The online magazine Ozy covers people, places and trends on the horizon. Co-founder Carlos Watson joins All Things Considered regularly to tell us about the site’s latest feature stories.
This week, Watson talks with guest host Kelly McEvers about a rising star who has made hip-hop serious business, and the advertising tactics that life insurance companies are using to attract young people.
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A Man Making Hip-Hop Serious Business
"He's an incredible young Yale graduate named Zack O'Malley Greenburg who writes for Forbes magazine. But instead of writing kind of complicated stories on hedge funds, [he] has spent all of his time covering what he calls the kings of hip-hop. He writes an incredible annual digest of who's been most successful. And whether he writes about Ludacris or Jay-Z, whether he's talking about Beyonce's recent success or what Drake is doing, he's actually turned music — and fun music — into serious business. And it's become one of the most popular portions of the magazine."
Read 'Zack O'Malley Greenburg Is All About The Benjamins' On Ozy.com
Luring Millennials To Life Insurance
"Life insurance — multibillion-dollar industry, usually selling life insurance policies to people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, older — found themselves in real trouble during the financial crisis. And who, of course, did they turn to? Twenty somethings. ... Well, what's the pitch to a 23-, 24-year-old? Why in the world do they want life insurance? Two tacts have been taken. One is you don't want to leave your parents stuck with a bill after all they've done for you, so if, God forbid, something happens. ... And the other has been around Social Security. If it's not there when you need it, is this some type of security policy?
"Hasn't been very successful, for 12 million reasons, including perhaps the fundamental pitch. But it's a reminder maybe of the lengths that people go to, or that industries go to, in the midst of difficult times."