Make Me Smart

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Make Me Smart episodes

August 12, 2021The money behind the infrastructure bill
Senators have been referring to the bipartisan infrastructure deal as a $1.2 trillion package. They say $500 billion is considered new spending. So where does the other $500 billion come from? On this “Whaddya Wanna Know Wednesday,” we’ll also answer your questions about who is picking up the tab for unvaccinated Americans’ weekly COVID-19 tests. Plus, we’ll explain why so many Olympic athletes are broke.
Here’s a list of everything we talked about today:
“The Price of Olympic Glory” from Vox
“What’s in the $1.2 Trillion Senate Infrastructure Package” from The Washington Post
“How The Infrastructure Bill Aims to Tackle Climate Change” from “Marketplace”
“New Rule Raises Question: Who’ll Pay for All the Covid Tests?” from The New York Times
“Germany Will Stop Paying for Virus Tests for People Choosing to Remain Unvaccinated” from The New York Times
Read the transcript here.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer. Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
18 min
August 10, 2021Vaccine mandates are a sticky issue
A growing list of huge companies, from Google to Walmart and Tyson Foods to United Airlines, have announced they’ll require shots for employees, customers or both. Restaurants and other small businesses are, too. But making a mandate is one thing; figuring out the enforcement, the caveats and the impact is another. On today’s show, MIT Technology Review reporter Mia Sato walks us through how these mandates happened, who gets left out from them and whether corporate America can actually save “hot vax summer” from the surge in delta variant cases.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
Sato’s latest for Technology Review’s Pandemic Technology Project: “The best vaccine incentive might be paid time off“
“Covid vaccine mandates sweep across corporate America as delta variant spurs action” from CNBC
“Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates Split Corporate America” from The Wall Street Journal
“Bollinger’s Mill and Burfordville Covered Bridge Featured on Missouri Statehood Stamp” from USPS, plus some background on that bridge
“Out-of-state healthcare workers coming to Texas as state hits record low ICU beds, Gov. Abbott announces” from KXAN in Austin
“Senate Passes Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill” from The Wall Street Journal

Read the transcript here.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer. Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
40 min
August 10, 2021What’d we miss? Nothing good, apparently.
We have two routes to the dark place today: That harrowing U.N. report on the climate crisis and the 2021 redo of all the COVID superspreader angst we went through last year. We’ll talk about both before getting into some of the stories we missed over the weekend. Plus: Who do you have on your Nickelodeon character bracket?

Here’s everything we talked about today:
“Some Climate Change Effects May Be Irreversible, U.N. Panel Says” from The Wall Street Journal
“COVID vaccines to be required for military under new US plan” from the Associated Press
Plus a little additional context
“From Fall Out Boy to Counting Crows — Shows Shutting Down While Delta Surges” from Rolling Stone
“Sturgis Rally 2021 sees high attendance, police, law enforcement say” from the Argus Leader
“NCAA Undervalued Women’s Basketball Tournament by Millions While Prioritizing Men’s Tourney, Report Finds” from The Wall Street Journal
“A recall of Philips respiratory devices has left users stranded” from the Verge
“The Best Nickelodeon Character Bracket” from the Ringer
“This is the world’s blackest black ink. It’s like staring into infinity” from Fast Company
Read the transcript here.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
21 min
August 07, 2021Pandemic moves are complicating the climate crisis
We’re picking up some of the apocalyptic themes from yesterday to talk about the drought and wildfires throughout the Western U.S., and how the folks who left the cities in the pandemic are dealing with them. Oh, and the climate threats to the gulf stream. The dark place sting does make an appearance. It’s not all bad though: There’s a new moon and a meteor shower next week, and we get to play another round of our favorite game, Half Full/Half Empty.

Here’s everything we talked about today:
“From housing crisis to fire crisis: S.F.’s exodus led many to new conundrum” from the San Francisco Chronicle
“Dixie fire is now 3rd largest wildfire in California history” from the Los Angeles Times
“Pandemic-driven urban flight reshapes California rural life” also from the L.A. Times
“‘It feels like it’s 100 every single day’: Worsening heat alters life for inland California” from, yes, the L.A. Times
“Pandemic flips equation on where people want to live” from Marketplace
“Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse” from The Guardian
“Key Atlantic Current Weakening—But Could It Collapse Completely?” from Gizmodo
“Perseid meteor shower peaks this month! New moon bodes well for skywatchers.” from Space.com
And our Half Full/Half Empty topics: the new eviction ban, privacy “nutrition” labels, EV goals and Ever Given tourism (?)
Read the transcript here.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
24 min
August 06, 2021Chill out and wear a mask
Feeling a little hollowed out this Thursday? Some in the media are downright apocalyptic. On today’s show, we’ll unpack some of the coverage around COVID-19 variants and what you should (and shouldn’t) be worried about. It does get a little dark though. Later on, guest hosts Kimberly Adams and Meghan McCarty Carino cheer each other up with their favorite Olympic moments.

Here’s everything we talked about today:
“A Doomsday COVID Variant Worse Than Delta and Lambda May Be Coming, Scientists Say” from Newsweek, and a Twitter doctor’s thoughts on that headline
“S.Korea on alert for new Delta Plus COVID-19 variant” from Reuters
“The Lambda variant: is it more infectious, and can it escape vaccines? A virologist explains” from The Conversation
“U.S. plans to give extra COVID-19 shots to at-risk Americans, Fauci says” from Reuters
“Knitting diver Tom Daley shows his masterpiece — a Team Great Britain sweater” from ESPN
“Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi share high jump gold medal” from The Washington Post
Finally, this horse just vibing
Read the transcript here.
Join us on YouTube Fridays at 3:30 p.m. Pacific/6:30 p.m. Eastern for our live happy hour episode! Subscribe to our channel and sign up for notifications so you don’t miss it.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
17 min
August 05, 2021Pandemic pups have an economic effect
Like so many people hanging out at home in this pandemic, our listener Joel got a dog. He wants to know if enough people got new pets to make an economic impact. On today’s show, we’ll do the numbers and answer more of your questions about wildfires and vaccines, plus get an update from Kimberly’s Uncle Davids.

Here’s everything we talked about today:
“F.D.A. Aims to Give Final Approval to Pfizer Vaccine by Early Next Month” from The New York Times
“Q&A: When might the coronavirus vaccines get full approval?” from The Washington Post
“California’s 2018 wildfires caused $150 billion in damages” from Science Daily
“Thanks to sheltering in place, animal shelters are empty” from Wired
“No, People Are Not Returning Pandemic Dogs in Droves” from The New York Times
More pet data from Packaged Facts
“DTC dog food brands are on the rise: What to know” from NBC News
Some background on Kimberly’s Uncle Davids
Read the transcript here.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
18 min
August 04, 2021The debt ceiling debate is more about politics than economics
The debt ceiling debate is full of contradictions. It’s real but it’s not real. It’s a problem but it’s not a problem. Congress missed the deadline to raise the federal borrowing limit before it went back into effect at over the weekend. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has moved some money around as a short-term fix, but Congress needs to raise the limit, and soon. But America’s debt isn’t like other kinds of debt, or even other countries’ debts. On today’s show, Harvard economist Megan Greene explains it all as we prepare for that perennial partisan fight. Plus: “spiritual opium,” “Pokémon Go” and, oh yeah, that infrastructure spending bill.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
“Debt Ceiling Deadline: What It Means and How Congress Can Act” from The Wall Street Journal
“U.S. deficit to hit $3 trillion in 2021, then fade as stimulus relief expires, CBO says” from The Washington Post
“Yellen Warns Congress About Failure to Act on Debt Limit” from The New York Times
“Tencent Sinks After China Denounces Online Gaming” from The Wall Street Journal
“Crypto ‘Wild West’ requires new laws, SEC chair says” from Politico
“The infrastructure deal could create pipelines for captured CO2” from The Verge
“Drunk-Driver Detectors for Cars Part of Infrastructure Bill” from Bloomberg
“Industry groups, equity advocates laud infrastructure broadband provisions” from Roll Call
“Augmented reality may change how we see the world. Until then, we have Pokémon.” from “Marketplace Tech”
Read the transcript here.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
31 min
August 03, 2021The eviction moratorium blame game
The federal eviction moratorium expired at the end of July, meaning potentially millions of struggling renters could lose their homes. On today’s show, we’ll pick apart the finger pointing between the White House and congressional leadership over who let the moratorium lapse, and what’s next for renters and landlords. Plus: The Ozarks, wolf turns and mysterious jetpack pilots.

Here’s everything we talked about today:
“Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden play hot potato with evictions, pointing fingers over who should extend the moratorium” from Insider
“What’s next for struggling renters now that the eviction ban has expired” from CNN
“U.S. hits Biden’s vaccination goal a month late, with 70 percent of adults receiving at least one shot” from The Washington Post
“‘What’s Covid?’ Why People at America’s Hardest-Partying Lake Are Not About to Get Vaccinated” from Politico
“‘The Jetpack Guy Is Back’: Los Angeles Sighting Draws an Inquiry, Again” from The New York Times
“Why the “wolf turn” is such a big deal” from Vox
Read the transcript here.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
15 min
July 31, 2021Let’s do the numbers on those breakthrough COVID cases
A tiny fraction of 1% of vaccinated Americans have tested positive for COVID-19. But if you don’t read beyond the headlines, you might not know that. On this punchy happy hour episode, we’ll talk about why the media need to do better reporting on the delta variant. And speaking of failure … Congress went on summer break without extending the eviction moratorium. We’ll talk about it and play another round of our favorite game, “Half Full/Half Empty.”

Here’s everything we talked about today:
Here’s a link to join our fan-run Discord server
Kai’s interview with the Crocs CEO
“Breakthrough Covid cases are on the rise among the vaccinated” from NBC News
A couple of threads about this reporting
“DeSantis seeks to block school mask mandates in Florida” from Politico
“Millions of renters could face eviction as moratorium ends” from Marketplace
“Evictions looming, Biden fails to get Congress to extend ban” from the Associated Press
“Wally Funk Is Defying Gravity and 60 Years of Exclusion From Space” from The New York Times
Finally, our “Half Full/Half Empty” topics: the alcohol shortage, Big Tech antitrust, FAA regulating spaceflight and copycat Crocs
Click here to read the transcript.
Thanks to everyone who joined us live on YouTube for this episode! We’re live Fridays at 3:30 p.m. Pacific/6:30 p.m. Eastern for happy hour! Subscribe to our channel and sign up for notifications so you don’t miss it.
19 min
July 30, 2021A different kind of Hollywood superhero fight
It was bound to happen at some point. Scarlett Johansson, who’s played Black Widow in Marvel movies for a decade now, is suing Disney for breach of contract. After delaying it a year for the COVID-19 pandemic, the company released the “Black Widow” movie on Disney+ the same day it hit theaters. We’ll talk about the suit and what it says about the state of the movie industry. Plus: some vaccination history, the Steak-umm Twitter and a few technical difficulties, because why not?

Here’s everything we talked about today:
“Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney for Breach of Contract Over ‘Black Widow’ Release” from Variety
“How A Massive Pay Gap Occurred In The ‘All The Money In The World’ Reshoot” from NPR
“Which Companies Are Mandating Covid-19 Vaccines for Employees?” from The Wall Street Journal
But what about Congress?
“St. Louis County Health Director: I Was Assaulted, Called ‘Brown C——’ After Mask Plea” from the Riverfront Times
“George Washington and the First Mass Military Inoculation” from the Library of Congress
“Where should you go if society collapses? New Zealand” from MarketWatch
And this thread from, uh, Steak-umm.
Join us on YouTube Fridays at 3:30 p.m. Pacific/6:30 p.m. Eastern for our live happy hour episode! Subscribe to our channel and sign up for notifications so you don’t miss it.
Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).
16 min

About Make Me Smart

From the publisher's feed

Each weekday, Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams makes today make sense along with her Marketplace colleagues, breaking down happenings in tech, the economy, and culture. Because none of us is as smart as…