Week of April 13th, 2026

But can the legacy brand compete? Plus, more from Kai’s trip to Vietnam and a conversation about the week’s economic headlines.

TikTok proved live social shopping can bring in billions. QVC just filled for bankruptcy and hopes an online pivot can make it profitable again.

Vietnam’s young and increasingly tech-savvy workers are helping transform the country’s economy.

There were once thousands of credit agencies in the U.S. But in the 1970s, the industry began to consolidate.

And, Washington is already crowded with data centers. Where will the new ones go?

Childhood experts warn that cell phones in the hands of children can be fraught, but parents still want their kids to socialize. Enter: the landline.

The National Association of Realtors reports that the median first-time buyer topped 40 for the first time ever.

Higher education is responding to the Trump administration’s new federal earnings test that determines whether college graduates are making more money than high school graduates.

Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, joins Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes on this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”

As the populations of the U.S. and other wealthy countries get older, companies are looking in places like Vietnam for younger workers.

Plus: Kai visits tech hubs in Vietnam, a hog farmer talks foreign policy, and Europe faces a jet fuel shortage.

While contract gigs can bring job seekers some much needed income and serve as a bridge to the next opportunity, these days, nothing is a guarantee.

“The only thing certain is uncertainty,” said Brian Duncan, an Illinois hog and soybean farmer.

The head of the International Energy Agency warned that if the Strait of Hormuz doesn't reopen soon, the availability of jet fuel will continue affecting airlines and summer travel.

When times are uncertain, businesses often turn to temp workers to test the waters before hiring full-time employees.

We dig into Anthropic’s own economic research.

The Fed has to weigh inflation, a stalled job market, and war in the Middle East when it meets at the end of the month.

“Businesses say they would have raised wages by roughly an additional percentage point” had it not been for rising health insurance costs, said senior economics contributor Chris Farrell.

Energy infrastructure in the United States is getting old. Consumers will end up paying some of the costs of repairs and upgrades.

Venezuela’s oil industry is shifting — but it can’t offset disruptions caused by war in the Middle East.

On today’s show: cost increases to power bills and a check-in on Venezuela’s oil industry.

Lauren Weber, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, chronicles how some older workers are opting to retire early due to AI. But she said they tend to be pro-personal use of the technology.

Scared to confront your credit card debt? You don’t have to do it alone!

Big banks say consumer resilience bolstered their latest earnings reports. Plus: China’s oil reserves, tariff refund paperwork, and an industrial textile printing factory.

American consumption helps drive the global economy. The workers powering it are halfway across the world.

The word “resilient” came up in multiple earnings calls this week.

Federal customs authorities are set to begin processing refunds next week for import taxes struck down by the Supreme Court. But for small businesses, the process could get complicated.

China had more than a billion barrels of crude oil in reserve when the war in Iran disrupted the market. The country has also spent years diversifying its energy sources and accelerating electrification.

We talk a lot about the price of oil on this show, but there are actually dozens of types of oil. Today, it’s time to learn about them all.

Brent Crude? West Texas Intermediate? What’s the difference?

As war in the Middle East disrupts global supply, governments are urging individuals to conserve — even as most energy demand comes from industry and transportation.

Such a deal would certainly stir up antitrust scrutiny; combined, they would make up the largest airline in the world.

The Trump administration says it’ll start issuing refunds for tariffs the Supreme Court ruled were collected illegally next week.

Cybersecurity writer Brian Krebs says smart TVs and even wifi routers can be conduits for malicious software that infect home devices.

Kai visits Ho Chi Minh City to learn more about Vietnam’s economy. Plus, transportation costs and oil demand.

In Vietnam, there are two working-age adults for every person over 65 or under 15.

Catherine Rampell of The Bulwark and MS NOW talks about what demand destruction is and why it matters.

Businesses are passing costs on to customers, consolidating packages and, in some cases, taking shipping into their own hands.

A deep dive into the inequalities baked into the tax code.

Petrochemicals derived from oil sit on store shelves in the form of plastics, fertilizers, detergents, and packaging.

It's springtime, meaning the real estate market is supposed to be popping. That’s not quite the case though.

In March, seasonally-adjusted sales of existing homes were down 3.6%, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Fed Chair Jay Powell said there’s been essentially no job creation in the private sector in the last six months. But unemployment also remains low. What does this mean for the labor market, and the economy?

A breakdown of how much you’re paying for Social Security, health care, food assistance, the national debt, defense, and more.

Going through your W-2 and seeing how much of your salary went straight to the government doesn’t always feel great, and it can be easy to forget where it all goes.

At least 19 states have either passed or considered legislation that would allow state governments to invest in cryptocurrency or other digital assets, according to Liz Farmer, senior officer at Pew Charitable Trusts.

Get ready for the biggest holiday of the year – Tax Day!

In this community, Vietnamese Americans are forging new ties between the United States and Vietnam.

Grocery price inflation slowed year-over-year in March. Plus: Bank earnings, fuel efficiency, and California’s Little Saigon.

Federal regulations have raised fuel efficiency over the decades, even though the Trump administration and Congress have recently rolled those rules back.

As with many major geopolitical events, the war in Iran could be a headwind or a tailwind for different parts of banks’ businesses.

Overall grocery inflation slowed to 1.9% year-over-year, but the picture is uneven. While egg prices are down nearly 45%, tariffs and supply chain pressures are pushing some produce prices higher.

Today, we dig into how the economic consequences of war continue to be felt in global oil markets and the labor market here in the U.S.

The consumer price index for March showed grocery prices are up 2% from last year, with tomatoes, lettuce, and nonalcoholic beverages leading the way.

Higher inflation, lower unemployment, and a war — what’s all this mean for the job market going forward?

New tax deduction rules may increase the number of donor households in the U.S. — but could also reduce overall charitable giving.

Grocery prices on average are up about 2% compared to this time last year. But split up the food groups, and we start to see some bigger numbers.

Consumers react poorly to marketing and products that were (or are perceived to have been) designed with AI, according to Colleen Kirk at the New York Institute of Technology.