Oct 23, 2023

Why do we stick to the default option?

Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images

Google pays to be basically everyone's default search engine. And when it comes to tech, people don't like to shake things up. Plus, CEO overpay and remote overemployment.

Segments From this episode

The Google antitrust case raises the question, why don't we change our tech default settings?

by Matt Levin

Oct 23, 2023

Inertia is part of the story. But so is fear of breaking everything — and Big Tech knows that.

Google pays billions to be the default search engine on popular devices. Why people choose the default option is a riddle studied by behavioral economists.

Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

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National Debt

Why don't we talk more about revenue when we talk about the U.S. budget deficit?

by Kimberly Adams

Oct 23, 2023

The vast majority of federal revenue comes from taxes, and the drop in 2023 revenue was mostly due to a drop in individual income taxes.

Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

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Is CEO pay out of control?

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson

Oct 23, 2023

How much is too much? Union strikes and shareholder discussions have put executive compensation centerstage.

Disney CEO Bob Iger came under fire when he called striking writers' demand for higher pay "just not realistic" — despite making more than 500 times the median salary of his own employees.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney

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Strike shuts down St. Lawrence Seaway, a main commercial artery

by Savannah Maher

Oct 23, 2023

A shutdown will affect farmers exporting products from Canada, mostly to Europe and the Middle East.

The Seaway was built by the U.S. and Canadian governments in the 1950s to connect the upper Midwestern states and prairie provinces to global markets.

Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty Images

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"Overemployed" people secretly work overlapping remote jobs

by Kristin Schwab

Oct 23, 2023

They do it for the money. But overemployment also symbolizes a change in Americans' attitudes toward work.

There are online forums where people share tips about how to work overlapping remote jobs.

MundusImages/Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Severed The Decemberists

Horizon - Poolside Remix Tycho, Poolside

Right Words Wrong Time Carly Rae Jepsen

Bustling Freddie Joachim

The World Is Ours Funky DL

Back To You Selena Gomez

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Andie Corban Producer I

Sarah Leeson Producer I

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

Richard Cunningham Associate Producer I

Jordan Mangi Assistant Digital Producer

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