Video summary
The host's primary observation regarding Americans versus Brits is a metaphorical revelation: encountering an American feels like meeting one's father's child with another woman for the first time—someone who shares fundamental traits but possesses distinct confidence and self-belief that were absent in their own upbringing. This "self-belief" acts as a defining differentiator, suggesting that while both cultures share similar roots, Americans have been raised to believe more strongly in themselves compared to Brits. Consequently, the host notes that British accents hold an unfair advantage abroad; much like salmon are abundant only in the UK but highly prized elsewhere, leaving Britain grants speakers immediate perceived intelligence and attractiveness globally, whereas within the UK, this accent offers no such social currency. This cultural divergence extends significantly into entrepreneurship and education outcomes despite comparable academic standards. While top universities in both nations rank similarly high for pure educational output—such as Oxford and Cambridge versus their American counterparts—the United States produces five times more entrepreneurs than the UK. The host attributes this disparity to a lack of "self-belief" among British graduates, noting that even institutions like Oxford struggle to translate academic excellence into business ventures compared to US equivalents. Furthermore, there is a stark contrast in how comedy and public persona are approached; American comedians dominate globally due to a culture where individuals readily pursue stand-up as a career path, whereas the "crabs in a bucket" mentality prevalent in Britain suppresses such ambitions despite Brits potentially possessing greater innate humor. The discussion also highlights profound differences in national identity, social interaction, and resilience shaped by historical context. Americans display overt pride in their nation through flags and public celebration, while British nationalism is often viewed with suspicion or treated as an "autoimmune condition" unless tied to football tournaments like the Three Lions. Socially, Brits are described as more cynical and prone to self-deprecation, a trait that fosters anti-fragility but can stifle innovation by discouraging big dreams in normal towns like Wakefield or Carlisle. In contrast, American society is characterized by enthusiasm and support systems where friends actively introduce newcomers with flattering summaries of their achievements, effectively marketing them to the group rather than exposing their worst stories as might happen in a British setting. Historical trauma plays a crucial role in shaping these contrasting national temperaments; unlike Americans who have rarely faced direct attacks on their homeland since Pearl Harbor (excluding 9/11), Brits endured total destruction of cities during World War I and II, fostering a grittier but more cynical outlook that resists naive optimism. This historical baggage influences how ideas are received: American cultures readily embrace new concepts with immediate action ("let's do it tomorrow"), while British cynicism often acts as a barrier to implementation. Ultimately, the host concludes that humanity's unique ability to cooperate is amplified by an enthusiastic society; if Britain could adopt more of America's supportive and optimistic approach without losing its self-analytical strengths, it might bridge the gap in economic output and entrepreneurial spirit currently seen between the two nations.
Read the full video transcript
we've been talking a lot about
differences between the UK and the
USA what have you come to believe about
that so I my biggest takeaway from being
in America as a Brit is it's like
finding out my dad had a kid with
another woman that I never met and we
meet for the first time and I'm like
you're kind of me but you're not me it's
like he spent a bit more money on you
he he made you believe in yourself your
mom was clearly much nicer or Kinder and
you go oh Americans like we're kind of
the same but it's like Brits with
self-belief Brits with self-belief is
what Americans are is is one of the
different there there's lots of pros and
there's lots of cons for both but that
was my overwhelming overwhelming
takeaway the second biggest takeaway I
have is that Brits
don't really truly realize how impactful
the British accent is until you leave
Britain and the metaphor I came up with
for describing the British accent to
Brits is Imagine everywhere else in the
world there's a salmon famine right and
the British accent is like selling
salmon and the only place in the world
where there's an abundance of salmon is
in the UK so if you're there using that
it basically gets you nothing in the UK
but you suddenly leave or go
outwhere anywhere else and they think
you're smarter they think you're more
attractive um yeah Americans often ask
me when they talk about that and I do
think it's true that uh Brits have an
unfair advantage in America of being
seen as more learned uh everyone
presumes that we're part of the
aristocracy or something um and they
often ask me well what do you think of
American accents in the UK that was a
really interesting question I was
like I actually don't know I think it's
like certainly for me on girls it's like
kind of sexy it feel that that feels
exotic in some way uh definitely
energetic overly enthusiastic and
excitable uh especially when you've got
one American in a bunch of Brits when
you're the Brit in a bunch of Americans
oh you know everyone's just sort of
excitable and first line Cocaine Energy
but when you drop one American in a a
like Newcastle or something oh my God
who is that it's a nuclear warhead
surrounded by a bunch of Swords um yeah
I think since being here you know it's
made me reflect on the UK I I hate being
disparaging about the UK like it's the
country that gave me and you a start we
both went to University there we both
had our first jobs there we both built
businesses there uh I think we're both
in one form or another still registered
you'll be on company's house and some
vestigal old [ __ ] thing I hate I
really wish that I didn't sort of talk
badly about it but you sent me a tweet
last week and I've been watching bald
and bankrupt Awesome YouTube channel um
I invited him on the show he replied he
said he'd love to but he's actually
trying to actively wind down his uh
public exposure so he said he keeps
getting asked for too many selfie photos
in Tesco uh and he does strike me as the
kind of man that probably doesn't want
to be Overexposed you know he was doing
for the people that don't know this guy
who does kind of like dark tour stuff he
got trafficked across the border into
Mexico he was detained in a Russian jail
for a while and then he decided he was
going to take on the final boss of
dangerous places which was Seaside towns
of the UK and um he just travels around
sort of looking at all of these these
bad places and um you sent me that tweet
last week which I think Nails it which
is the UK has the sixth largest economy
in the world but people are confused the
UK doesn't have the sixth largest
economy in the world London has the
sixth largest economy in the world it
just has a really poor country attached
to a very rich city yeah and then there
was another one which was us
universities um so I think in the top 10
universities in the world the UK has
three and the US has three yet the US
outputs five times those us universities
F output five times the number of
entrepreneurs that those UK universities
do so in theory these people are as
intelligent as one another mhm um across
I think it's Oxford Cambridge and
another University maybe yeah and um
what's interesting when you go across
Global university rankings and outputs
of entrepreneurs in the study that was
shared the UK University that which was
Oxford so that's the number one for
entrepreneurial output was 50th across
the whole world despite the fact we rank
so high in education yet actually
transforming that into entrepreneurship
doesn't seem to happen and I wonder
again whether that's the self-belief
thing you also see this weirdly and I
could be mistaken here I have this bias
that I think Brits are fundamentally
more funny and than Americans however
way more great standup comedians that
are American than British like we have
Ricky jaas we have Jimmy Carr and then
in terms of global appeal outside of
that there's not a huge amount more and
my theory behind that is so why do you
have the funniest people yet not the the
biggest standard comedians out of those
names there and I think the same CR
crabs in a bucket mentality that makes
people so funny because we can shoot
people down and shoot ourselves down is
the same thing that makes it ABS absurd
as a concept to go and get on stage and
say I want to be a funny person like
that in the UK so I think the funniest
guy in the world right now is probably
in a Gregs in Wigan or he is in a pub in
Portsmouth and because of that crabs in
a booket mentality Americans are way
more likely to get on stage and go I
want to be a funny person because that's
part of the American deal
meanwhile the Brits who I think are
actually funnier don't end up doing as
much entrepreneurial as well as
entrepreneurial yeah but you know even
within that that sort of self-belief
it's one and the same I think it's
agency it's the preparedness to go
against the grain uh and you know this
I'm we're going to talk about uh
subprime audiences later on um but you
know this audience is like I would guess
I would say like it's full of like A's
and doublea's of people especially the
ones from the UK and I think the reason
that this resonates I'm not saying it to
disparage the UK I don't think either of
us are but to kind of reassure the
people for whom they feel a little bit
like uh square peg in a round country
sat in the UK you know some normal Town
you're in [ __ ] Wakefield or Carlile
or
middesboro Rochdale wherever you are uh
and you think God you know this is the
sort of conversations I really love to
have this is the kind of thoughts that I
think about and I really want to have
Big Dreams for myself and then I I just
really struggle to resonate with the
people around me I really really failed
to do that and I think I wish that I'd
had when I was younger more reassurance
that I wasn't the problem you know
there's no value judgment people that
have big dreams people that don't have
big dreams but there's nothing
inherently wrong with you having those
dreams and there's no reason that you
should be castigated or have the piss
taken out of you because you want to do
something different because you don't
intend being born living working and
dying within the same 20 M radius of of
you know where your parents grow up yes
but even at a walking around level you
see this so if you walk around America
there's Flags everywhere there's kind of
pride in the nation if you walk around
the UK and you see a flag you go oh [ __ ]
edl me they might be a Nazi which is C
unless there's a football tournament
then everybody does it that's the weird
Paradox of the UK yeah so it's even at
that level you see this kind of Pride at
the nation level and at the UK it's
almost like this weird autoimmune
condition do you have any idea why the
British football team uses Three Lions
rather than the St George's cross don't
know isn't that interesting because I
don't think Scotland does and I don't
think Ireland does and I don't think
Wales do and I can't think of any other
team actually the uh England cricket guy
will do the same thing there must be a
reason someone will be correcting me in
the comments as we speak um but that's
yet for the Americans that are listening
British national
pride like BNP British national pride
and it's not that but like it's just it
doesn't exist and then you come over
here and it it is nice it's nice to hear
that people have got have got pride in
their country so the the probably the
critique people have of us right now is
that we're critiquing Britain way more
than we are critiquing America but I'd
also point out that's part of being
British you're way more naturally to
critique yourself and to critique other
people and I do love that side of being
British because you're way more self
analytical
um I think in ter in terms of other
differences between the UK and the US
that I've noticed in terms of benefits
for Brits is because Brits like take the
piss out of one another on average way
more um it means that you do have maybe
that lowering self-belief but you're
almost a bit more anti fragile so if
people do say a remark you've already
cracked a joke worse than that in the
past or your friends have particularly
and I think the more Northern in the
country you go the more it is the
further away from London that you get
the more piss you have taken out of you
exactly whereas in America I think
people are a lot more could be more
fragile to comments like that whereas
the Brits the same way I always say
another difference there's two big
differences that I think explain the
differenes between Americans and Brits
so one is simple AB test of when you
meet an American and they're super
enthusiastic and excited and the Brits
aren't if you actually go historically
back there was a simple AB test which is
when the boats came and said hey Do's
this Promised Land far far away we can't
show you a video because videos don't
exist yet you may die on the boat do you
want to come and visit this crazy land
the Brits were the ones who were like
what a ridiculous idea that is I'm going
to stay here I'm staying in SK and the
Americans were the ones who were like
yeah bring it on and that AB test
fundamentally explains it as well as
when you think about it um historically
Americans
have apart from Pearl Harbor and that
was quite far away from America let's be
honest have never had an attack on their
Homeland in recent history 911 not count
um the 911 yeah yeah there you go that's
one example but comparing that to the
bombing like World War one and World War
II like the whole cities completely
destroyed um so there's definitely more
like art issue built up that makes Brits
I think a little bit more grittier in
some regards than Americans as well yeah
I don't know man I'm pessimistic yeah I
can tell
it's for certain people I had this
discussion with pi Morgan Pi was like I
like I like people bringing me back down
to to Earth I like the the the mockery
and stuff I'm like Pi that's great for
you it doesn't seem to work too well for
me like my desperate requirement for
validation and reassurance from the
world like wasn't being very satiated in
Stockton yeah right or Newcastle uh and
then you come over here one of the best
things and this is something that
anybody anywhere on the planet should do
and this is one of the coolest life
hacks I've taken since being in America
and you've seen me do it to you and
you've like toe C at a bunch of parties
which is when in America at least in my
group of friends you are the new person
in a group your friend that knows you
and knows the group will introduce you
and tends to do it in the best 30-second
show real of you that anybody could give
you know got this amazing marketing
agency he's a phenomenal writer and he's
pivoting he's kind of champagne homeless
at the moment he does all of these
things and like that's a really lovely
gesture it's your friend it's an
opportunity for them to do something
nice for you it gives you the best
impression on the group and it reminds
you about what your friend kind of says
about you behind your back when you're
not there and it's like it inflates you
a little bit and makes you feel good and
warm and stuff what would the equivalent
be if you were a British friend being
introduced to British Friends by a
British friend it would be your worst
ever story correct certainly the nor
again this is the nor thing this this is
George [ __ ] himself last week like you
know still has wet dreams like you know
um yeah it is like the introduction side
how we introduce one another I've
definitely found Americans are much
better at selling themselves immediately
whereas I think Brits often downplay
themselves immediately there's a big
difference there in terms of like ever
so slight cultural differences one of
the reasons why I think America has been
so successful so far and one thing
Britain could improve upon is if you
look at human beings I think what makes
human beings if you put one human being
in a jungle um it's that classic phrase
that you put one human being in a jungle
and meet you've just introduced prey
into the environment but if you put a
thousand human beings into the jungle
you've just introduced a apex predator
of which the world's never seen before
so the only thing that really makes
special
if you look at us we don't hear that
well compared to our animals we're not
that fast we're not that strong we're
pretty [ __ ] across the board but our
ability to cooperate is what makes us
unique it's the classic Steve Jobs thing
of if you looked at um I think it's
Energy Efficiency in
movement humans are so far down the
rankings like there's so many animals
ahead of us in terms of to do a mile how
much energy they need to burn but if you
look at a human being on a bicycle human
beings have just Blown Blown through the
charts and he has this great quote which
is the computer is the bicycle of the
mind and if you then go back to well
ultimately the only thing that makes us
unique human beings because we're [ __ ]
about everything compared to our animals
is our ability to cooperate if you have
a more enthusiastic society that
supports one another more you can
cooperate more which means that you'll
then have way more economic output
because in a certain country that's more
optimistic that goes I've got this idea
a lot of naive Americans are like great
idea let's do it tomorrow whereas PE a
culture that's more maybe cynical um
means that those ideas don't happen
which I think explains why across these
universities we have essentially the
same IQ levels the same intelligence
levels better accents better accents
more salmon but 5x the number of
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