<p>This week: Sneaker company Allbirds announced a pivot into A.I. infrastructure. <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:zxqezqfhjwidbrsvk66ded57" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Felix Salmon</a>, <a href="https://www.elizabethspiers.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elizabeth Spiers</a>, and <a href="https://www.axios.com/authors/epeck" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emily Peck</a> explain why this absurd-sounding venture is actually a pretty clever piece of financial engineering. Then, the hosts get into the market surge that put the S&amp;P 500 at a record high. And finally, the courts confirmed what we all knew: Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster are screwing everyone over. The hosts discuss what led to the federal jury ruling that the concert behemoth was acting as a monopoly.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>In the Slate Plus episode: The con behind SantaCon.</p><br><p>Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Apple Podcasts</a> and<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Spotify</a>. Or, visit<a href="https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=plus_pod&amp;utm_content=Money&amp;utm_source=episode_summary" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> slate.com/moneyplus</a> to get access wherever you listen. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.</p><br><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>