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Four years after the Internal Revenue Service created a tax credit to help struggling businesses get through the pandemic, the agency ultimately plans to reject the majority of claims filed under the program. We’ll explain how it became swamped with fraud. And, Major League Baseball legend Reggie Jackson opened up about the racism he and other Black players faced in the ’60s. We’ll get into it. And, we’ll play a round of Half Full / Half Empty!

Here’s everything we talked about today:


“IRS says it will deny most claims of pandemic tax credit for employers” from The Washington Post
“With pardons in Maryland, 2.5 million Americans will have marijuana convictions cleared or forgiven” from The Associated Press
MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson remembers Willie Mays from Gary Parrish on X
“It’s Time to Stop Inviting Plus-Ones to Weddings” from The Atlantic
“First Came ‘Spam.’ Now, With A.I., We’ve Got ‘Slop’” from The New York Times
“Netflix House Will Let You Experience Your Favorite Shows, Movies in Real Life” from Netflix Tudum
“What’s to become of summer Fridays in the age of hybrid work?” from CNN
“Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms” from The New York Times

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Florida-based Citizens Property Insurance Corp. wants to raise rates an average of 14%. But Citizens is the Sunshine State’s insurer of last resort — it’s backed by the state and tasked with covering homeowners who have no other options as private insurers pull out. What will Floridians do? Also in this episode: Environmentalists advocate more composting, a cyberattack forces thousands of car dealerships to go analog and oceanographers map the world’s seafloor.

Stocks close mostly down; The median price of existing homes keeps climbing; Four major banks need to revise their “living wills; Jet fuel production rises amid the summer travel season.

S&P Global’s flash PMI reading hits 26-month high; TikTok strikes back at U.S. divestiture law; China asks Visa, Mastercard to lower fees; campaign donations poured into presidential race in May.

In a flurry of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, the Justices’ lack of action on one case is a major victory for the tribal gaming industry. The court left in place an agreement between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the state of Florida, and left the door open for tribal nations to expand into online gaming. We’ll delve into the impact. And we’ll also examine how immigration policy has shaped the U.S. economy.

Do you listen carefully to our credits every week? Then you might’ve heard of our “silent contributor,” Jasmine Romero, who has been editing “This Is Uncomfortable” for the past year and a half. And all along, she’s also been working on another podcast of her own, “Sacred Scandal: Nation of Saints.” It’s a show with a lot of Uncomfortable themes — immigration, family secrets and how money messes with politics.

We’re sharing the first episode of Jasmine’s pod, but before we jump in, she tells Reema how she reported this deeply personal story about the Salvadoran Civil War, the assassination of a beloved archbishop, and an unsolved murder in her own family. Reema and Jasmine bond over the challenges of reporting personal stories and reflect on how the show’s themes connect to current news events.

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