Week of February 23rd, 2015

The author was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and water remains at the center of her work

How do you make it in Germany? One waitress shares her story.

A dispatch from the Netflix war room during last season's launch.

Airing on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015: “It can’t be warming. There’s snow outside.” Social media went bananas yesterday after a video surfaced of Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma pitching a snowball to an intern on the Senate floor. Inhofe is selling doubt, which is a powerful force in maintaining the status quo. And the status quo, you may not realize, is a powerful economic force. We explain. Plus, you may not know it, but different countries have different release days for new records. For instance, Britain releases records on Tuesday. Starting this summer, the industry will move to a  universal release date of Friday. The move is intended to cut down on piracy by dropping all new music at the same time. But that has other cost consequences and not everyone in the industry is all TGIF about the new policy. Also, under the FCC’s new net neutrality rules, broadband providers like Comcast and Verizon have to treat all internet users the same. Can’t speed ‘em up, can’t slow ‘em down. So who is a at an advantage or disadvantage when an already huge user like Netflix unloads 13 hours of a popular show, as it just did with the new season of “House of Cards.” This and more.

During a dress code reminder the Speaker told lawmakers, "You know who you are."

We discuss the week that was and highlight a few fun facts from the week in news.

You may not know it, but different countries used to have different release days for new albums.

There is a cost to gridlock, but there are also economic winners.

The FCC will watch for glitches, but keeping up with demand is the real test.

Lizzie talks with Marketplace Tech producer Meg Cramer about Snapchat.

On this week’s episode, Lizzie and our partners at the BBC head to Brazil to get a sense of how Brazilians feel about their economy. What’s happened now that the Olympic party’s over? We hear from listeners about where they fall on the economic ladder and how they plan to move up, and Lizzie talks Snapchat with Marketplace Tech producer Meg Cramer. Later, we talk to House of Cards showrunner and creator Beau Willimon about art, secrets, and the Netflix business model. 

A slower growth for the economy, credit cards get more secure, and purifying water in D.C. makes money

Airing on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015: The U.S. and Cuba continue talks today. One major issue still standing is Cuba’s place on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Banks are watching that issue very closely. We explore. Plus, later this morning the U.S. government will report a revision to its main calculation of economic growth. First time round GDP was reported as running an annual rate of 2.6 percent last quarter. This is a routine revision, including new data that’s poured in. In India, the government has just changed the way it goes about calculating its GDP and, lo and behold, things are looking up. And can you imagine betting against the legendary investor Warren Buffett in public? Warren Buffett was trying to make a point about index funds, that this meat-and-potatoes boring investment strategy would beat any fancy hedge fund portfolio in the fullness of time. Well, Ted Seides, President and Chief Investment Officer at Protégé Partners, which invests in small and specialized hedge funds, took that bet. And even though Mr. Buffett is probably chortling with mirth somewhere, Mr. Seides was willing to come in to talk about how things are going 7 years into the 10 year bet.    

Airing on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015: The FCC has approved new internet rules, ushering in net neutrality. First up is Susan Crawford, Co-Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, to talk about the FCC’s vote on Thursday. Next we take a look at why only a third of people in the U.S. have chip and pin credit cards – a system widely used in other countries. And, for this week’s Silicon Tally, we are joined by Leo Laporte, host of the podcast, “This Week in Tech.”     

Local governments are watching the impasse over Homeland Security funding.

DC Water considers sewage a natural resource it can convert to a profitable product

U.S. and Cuban negotiators will meet in Washington Friday.

How well have you kept up with the week in tech news?

Only 1/3 of U.S. credit-card holders have fraud-resistant microchip-enabled cards

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Friday.

Ted Seides can.

It's all but the default for online video, but that means no margins.

With employment and salaries improving, policymakers are focusing on inflation

The author on why water is a constant theme in his work

Pebble is a major player in the smart watch market…and it's not afraid of Apple

The Kickstarter with the most supporters, at 219,382 people, is a card game called Exploding Kittens.

New tools for users with troubling activity and the friends who report them.

Predicting global supply and demand is enormously complicated

Airing on Thursday Feb. 26, 2015: Oil prices are moving up and down every day as all kinds of traders try to predict where prices will land in the future. In the last two days we’ve seen how different kinds of contradictory data can move prices in what might seem odd directions. The U.S. reported its biggest oil glut in 30 years, yet the global Brent price shot up because of other indications that supplies may fall and demand may rise. The U.S. price, meanwhile, stayed pretty much where it was. We explore. Plus, Facebook wants to do more in suicide prevention and, after consulting with various mental health professionals, has come up with a new tactic. Soon, if you see a post on Facebook that suggests your friend may be suicidal you will be able to report it directly to the company. Facebook will then reach out to the poster offering support. Is there any risk to this corporate strategy and what are the privacy implications here? We investigate. 

Debt and a slowdown has placed the country at an economic crossroads.

Beau Willimon talks about writing a show whose success revolves around secrecy.

The fall of consumer prices, the budget for trains in India, and a memo to United Airlines pilots.

Airing on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015: Today, the FCC will vote on net neutrality. We speak with Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia University, who coined the term “network neutrality,” ahead of the vote this evening. And, for this week’s edition of Back to Back to the Future Part II, we are joined by  Joseph Lorenzo Hall, Chief Technologist at Center for Democracy & Technology –  he talks with Ben about fingerprint scanning technology.   

Airing on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015: First up on today’s show, we’ll talk about some of the back-and-forth in a capitol hill hearing room yesterday. And Sears reports their earnings today. We look at the real estate, which is about all the retailer really has left. And in our global economy, almost everything is connected in some circuitous way. We’re exploring that fact in a series we’re doing with the BBC called Six Routes to Riches—a look at the challenges and opportunities people face as they earn a living. Today, a story that starts with a riddle. What connects the following things: a $500 dollar pair of sunglasses for sale at a boutique in China, an economic slump in Croatia, and a pair of white inspection gloves in Berlin?

What's the connection between sunglasses, white gloves, and an economic slump?

The smartwatch maker's latest offering on Kickstarter raises lots of money, fast.

Back to the Future Part II promised biometrics. How close are we to having it?

The ailing parent company of Sears and Kmart reports its fourth quarter earnings.

Tim Wu, who coined the term "net neutrality," speaks about today's vote.

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Thursday.

The city's sewer system is 100 years old. Some pipes are made of wood or clay.

Rising interest rates: If you think they won't affect you, think again.

The Nashville Predators are trying to limit opposing fans at home games.

Google already has 20,000 employees in Mountain View, and now is planning a new, bigger headquarters

Call it "The Wal-Mart Effect."

Airing on Wednesday Feb. 25, 2015: TJX, the parent of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, just announced it will boost its base pay to $9 an hour by this summer, and $10 an hour by 2016.  In light of Wal-Mart’s recent minimum wage hike, is this the first sign of a tightening labor market in low-wage retail? We investigate. Plus, as Google proposes a new headquarters in Mountain View, the small city has mixed feelings about the economic growth within its borders. Mountain View’s not going to become a company town in the old sense, but it is going to have to change, build housing and grow because of Google — all things that Silicon Valley cities have resisted for decades.

Warren Buffett's culinary choices aren't what you'd expect from one of the richest people on the planet.

An interview with juvenile justice advocate David Domenici.

More than a quarter of students who started at a community college in 2008 earned a degree from a different school six years later.

The largest industrial park in the world is in an unlikely place.

Asking when the fed will raise interest rates, a sex discrimination suit in the tech industry, and a conversation about inverted companies.

Airing on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015: Today, thousands of adjunct faculty and their students around the country are planning demonstrations to demand better pay and some kind of stability. We learn more about these temporary, often part-time, and usually low-paid instructors-for-hire. And Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is back on Capital Hill today talking jobs and the economy. But what she’s saying is likely to sound a lot like what she’s said before. Plus, Campbell Soup reports its second-quarter earnings today and it is already warning that it expects those numbers to be down given the strong dollar. The well-known brand recently reorganized shifting its central focus from its familiar soups, which have faced lukewarm sales of late, to bigger moneymakers like the baby food Plum Organics. 

Airing on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015: First up on today’s show, we’ll talk about a sex discrimination suit in Silicon Valley involving the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins which opens another window on complaints that women are treated unequally in the tech world. We’ll also talk to Amanda Lotz, Associate Professor of Communications Studies at the University of Michigan, about why cable companies aren’t worried about cord cutters. And Steve Gannon, one of the authors selected for the Kindle Scouts program, talks about being an author on Amazon.  

The case highlights how women still struggle to find a place in venture capital.

With lukewarm sales of soup, the company shifts focus to other products.

Kindle Scout, Amazon’s new online publishing platform, to release books.

National Adjunct Walkout Day represents growing segment of the college workforce.

Here are the numbers we're watching for Wednesday.

This winter's record snowfall has hobbled the city's mass-transit system.

Why Dave Weiner left a technology career to reinvent the bicycle.

Computers can offer unexpected lessons to kids in juvenile justice facilities.

Sen. Rand Paul's call for more oversight of the Fed is a reliable applause line.

A San Diego juvenile justice facility plans to give every kid a laptop.

The line of the day goes to President Obama, by way of the Marketplace Desk of News We Could have Told You Yesterday.

The EPA has increasingly made mileage tests a more accurate measure of reality

Airing on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015: In case you haven’t heard, Boston’s been getting pounded with snow every few days, for weeks. Boston’s mass transit system, the oldest in America, broke down under the stress. Trains and buses are running late, if at all. How are employers handling an ongoing situation where employees are late for work on a daily basis? We investigate. Plus, the EPA is asking car makers to follow stricter rules in measuring their vehicles’ gas mileage to insure at least some uniformity, if not produce estimates that drivers might find more accurate. Also, in her testimony before the Senate today, Fed Chair Janet Yellen swatted away the “Audit the Fed” calls. But when Senator Rand Paul and others say “Audit the Fed,” what they really mean is something more political than monetary. We explain.  

Why housing numbers are still cloudy

Fed chair Janet Yellen briefs Congress, more on the Time Warner/Comcast merger, and D.C. builds an underground tunnel.

Supremes consider how long employees should have to sue employers.

Airing on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015: First up, more on the banks being accused of rigged the market for precious metals. Plus, talks are expected to resume this week between unions and oil company representatives in the largest U.S. refinery strike in decades. The strike expanded this past weekend when other refineries including Motiva Enterprises, the largest refinery in the nation, joined the strike. Is a deal imminent and how is the slowdown affecting gas prices? And we’ve been reporting on the ways a few of these institutions are introducing technology to try to improve education these kids. Today, we hear the story of Shawnee, a 14-year-old, at the Wyoming Girls School in Sheridan Wyoming. Like Shawnee, most of the girls at the school have been sentenced for non-violent offenses like drug possession and parole violations. 

The tunnel will prevent sewage from mixing with water flowing into nearby rivers.

Airing on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015: Comcast, the country’s  largest cable operator reports its earnings today. But the merger with Time Warner is still hanging in the balance? We’ll talk about how that’s going. Next, we have Nitasha Tikku, senior writer at The Verge, on the Unicorn Startup Explosion, how it affects us and where companies could fail. And then we speak with Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain about his open letter to Prime Minister Cameron explaining why banning encrypted messaging apps is a bad idea. 

With the largest U.S. refinery strike in decades, how are prices being affected?

When it comes to accessing encrypted apps, some say it's double or nothing.

When it comes to water, U.S. businesses have champagne tastes for beer prices.

A lot has changed since the deal was announced last year.

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Tuesday.

Their union has the power to shut down all 29 ports on the West Coast.

The Wyoming Girls' School uses tech to improve education for juvenile offenders.

The Department of Homeland Security consistently ranks worst in morale among large government agencies.

Dodgy investments can cut the amount retirees earn through compounding.

Not even the tooth fairy can escape inflation

Airing on Monday, Feb.23, 2015: The president wants to stop unscrupulous brokers from flogging investments to consumers that kick back fees to the brokerage. These kinds of dodgy investments cost consumers one percent a year, on average. That may not sound like much, but one percent a year is worth a lot to a saver, thanks to the miracle of a magical thing called compound interest. We explain. Plus, this week’s political hot potato is funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is set to expire on Friday. But no matter what happens with DHS spending, there’s a much bigger problem at the sprawling agency: low morale. It consistently ranks worst for morale among large government agencies. This and more.

The name Edwin Land may mean nothing to you, but to Steve Jobs he's a hero.

A question of religious garb at work, YouTube targets content to kids, and the big money in Chicago's mayoral elections.

Supreme Court considers: who should speak up first – an employee or employer?

Thousands of kids are locked up and losing ground in the juvenile justice system.

Airing on Monday, February 23, 2015: YouTube is launching a “YouTube for kids” app. In part, it’s a response to parents who want to be able to let their kids surf YouTube’s video content safely. But it’s also an enormous money making opportunity. We take a look at the market for kid-friendly media platforms. Next up is Chris Schlitt, a Pebble app developer, to talk about what features he’d like to see in the new Pebble smartwatch, which is rumored to be launching on Tuesday. We also speak with Will Oremus, senior tech writer for Slate, about why Snapchat’s user interface is so hard to use.   

Airing on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015: Late Friday, the European Union granted Greece its extension to its financial lifeline. In return, Greece needs to immediately write down, sign and hand-in a list of financial reforms. More on that. Plus, the federal government spends about $150 million a year on education for neglected and delinquent kids. A big piece of this goes to residential juvenile justice facilities that house an average of 60,000 young people a day. This is a group that is required by law to get schooling, but critics say the record here is not good. We visit some juvenile justice facilities to looks at the role technology might play here. Plus, for some of us the recent run of freezing temperatures and snowstorms has made getting to work rough, a frustration, certainly an inconvenience. The lucky ones can work from home for a day or two, distracting cooped up kids with screen time. Some of us aren’t so lucky … even when public transportation has shut down and all the cabbies stay home. We reports on how workers and their employers slog through these cold weeks.

The pros and cons of asking workers to brave a storm.

With a huge fundraising lead, Rahm Emanuel rises in the polls.

What makes Snapchat popular could be the hard-to-use user interface.

Kids watch differently: when, where and how they want.

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Monday.