Listener Reviews

Michael and Ben give a lot of great insight and advice, but in a way that’s easily understandable - unlike many shows where the conversation can get incredibly technical. Smart, funny, and only once a week, so not podcast overload

Great investment discussion layered in with humor and pop culture/entertainment talk at the end. Highly enjoyable even if Carlson can’t pronounce Bezos.

Excellent weekly show on the big stories in finance.

Just kidding, truly enjoy the show every week. You guys do a great mix of content instead of honing in on one topic every episode so it doesn’t drag out. Makes the work day go by much faster when listening to a broad range of topics. Keep up the great work!

Have been listening for most of 2020, and have come genuinely look forward to each new episode.Give it a try!

Who would have thought a recommendation from a coworker slinging Telsa options would have turned into a multi-year listening journey. Michael and Ben are to personal finance podcasts what Matt Levine is to legal finance journalism.

Truly enjoy listening to Michael and Ben bring the world of finance into a language we all can understand and actually out to use in our personal lives. I have been listening to the podcasts since early 2018 and have listened ever since. The Pelaton bike has been given plenty of air time - really need to do a show while you are both on your bikes and multi-tasking between podcast and not falling off the bike - now that will bring in more listeners!

Michael and Ben do a wonderful job of teaching, entertaining, and have great banter which makes for an awesome podcast listen. From stocks, investing, the markets, and pop culture, they turn what would be normally be dry material, into an extremely interesting. They just seem like good peeps. I’ve recommended this podcast to almost every person I know who has 1. Reco’d me a stock 2. Thinks they’re the next Warren Buffett 3. Has a slight interest in investing. Great casual listen! 10/10 recommend.

Just one of the best investing/finance based podcasts out there. Michael and Ben work so well together. Very funny while also being extremely informative.

Michael and Ben are great hosts that are very entertaining.

Great way to stay up to date on various finance and other news. Hosts are likable and don’t take themselves too seriously.

The most enjoyable casual markets Podcast ! Some good takes, very good book recommendations. Wish they would get a little bit more into the detail of what they think/do when it comes to selecting a stock. Ben is a bit dramatic! (March Depression) otherwise he pretty much thinks things are they way they always have been 😂

If you are relatively new to starting to invest you could not find a better Square 1 to start you journey.Fans of other Compound podcasts will love Animal Spirits in which Mike + Ben muse on the latest going on’s capital market, stock headlines of the week, and the best segment (imo) what they are consuming media wise.These sessions are usually a chance for Michael Batnick to recognize and incorporate the steady mid-western sensibility of Ben Carlson and reconcile the rest of the USA into his New York/Long Island frame of mind.Seriously, you’ll learn much from the hosts.In an age where information is cheap, these 2 give meaning to the markets and as investors if we are going to make better decisions with our money, we need a perspective where the voices we tune into are not afraid to refine and update their opinions.

Enjoyable podcast about investing, life and what they are watching and reading. Investing conversations are very interesting and they’ve had a few guests on to talk about diversification that I haven’t read about before. I enjoy the podcasts because you are never sure what they’ll be talking about. Maybe have a pen and paper handy to jot down ideas and things to read and watch. It’s probably in the show notes but I’ve never cared to look for those.

I look forward to this show every Wednesday, and it’s a perfect duration for my lunchtime walk. It’s like ESPN for stocks; it’s entertaining but even more informative!

In the depths of the pandemic in mid-March, I did the following:(1) I refinanced my house and took out a HELOC @ 2.9%;(2) I spent the $175K HELOC on TSLA, NIO, SQ, and and ZM;(3) then my kid's soccer coach told me about ARKK and I bought that too.THEN...my life changed in August and I started listening to Michael and Ben on Animal Spirits. I would study their podcast episodes religiously. They taught my about the efficient market hypothesis, broadly diversified portfolios, and most important of all, target date funds. I saw the light and realized that my days of trading stocks were over. (4) I promptly sold all of my stocks and ARKK in the fall for a 574% return because I knew that this gain was only luck and that the market is almost perfectly efficient. These mispricings would be corrected ASAP; in fact, I read FAMA/FRENCH papers each night to comfort me. (5) I spent my new ~$1 million portoflio purely on 2050 target date funds and they have already returned 5% since September!(6) Eventually Michael and Ben had the bitcoin man on a few weeks ago and they all taught me about the power of cryptocurrency in the future economy. (7) I have now sold 80% of my target date funds and bought bitcoin. I suspect that I will be a billionaire soon. Fama and French have a boomer menality and bitcoin is the future. I no longer read them or their outdated EMH papers. The only factor that I need now is bitcoin. Thanks Michael and Ben.

Michael and Ben are informative and fun to listen to. I always start my Wednesday with Animal Spirits.

Great weekly podcast for an average schmuck like me. I’m not a finance guy by trade, so I listen to Michael and Ben (and The Compound Show) to enlighten myself. Like I said, I have no finance background but I can still easily keep up with the topics. I will credit this podcast with keeping me in the right mind frame during the pandemic induced sell off.

Aptly named because the term “animal spirits” has long been used to describe the psychological and emotional factors that influence investors during high levels of volatility in the markets. This is a perfect way to describe the content that Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson bring to light on their show. I have learned more in 6 months listening to this show than I did in the 6 years prior. No surprise considering it was recommended to me by an acquaintance whose job title is Certified Financial Planner.These are the investment advisors that your investment advisors listen to. Need I say more? No. But I like to hear myself talk so I’ll add just a few more words.Both of the hosts are Certified Financial Analysts and hold positions at a well-regarded wealth management firm. They’re young too so you can be sure they aren’t giving you outdated advice while not being so young that they haven’t seen enough boom and bust cycles to know what to do during them.Between the sarcasm of Ben and the high-speed rebuttals by Michael, these guys are the perfect duo to break down complex financial ideas. I’d say you should be financially literate to understand the concepts they discuss, but even if you aren’t, they make sure you’ll walk away with the right data and the right perspective on topics ranging from homeownership to inflation and even portfolio comparisons with specific examples.Another reason this is my favorite podcast is that both of these guys author and update their own financial commentary websites. Highly recommend that in addition to listening to their show, you also subscribe to their newsletters. They put out timely content with relevant ideas and the data to back them up.Finally, and most importantly, they don’t pretend to have all the answers. Sometimes knowing that even the professionals don’t have a good answer helps the most. It’s so refreshing in a world where everyone is trying to sell you something.

Ben and Michael cover a lot. If you don’t care about investing related information and insights, what they are watching makes for a good listen and laugh. I more care about their perspective and how they argue applying the facts, rather than simply say what’s topical and evocative. Yes, if you have convictions without common sense, they may offend you, but the pair are brilliant and bounce off of each other in a fun and natural way. Better banter than the Cuomo brothers, and I find the Cuomo brothers funny

Enjoyable and entertaining but also very good sound advise—- learn something new every week

I look forward to their episode every Wednesday and the talk your book podcast on Fridays. They both are insightful and bring different personalities to the podcast. Just trolling, Michael :)Jake

Always look forward to your Podcast’s every week. Insightful and funny. Just need more of Michael saying “Sir, Sir”, makes me laugh every time

You’ll learn more from Michael and Ben than anything in school or rip off paid course. Michael “I’d rather listen to The Rewatchables than watch the movie” Batnick.Ben “I almost returned a punt in high school” Carlson. Practicable (and comical) commentary on the important aspects of personal finance and investing.