Animal Spirits Podcast

Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick are both financial advisors at Ritholtz Wealth Management, and their weekly show Animal Spirits feels like eavesdropping on two sharp friends catching up about markets over coffee. Every Wednesday morning, they riff on whatever caught their attention that week — a surprising jobs report, a wild earnings call, housing data, crypto moves, or some absurd financial headline that deserves a closer look. The tone is casual but informed. Ben runs the popular blog A Wealth of Common Sense, and Michael writes The Irrelevant Investor, so both are used to breaking down complex ideas in plain language. They disagree with each other regularly, which keeps things honest. One episode might cover why small-cap value has underperformed for a decade, the next might be about whether buying a vacation rental is actually a good investment or just an expensive hobby. With over 760 episodes and nearly 2,000 ratings averaging 4.7 stars, Animal Spirits has one of the most engaged audiences in the investing podcast space. Episodes typically run 40 to 60 minutes, and the pacing is brisk — they cover a lot of ground without belaboring any single point. They also produce a companion series called Talk Your Book where they interview fund managers and strategists about specific products and themes. The show works best for people who already follow markets at least casually and want a smart, opinionated take on what is happening right now. It is less about teaching fundamentals and more about putting current events into an investing context.