Big Take

Each year in April, the US conducts a lottery that shapes the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. And each year, only around 85,000 are granted an H-1B visa for highly-skilled workers. With skyrocketing application numbers, the odds of winning have only gotten slimmer. But new data obtained by Bloomberg News has revealed how certain companies have manipulated the system, gaining an advantage over people who play it fair. In other words, the game was rigged.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder speaks to investigative journalists Eric Fan and Zachary Mider who explain how outsourcing companies and staffing firms exploited loopholes in the H-1B system to get extra shots at the lottery. 

Read more: How Thousands of Middlemen Are Gaming the H-1B Program

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Costs are rising in Japan and small businesses risk being squeezed into oblivion if they don’t figure out how to raise their prices. After decades of deflation, many small Japanese companies are out of practice on exactly how to do it.

Today on The Big Take Asia, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg senior editor Reed Stevenson about a class he visited where people are relearning the long-lost skill of negotiation, and what a failure to raise prices at these small businesses – which make up 90% of the economy – could mean for Japan’s future.

Read more: BOJ to Cut Bond Buying as Fate of Rate Policy Stirs Jitters

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This past weekend, Donald Trump became the first American president to address a crypto conference, telling an audience in Nashville that “if Bitcoin is going to the moon, I want America to be the nation that leads the way.” It’s a stark contrast from five years ago, when Trump said Bitcoin’s value was based on “thin air.” Is his conversion from crypto skeptic to crypto cheerleader real – or just a canny attempt to get donations?

On today’s podcast, host David Gura speaks to Bloomberg investigative reporter Zeke Faux about the surprising opinions he heard on-the-ground at the world’s biggest Bitcoin conference – and what that could mean for the future of the 2024 presidential election.

Read more: Trump Became Crypto Believer After Falling in Love With NFTs of Himself

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For most of this year, US markets were hitting fresh highs and investors were giddy about the potential of AI to make the world’s biggest tech companies even more profitable. Then, the picture changed. Welcome to the Great Rotation.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder speaks to Bloomberg cross-asset reporter Isabelle Lee about what’s behind the investor move from the Magnificent Seven tech firms into smaller companies — and what role, if any, recent US political turmoil is playing in investors’ expectations about the rest of the year. 

Read more: Markets Tear Up Popular Trades That Reached ‘Stupid Levels’ and Stocks Caught in Tug of War Between Tech and Rest: Markets Wrap

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to DC was set to be high-stakes, as he arranged to meet with President Biden and former President Trump. But Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy complicated an already delicate balancing act.

On today’s Big Take DC podcast, host David Gura speaks with Israel bureau chief Ethan Bronner and national security reporter Nick Wadhams about what’s at stake for each of these leaders, the latest prospects for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, and how November’s election could reshape the US-Israel relationship.

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Americans are more and more likely to get health care not from doctors, but from nurse practitioners. It’s one of the fastest-growing professions in the US — and the number of nurse practitioners in the country is expected to climb 45% by 2032. But training for the booming profession has never been standardized, and some students worry they’re not being set up for success.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to investigative reporters Caleb Melby and Polly Mosendz about what the rapid rise of nurse practitioners has meant for their education — and their patients.

Read more: The Miseducation of America’s Nurse Practitioners

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Cheaper, knockoff versions of Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound are flooding the market, often promoted by telehealth companies in online ads and by influencers on TikTok and Instagram. These versions of the drugs are made by so-called compounding pharmacies, an obscure corner of America’s pharmaceutical market which makes drugs that aren’t approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Ike Swetlitz and Madison Muller tell host Sarah Holder about their investigation into a $1 billion shadow industry that could be putting Americans’ health in danger.

Read more: Unsafe Ozempic Knockoffs Are Flooding the Market

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With tens of millions of users under the age of 13, Roblox has become the biggest online gaming playground for kids. The company says its combination of AI chat filters and human moderators makes the platform safe for users of all ages. But a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation suggests that Roblox may have striking vulnerabilities. 

On today’s Big Take podcast, host David Gura speaks with reporters Olivia Carville and Cecilia D’Anastasio about the way predators have used the platform to groom children — and what Roblox is doing to keep young users safe.

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Joe Biden’s decision not to run for reelection leaves the Democratic nominee that replaces him with an unprecedented challenge: running a successful presidential campaign in under four months. That will take a lot of money. 

On today’s Big Take podcast: How much could that campaign cost? Gregory Korte and Laura Davison, who cover money and politics for Bloomberg, dig into that question, Kamala Harris’s fundraising edge and how Democratic donors are reacting to the news.

Read more: Joe Biden Bows to Democrats Who Wanted Him Out, Upending US Politics

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Is K-pop even K-pop without the K? A Bloomberg analysis of song lyrics shows that for the first time, almost half of K-pop songs released this year have English lyrics. 

On today’s podcast, host Sarah Holder speaks with Bloomberg reporter Sohee Kim about the genre’s identity shift and why industry efforts to grow its global audience might mean fewer Korean band members.

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