Mar 28, 2024

Feelings versus facts

Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images

Sometimes, it doesn't matter what the numbers say if voters believe something else. Plus, clearing the wreckage of the felled Baltimore bridge will be dangerous and difficult.

Segments From this episode

What does the Fed mean when it says it's looking for 'good data'?

by Kristin Schwab

Mar 28, 2024

The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures index, or PCE, will be released Friday. Experts say there are other clues the Fed is looking for, too.

Basically, the Fed needs to feel the way it felt at the end of 2023 when inflation had been falling for half a year, says former Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Clearing the wreckage in Baltimore is a difficult and dangerous operation

by Sabri Ben-Achour

Mar 28, 2024

Containers carrying hundreds of tons of hazardous materials were on the ship, complicating the monumental cleanup.

Giant cranes are expected to remove some of the remains of the destroyed vessel, and hazardous materials on the ship have fallen into the water, experts say.

Peter Knudson/NTSB via Getty Images

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Economic Perceptions/Economic Reality

Perceptions that the economy's bad can cost you an election, even if the economy isn't actually bad

by Kimberly Adams

Mar 28, 2024

In 1992, voters’ perception that an improving economy was actually a bad economy contributed to Bush’s loss to Clinton. Could the same thing happen to Biden?

President George H. W. Bush greets supporters ahead of a debate against soon-to-be President Bill Clinton in 1992. Bush blamed the media for pushing the narrative of a "bad" economy, despite positive economic indicators.

LUKE FRAZZA/AFP via Getty Images

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For some job seekers, AI-powered "resume spammers" are a good fit

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio

Mar 28, 2024

These bots send out job applications in high volume for a fee. Reporter Aki Ito at Business Insider tried a few and reported the results.

"When I first started hearing about these services, I thought it was crazy," says Aki Ito, reporter at Business Insider. But based on what she learned, she'd consider using one in the future, she says.

Rawpixel/Getty Images

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Home Depot bets on big construction projects with new acquisition

by Meghan McCarty Carino

Mar 28, 2024

The home improvement company is buying SRS Distribution, a roofing, landscaping and pool construction supplier, for $18 billion.

Spending on home renovations spiked in 2021 and 2022. "Now what we're going through is a correction and a stabilizing," says Carlos Martín at Harvard University.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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Vending machines: An emerging side hustle

by Kai Ryssdal , Sean McHenry and Aleezeh Hasan

Mar 28, 2024

Some vending machine owners make hundreds of dollars a month, says Joe Pinsker, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal.

Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

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Music from the episode

"Burn the Witch" Radiohead

"Carefully" Little People

"Brukstep" Mark de Clive-Lowe

"Star Roving" Slowdive

"Feather" Little Dragon

"J-Boy" Phoenix

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Andie Corban Producer I

Sarah Leeson Producer I

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

Sofia Terenzio Assistant Producer

Jordan Mangi Assistant Digital Producer

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