The most-watched regular-season NFL game in history, a trillion-dollar tech giant quietly backing away from the metaverse, a job market that looks strong and shaky at the same time, college football coaches getting paid tens of millions to do nothing, and podcasts that may be crowding out your own thoughts.

In this episode of Filtered with TJ Walker, we cover:

• Meta’s Metaverse Retreat – After burning more than $70 billion on virtual reality, Meta is slashing its metaverse ambitions and pivoting hard to AI, smart glasses, and extended reality. What went wrong, and what does that say about tech hype?
• Layoffs vs Jobless Claims – Over 1.1 million layoffs announced this year, yet weekly jobless claims remain near 3-year lows. Is this a hidden slowdown, an AI-fueled reshuffle, or both?
• Football Owns the Screen – CBS’s Chiefs–Cowboys Thanksgiving game averaged 57+ million viewers and peaked above 61 million, becoming the most-watched regular-season NFL game ever. How did football become the last true mass-audience event in American life?
• College Coaching Buyouts & Tax Dodges – Universities owe roughly $228 million in buyouts to 15 fired coaches this season alone, pushing total severance since 2012 over $1 billion, much of it subsidized by tax-deductible booster donations.
• What Podcasts Do to Our Brains – Why nonstop listening isn’t really multitasking, how it drains cognitive resources, and how silence and simple walks restore the brain’s default mode network and your ability to think your own thoughts.

Listen in for a clear, no-nonsense breakdown of how money, media, sports, politics, and technology intersect, and what it means for your career, your wallet, and your attention.