Marketplace All-in-One Marketplace

Volkswagen says it’s putting $5 billion into U.S. electric truck company Rivian. The cash infusion comes at a crucial time for Rivian, as it watches other EV startups go under. But VW also needs something out of this. We unpack. Plus, why it’s so difficult to maintain America’s aging bridge infrastructure and how the market for online comics is doing as Webtoon Entertainment looks to go public.

From the BBC World Service: At least 13 people have been killed and many more injured after police fired into crowds protesting Kenya’s controversial finance bill in Nairobi. An angry crowd stormed the parliament before setting parts of it on fire. Protests have taken place for several days. How did Kenya get here? Also: a look at the expats buying and renovating some of the 9 million empty homes in Japan.

This week, we’ve been taking stock of how tech has both helped and harmed Americans trying to get abortions in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. After the Dobbs decision, some experts warned consumers that menstrual tracking apps would provide a means of surveilling abortion seekers. There was even a social media campaign on what was then Twitter advising people to delete their period trackers. But it’s turned out that the threat to privacy isn’t limited to those apps. Other digital data can actually be more likely to reveal an illegal abortion. That’s according to Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. He told Marketplace’s Lily Jamali that everyday consumer apps generate sensitive data that can be used for abortion surveillance.

 

In the past decade, 1.5 has become an important number when talking about the climate crisis. (As in 1½ degrees Celsius, which equates to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.) It’s considered the maximum increase in temperature since preindustrial times that Earth can handle before all sorts of terrible things happen. But on the surface, 1.5 degrees doesn’t sound like a huge number. So what gives? In this episode, Amy chats with climate experts to dive deeper into what this number actually means.

“How We Survive” listener Anna wants to know: “Where should I live? Every now and then I look at maps and try to determine the safest place to live, but I don’t even know where to start when it comes to evaluating climate risks.”



In this episode of “Burning Questions,” Amy talks with Marketplace climate reporter Samantha Fields about the practical tools buyers and renters can use to figure out where the heck it’s safe to live as the climate crisis unfolds.



Try it yourself:

Search for a property’s climate risk on Redfin or Realtor.com
Check out this housing climate risk guide from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

In the wake of the COVID-19 recession, many economists were describing the United States’ economic recovery as K-shaped. Basically, high-income Americans bounced back quicker than those at the lower end of the income scale. So, did we ever ditch that K shape? The person who coined the phrase “K-shaped recovery” back then, says no. On the show today, Peter Atwater, president of Financial Insyghts and adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary, explains why he believes economic inequality has grown since the pandemic recovery, why considerable wage gains for low-wage workers tell only part of the story and the risks of letting a K-shaped economy run wild.



Then, we’ll get into how the fragility of global shipping supply chains could be playing into Federal Reserve decisions on interest rates. And, happy wedding anniversary, Susanna!



Here’s everything we talked about today:


“The ‘K’ Is Not OK” from LinkedIn
“Inflation Is Bringing Back the K-Shaped Economy” from Bloomberg
“Behind America’s divided economy: Booming luxury travel and a jump in ‘relief’ loans” from CNBC
“A tight labor market and state minimum wage increases boosted low-end wage growth between 2019 and 2023” from the Economic Policy Institute
“U.S. Wealth Inequality: Gaps Remain Despite Widespread Wealth Gains” from the St. Louis Federal Reserve
“First publicly funded religious charter school in US ruled unconstitutional” from The Hill
“Fed’s Bowman Warns of Upside Risks to Inflation, Not Time to Cut” from Bloomberg
“Supply Chain Under Strain as Houthis Intensify Red Sea Strikes” from The New York Times
Support Make Me Smart: Marketplace.org/givesmart

We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.