Reviews

A great listen every week.

I cannot recommend this podcast enough. Whether you work in the industry, or have personal finance/investing questions. Michael and Ben are the best in the business. Don’t forget to read their blogs either.

Always interesting. My favorite podcast at the moment. They have an interesting take on the market and keep it light and conversational. 5 stars

Hand up, I listen to each ep a couple times. Many thanks Ben and Michael!

Michael and Ben bring common sense and humility to personal finance, current events and entertainment in this podcast. The breadth of information from the most basic concepts of personal finance to guests in more advanced fields of finance and investing is excellent. Their ability to present what they know and admit what they do not know/cannot be known is refreshing and often missing from other podcasts on finance and markets. Their chemistry as a New Yorker and Michigander is entertaining and it often times feels like I’m sitting with friends as I listen to the podcast. Cannot recommend highly enough!

I’m really grateful for Michael and Ben’s content this year. As I’ve started to broaden my financial education, they have been my go-to for relevant content, current financial affairs, and sage advice. They also have great guests on their show. Everyone does a great job of explaining things in layman’s terms. Really appreciate their work.

Very good show. Seem like nice guys, but who knows. Appreciate the content.

Very bullish on this podcast, I always look forward to the movie/show reviews and sometimes the investment advice (financial advice is actually v good). The constant inside jokes are top tier, best on any podcast.

Excellent, informative content, with humor sprinkled in. I’m a weekly listener and never fail to walk away (listen away...?) without hearing something interesting. Keep it up.

This is my favorite financial podcast, if you had to classify it as such. It doesn’t take itself seriously like some other financial and investing podcasts but the hosts give their opinions and insight on trends in the world and the market. Their recommendations at the end of show are great too. Humorous and informative, I look forward to this podcast every week.

In a survey of several target audience members - well many of them had heard that this podcast exists- and think it’s swell

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.