The Penta Podcast Channel

On today's episode of What's at Stake, Penta Partner Stacy Kerr and Senior Partner Mike Berland recap Penta's collaboration with Axios to put on the first ever Axios Communicators event last week in New York City. One of the major themes coming out of the event was the evolving role of the chief communications officer (CCO). Stacy and Mike discussed how chief executives are increasingly leaning on...

On today's Macrocast, Penta Managing Director Jonathan Graffeo is joined by John and Brendan from Markets Policy Partners, and Brai Odion-Esene, founder of SW4 Insights. It's been a big week in macroeconomic news! The group responds to the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday rate hike—the seventh this year—and discusses the outlook for retailers. Read the latest CPI report here , and learn more about SW4...

On this edition of What's At Stake, Bryan DeAngelis is joined by Julia Decerega and Rustin Finkler, two directors at Penta Strategy, and Meredith McCleary, an associate and podcast producer at Penta, to discuss the economics, geopolitics, and business challenges of the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup. Controversy has dogged this World Cup from the moment former FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced in 2...

On today's Macrocast, Penta President Matt McDonald is joined by John and Brendan from Markets Policy Partners and John Dick, CEO of CivicScience. The group first explores the Economic Sentiment Index, before diving into last week's banking conference, treasury yields, oil prices, and likelihood of a recession in 2023.

On this edition of What's At Stake, Penta Strategy Managing Director Stratton Kirton is joined by Vincent Smith, a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Montana State University and Director of Agricultural Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and Jerry Hagstrom, a columnist at National Journal and Executive Editor of the agricultural news service The Hagstrom Report, to dis...

On today's Macrocast, Penta President Matt McDonald is joined by John and Brendan from Markets Policy Partners and Matt Dell Orfano, Founder of Telamonius Ventures. The group first dives into November's job numbers, offering differing interpretations of what the data means for the state of the economy. The group then discusses the holiday shopping season and the outlook for the retail sector. Read...

In this episode of What's at Stake, Bryan hosts Penta managing directors Stratton Kirton and Jonathan Graffeo, as well as senior associate Matthew Robbins, for a conversation on an eventful November for businesses and policymakers. ESG is top of mind for many business leaders, with sustainability issues featuring prominently at the G20 summit and the election of a new Republican majority in the Ho...

What's at stake: a Penta podcast is taking a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday and will return with new content next week. In the meantime, tune in to one of our favorite episodes so far, released shortly after Penta's launch earlier this fall. The episode features a conversation between Penta leaders on the informational landscape for business leaders as they navigate complex stakeholder chal...

On this special edition of the Macrocast–published on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving–Penta Managing Director Jonathan Graffeo joins John and Brendan to discuss how prepared retailers are for Black Friday, whether shoppers will show up amid high prices, and what the Fed is doing to cool inflation. Plus, the group explores the potential macro implications of a brewing freight rail strike and a loom...

On Today's Macrocast, Stratton Kirton, managing director at Penta, joins Brendan and John of Markets Policy Partners to discuss the latest developments in the domestic and global economy. The group starts  by examining the current state of the U.S. retail market, noting that the pandemic trend of a preference for services and experiences over goods persists. The group also previews some of th...

In this edition of What's at Stake, Penta Senior Director Rebeca Buck and Managing Director Michael LaRosa sit down with Cody Keenan, former Director of Speechwriting for President Obama and author of "Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America." Cody speaks about his experiences in the Obama White House during some of the administration's most pivotal days. Ten days in particul...

In this edition of the Macrocast, Tony bids farewell to the show and tackles a busy week of macroeconomic and political news with John and Brendan from Markets Policy Partners. The group discusses the implications of the midterm elections for financial markets and breaks down the October CPI data, which comes as a relief to inflation-battered investors. Plus, Tony, John, and Brendan predict what's...

In this special midterm edition of What's at Stake, Penta Partner Andrea Christianson discusses Tuesday's election results with Senior Partner and former Senior Advisor to national Republicans, Kevin Madden and Managing Director and former Press Secretary to First Lady Jill Biden, Michael LaRosa.  The group kicks off their discussion by analyzing the results of the election, including the abs...

This week on What's at Stake, Penta's Bryan DeAngelis sits down with president Matt McDonald and partners Alberto Lopez Valenzuela and Christina Pearson to unpack the group's experience at last week's Fortune CEO Initiative conference in Palm Beach, FL.  The group starts by discussing their favorite moments from the conference. They note how businesses have grown comfortable operating in unce...

On this week's edition of the Macrocast, Tony and Brendan are joined by Brai Odion-Esene, founder of SW4 Insights. The trio first discusses today's jobs report and this week's 0.75% rate hike from the Federal Reserve, pondering what the path ahead is for Chairman Powell and the rest of the FOMC. They then have a lively conversation about the dangers of the debt ceiling. Tune in! SW4 Insights About...

This week on What's At Stake, Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale, joins Penta’s Bryan DeAngelis to discuss the latest happenings at Grayscale, the world's largest digital currency asset manager, in addition to the cryptocurrency industry more broadly.  Bryan and Michael open on Grayscale's inception and the firm's active presence in D.C., including the significant time Grayscale has spent...

On this week's Macrocast, Tony, John, and Brendan are joined by John Dick from Civic Science. The group discusses the stronger-than-expected GDP report and price indices and unpacks this week's Economic Sentiment Index, which showed resilient consumer spending and rising economic sentiment. They also dive into poor earnings performance across the tech sector and share what to watch with Europe and...

In this special edition of the Macrocast, Bob Dewey and Brendan Walsh from Markets Policy Partners interview Lyn Alden, an investment research analyst and one of the most interesting up-and-coming voices in finance. During the conversation, Alden discusses why "financial repression" from the Federal Reserve is likely in coming years, the direction of Bitcoin relative to other cryptocurrencies, and...

On today's Macrocast, Tony, Brendan, and John focus on the latest in the U.K. following Liz Truss's resignation. The U.K. economy has experienced "six weeks of woe," including  dismal retail sales numbers today. Despite the U.K. economy's relatively small size, its performance continues to have an outsized impact on global economic forecasts. Inflation, in the U.K., the U.S., and globally, is...

In this edition of "What's At Stake: A Penta Podcast," John Hume and Chris Mehigan of Dublin-based global communications firm Hume Brophy join Andrea Christianson to break down the political and economic crises facing Europe. Amid a new government in the United Kingdom, a raging conflict in Ukraine, and a looming energy crisis, the political and business environment on the continent is growing inc...

On this week's Macrocast, host Tony Fratto is joined by Brendan Walsh from Markets Policy Partners and Brai Odion-Esene from SW4 Insights to discuss the unexpected turn of events in the UK and the hotter-than-expected CPI data released this week. The group also dives into the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings and shares their key takeaways from the week's gatherings, including the strong dollar, the...

On today's episode of What's At Stake: A Penta Podcast, host Bryan DeAngelis is joined by Penta Strategy Partner Andrea Christianson , Senior Director Stephanie Walstrom , and Director Rustin Finkler to discuss their experiences with paid parental leave at different stages in their careers.  The group talks about the importance of parental leave in both their personal and professional lives a...

On this week's Macrocast, guest host Matt McDonald is joined by John Fagan from Markets Policy Partners to discuss the latest jobs report and how it informs economic predictions for 2023. The pair also discusses the Fed outlook for 2023 and the implications of OPEC+ production cuts. Read more from Markets Policy Partners here and the full jobs day data from the BLS here .

On today's episode of What's At Stake: A Penta Podcast, host Bryan DeAngelis is joined by Senior Partners Alberto Lopez-Valenzuela and Mike Berland, and Strategy Partner Andrea Christianson, for a discussion on the intelligence and advisory insights that Penta offers companies, including in-depth data analysis, news monitoring, and public affairs strategy development and execution. As the group hi...

On this week's episode of Macrocast, Penta's President Matt McDonald joins John and Brendan to discuss the Bank of England purchasing long-dated government bonds and the extreme volatility of the pound and bond markets. The group also discusses the Fed's continued hawkish stance and the market crises around the world in Germany and China. Read more from Markets Policy Partners here and learn more...