Week of August 19th, 2024

They’re annoying to humans, but they can stop the bots.

Plus, it’s PSL season already?

New broadband infrastructure might take some weight off small town libraries. Plus, electric vehicle market growth is running behind.

Real estate agents say buyers are showing patience, possibly hoping for a longer-term rate-cut scenario.

The federal government wants to bring fiber connections to every home. In the meantime, some areas will still rely on the library.

Reema Khrais gives a preview of season 10, and Hanif Abdurraqib shares his flower budget.

Plus, The Onion is back in print and Burning Man is losing some heat.

An unsustainable burst of early-adopter enthusiasm stoked investment. But that was followed by a changing economy.

These athletes can find work coaching others, doing corporate events and getting gigs in the entertainment industry.

We’re all signing arbitration agreements all the time, without even knowing it — just by signing up for a streaming service or joining a gym.

We’ll hear why cryptocurrency companies are pumping funds into federal elections. Plus: a look at Copenhagen’s “sponge city” infrastructure.

Among economic themes, Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the need to protect Social Security and Medicare, and a tax cut for middle-income households.

Crypto companies have spent more than $119 million so far, almost half of corporate money given during elections this year.

Vice President Kamala Harris closed the Democratic National Convention last night with an acceptance speech that broadly laid out her priorities.

From the BBC World Service: The visit comes not long after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow,

Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, joins Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino for Tech Bytes: Week in Review

Financial therapist Lindsay Bryan-Podvin explains why our money decisions aren’t always logical.

Despite their association with New Orleans, researchers say the shotgun style originated farther afield.

That motel with dozens of unused rooms — what if it became affordable housing? Plus, where would we see the effect of interest-rate cuts first?

Mortgages, savings accounts and credit card debt are a few places. Some rates have already edged down.

What those risks are, and which companies are worried, go beyond the usual suspects.

There’s a persistent, widening gap between workers’ gloomy expectations and retirees’ rosy reports in an annual Gallup survey.

And why it’s left the VP vulnerable to attacks.

The buildings are typically located near major thoroughfares. But developers say conversions are “not for the faint of heart.”

In Wyoming alone, 285 daycares have shuttered in the past 15 years, and there were only about 850 to begin with. One town has a fresh idea to help bring a child care option back to their community.

Author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib reflects on philanthropy, his life and work, and what success looks like.

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to touch on broad economic themes during her speech at the DNC tonight.

During her Thursday night convention speech, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to stick to themes like creating opportunities for the middle class.

That’s the message from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, which says foreign industrial espionage is on the rise.

Data shows the labor market has been cooling faster than expected. What could that mean for hints about rate cuts?

From the BBC World Service: British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s body has been recovered from the Bayesian yacht.

Malynda Hale, one of the 200 credentialed social media creators invited to the Democratic National Convention, says her role is to relay the Democratic Party’s message to younger voters.

Signs point to a September interest rate cut.

The BLS just made a major revision to payroll numbers. Plus, when was the last time inflation was under 3%?

Retail giant Target appears to be banking on refreshed product lines, which can make shopping feel more like a treasure hunt.

One of the most popular building styles in the U.S. emerged as a lower-cost pathway to homeownership.

Experts say strawberries and RVs were behind some of the most dramatic shifts in the labor market on a county basis.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reduced its initial count of new jobs between March 2023 and March 2024 by more than 800,000.

The economy — and life —has changed a lot since.

Will there be a new Farm Bill this year? Will the Federal Reserve cut interest rates? These are a few of the questions top of mind for Brian Duncan, farmer and president of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

Attending the national convention as a delegate can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it comes at a price.

A lot of Chicagoland restaurants were hoping for a shot in the arm courtesy of the Democratic National Convention this week.

Restaurants near the DNC taking place in downtown Chicago were hoping for a shot in the arm from the event, but some are discouraged.

Chicago has one of the highest unemployment rates of any major U.S. city.

Work permits can increase wages, workforce participation and job potential for undocumented immigrants.

And working from home expands job opportunities for people with disabilities of all ages.

A federal judge in Texas has blocked a Federal Trade Commission rule that would’ve made it easier for workers to go to work for a competing company.

From the BBC World Service: Fast-fashion retailer Shein is suing Temu for copyright infringement.

Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell says a new cohort of tech vendors assess age with the help of users’ images. If those images don’t conform to typical physical features, will the user be shut out? And what exactly do they do with the info?

Should public money pay for private school?

Training in high-tech and the skilled trades are attracting students’ interest the most.

The median American homebuyer is getting wealthier. Plus, reaching 2% inflation becomes trickier the closer the Fed gets to that goal.

Because data lags, the current level is uncertain. Plus, key factors like unemployment and the commercial property market are volatile.

The U.S. has a lot of gas stored up this year, and prices are accordingly low.

The median home buyer’s income is higher than the median U.S. household income. And the gap is growing.

Policy experts say the benefits of the “pass-through” deduction, part of the 2017 tax law, mostly help wealthy business owners.

Meta has staked its entire AI strategy upon the open source route, allowing pretty much anyone access to its powerful large language models. Meanwhile, Google and OpenAI are keeping everything walled off.

With the DNC underway in Chicago, former President Donald Trump is advocating for additional tariffs.

It’s called “vehicle-to-everything” technology.

Weather forecasting typically relies on costly, large supercomputers to solve equations, but a new model shows that AI can make predictions that are just as good.

“[Housing] is the leading issue that American mayors cite when talking about the big challenges facing their cities,” said Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther.

The Nerd Wallet survey found many respondents are waiting for lower interest rates before borrowing to buy a car or refinance a loan.

At yesterday’s Democratic National Convention, a victory lap for President Joe Biden and calls to address housing affordability.

From the BBC World Service: After a yacht sunk in bad weather in Sicily on Monday, an entrepreneur and business executive are still missing.

It’s not as well known as the Hubble or Webb, but Chandra illuminates high-heat and high-energy cosmic events such as supernovas, explains program manager Megan Lin. NASA may begin to wind it down in the next few years.

Plus, Artax the cat makes a cameo.

Historically, when the economy gets rough, sales of lipstick go up. But for luxury beauty brands, that may not still be the case.

Wallet-conscious consumers are pulling back on makeup splurges, according to Estée Lauder sales. Plus, we’ve added many gigawatts of capacity to the U.S. electric grid since January. But is it enough?

The U.S. electrical grid added more than 20 gigawatts of capacity the first half of this year, much of it from renewables.

They’ve changed since the days of “smokes and Cokes”.

Margot Krimmel had a lot of requests for “Memory” in the 1980s, but she didn’t know the song and couldn’t find the sheet music.

Thanks largely to social media and #MeToo, nondisclosure agreements have migrated beyond corporate secrets to personal relationships.

The state’s $20-an-hour mandate pressures some outlets to raise prices and risk turning away low-income customers.

At the Democratic convention, Kamala Harris may walk a fine line between lauding Biden’s successes and articulating her own vision.

Automation in coal mining has increased productivity and reduced employment in the industry.

Ann Oliva of the National Alliance to End Homelessness says Gov. Gavin Newsom’s policy of clearing encampments could make things worse.

An invitation-only chance to get up close and personal with Chair Jerome Powell.

It’s basically an economist’s version of a Taylor Swift concert: the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Symposium.

Vice President Kamala Harris is now proposing things like limits on grocery price increases and down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.

From the BBC World Service: Owner of convenience store giant 7-Eleven has received a buyout offer from the owner of the Circle K chain.

The Atlantic’s Caroline Mimbs Nyce says phone use monitors like Apple’s Screen Time are designed to let users take control of their digital habits, but their primary effect is just making people feel guilty.