Robotaxi companies Cruise and Waymo recently scored a big win when California regulators allowed them to expand their services and begin charging fares in San Francisco. But now the companies are hitting some speedbumps.
On the show today: Axios transportation reporter Joann Muller explains where we’re at with self-driving technology, why all eyes are on San Francisco, and who make the rules as robotaxi companies grow. Plus, the human-to-human connection that driverless cars are missing.
Then, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimundo is the next cabinet member in line for a trip to China. We’ll get into why the visit might be a little tense. And, some Americans are finding creative avenues to homeownership in spite of an unfavorable housing market.
Later, our listeners recommend some summer reads. And, this week’s answer to the Make Me Smart question comes from Mark Clouse, President and CEO of Campbell’s Soup.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.
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
The lowdown on joint fundraising committees
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