Segments From This Episode

• Dueling views of the economy we’re in

  by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

  

  In their Senate testimony, Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin emphasized progress and Fed Chair Jerome Powell focused on unmet needs. Does their divergence matter?

  ShareDownload

• Most states have been underpaying Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits

  by Samantha Fields

  

  Instead of calculating PUA benefits based on people’s income, many states have just been paying the minimum benefit.

  ShareDownload

• Can U.S. businesses count on Chinese consumers?

  by Jennifer Pak

  

  Many American firms are looking to Chinese consumers to keep them afloat, but many of those consumers are trying to keep themselves afloat.

  ShareDownload

• “All the pandemic has done is shine a horrifyingly clear spotlight on every inequality in our community. And my community is the book community.”

  by Alli Fam

  

  Independent bookseller Hannah Oliver Depp is struggling with suppliers in her mission to tell the stories of struggling people.

  ShareDownload

• OPEC delays and spending cuts: Uncertainty abounds in the oil and gas industry

  by Andy Uhler

  

  OPEC and its allies are having trouble coming to an agreement, because individual countries see thing differently.

  ShareDownload

• Capitol Hill is still overwhelmingly white

  by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst

  

  The 117th Congress will be one of the most racially diverse in history, but what about the lawmakers’ staffers? LaShonda Brenson of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is working on it.

  ShareDownload

• The pandemic is creating a new kind of community among deferred students

  by Ilana Strauss

  

  These students are fostering friendships and study groups without school.

  ShareDownload