Booming

When it comes to its Xbox, Microsoft is doing a hard reset.  

The company is reducing its gaming division by about 20 percent. Microsoft calls it “the most significant restructuring in Xbox history.”   

Most of those layoffs are spread out across the country. But what happens in gaming matters here—Seattle has so many industry jobs and studios that it’s often called the "Hollywood of video games."

For the workers who live and breathe gaming, their ability to keep or find a good job feels like an impossible gauntlet. 

On today's episode, what's really going on with Xbox? And what do these mass layoffs say about the state of the gaming industry? 

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to https://donate.kuow.org/donate/booming.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Statewide, Washington needs to build 55,000 new homes per year to house new residents. The state is currently producing just 75% of that.

That makes housing expensive... and it’s not just Washington state facing a long-term housing shortage. 

For years, Americans have been begging politicians to do something about the high cost of housing buying an adequate place to live. In late June, something happened that almost never happens in Washington, D.C.—Republicans and Democrats came together to pass a major bill aimed at unlocking the housing supply. 

The bill is called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, and it just became law over the weekend.  

Some lawmakers are calling this bill the most consequential housing reform in decades. On today's episode, we look at what it can really deliver.

GUEST: Gregg Colburn, assistant professor of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington, and director of the Housing Futures Center at the University of Washington.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to https://donate.kuow.org/donate/booming.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Costco is a beloved brand, famous for its bulk deals and $1.50 hot dogs. But can shopping there really save you money? 

On this special episode of Booming brought to us by our friends at Control F: How much money are you really saving when you shop at Costco? The surprising ways that wholesale can—and can’t—save you money.  

Sources in this episode:

• Consumer Price Index data, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Most and Least Expensive Supermarkets, Consumer Reports
• Cost of Living Index (COLI) data, The Council for Community Economic research
• Interview with David and Susan Schwartz, authors of The Joy of Costco 
• Interview with Jordan Page
• Interview with Tan Vinh and Chris Solomon

Control F wants to answer your questions about how our world works! Click here to submit a question using their online form, or email the team at [email protected]

Do you have a tip for the Booming team? Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Washington is one of 17 states trying to break up with gasoline. It wants every new car sold here to be electric by 2035. 

But so far, drivers have been slow to adopt electric vehicles. Nationally, only one in ten new cars sold each year is electric. That’s because EVs are expensive, and finding a place to charge them can be inconvenient. 

So one Seattle inventor came up with a workaround. He’s developing a simple way to convert gas cars to plug-in hybrids. 

On today's episode, could transforming gas cars into hybrids jump start our all-electric future? Or will this idea stall out before it even gets rolling?

GUESTS:
Tom Gurksi, founder and CEO of Blue Dot Motorworks
Don Mackenzie, leader of the Sustainable Transportation Lab at the University of Washington

Coming up: Are you a (non-software) small business owner or entrepreneur who is using AI agents to help with your work? What are the creative ways you're using them? Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Big Tech is bankrolling massive clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to power the data centers of the future.

These carbon-free energy gambles are being built here for a reason: Washington and Oregon have some of the most aggressive mandates to ditch fossil fuels on the books. But before those laws take effect, Big Tech is driving demand for fossil fuels in the region—and elsewhere in the country, the industry is causing a gas boom. 

On today's episode, is the tech industry pushing us toward a clean energy revolution, or reversing progress on global warming?  

Clarification: Helion's nuclear fusion plant is being built in Chelan County, near Microsoft's Grant County data center cluster.

Coming up: Sometimes it can feel like taking care of the planet will break the bank. What are your budget friendly hacks for being a good environmental steward? Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seattle’s city council just approved a one-year moratorium on data centers within city limits – making the city the biggest in the country to ban them. 

The move comes after several big developers proposed data center projects that could use up to a third of the power that Seattle uses on an average day.  

On today's episode, what do data center companies want to be in Seattle for, anyway? And are we better off without them? 

Coming up: Sometimes it can feel like taking care of the planet will break the bank. What are your budget friendly hacks for being a good environmental steward? Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CEOs have been making some bold claims about how artificial intelligence will change work—that in the future, the work week will shrink to four days or fewer, or that a job will be as optional as growing vegetables at home instead of buying them from the grocery store. 

Whether AI makes us work more or less, there’s no question it’s already changing the way millions of people do their jobs. 

On today's episode, how is AI transforming the workplace now? And how can everyday workers prepare for the future?

Coming up: We're looking into the "IRL Economy." Are there any real world experiences you've turned to because you're tired of using an app, or being online? We'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recent data show a record number of Americans are now sharing a home with people they’re not related to. 

Most of these roommates are renting, because living alone has gotten really expensive.  

But what if we made it easier for friends to own a place together instead? Could it be the game changer that allows them to live the American dream? 

More and more people are thinking about buying or building homes together with friends.  

These projects can be complicated to organize... and expensive to pay for. So how are people in Seattle making it happen? 

On today's episode, we explore two very different ways some creative Seattleites are making cohousing achievable.   

Coming up: Are you using AI agents? Do you have a task that you want an AI agent to complete for you? We'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s a weird time to work in tech. Last year's tech layoffs in Washington state were the second highest in the country. That has some tech workers turning to fields they see as AI-proof. 

We sat down with Brett Burden, a laid off tech worker who did what a lot of people are advising: went into the trades. 

On today's episode, what’s it like to go from white collar to blue? And what can it tell us about where the workforce is headed?

Coming up: Are you using AI agents? Do you have a task that you want an AI agent to complete for you? We'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the last year and a half, tariffs have been harder to predict than the weather in Seattle. And that’s created a volatile climate for businesses.

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned some of President Trump's tariffs, there’s a storm front looming between companies and their customers over who gets to pocket tariff refunds. 

A lot of people are wondering – where's my refund? And when will rising prices finally level off? 

On today's episode, we checked with some local companies to find out how they're navigating the tariff turmoil. 

Coming up: Is AI causing you to work more or less? We'd love to hear about your experience with AI and how it's impacting your work. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.