Welcome to The Home Value Minute. I’m your host, and today we’re digging into eight landscaping decisions that could actually hurt your home’s resale price. As Jeff Somers points out, “poor landscaping decisions—even if they’re expensive and maintained—can actually hurt your home’s value by a similar amount” to good ones boosting it by 30 percent.

First, too many trees can block sunlight, kill your lawn and signal expensive upkeep. Overwhelming hardscape turns your yard into a concrete jungle buyers see as impersonal. Skimping on lighting makes evenings gloomy and unusable. Aggressive plants like bamboo or ivy might look lush at first but become invasive nightmares.

Water features can breed pests and break down, and prospective buyers often picture “stinky messes” and repair bills. A yard cluttered with statues or ornaments reads as hoarded, not curated. Vast lawns scream maintenance nightmare. And finally, a lack of defined paths makes your space feel haphazard and hard to enjoy.

Avoid these mistakes, and your landscaping will work in your favor.
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Welcome to the Better Connections podcast. I’m your host, and today we’re diving into seven books and one key paper on improving our closest relationships. Here’s what I learned in 60 seconds.

Relationships rank high for happiness and health. “Social isolation is about as bad for you as smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.” Good relationships often stem from agreeableness, low neuroticism, and high conscientiousness.

Think positivity: John Gottman’s research finds marriages thrive with “a ratio of positivity to negativity of at least 5:1.” Conflict isn’t the enemy—how you manage it matters more than the fight itself. And remember, “It annoys me when you’re late” may sound harmless, but nonviolent communication urges us to say, “I was feeling agitated because I had expected you to come earlier.”

Other highlights include deep listening, reclaiming authentic conversation from tech distractions, and evidence that married people enjoy a robust happiness boost—equivalent to earning an extra $180,000 a year.

That’s your one-minute guide to building better relationships. Thanks for listening.
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Hello, and welcome to today’s quick briefing. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy just sent a message to the company’s 1.5 million employees, praising generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that’s already in “virtually every corner of the company.” He revealed that Amazon has over a thousand AI services and applications in progress—a small fraction of what’s to come—and that the company plans to invest $100 billion in AI this year.

But here’s the catch: Jassy warned that these efficiency gains will ultimately “reduce our total corporate workforce.” In other words, roles that exist today may disappear as AI tools take over routine tasks. His advice to employees? “Be curious about AI, educate yourself, attend workshops and take trainings, use and experiment with AI whenever you can.”

Amazon has already cut roughly 27,000 jobs since 2022, and insiders expect more layoffs soon. Is this a bold leap into the future of work or just a savvy way to trim costs and boost profits? Either way, the message is clear: AI is coming, and companies are gearing up to ride the wave—whether every worker hangs on or not.
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Welcome to Tech Brief, I’m your host. Today, we’re talking about Amazon’s next big shift: AI efficiency and its impact on jobs. In a memo to employees, CEO Andy Jassy says that as Amazon rolls out more generative AI and agents, it will “reduce” corporate headcount over the next few years. He explains, “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.” Since 2022, Amazon has cut more than 27,000 roles, most recently in devices, services, and its books division. Jassy highlights that Amazon already has over 1,000 AI services and apps in development—a small fraction of what’s to come. He urges workers to “be curious about AI” and learn to “get more done with scrappier teams.” As AI reshapes the workplace, those who embrace it will be “well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company.” Stay tuned for more updates on AI and the future of work.
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Welcome to Pixar Spotlight. Pixar’s latest, Elio, directed by Domee Shi with co-director Madeline Sharafian, “is Pixar at its most original, delivering an extraordinary journey filled with wholehearted sci-fi wonder.” We meet Elio, a young boy coping with the loss of his parents, who dreams of escape through alien encounters. When his homemade radio makes first contact, Elio is beamed across the cosmos to the Communiverse—a galactic alliance that mistakenly anoints him as Earth’s representative. But when the ominous Lord Grigon plots a forceful membership, Elio must forge an unlikely friendship with Grigon’s son, Glordon, to save both worlds. As the review notes, “some traumas are universal experiences, whether it’s for humans or aliens,” and Pixar’s lush visuals and expressive character design amplify every emotion. From a hilarious clone gag to moments of genuine spookiness, Elio ties it all together in a “powerfully moving and awe-inspiring” celebration of community and wonder. Mark your calendars—Elio beams into theaters June twentieth.
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Welcome back to Tech Tidbits. Today, we’re talking about a major warning from Nintendo. In its updated terms of service for the new Switch 2, Nintendo makes it clear: “If you do anything to modify your console or software in any way to bypass Nintendo’s policies and restrictions, Nintendo will not only ban you from online play, but reserves the right to render your console unusable.”

That’s right—this is the first time Nintendo has threatened to brick a console for running unauthorized software. Owners using MIG flash carts—those blank cartridges that let you load game backups—are already feeling the heat. Reports on the Switch2hacks subreddit show consoles sitting dead after users went online with backup copies, even when they claim the games were legitimately purchased.

Nintendo’s message is loud and clear: stick to official games or risk a $450 paperweight. If you want to save your progress safely, remember only to back up your save data through Nintendo Switch Online. That’s our heads-up for today. Stay legal, stay connected, and keep gaming.
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Hello and welcome to today’s episode. Israel’s recent airstrikes on Iran have raised a question: Is the goal really just to halt a nuclear threat, or to topple Tehran’s government? Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted he had “no choice” but to strike, yet the operation—codenamed “Rising Lion”—seems broader. While one enrichment site was hit hard, others were scarcely touched. At the same time, Israel has targeted Revolutionary Guard leaders and even considered plans against Supreme Leader Khamenei. As Netanyahu urged Iranians to “stand up,” experts warn that this may be about regime change as much as counter-proliferation. Behnam Ben Taleblu notes, “From the beginning, it was apparent … this had the potential to be something much more.” In Washington, the Trump administration teeters between supporting Israel’s ambitions and preserving diplomacy. Will Iran’s government collapse, or will this spark a prolonged conflict? Stay tuned as we follow developments in the Middle East.
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Hello and welcome to One Minute Space Briefing. Today we’re talking about Honda’s unexpected entry into the space race. On June 17th, Honda R&D successfully launched and landed a 20.6-foot reusable rocket prototype at its Taiki test site in northern Japan. The rocket reached 889 feet before a controlled descent and touchdown, demonstrating key technologies for stable ascent, descent, and re-landing.

Although still in “the fundamental research phase,” Honda has set its sights on “realizing technological capability to enable a suborbital launch by 2029.” This marks the automaker’s bold shift from cars to rockets. In recent months Honda also unveiled plans to test an electrolysis system on the ISS and partnered on in-orbit satellite refueling.

Global CEO Toshihiro Mibe summed it up: “We believe that rocket research is a meaningful endeavor that leverages Honda’s technological strengths.” That’s your one-minute briefing—thanks for listening!
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Hello and welcome to Tech Minute. Today we’re asking: who is really behind the Trump Mobile T1 phone? The Trump Organization recently announced a $499, “built in the United States” smartphone and insisted “manufacturing for the new phone will be in Alabama, California and Florida.” But experts say it’s virtually impossible to build a midrange device with a 6.8-inch OLED display and 120Hz refresh rate at that price point without a global supply chain.

Instead, The Verge suspects the T1 is a white-label handset made by a Chinese original design manufacturer. Reporters scoured Amazon and GSMArena and narrowed it down to a few candidates: the DOOGEE Note 58 that mimics an iPhone, the Ulefone Note 18 Ultra with the right memory but only a 90Hz screen, Wingtech’s Revvl 7 — a former T-Mobile model — and the marble-accented Blu G84.

No official reveal yet, and some even wonder if the T1 truly exists. We’ll keep digging—let us know if you spot the real deal.
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Hello and welcome to today’s episode. A new split has opened up on the right over the crisis with Iran, and at the center are two former allies: Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump. Carlson has been one of the loudest voices warning against another Middle East war, arguing it “would be a true disaster” and reminding listeners that “Washington knew these attacks would happen” as the U.S. funneled arms to Israel. But Trump has turned sharply against him, mocking Carlson as “kooky” on Truth Social and declaring, “IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” Behind the feud is a larger fight in the GOP between hawks demanding any Iranian nuclear program be stopped by force and the America First faction urging restraint. As Trump doubles down on forcing Iran to abandon its bomb, Carlson’s influence appears to be waning—and the future of the noninterventionist wing of the party is in serious doubt. That’s all for today’s minute of politics.
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