Make Me Smart February 3, 2023 transcript

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Kai Ryssdal 

The royal “we”

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, the royal “we”.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh my lord

Kimberly Adams 

Hello, everyone and welcome back to Make Me Smart where we make today make sense or the week in this case

Kai Ryssdal 

Or the week. We’re gonna try to make the week make sense. Thanks, everybody joining us, oh, I’m Kai Ryssdal by the way. Thanks for joining us on the pod today and the YouTube livestream for a little bit of Economics On Tap. We’ll do the news fix. We’ll play a little game at the end. I will also point out that I’m enjoying an adult beverage for the first time in 34 days it’s Beachwood brewing out of Huntington Beach, California. Can we see this? Yes. Yeah, it’s there 28 haze later hazy IPA. It’s quite, quite delicious. You know, I tried some I… we talked about this the other day, I tried some alcohol free beers. They were fine. Except they tasted like cardboard.

Kimberly Adams 

That doesn’t sound like fine Kai.

Kai Ryssdal 

Well, no. So here’s what it was. It had a real… Let me get all wine geeky on you here. He says to the wine person in the crowd. It had a really good nose. Right? It smelled really good. That first taste as it hits your tongue was really nice. And then the finish was cardboard. It truly was. I was like, “weh, what is this?” Yeah true.

Kimberly Adams 

You know, I took a like mocktail mixology class a couple weeks ago. And one of the things that they said was a struggle when making non alcoholic cocktails is getting the bite right. You know? And so like, that’s probably what you felt was missing. Yeah,

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s exactly, that’s exactly the right phrase. The but that’s exactly the right phrase. Yes.

Kimberly Adams 

I’m seeing a lot of people in the YouTube chat who successfully made it through dry January. Congrats all! I did too. And it’s funny. I was out last night, and I was at a comedy show that my friend was organizing at this dingy little dive bar place and I ordered a glass of wine. And I was like, “I’m finally gonna like be done with dry January and have a glass of wine.” They were completely out of wine in the entire bar. No red wine at all. They offered me a rose and I was like, “Absolutely not.”

Kai Ryssdal 

I spit on your rose! That’s pretty funny. I didn’t that wow, that’s okay. But you know what’s funny? I have that reaction to a lot of beers too so I know where you’re coming from.

Kimberly Adams 

And so I was like, I guess I’ll just stay dry another day. And so for me today, I am drinking a combo of non alcoholic things. So the first one is this avec premium carbonated mixer in Yuzu and lime. You’re supposed to either mix it with the spirit or drink by itself. I am mixing it with not a spirit. But with this little packet of craft mix strawberry mule. That’s actually several years old.

Kai Ryssdal 

Kimberly. Kimberly. Kimberlyyyy! I… oh my. Audience I apologize on behalf of on behalf of everybody here at Makes Me Smart for subjecting you to whatever Kimberly is about to do to herself.

Kimberly Adams 

Several years ago, or actually no, I think it was the first year in the pandemic, the beloved David Brancaccio like sent out these little, nice little holiday kits with like little teeny tiny bottles of liquor and little mixers and things. Because we didn’t have a holiday party.

Kai Ryssdal 

I didn’t get one, thank you David

Kimberly Adams 

It’s because he doesn’t love you like he loves me. And so I mixed it together. And so I have a very pink drink that is tasty. It’s actually tasty.

Kai Ryssdal 

You’re sitting your sister, by the way gave you a yikes for whatever that beverages that you’re drinking. So I’m just saying,

Kimberly Adams 

Look, you know, I’m in the bureau. I didn’t expect to be here for the show. I made it work with what I had. Okay.

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s fair. That’s fair. Lots of good drinks going on out there. Lots of good drinks.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, yes. Yes.

Kai Ryssdal 

Okay, so, here’s my here’s my news rant. And I will just I will just say this. I need everybody to calm the hell down about this balloon. It’s making me crazy. It’s making me absolutely nuts. So look, I have cable television on in the background in the office when I’m at the office, and it’s wall to wall and I just don’t understand, because oh my lord, yes, fine, but there are Chinese satellites and Russian satellites and all kinds of satellites up there that have as good if not better target differentiation and all of that. And I understand that it’s a little weird to have this Chinese balloon floating over your head. But please, everybody calm the hell down. You know what it reminds me of? I don’t know if anybody I think it’s the beginning of Apollo 13. Though I could be wrong. Maybe it’s The Right Stuff. Might be The Right Stuff. That scene back in like 1956 or 57 where Sputnik goes over and you see these smoke filled rooms and a lot of old white guys in suits smoking and saying, “Oh, my God, the skies are now red” which is what the headlines were…. That’s exactly what it reminds me of. Right? Just calm down. We’re doing it to them. They do it to us. Is this interesting? Yes. Is it newsworthy? Yes. But everybody calm down. That’s my news rant. That’s all I got. I just…

Kimberly Adams 

Someone with a lovely screen name toxic wrote in the YouTube chat “How many people freaking out about the balloon also have Tick Tock installed on the phone next to them?

Kai Ryssdal 

Well right! Right, right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. My favorite thing, by the way, sorry, my favorite thing and at least germane to the subject of the program that I host was that the Treasury Department today, came out and said it is monitoring the balloon situation. And the only thing I can think of. The only thing I can think of that the Treasury Department is monitoring the balloon situation is if it’s filled with fake $100 bills, and it will burst and shower fake money down on America. I just don’t get it. Everybody needs to get in on this action. And I just I don’t understand you guys. Everybody’s got to calm down.

Kimberly Adams 

Maybe it’s got the trillion dollar coin inside.

Kai Ryssdal 

Maybe it’s maybe it’s got the damn coin in it. That’s right. That’s right. Sorry, I just don’t…. it’s so everything’s a crisis. Everything’s a crisis. Is this newsworthy? Yes. Is it an invation of sovereignty? Yes. Is it? “Ahhhhhh!!!”, no, it’s not. No, it’s not.

Kimberly Adams 

I’m loving all the jokes in the YouTube chat “balloon subject to inflation”.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh, that’s good one. I like that one.

Kimberly Adams 

Thank you “SometimesD”. All right.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh, my goodness. What do you have?

Kimberly Adams 

Mine’s a little bit more serious, but… A lot more serious so let me just tone it down. Today, the Associated Press has a story. Actually, no, this was on Wednesday. On Wednesday, attorneys general in 20 states sent letters of warning to CVS and Walgreens saying that they will face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in those 20 states. Now you might remember a bit ago, the FDA basically ease the rules on abortion pills, saying that, you know, regular pharmacies could sell them. A lot of these pharmacies, provide drugs by mail or will sell things online and mail them, you know, out of state if it’s a over the counter, or, you know, unrestricted medication. And so, in theory, these big pharmacay chains that have said they will sell it could be selling it in the states either mailing it into the state, or just selling it, you know, on their own. And so the letter came from my beloved home state of Missouri, the Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, and was co signed by 19 other attorneys general, saying that it would violate federal law and abortion laws in many states if they sold those abortion pills, which is not technically accurate. And the Associated Press apparently reached out trying to get comment from you know, Bailey, and others, in terms of what they would do if Walgreens and CVS actually sold these pills. And they did not specify what legal action they would take if the pharmacies began selling those abortion pills to Missourians by mail. The quote is, “I will enforce the laws as written. Bailey said in a statement in response to questions from the Associated Press, that includes laws protecting the health of women and their unborn children. The FDA rule is in direct violation of federal law and the unelected bureaucrats at the FDA have no authority to change Missouri law either.” It goes on and on and on. This gets back to something we talked about when the ruling first came down, overturning Roe versus Wade, which gets to the interstate commerce clause. Right? And the federal government having the job of managing interstate commerce. Now let’s just say

Kai Ryssdal 

It’s literally in the Constitution. Sorry.

Kimberly Adams 

It is! So let’s just say that, Walgreens, CVS or even let’s just say Planned Parenthood decides to set up its own pharmacy in a state where abortion pill-pill-pills are perfectly legal, and mail abortion pills via the US Postal Service. Right? It is a felony to interfere with the mail

Kai Ryssdal 

Ooooh good point. Good point.

Kimberly Adams 

So now what’s going to happen? Because that’s right in the interstate commerce thing

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah. Yeah. And you you can see this, it’d be very interesting. And you can see it working its way to the Supreme Court. Right? I mean, it’s a classic constitutional question.

Kimberly Adams 

Right. And as people are pointing out, pharmaceuticals by mail are not illegal. And so unless the states plan on opening up everyone’s packages that are moving to the US Postal Service, which is, again, very illegal, that’s going to be a very difficult thing to enforce. So that, you know, will be fascinating to see how that plays out. Okay, my other story is much more uplifting, which is a story I saw in Psychology Today, which is appropriate as my psychologist sisters in the YouTube chat. If the headline is “The 10 year rule, change your life, every decade.” The premise being, that it’s a good idea to kind of do a life reset every 10 years, that, you know, just because you spend maybe a decade getting really good at one thing rather than kind of like rest on your laurels and just like keep doing it until you die. Every 10 years is roughly a good idea to kind of reinvent yourself and try something completely new, which I think is a really cool idea and a nice way of thinking about it. Because as, as my friends who are entering what supposedly is middle age, and I have been thinking, you know, like the women in my family, God bless them have longevity, which means all things working well, I hopefully will have, you know, more than half of my life left, which means there’s a lot of more interesting things that could be done, and especially with medical, you know, advances in science getting better, like, you know, there, there are a lot of things that could still happen. Maybe we can still be astronauts Kai, maybe!

Kai Ryssdal 

Well, you maybe I’m I’m probably at slightly beyond the cutoff. But look this. So this is really interesting. And here’s what it goes to. My wife and I were having this conversation and have been having this conversation for a number of years about next chapters, and this and that, and blah, blah, blah. And one of the things that she says is, well, I’d love to take XYZ course or become XYZ, but that’ll take five years. And my response always is, “Hey, babe, look, in five years, you’re gonna be five years older, whether you’ve had this training or not, whether you’ve taken this course or not, whether you’ve explored this option or not, so do it now.” You know?

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, Cheryl Alexandra in the YouTube chat says that she’s 74 and has had six plus careers slash businesses.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh my gosh, there you go.

Kimberly Adams 

And I read all the time about these authors who don’t even start their writing careers until they’re in their like 50s or even 60s and still do really well because they’ve got like a lifetime of experience in forming their writing and it makes it really interesting. So…

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s a really that’s a really good sort of just not a rule to live by. But just a thought. Just bear in mind as you freaking move through life.

Kimberly Adams 

Ooh, LJ pain went to college at 50. Good for you!! I’m curious what you studied. All right, now we are going to do something a little bit different. We are going to take a quick break and when we come back we’re gonna play a game. And so now we are going to play our very very fun game called Half-Full/Half-Empty where our very Drew Jostad who would have given us a longer break I should say, will give us news topics and we’ll tell you how we’re feeling about them. Whether that is more positive on the half full side or more negative on the half empty side of things. And you’re welcome to play along in the chat, and Drew let’s take it away.

Drew Jostad 

Are you half full or half empty on couponing on Tick-Tock?

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh, so this…  Like videos of people couponing?  No. So there’s I spoke to a woman named Kayla Burk. And she is, by her own description, a full time extreme couponer. So she has 2 million followers on TikTok where she does explanatory videos on how to basically get something for nothing and it’s totally interesting because it’s not really simple at all. There’s a minute and a half video that I saw as prep for the interview on how to get it was I don’t know what like 10 bucks off whatever product it is right. But couponing which, honestly I thought kind of was an older person’s thing, is not, it’s very real, it’s very digital now you do it on your phone. It’s a click, and a tap and bang zoom and you got whatever you need for basically free or two for one or whatever. I’m half full, I just don’t have the energy for it, I just don’t have the energy for it because it takes concentration.

Kimberly Adams 

I’m half full on couponing. But I should say I used to be a little bit of an extreme couponer. Like, I’m that person who would, you know, get the coupon for the two for one, and then like, ring up with the two for one that gave you the extra credit, where if you bought two of these things, and you get like $5 in credit, and then you do a separate transaction, then you use your other coupons on that transaction so that you can use the extra money. I did all of those things. And I would, you know, actually… I’m that person who would send like a screenshot or photo to my friends, like, “Look, I just saved $42 at CVS” you know, and I would be very excited about it. Can I tell you how sad I was, I guess it was last year, when the oh, gosh, people are asking if it’s kyu-pon or koo-pon. Ugh

Kai Ryssdal 

God bless the YouTube chat because I was gonna ask you, but since the since the chat did, look, it’s a regional dialect thing. That’s what it is.

Kimberly Adams 

Wait, what did I say? Did I say

Kai Ryssdal 

You said kyu-pon. You say kyu-pon, I say koo-pon.

Kimberly Adams 

Hmm, interesting. I never even thought about it.

Kai Ryssdal 

You say potayto, I say potahto. You say to tomayto, I say tomahto. Sorry.

Kimberly Adams 

But I was really sad because the Washington Post got rid of its coupon section. And now if I want to do it, I have to do it on my phone. And that’s really just like data harvesting. And I don’t want these companies to know my shopping habits. And I know that that’s why they do it. But now I just don’t use coupons as much because I don’t want to hand over all of my shopping data for $1 off.

Kai Ryssdal 

To quote, Scott McNealy, the one time CEO of Sun Microsystems, “you have no privacy, you can get over it.”

Kimberly Adams 

I know but I want to keep the illusion.

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s well, that’s alright. That’s fair if it gets you going through the day. Drew, please.

Drew Jostad 

Alright, the last Boeing 747 was delivered this week, are you half full or half empty? On I guess, the end of the era.

Kai Ryssdal 

The Queen of the Skies. So let me date myself here. So when I was a kid, my father worked for a bunch of different airlines. And we would, and he was born in Norway. So we would go back every now and then and visit his parents. And we would fly space available. Because my dad worked for an airline. And my dad, we’d get to the airport, and my brother and I and my father. I mean, this was back in the well, it was long time ago, let’s just say. And so my dad made me my brother put on a suit and a tie and he had to put on a suit and tie. And so we would go up and my dad would schmooze with the gate person or the airline people. And probably, my dad was really good at this. And so probably probably eight times out of 10 that we went, we would wind up in first class and back then they were almost always 747 going from New York to London, and then up to Norway. And so we’d be in first class on a 747. And I have distinct memories of doing like my eighth grade homework in the upstairs lounge of a 747 in 1970 whatever the hell it was. And it was when there were…

Kimberly Adams 

That sounds glamorous.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, there were couches, and a bar and like tables and stuff. It was crazy. It was crazy. I won’t. Yeah. Yeah. So I’m a big fan of 747. Half full.

Kimberly Adams 

I think I ended up in first class for the first time in my life, like, last year. No, but I mean, so in terms of the 747 I’m, I’m gonna go half full, like I’m a little sad for the nostalgia factor. But planes are better and more efficient. And, you know, I have to the thing that the 747 brought in was sort of access to airline travel for so many more people. And now, you know, we don’t need to have 500 people on a plane to travel and I think that just makes it nice. I love all the stories of people flying in the 747. Barbara Monaghan says “I flew to Thailand on the top cabin first class of a 747 but it was decked out in seats, not a lounge.”

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, that was something Yeah, it was something.

Kimberly Adams 

Why is everybody so excited about the Hyperloop?

Kai Ryssdal 

It is one person

Kimberly Adams 

Oh one person was excited about the Hyperloop

Kai Ryssdal 

Probably a troll.

Kimberly Adams 

Got it. Got it. Got it. All right.

Drew Jostad 

All right. There seems to be a bit of a revival in use of old school cameras, both digital and film. Are you half full or half empty?

Kimberly Adams 

What’s an old school digital camera?

Kai Ryssdal 

So here’s, here’s

Drew Jostad 

Old school meaning like 20 years ago

Kai Ryssdal 

Here’s the way it cameras are now, right if I could just demonstrate right, but there’s revival and it’s like the hipster thing if I could apply hipsters to like young millennials or Gen Zers, of actually using old digital cameras like we used to use 20 years ago, right? And that’s like the thing and it’s a good look and whatever. Can I be half I don’t care. Can you kids get off my lawn?

Kimberly Adams 

I should have know that was coming.

Kai Ryssdal 

Sorry

Kimberly Adams 

I’m gonna go half full just because I love things vintage like I have a typewriter.

Kai Ryssdal

Oh that’s fair. Do you? You and Tom Hanks.

Kimberly Adams 

He made an app for it too like it’s an app

Kai Ryssdal 

I know. I had it for a while and then I discovered it was useless. But yeah, he did have an app for sure.

Kimberly Adams 

It made a nice sound, though. So here’s a little random story. One of my first jobs in public radio is as the assistant to NPR senior news analyst Dan Shorr, who used to do commentaries and sort of weekend reviews for NPR. And as his assistant, one of my main jobs was to take his scripts that he would type on a typewriter, and we’re talking like 2009-2010 here. He would type them up on a typewriter, and then I would have to type it into the computer so that it would actually be in the system.

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s so funny.

Kimberly Adams 

I blew everyone’s mind when I convinced Daniel Shorr to type his scripts on a computer, because everyone was convinced he would never do it. And I was able to convince him to do it. Because he was a nice man.

Kai Ryssdal 

Good for you. Good for you and you are a persuasion woman.

Kimberly Adams 

He used to sing me La Vie En Rose all the time. It was so sweet.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh, wow. (Hums La Vie En Rose)

Kimberly Adams 

Yes. All right. What is next?

Drew Jostad 

Paramount global announces they’re merging the Showtime streaming service with Paramount Plus. Are you half full or half empty

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh my god I am so sick and tired of the streaming wars. I’m so sick and tired of them. I don’t. Okay?

Kimberly Adams 

I’m half full

Kai Ryssdal 

Prices are gonna go up, right? Are you alright? Go ahead. Why?

Kimberly Adams 

Because like, there’s too many. There’s gonna be consolidation, and we’re gonna get the streaming version of cable eventually. Let’s just Let’s just get to it. It’s gonna happen. Let’s just Let’s just start. Alright.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yes. What  Kimberly said. That’s exactly right. That’s exactly. Yep. All right. That’s it that yeah, that’s a really good point. I’m just I’m so sick and tired of the streaming wars.

Drew Jostad 

Last topic for the pol?

Kai Ryssdal 

Good thing Drew’s paying attention.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, everybody get ready to vote in the YouTube chat.

Drew Jostad 

Are you half full or half empty on people responding to high egg prices by raising inflation chickens?

Kai Ryssdal 

Fascinating. All right. Let me just scroll back through the YouTube chat here for a second while everybody ponders is. Ryan Coleman “I pay $80 a month for YouTube TV for my parents already.” So Ryan, yo, man, stop.

Kimberly Adams 

$80 a month is that how much that is?

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s that’s a lot. That is a lot. Alright, whoever’s running the YouTube chat needs to zots this Ita-lee person because he or she is just trolling us. Inflated chickens blah, blah. Okay, so the inflated chicken story is out of the New York Times I think is the one we’re talking about with Ana Swanson did it and Jeanna Smialek also about eggs and chickens and all that good stuff. I mean, my uncle has been raising chickens since before it was cool. Every time I go over there. “Oh, do you want some eggs?” I’m like, again I don’t like eggs. Don’t like egg.. Eggs and cheese is a no no for you?

Kimberly Adams 

Eggs and cheese yeah. Yeah. I mean…

Kai Ryssdal 

Any other dairy you don’t do that we should know about?

Kimberly Adams 

I mean, I’m mildly lactose intolerant so I don’t have milk but I do eat yogurt. There’s that

Kai Ryssdal 

What is what is? Wait, sorry. While we wait for the poll to complete. What is your morning beverage then

Kimberly Adams 

Tea

Kai Ryssdal 

Just straight up no milk. No, nothing?

Kimberly Adams 

Black tea with sugar and actually I put whole cloves into it.

Kai Ryssdal 

Do you? Interesting

Kimberly Adams 

Quite tasty. Yes.  That is what I have.

Kai Ryssdal 

Fair enough. Fair enough.

Kimberly Adams 

Let’s see.

Kai Ryssdal 

Debby Donovan pointed out that I do like, I like banana flavored candy, which is true. I do. That’s true. Long time listener ther. Oh boy.

Kimberly Adams 

Why is somebody talking about eggs and squirrels? What? Oh, right. Okay, so somebody said in the chat that we could use, that I could use my uncle’s eggs as something to barter for other items. And my sister followed up with eggs and squirrel. Because yes, my uncle will sometimes occasionally send me home with squirrels that he has hunted because yes I do know how to cook

Kai Ryssdal 

Squirrel in your freezer.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, yes. This is this is this is a joke. It’s true, but it’s also funny. All right, what is our vote?

Kai Ryssdal 

All right. I don’t even know. Somebody needs to Slack it to me or whatever, because I don’t know how to do this bleeping poll. Oh, wait, here it is. Oh, wait, I had it. All right. All right, here we go. I got it. So yes, half empty on inflation chickens 56%, half full 43%. The poll is complete with 197 votes. So this was an article in The New York Times, by Jeanna Smialek and Ana Swanson about egg inflation, and how people are actually starting to raise chickens at home to counter the high cost of eggs. And there has been an increase apparently in the number of much as we saw mid pandemic when people kind of started going back to work in the office and all those pets they adopted had been now given up for not being able to be home. People are abandoning their inflation chickens. Don’t abandon your inflation chickens people. Just don’t.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, it’s like everybody who abandoned the pets. That was super sad. I guess chickens are pets for people but yes. Don’t Don’t be that person. All right. Well, we did it. There it is.

Kai Ryssdal 

We got here. Okay.

Kimberly Adams 

What are we supposed to say? I think there’s supposed to be music now? Okay.

Kai Ryssdal 

Who’s producing this? Where’s Courtney?

Kimberly Adams 

Oh boy. All right. Well, we are done for today because clearly even without the booze we get a little loopy on a Friday. Next week, we are going to be back with more news you can use, economics on tapm, make me smiles, what do you want to know Wednesdays, all the things but we cannot do it without you. So if you have a question that you want us to answer on the Wednesday show, a comment you want to just give in general, or questions or something like that, something you heard on today’s episode and you have strong feelings about it. Let us know! We’re at 508-U-B-SMART also you can email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org

Kai Ryssdal 

We’re all about strong feelings. If you guys got them, let us know. Make Me Smart is produced by Courtney Bergsieker. Today’s episode was engineered by engineered by Charlton Thorpe. It’s my first beer in 35 days people. Drew Jostad wrote the theme music to Half-Full/Half-Empty. Antonio Barreras is our intern.

Kimberly Adams 

The team probably sober behind our Friday game is Mel Rosenberg, Emily Macune and Antoinette Brock.

Kai Ryssdal 

Why do they have to be sober? Sorry no more music

Kimberly Adams 

Marissa Cabrera is our acting senior producer. Bridget Bodnar is the director of podcasts. And Francesca Levy is the executive director of Digital.  And thank you to everyone for following along. Have a wonderful weekend.

Kai Ryssdal 

And tolerating us. Oh my Lord.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, tolerating us