapter 4: What trends are driving the current pickle demand in America?
Yeah, one theory we've noticed is that AI chatbots are sending traffic back to Reddit. After all, Reddit has a licensing deal to train Jack TPT with Reddit content. So if you ask a chap out a question about, like, the best best man speech that you can craft, what's going to happen? The answer is probably sourced from some dude's Reddit post.
Okay, speaking of which, Jack, unlike Pinterest, it's grooms who are getting wedding advice on Reddit, not just the brides. That's right. 30% of Reddit's wedding community is comprised of men. Because dudes like Jack and I got opinions on flowers, too. Do I want white roses? Yeah, I want white roses. Full disclosure, Jack, my biggest wedding regret is we didn't have more Icelandic poppies.
Have you seen an Icelandic poppy? Have you seen an Icelandic poppy, my friend? Have I?
Yeah.
I stole some from your wedding. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Reddit? Reddit's superpower is also Spider-Man's. It wears a mask. Yetis, there are a million places you can find info on the internet, but they all come with a bias. Instagram is too polished to be authentic. Google shows you paid ads and SEO optimized content.
Well, relative to those online resources, Reddit's anonymity has become its strongest asset. Ironically, the fact that users are anonymous on Reddit drives some really intimate replies. And you can see that in the subreddit Wedding. The anonymity is why you're willing to put yourself out there and ask questions about your personal wedding plan.
And the fact that you're posting anonymously is why you're willing to say, my wife decided to do blank and it was a horrible idea. Do not do that. We could have used more Icelandic poppies. Reddit, it isn't driven by algorithms, influencers, celebrities, or AI. It is driven by upvotes made by strangers on content posted by strangers.
On the rest of the internet, anonymity breeds cruelty with trolls. But on Reddit, probably because of the moderators who can kick you out, anonymity fosters honesty. So add it all up, and just like Peter Parker and Spider-Man keeping his mask on to better save the world, so is Reddit. For our second story, China's trade sector is all-time highing as America's farmers need a bailout.
This is a trade war paradox. We basically broke up with China, but China is now hooking up with the rest of the world. Yet is this summer, farmers in America's heartland lost their biggest customer. Not Chipotle. Nope. China. China. It was a trade war retaliation. China stopped buying our American good old fashioned soybeans. So President Trump this week is paying farmers directly $12 billion.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of Reddit's stock surge?
What is it, Jack? China's trade surplus will be $1 trillion this year. We repeat, for the first time since like ancient Rome, a country has exported a trillion dollars more than they imported. For the first time ever, Nick. Ever. The Romans didn't have trillion dollar numbers. No, no, no. Julius Caesar, we know you're listening, but yeah, yeah. Sorry, buddy.
So we're soft boycotting China, but the rest of the world is buying trillions of dollars more than they ever have from China. They're hanging out at the party and they're playing a lot of fun music. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies watching this trade war paradox? China's biggest strength is decisiveness.
Yetis, back in 2020, China's President Xi announced their strategic five-year plan. It was the Communist Party's 14th five-year plan, and it just ended. So let's look at the scorecard and see how they did. Jack, the key part of this Chinese five-year plan was shifting from low-quality exports to high-quality exports. And you know what? It's been a big success.
They're not just exporting cheap plastic toys and cheap furniture anymore. They have good cars, good computer chips, batteries, and drones, and a bunch of other high tech. Meanwhile, in America, polarized politics have flipped us from Trump's fossil fuel isolationism to Biden's green multilateralism, and now back to Trump's philosophy. We're indecisive.
So, Yetis, the new data, it's showing that China's handling the trade war just fine. China has found plenty of new friends. Not that we'd ever trade democracy for authoritarianism. Good point, Jack. But China's biggest advantage over America is its decisiveness.
Now, a quick word from our sponsor.
For our third and final story, 401ks are minting a generation of moderate millionaires. In fact, 1,000 millionaires are made every day from 401ks. So here is our three-step plan to modest millions. To make modest millions. Yeah, it is. Over the summer, Jack and I did a story that was financial advice. It actually got a whole lot of attention because it was kind of aggressive.
Well, it was intense. Forget your password. Yeah, forget your password. It was some of our top stock investing advice. Set it and forget it. Put your money in the stock market and then don't look at your account again. Yeah, because like I literally forgot my 401k password from UBS a few years ago. And then I checked back in years later. $200,000 out of nowhere. I had no idea.
Good thing you didn't panic during a downturn in sell. I still don't know the password. Now, the reason for that story is that at the time, the United States had just set a 401k record. Get this, the average American was saving 14.3% of their income to put into retirement accounts like 401ks. Although that includes both the employee deferral and the company match.
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