Congress averted a government debt default in June, but can it prevent a government shutdown this fall? Lawmakers are at odds again over spending bills to fund the government next year. Kai and Kimberly will also discuss tips for avoiding doomscrolling while maintaining healthy news consumption. And is Twitter’s new name, “X,” actually owned by Meta? Or maybe it’s Microsoft? Either way, lawyers may have some real lawyering to do.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
Got a question about resuming student loan repayments for the hosts? Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org.
Less is not always more in economic data
Why the Fed won’t hop on the rate-cutting bandwagon just yet
What summer heat waves mean for prisons
The good, the bad and the ugly of election polling
A shadow looms over the Fed
The long game of high interest rates
The growing troubles at OpenAI
A Trump-Musk bromance
How Big Food changed the way we eat
Biden doubling down on tariffs
How the Palestinian financial system is tied up in Israel
Private equity, endless shrimp and Red Lobster’s decline
Neoliberalism’s sleight of hand
Getting deep about deepfakes
The price tag on friendship
Whaddya wanna know about key inflation measures?
The great Bumble fumble
From “Million Bazillion”: What are labor unions?
The value of “third places”
What grocery aisle gossip can tell us about the economy
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