Marketplace All-in-One

If you get a meal from a fast food franchise nowadays, there’s an increasing chance that it’s been prepared by an underaged worker who’s been working too many hours. We look at new Department of Labor data that delves into the surprising rise in child labor law violations in some states, and why it’s been pronounced in the fast food industry. Plus, the failed Credit Suisse has been fully taken over by rival UBS after a Swiss government deal earlier this year. And finally, the BBC’s Leanna Byrne looks into how there’s been a growing wave of food fraud as production costs rise.

From the BBC World Service: Thousands of forums on the social media platform Reddit are being made inaccessible globally for 48 hours, as unpaid moderators around the world are protesting over planned changes; the BBC’s Zoe Kleinman explains. Plus, the BBC’s Paul Adams reports on the death of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. And finally, the BBC’s Leanna Byrne hears why high food prices mean food fraud is on the rise.

Generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT have caught on like wildfire, largely because of their impressive capabilities, but also because they’re free, or nearly free, to use. But just because a service doesn’t charge users doesn’t mean it doesn’t have costs. In reality, sophisticated large language models cost a lot to build and maintain. AI companies will have to recoup that investment eventually, in one way or another. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke about the high costs of AI chatbots with Will Oremus, technology news analysis writer for The Washington Post. Oremus recently delved into how the financial aspect of AI development could influence the course of the technology.

This special edition of Make Me Smart’s weekly happy hour is coming to you live from the stage at Seattle’s Town Hall. We’ll get to all of your “Economics on Tap” favorites: a little news, some drinks, plus an extended round of our Friday game Half Full/Half Empty! Today’s episode includes some adult language. Here’s everything we talked about today: “More Startups Throw in the Towel, Unable to Raise Money for Their Ideas” from The Wall Street Journal “Democrats Push for Debt-Ceiling Overhaul Bill After Default Scare” from The Wall Street Journal “Netflix (NFLX) Added Subscribers After Password Crackdown, Research Firm Says” from Bloomberg “Trump loses two lawyers just hours after 2nd indictment” from Politico “What All the Single Ladies (and Men) Say About the Economy” from The New York Times “What’s behind the SEC lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance?” from Marketplace “Media’s “Succession” obsession” from Axios “Biden signs bipartisan deal to avert debt default” from NPR “TikTok helps “dupe” products proliferate” from Marketplace “The PGA Tour & LIV Golf merger” from Make Me Smart’s newsletter ‘”Little Mermaid” drives big wave for mermaid industry” from Marketplace “What makes the perfect Seattle dog? The creator and 4 other hot dog experts weigh in” from The Seattle Times Feeling Half Full, or maybe Half Empty about something? Let us know! Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or write to makemesmart@marketplace.org.

Hey Smarties! We’re taping today’s episode of Make Me Smart live from Seattle. We’ll have the show in your feeds soon. But for now, enjoy a rerun of one of our favorite episodes of the year so far. With all the rage tweets about gas stoves, it may be hard to believe, but climate change wasn’t always so polarizing. Studies show that public opinion on the topic started to splinter in the 1990s, when governments and corporations had to reckon with the threat of a warming planet. “Prior to 1997, it was a conversation among a bunch of scientists, but once the Kyoto treaty came, it became an issue that affected powerful political and economic interests,” said Andrew Hoffman, professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan and author of “How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate.” On the show today: Hoffman explains how climate change became a partisan issue, the financial and economic interests that got us to where we are today, and what might get us back to some common ground. In the News Fix, guest host Amy Scott tells us about an ad campaign bringing attention to gender bias in internet search results. Plus, we’ll explain why classified documents in surprising places is more common than you might expect. And stick around for the TL;DR on Elon Musk’s trial over what he said about Tesla on Twitter (the social media platform he now owns). Later, we’ll hear from a listener who did the math on the cost-effectiveness of fueling up with diesel vs. gas, and a loyal listener makes us smarter about our own theme music! Here’s everything we talked about today: “Climate Science as Culture War” from the Stanford Social Innovation Review A widening gap: Republican and Democratic views on climate change from Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development “For Earth Day, key facts about Americans’ views of climate change and renewable energy” from Pew Research Center “Politics & Global Warming, March 2018” from Yale Program on Climate Communication “How the humble gas stove became the latest flash point in the culture wars” from The Washington Post “Wyoming lawmaker behind electric-vehicle ban says he didn’t mean it” from The Washington Post “The business opportunity that is climate change” from Marketplace “Correct The Internet & DDB NZ on a mission to highlight bias against women’s sport” from The Drum “Global ‘Correct the Internet’ campaign launches to make sportswomen more visible via DDB NZ” from Campaign Brief “Classified Documents Found at Mike Pence’s Home” from The Wall Street Journal “Elon Musk Securities-Fraud Trial” from Bloomberg It’s a new year, and we’re looking for new answers to the Make Me Smart question. Leave us a voice message at 508-U-B-SMART and your submission may be featured in a future episode.

American consumers have racked up an eye-popping $990 billion in credit card debt, according to Federal Reserve data. That number is climbing alongside interest rates. Why are so many people reaching for plastic right now? We’ll also mull the likelihood of a Fed rate hike skip or pause and learn about the educational hurdles that worsen the nursing shortage.

It’s official: the S&P 500 is officially in “bull market” territory. We get this week’s Low-down on the recent market optimism with Christopher Low, chief economist at FHN Financial. Plus, there are real economic consequences to poor air quality, including higher spending on medical treatment and lower spending on other industries. And finally, Turkey’s recently re-elected president has put together an economic team that looks capable of handling the county’s inflation problem.

The U.S. labor market has looked really good in the past year even as inflation bites in the wider economy. But an old theory that’s recently regained ground says that there are actually two job markets that differ substantially in pay, stability, and social mobility. Plus, the recent indictment of Donald Trump on federal charges over classified documents has turned into a fundraising call for the former president — and his Democratic rivals. And finally, Texas is looking to meet this summer’s projected record-breaking demand for energy with the help of renewable energy. Update (6/9/23): The story about the federal charges against former President Trump has been corrected to reflect from whom fundraising emails were sent.

From the BBC World Service: As Canada battles hundreds of wildfires, fire departments are struggling to recruit enough volunteers to quickly respond to calls; while cities employ career firefighters, small towns and villages rely on volunteers. Plus, Pride Month is well underway and amidst the parties and celebrations, it can also be a time for self-reflection. We chat with an openly gay UK banking chief who is keen to talk about his own experiences in a traditionally conservative industry.

The field of brain-computer interfaces is quickly advancing. Elon Musk’s brain implant company, Neuralink, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration last month to begin to test brain implants in humans. Its rival company, Paradromics, is even further along in the process. Neurotechnology could be revolutionary for people with severe paralysis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or other disabilities that affect communication. But Sara Goering, a philosophy professor at the University of Washington, says it comes with ethical concerns. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Goering about those concerns, which include the potential monetization of information gleaned from a person’s cognitive core.

General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker by sales, also wants to be the country’s leading electric vehicle company. On today’s program, we’ll hear from GM CEO Mary Barra about EV batteries, charging infrastructure and how the company plans to get America to drive electric. We’ll also learn why imports from China have slumped and why Texas is investing in battery capacity for renewable energy.

Hey Smarties! We get a lot of questions about the stock market, and today we’re sharing an episode from “Financially Inclined,” Marketplace’s new podcast for teens, that might answer some of them. Host Yanely Espinal gets into how the stock market works, the difference between stocks and bonds and what to consider when opening a retirement account. If you’re a newbie investor or want to talk more about this with the young people in your life, this episode will make you smart! This podcast is presented in partnership with Greenlight: the money app for teens — with investing. For a limited time, our listeners can earn $10 when they sign up today for a Greenlight account at http://ww.greenlight.com/inclined.  

When Kate Beaton graduated college, she had exactly one goal: get rid of her student debt as fast as possible. The goal took priority over everything else in her life, including the dream of trying to make it as an artist. But when she decided to take a job in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, she didn’t know she would be entering a workplace that was a world of its own, where the ordinary rules of society would not always apply. 

Google has become the latest high-profile company to step up its efforts to get employees back into the office. We look at the measures the company is taking to prod people away from remote work, including penalizing workers who refuse to comply with back-to-office mandates. Plus, a look at British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s effort to convene the world’s first international forum on AI regulation. And finally, Afghan refugees in the U.S. are facing numerous challenges with immigration processing, which affects their job searches.

As New York and other cities continue to deal with worsened air quality due to Canadian wildfires, people have been finding ways to adapt with a little help from technology. We look at some ways innovation is meeting necessity as wildfires become a growing problem because of climate change. Plus, President Biden vetoed a bill that would have curbed student loan forgiveness. And finally, a chat with the Peterson Institute for International Economics’ Chad Bown about how the U.S. is placating allies who say recent electric vehicle subsidies are protectionist and unfair.