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Part of the of the racial wealth gap is a gap in business ownership. Today, we’re joined by Kezia Williams, CEO of the Black upStart, a national initiative and curriculum for Black entrepreneurs, for a conversation about some of the hurdles Black business owners face and efforts to close the gap. Also on the program: A new study finds that expanding early childhood education could be well worth the investment.

From the BBC World Service: Amazon could be forced to recognize a trade union for the first time in the United Kingdom, as staff at its warehouse in Coventry, England, begin consulting with the GMB general trade union union ahead of a July vote. Also: An Afrobeats track has become the first of the genre to break one billion streams. We’ll explore the genre’s rapid growth.

Shortly after the Union won the Civil War in 1865, a union major general issued an order: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” June 19, known as Juneteenth, has long been celebrated by African Americans. But in 2020, in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic and the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd, Juneteenth took the internet by storm. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke with Brandon Ogbunu, professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale, who wrote about that moment for WIRED back then. He revisited what was happening at that time a year before Juneteenth became a national holiday.

In honor of Juneteenth, we’re bringing you an episode of a new podcast from APM Studios that’s especially relevant on this holiday. In the podcast, “What Happened in Alabama?” host Lee Hawkins unpacks his family history, confronts cycles of trauma and grapples with an issue many Black families face: how to keep land in the family.



This episode is about Black land loss. In 1910, Black farmers collectively owned over 16 million acres of farmland. A century later, over 90% of that land is no longer owned by Black farmers. Lee explores that tumultuous history and what Black families can do to hold on to their property.



If you’d like to hear more episodes from the series, you can find “What Happened in Alabama?” wherever you get podcasts.

A recent survey found that almost 15% of Americans have co-bought a home with someone other than a romantic partner, and almost half said they’d consider it. This is part of a larger trend — many Americans are choosing to structure their lives around friends as opposed to a spouse or romantic partner. On the show today, Rhaina Cohen, author of “The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center,” explains what it really means to build your life around friends and the financial costs and benefits that come with it. Plus, how the LGBTQ+ community has shaped the conversation around the  issue.



Then, we’ll unpack what baby boomers’ retirement readiness says about the wealth gap in the United States. And, the endless possibilities for crab emojis and why our intern, Thalia, was wrong about her curly hair.



Here’s everything we talked about today:


“Why more people are buying houses with their friends” from Axios
“What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life?” from The Atlantic
“Inflation Widens Married Couples’ Money Lead Over Their Single Friends” from The Wall Street Journal
“Want financial security in America? Better get married.” from Vox
“Two Women Redefine What it Means to Marry Your Best Friend” from The New York Times
“If you can’t stay indoors during this US heat wave, here are a few ideas” from AP News
“Northeast Heat Wave 2024: This Is a Disaster. Treat It That Way” from Bloomberg
“US Retirement Accounts Are Flush for Millions of Older Americans” from Bloomberg



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With bond yields dropping, lower mortgage interest rates may be on the horizon. That’s great for people who’ve put off buying a home because they felt priced out. But will rates fall enough to make homeowners with older, cheaper mortgages consider selling? Also in this episode: Buy now, pay later attracts vulnerable consumers, electric vehicle sales growth slows and product designers chase down copycat products.