Everybody's Business

While salaries are an anchor in many Americans' lives, billionaires instead rely on investment income and tax avoidance to line their pockets. Professor and author Ray Madoff takes us behind the curtain of the mega-rich and their asset-saving tricks, just as states like California and cities like New York debate how to address their crushing budget shortfalls. Plus, what Generation Alpha thinks about your skinny jeans, and Steven Colbert takes on the FCC.

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According to the latest jobs numbers, the economy is on fire, but who is benefitting and who is still struggling? Economist and author Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman joins Max and Stacey to talk about the hidden costs of Black womanhood. And then, business journalist Lauren Sherman follows the thread on why designers and consumers are feeling worn out during New York Fashion Week. Plus, a moonshot ambition and a medieval trend returns.

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Elon Musk has long had his eye on Mars, but any real plan appears to be lost in the cosmos. His more immediate ambitions are decidedly more grounded, with the corporate marriage of SpaceX and xAI. Max and Stacey explore what this future conglomerate will mean for the economy with Bloomberg News reporter Dana Hull. 

Back on Earth, the biggest sports games in America is pairing up with one of the biggest pop stars of the planet. Bloomberg's Randall Williams joins us from Santa Clara to talk Super Bowl money, Bad Bunny's politics and why the annual event is incredible business for the NFL. Plus, Valentine's Day on a budget, and a cringe-worthy venture targeting Gen Z.

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In the midst of sub-freezing temperatures in Minneapolis, conflict is heating up between residents and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, a similar battle is brewing between Senate Democrats and Republicans as a pending funding package determines the future of ICE's funding. Reporter Fola Akinnibi joins Max and Stacey to figure out just how much ICE costs to function.

Plus, reporter Sarah Frier tells us about a startup that believes it can reverse the declining US population, and two stories about some very precious commodities.

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President Trump caused some serious whiplash this week. First he called for the US to buy Greenland, and said he would impose tariffs on the European countries standing in his way. But days later, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he seemed to reverse course. Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff and Stacey join Max from the Swiss Alps to make sense of a potential acquisition of the arctic territory.

Plus, hold onto your parkas, because Derek Guy (aka "the menswear guy") discusses how America can remanufacture its cool by bringing craftsmanship back stateside. And: Lululemon takes customer transparency to a new level.

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This week Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had a message for the nation, and President Donald Trump: intimidation has no place at the Central Bank. Stacey sits down with former Fed Chair and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to talk about why this is such a dangerous moment in history and why Powell's two-minute video was so important.

Then Bloomberg reporter Ashley Carman joins Max and Stacey in the studio to discuss what Spotify's new CEOs mean for how you'll stream music and more in the future. Plus, Stacey wonders "are you dead yet?" and Max discovers a spicy way to swipe your way to a new job.

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Back in the 1970s, Venezuelans became famous for their glamorous one-day shopping trips to Miami. "Ta barato, dame dos," the saying went. "That's cheap. I'll take two." Nowadays, the bolivar has lost practically all its value. Max and Stacey are joined by David Papadopoulos to understand what exactly went wrong with the Venezuelan economy. How did the country go from being stable and wealthy to experiencing runaway inflation and rampant poverty? Papadopoulos traces it back to fluctuating oil prices, too much spending and the difficulty of adjusting to a new way of life. 

Also, Deena Shanker sits down in the studio to discuss her new story on weight loss drugs and their impact on the food industry. To get with the times, some restaurant are offering up small, high-protein meals. But are they any good? The trio digs in to find out.

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Businessweek editor Brad Stone joins Max and Stacey to talk about what we could expect from the new year. Leaving such a banner year for odd stories in the rearview mirror, 2026 is bound to include a lot of surprises.

Will the imperial presidency continue or fizzle out? Will the AI bubble keep growing or pop? What economic indicators are worth watching? Is there a hot new office trend on the horizon? The agenda is packed.

In addition, Stacey attempts to predict the future using mad libs, and Max presents an updated feud ranking for the new year.

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How does one recap 2025? A herculean task by all accounts. In this episode, Max and Stacey collects the best and brightest in business podcasting to see if they can help make sense of yet another norm breaking year. Joining in the studio are Odd Lots' Tracy Alloway, Slate Money's Felix Salmon and Planet Money's Robert Smith. Together, the quintet covers a year full of feuds, CEO tweets, flubs, big personalities and, of course, numbers.

They also play a high stakes game called Who is Donal Trump Talking About?

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This week, we talk about two of the biggest economic stories of 2025: Buy Now Pay Later and $Trump.

First, Amanda Mull stops by to discuss BNPL: why its on the rise, how people use it, potential pitfalls and how it's different than just paying with a credit card.

Then, Zeke Faux goes through the implausible story of $Trump - the Donald Trump meme coin launched just a few days before the 2025 inauguration. Faux tells Max and Stacey how the Trump team made an estimated $350 million on the coin, while many investors lost money.

Also: tepid jobs numbers and new opportunities in sports for the older parts of the population.

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