Axios Re:Cap

Most small business stories from the pandemic are about about pivoting or perishing, but there's also been an unexpected surge in new small business creation. One example is Agua Bonita, a canned beverage company that launched last year after both of its co-founders were laid off.

Dan talks with Agua Bonita co-founder Kayla Castañeda and Techstars founder David Cohen about what it was like for startups over the past 14 months and what recovery means for businesses that didn't even exist before COVID-19. Plus, a conversation with Wall Drug proprietor Rick Hustead.

Buford Highway is a 10-mile stretch near Atlanta that's home to over 1,000 immigrant-owned small businesses. It's a constellation of home-away-from-homes, particularly for Asian and Latino communities.

Dan speaks with Lily Pabian, executive director of the We Love Buford Highway nonprofit, about how the pandemic, the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and the nearby spa murders impacted Buford Highway's small business community. Plus, Dan is joined by Ryan Reese, a fishmonger at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

As the U.S. economy was staring into the pandemic abyss in March 2020, Congress passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to quickly get forgivable loans to small businesses, so they could keep workers on payrolls.

Dan digs into the creation and roll out of the PPP, from the multi-day negotiations and late night phone calls to estimations of how many businesses it helped, with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Plus, Dan is joined by First Ave CEO Dayna Frank from Minneapolis.

George Floyd's murder, one year ago today, and the surge of support for Black own-small businesses that followed "had an unprecedented impact," according to Shelly Bell, CEO of Black Girl Ventures.

Dan speaks with Bell in the second of its six-part series America's Business Comeback, about what 2020 meant for Black-owned small businesses and where things stand today. We also share the first of our conversations with proprietors of some of America's most iconic small businesses, starting with Frank Olivieri of Pat's King of Steaks.

Shopping centers are where national chains rub elbows with mom and pops.

Dan kicks off a new special series on America's business recovery by speaking to JP Morgan Chase Institute Co-President Chris Wheat, shopping center landlord Adam Ifshin, plus several of his tenants in an Allen, Texas property called The Villages, to understand what happened over the past year and where things stand today.

We're back with another episode of our Hard Truths series looking at the criminal justice system in the U.S. Today. Specifically, what happens when people of color make it out of that system and try to rebuild their lives.

People of color are disproportionately imprisoned in the U.S. Black people are incarcerated five times more than white people, Hispanics nearly twice as likely as white people to end up behind bars. They also face longer sentences and harsher punishments which can make finding a job and rebuilding a life outside of prison much harder.

Guests: New York Secretary of State Rosanna Rosado and Justin Cordova.

Credits: "Axios Today" is produced in partnership with Pushkin Industries. This episode was produced by Nuria Marquez Martinez and edited by Alexandra Botti. Jeanne Montalvo is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Axios Executive Editor Sara Kehaulani Goo, Hard Truths Editor Michele Salcedo, and Executive Producer Dan Bobkoff.

The pandemic has been a horror show for movie theaters. Some wondered if their time in the spotlight had passed for good, as new releases arrived via digital streaming services. Today, though, they've got lots of reasons for optimism.Axios Re:Cap talks with Shelli Taylor, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, about her cinema chain's bankruptcy, her industry's battles with streamers and why she's expecting this summer to be a blockbuster.

President Biden on Thursday signed a bill aimed at reducing and tracking anti-Asian hate crimes, which have increased significantly in 2021.

Axios Re:Cap digs into the legislation and why it matters with Emma Lovewell, a Peloton instructor and Asian-American who lobbied for the bill in Congress.

The New York Attorney General's office announced late Tuesday night that its investigation into The Trump Organization has expanded from a civil one into a criminal one.

Axios Re:Cap goes deeper with David Fahrenthold, a Washington Post reporter whose beat is the Trump family's business interests, to learn how the investigation started, why it's turned criminal and what big questions remain unanswered.

Images out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict depict an imbalance in military might — Israel’s Iron Dome defense system neutralizing rockets launched by Hamas, while Israel’s retaliation against Hamas has led to more than 200 Palestinian deaths, including 61 children. World leaders, including President Biden, are calling for a ceasefire.

Naomi Shavin is joined by Axios Tel Aviv author Barak Ravid to discuss the context of the current strife, the political motivations of Prime Minister Netanyahu, and whether Israel’s actions this month could have long-term consequences for the political landscape there and in the US.