Week of August 19th, 2013

Why is it I never hear anyone talk about the full cost of owning a home and why its such a poor investment? By the time you pay all the fees, taxes, upkeep, interest, insurance and figure in lost investment value people will never make a dime. In fact, the house will cost double what you originally paid. It also ties people down to a certain area and helps keep them immobile. Why is it we never hear about the full and true costs of home ownership? Could it be that is not good for the economy? -Great Bunndini

ESPN has pulled out of an investigative project about head injuries in the National Football League. The league denies pressuring ESPN in any way.

CVS prints long receipts have become an internet meme.

"Full House," "The Cosby Show," "Golden Girls" — all of these TV shows featured noteworthy homes. Play our matching game and see if you can match each house with its TV show.

The Weekly Wrap on Nasdaq's major glitch on Thursday, plus looking ahead to the central bankers meeting at Jackson Hole.

For the next four weeks,  we’re going to talk about The American Dream.  The phrase means something to millions of people:  getting educated, moving up, retiring well and buying a home.  This weekend’s show places home ownership under a microscope. What should you know before you buy? How should youthink about costs? And whether owning a home is the right decision for you. Plus, a game where you can test your knowledge of famous TV homes and a checklist for homebuyers out there.

Existing home sales topped an almost four-year high in July. So what should you expect to encounter as a first-time home buyer?

Widely reported: your smartphone uses the same amount of electricity as two refrigerators. Why some ideas stick around, true or not.

The government is trying to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could really change the mortgage picture out there. What can we expect to see if the government-backed companies go private or have a diminished role?

The Nasdaq closure had nothing to do with rogue or erroneous orders. The system that shows stock prices failed.

Everybody has their capes in a twist over Ben Affleck as the new Dark Knight. But the franchise is like the superhero himself. It always wins.

Mark Zuckerberg probably has enough on his plate that he won't apply to succeed Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced he will be stepping down soon, so Microsoft must find a replacement. Without Bill Gates, or Ballmer, and with a changing tech landscape — Microsoft needs to look at someone with experience in mobile and innovative computing. Also, why didn’t NASDAQ have a backup system to prevent yesterday’s hiatus? And finally, Ben Affleck is the new Batman. The world gives the casting choice a big thumbs down.

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There are a ton of real estate apps out there. Advice on which ones should be on your smartphone.

Trader Joe's goes after Pirate Joe's for reselling products. Why college endowments don't cover tuition. NASDAQ freezes, fears heat up, and high speed trading is here to stay.

Home ownership can be a way for low-income folks to punch a ticket to upward mobility. But many experts say that low-income people should build wealth in other ways before they take on a mortgage.

What resources are available for first-time home buyers? Is there a way to time the market right to take advantage of low mortgage rates? How can you know if you earn enough income to qualify for a refi? Personal finance expert Louis Barajas answers listeners' questions about home ownership. Plus, learn about 10 home buying mistakes you should avoid.

Ballmer has led the company at a difficult time for the tech giant, which has struggled to transition its products out of the PC era.

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer likes to rally the troops.

If you're browsing in today's housing market, you'd better be ready for some stiff competition. A Los Angeles realtor talks about all it takes to land a home you want.

Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, says glitches like this are bound to keep happening.

The popular grocer is suing a small business owner for reselling its products in Canada.

The federal government is spending millions of dollars on contracts related to the Affordable Care Act, and private spending to comply with the law is far greater.

As President Obama pressures colleges to limit tuition increases, could colleges with wealthy endowments use some of that money to offset the rising cost of higher education?

It's part of the Connect America Fund, and it's targeted at 600,000 rural homes and businesses that don't have broadband infrastructure.

19.68 seconds, 1 in 5 Americans, 71 million, and 78.9 percent: Can you guess what these numbers mean?

Paul Louden is a Google Glass Explorer. The Texan scored an early pair of the wired glasses by telling Google he was on a particular mission: to help people with autism.

Today let’s hear from a guy who is looking toward the future of accessibility. Paul Louden is a Google Glass Explorer. The Texan scored an early pair of the wired glasses by telling Google he was on a particular mission: to help people with autism. He himself has autism and he thinks Glass could help with a common challenge for people like him.

The day after the NASDAQ froze, we ask, why? Egypt’s ousted President Mohamed Morsi leaves a legacy of economic disaster. The federal government is spending millions of dollars on contracts related to the Affordable Care Act, but private spending to comply with the law is far greater.

Coffee snobs might want to take their french press and find another article to read.

Parks are increasingly translating 'Leave No Trace' into 'Leave No Trash Can.'

Rancher Ken Lenox looks back at his first paid job on the farm.

The British government is offering incentives to homebuyers but critics argue that the economy is recovering and they are not a good use of taxpayers' money.

NASDAQ, the second-biggest stock exchange in the country, halted trading for about three hours due to a technical glitch.

UPS’s decision to cut health benefits for spouses of some employees is the latest move by employers to reduce health care costs.

The Obama administration wants to restrain high tuition by tying federal aid to a college’s performance.

The tech-heavy trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange was halted by technical glitch. That means investors were unable to exchange the shares of more than 3,000 U.S. companies including Google, Apple and Microsoft. Its the latest problem in a series of mistakes and errors for the U.S. securities trading business. President Obama spoke about college affordability and what his administration is planning to do to lower costs for an education — but what does a college degree actually cost? 

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UPS looks to drop spousal health insurance benefits. Fun with economists in Jackson Hole, Wyo. And can football programs stem the dwindling number of men on college campuses?

It might be cold comfort for those worried about government surveillance, but today we learned a federal judge reprimanded the NSA for breaking its own privacy requirements.

It’s a common scenario. You and your spouse have jobs that offer health insurance. You both pick the better one. Well, UPS says they’ve got to cut that perk.

As the gap between the numbers of female and male college students widens, a football program can increase the numbers of men on campus.

There are fat finger trades, there are flash crashes and there are squirrels.

Mexico is sitting on 87 billion barrels of untapped oil, yet production has dropped 25 percent in the last decade.

Things may be better in Europe than we thought.

As if Detroit doesn’t have enough money problems, now the cash-strapped city faces a huge bill from their bankruptcy lawyers.

This year's list is just out. It's full of game makers, health care hackers, engineers and people hoping to build new energy economies.

A new app, Wheel New York, helps people map and review wheelchair accessibility around the big city.

All this week we’re looking at how technology is helping people with disabilities approach their lives in new ways. We’ve spoken to academics as well as technology designers and engineers. Today we’re talking with Jennifer Feinberg, the brains behind an app called Wheel New York. If it raises enough cash on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, Wheel New York could become like a Yelp for wheelchair access.

Things may be better in Europe than we thought. New numbers out this morning show business picking up in Europe. Mexico’s president is making big moves to end the decades-long monopoly of its state oil company Pemex. And in Detroit, the money problems that led the city to file for bankruptcy are creating a whole different problem: crushing bills.

France is emerging from recession, but struggling to reduce unemployment.

Writer Victoria Chang uses poetry to deal with the frustrations of bosses, and coworkers and workplaces.

The White House is the latest employer to feel pressure over an unpaid internship program.

A Marketplace listener tells us about the first — and last — day of work at her first paid job.

Following the huge financial windfall of airline fees, hotels and resorts are now charging fees for things that used to be free.

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Facebook's new connectivity mission dovetails nicely with Facebook’s primary business motivation, pursuing growth.

A trading error on Goldman Sach's options desk shows mistakes still happen, despite all the computers.

Four billion people in the world lack Internet access. Facebook and a group of tech giants have launched an initiative to sign more of them up for Internet access. The project — and goal — is philanthropic, yes. But could more Internet users mean more Facebook accounts? The White House is facing pressure to pay its unpaid interns, to allow more students from lower-income backgrounds to apply. But who are White House interns anway? 

Getting to know the sickest patients. Colleges give largest grants to wealthiest students. And high-tech trading goes glitchy.

Incoming college freshmen were born in 1995, so don't date yourself by making stale pop culture references.

Germany's finance minister says Greece may need another big bailout.

We've heard wearable technology is coming, but it feels a bit surprising that the hot new item is a throwback — the smartwatch.

Researchers are trying to understand why so-called "super utilizers" keep coming back to the hospital over and over again. Finding answers could cut health costs dramatically.

More federal grants are going to low-income students, but colleges are giving more institutional aid to students who are better off.

21-year-old Moritz Erhardt, an intern for Bank of America in London, collapsed and died this week after reportedly working extremely long hours to impress his bosses.

The legacy Silicon Valley company reports quarterly results as it tries to transform itself to fit the new tech landscape.

It turns out that reading on a computer screen — even a tiny one — might actually help people with dyslexia improve speed and focus.

Greece’s money problems just won’t die. An intern’s death prompts calls for a cultural change in London’s financial district. You can cut your power bill by conserving energy, but unlike your phone or cable bill, you typically can’t save by choosing a different plan. Now that’s changing as power companies steal from the mobile phone playbook.

All this week we’re looking at accessibility and how technology is helping people with disabilities approach their lives in new ways. Today’s installment starts with an anomaly: a Harvard professor who doesn’t like to read — at least not until recently. Dr. Matt Schneps is an astrophysicist who suffers from dyslexia, and he’s published a study this summer with some surprising findings. It turns out that reading on a computer screen — even a  tiny one — might actually help people like Schneps with speed and focus.

At the Aspen Ideas Festival earlier this year, Al Jazeera America's interim CEO talked about why he is so confident in the channel's U.S. success.

Writer and filmmaker dream hampton on the job that honed her interviewing skills.

Back-to-school shopping isn’t quite what it used to be. Public schools struggling under more budget cuts are making requests that go far beyond what you can fit into a backpack.

Tennis superstar flirts with ridiculous name change, decides against it — and reaps the PR benefits.

A compilation of the funniest customer reviews for Amazon products.

Social networking site LinkedIn lowered its sign up age to 14 and will start trying to work with college students and high-schoolers.

Customers fed up with Time Warner’s blackout of CBS programming have one final hurdle if they want to leave the cable provider.

Besides direct financial aid that the U.S. provides Egypt, the U.S. military also helps educate Egyptian military officers.

Besides direct financial aid that the U.S. provides Egypt, the U.S. military also helps educate Egyptian military officers. On the other hand, the Egyptian military spends a lot of the money it gets from the U.S. on military contracts with American firms, such as General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin. Also, social networking site LinkedIn lowered its sign up age to 14 and will start trying to work with college students and high-schoolers to start networking. And most importantly: Isn’t LinkedIn for parents?

Home Depot is out today with strong earnings. American sales are up 11 percent from last year.

The cult classic game, Dungeons and Dragons, has come a long way since its birth in the 1970s. Can it find a model for the future?

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Elmore Leonard, a former adman who later became one of America's foremost crime writers, has died. He was 87. In 2010, Leonard sat down with Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal to discuss why he's drawn to bad guys.

Al Jazeera launches with loads of cash. The markets throw a taper tantrum. And the fight for same-sex marriage goes door to door.

A hot car, a stock price doing back flips into positive territory — for a young company, Tesla is having a great year.

Design researcher Tom Bieling has made something called the Lorm Glove, which could soon help people who are deaf or blind communicate.

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With the financial help of Internet company Alibaba, Liu Chunlei has been crowdsourcing so-called 'Danger Maps' to make pollution information publicly available.

Cybercriminals are selling Instagram followers with help from an old computer virus called Zeus.

A lottery for tickets to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil opens Tuesday, but it will be months before fans know if they have won seats.

Answer a mere 105 questions to find out.

With lots of cash to throw into the launch, Al Jazeera America doesn’t need the kind of advertising revenue its competitors bring in.

Alaska is the first state to crack down on so-called 'port lecturers' who try to steer cruise ship passengers to shop in specific stores on ports of call.

Asian markets are down, and Indonesia is getting the worst of it.