If you’ve been listening the past few weeks, you know the federal government is working on a list of companies to exclude from new, costly tariffs on steel and aluminum. During testimony today about that list, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross promised one senator that he’d personally consider a company residing in the senator’s district. Ross called the place right after the hearing, and we did, too. Then: Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon have tapped surgeon and writer Atul Gawande to run their new health care company. We’ll look at his qualifications and what it’ll take to pull this thing off. Plus: A conversation with the CEO of Zillow, the housing data site that’s started selling homes of its own.

The tariff threats flying back and forth between Washington and Beijing have had a certain symmetry. We tax $34 billion worth of Chinese imports, and they follow. We add $16 billion in other Chinese stuff, same. But last night, when the Trump administration said it’s exploring tariffs on a whopping $200 billion in goods, Beijing said fine, they’re gonna hit back in “quantitative and qualitative ways.” We’ll start today’s show trying to unpack what that means. Then, speaking of China: When Americans and Europeans were buying less, dozens of factories closed in China. Millions lost jobs … but an unexpected industry flourished. We’ll look at it as part of our series “Divided Decade.” Plus: We’ll talk with our reporter at the southwest border about what he’s seeing at businesses and courtrooms there. (06/19/2018)

The phrase “trade war” is getting thrown around a lot by now, including by this show. You might be wondering: What’s it mean, exactly? And how do we know when we’re actually in one? We’ll do our best to answer those questions on the show today. Plus, we’ll bring you the latest on the bidding war for Fox, the new nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and, of course, Beyoncé and Jay-Z. (06/18/2018)

Is the sky blue? Kai catches us up on our current trade relationship with China and all the events that got us here. We follow that up with the Weekly Wrap. This time we’re joined by Rachel Abrams from the New York Times and Dion Rabouin from Yahoo Finance. And in non-trade news: We talk to director Hiro Murai. You probably know him from his collaborations with Donald Glover on FX’s “Atlanta” and Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.” (06/15/18)

The trusty sedan might not be enough for Americans these days. Sales have been tanking the last few years, giving way to bigger trucks, SUVs and crossovers. We find out why. Also on the show, we talk with Politico’s Annie Karni about her reporting on the how the White House was looking for new employees at a job fair. Plus, we ask, “Is there a way for a country to engage in ‘good’ protectionism for its own interests?” Short answer: Well, it depends. Just give it a listen. (06/14/2018)

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates today, and Chair Jay Powell took some time to explain the economics of the decision. We thought that was our job. Anyway, we’ll bring you the highlights, plus the latest in corporate mega-mergers as Comcast makes a bid for Fox. Then: A lot of us still feel the effects of the financial crisis, but there are places where you can actually still see them. Houses that got stuck in foreclosure limbo, abandoned by their owners and are still sitting empty years later. They’re called “zombie homes.” We’ll take you to Long Island, which has more than anywhere else.

President Donald Trump vowed back in 2016 that his presidency would block the mega-merger between AT&T and Time Warner. Today, a federal judge decided otherwise. We’ll talk about how we got here and what happens next. Plus, in light of the historic summit in Singapore and the Fed meeting today and tomorrow, we’ll put the American and North Korean economies in context. 

Those might sound the same, but in practice they’re very, very different. Under President Obama, the Federal Communications Commission mandated that internet service providers treat all internet traffic the same. Today, those net neutrality rules were officially rolled back. We had Chairman Ajit Pai on to talk about what will change, how he measures success and what happens if his vision for an open internet doesn’t work. Plus, it’s been a year since Amazon acquired Whole Foods. How has Amazon’s entry changed the grocery business?

Ronald Reagan said that 30 years ago in a weekly radio address about protectionism. For decades, the global economy has trended toward more free trade, not less. We’re going to spend a few minutes today charting how we got here, from that speech through the next four administrations and up to our current moment, on the brink of a trade war. But first, we’ll talk about the gathering of world leaders in Canada this weekend and America’s place in it. Is it really the G-7? Or the G-6 plus one? We’ll talk about it. Plus: The job market is the tightest it’s been in decades, but transgender Americans say they’ve been denied work or promotions because of their gender identity. As employers hunt for workers, we’ll look at whether things are improving. (06/08/2018)