Vic and Marcus discuss rising inflation driven by energy costs and the impact on consumers, travel, and wage growth. They examine newly confirmed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and debate whether AI investment and market enthusiasm are creating an economic bubble. The episode covers healthcare job growth becoming a key driver of California’s economy, major healthcare venture funding activity, and the resignation of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and what it could signal about the future of regulation. Additional topics include declining overdose deaths, changes to PBMs after Optum Rx moves to a fee-based model, Hims & Hers struggling after the GLP-1 shift, General Catalyst’s healthcare transformation efforts, US and China negotiations, and broader conversations around healthcare, policy, and technology.
Links
Story 1: CPI
1:44 - Inflation Soared to 3.8% in April, Driven by Gasoline Prices WSJ
3:24 - Prices at the Pump Are Wiping Out Wage Gains WSJ
Story 2: New fed Chair
4:51 - Kevin Warsh Is Confirmed as Fed Chair in 54–45 Senate Vote WSJ
Story 3: Jobs
11:42 - U.S. Adds 115,000 Jobs in April With Solid Hiring Across Sectors WSJ
13:43 - Cisco to Shed Jobs for All-In AI Push WSJ
14:21 - Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs. WSJ
Story 4: VC rundown
15:14 - Chromie Health picks up $2M in pre-seed funding, launches SMS AI-powered nurse staffing agent Fierce Healthcare
16:07 - Salesforce Ventures, Echo Health Ventures back Optura's $17.5M series A to track AI performance Fierce Healthcare
18:03 - Basata Secures $21M to Rebuild Healthcare’s Operational Layer: Automating Referrals and Scheduling End-to-End HIT
19:14 - Urologic Health: $11 Million Seed Financing Raised For Non-Invasive Bladder Function Monitoring Pulse 2.0
20:04 - Google-backed Isomorphic Labs raises $2.1B for AI drug discovery platform Mobi Health
Story 5: Policy rundown
21:08 - FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, Under Pressure From Trump, Resigns WSJ
33:11 - Vance to States: Address Fraud or Lose Federal Medicaid Funding WSJ
43:24 - U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Fall for Third Straight Year WSJ
44:17 - Trump Was Flattering, Xi Was Resolute. The Difference Spoke Volumes. NYT
Story 6: Optum Moving Away from Traditional PBM Model
49:39 - Optum Rx replaces traditional PBM model with a fee-based structure Healthcare Finance
Story 6: UC reaches deal with Union
51:38 - University of California, union reach late-night deal to avert system-wide strike Fierce Healthcare
Story 7: Digital Health Earnings
52:33 - Hims & Hers posts $92M loss in Q1 as it shifts to branded GLP-1 medications Fierce Healthcare
54:22 - Omada Health posts 42% revenue jump in Q1, joins Eli Lilly employer weight loss program Fierce Healthcare
Story 8: GC Hosts Kennedy in Ohio
55:47 - General Cataylst & HatCo host Kennedy in Akron LI
Story 9: Far Reaching Negative Impact of Hearing Loss
58:17 - Walking Slower? Why Your Ears, Not Your Knees, Might Be the Problem WSJ
Story 10: Clarity Act
1:00:27 - Clarity Act clears U.S. Senate committee, on its way to a final test in Congress CoinDesk
Story 11: SpaceX & Google
1:06:06 - SpaceX and Google Are in Talks to Launch Data Centers in Orbit WSJ
Story 12: Googlebooks
1:08:45 - Google’s Android-powered laptops are called Googlebooks, and they’re coming this year Ars Technica
Story 13: Robots You Wear
1:11:37 - Human + Robot Limitless
