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Perimeter Listening / Markets

Animal Spirits

Michael Batnick · Ben Carlson

Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss markets, money, investing, and everyday life. Their conversations offer a starting point for exploring how financial news and investor behavior fit into a wider picture.

Meet the hosts

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MarketsPersonal financeInvestor behaviorFinancial news

The show

Markets and personal-finance discussion · The Compound

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The people behind the microphone

Meet the hosts.

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Michael Batnick, managing partner at Ritholtz Wealth Management and Animal Spirits co-host

Managing partner, Ritholtz Wealth Management

Michael Batnick

Michael Batnick is a managing partner at Ritholtz Wealth Management and co-host of Animal Spirits with Ben Carlson. He writes The Irrelevant Investor and also appears on The Compound and Friends and What Are Your Thoughts? His book, Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and Their Worst Investments, studies costly errors made by prominent investors and the lessons they offer. Batnick’s work connects professional investing, financial writing and conversations about markets and everyday life.

Host profile Official profile
Ben Carlson, Ritholtz Wealth Management director and Animal Spirits co-host

Director of institutional asset management, Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ben Carlson

Ben Carlson directs institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management and co-hosts Animal Spirits with Michael Batnick. He created A Wealth of Common Sense to explain finance in accessible language. His career has centered on institutional portfolios, including work for an investment consulting firm and an endowment investment office. He joined Ritholtz in late 2015 to build its institutional and family-office business. Carlson also co-hosts Ask The Compound and has written books about saving, investing and money.

Host profile Official profile

Sources & further reading

Profile checked September 18, 2026. Editorial notes are Perimeter’s interpretation.