Make Me Smart

Voting tech company Smartmatic is suing several of Donald Trump’s allies, Fox News personalities and the network itself for an eye-watering $2.7 billion in damages over false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Another company, Dominion, has been rattling its saber as well. Today we’ll talk about where those suits might go and why even the right-wing Newsmax is backing off its #StopTheSteal claims. Plus: Snow cocktails!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Join us live on YouTube Friday at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time/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.

Amazon, the so-called “everything store,” is increasingly becoming the “everywhere store.” Why would the largest online retailer pivot so hard into brick and mortar? And, oh yeah, what’s up with Jeff Bezos stepping down as CEO? Also on tap for this Whadda Ya Wanna Know Wednesday: Are we headed for a COVID baby bust? What about a recession? And before our Friday happy hour episode: What’s a hazy IPA?

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Speaking of happy hour: Join us live on YouTube this Friday at 3:30 Pacific/6:30 Eastern! Subscribe to our channel and sign up for notifications so you don’t miss it.

There’s another hot, disruptive force in finance beyond r/WallStreetBets: special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. A SPAC is basically big pools of money that help take companies public quickly. They attracted big names in 2020, and now individual investors want in. Here to make us smart on the promise and peril of SPACs is Wall Street Journal markets reporter Amrith Ramkumar.

We can’t lie y’all, we’re fighting off The Dark Place today. On the docket: extremism in Facebook groups, how quickly we’re aging and all the poor folks losing money in “stonks.” Maybe you can listen while you watch these pandas in the snow?

Here are links for everything we talked about:

“Facebook Knew Calls for Violence Plagued ‘Groups,’ Now Plans Overhaul” from The Wall Street Journal

“How Facebook Groups Are Being Exploited To Spread Misinformation, Plan Harassment, And Radicalize People” from BuzzFeed News, back in 2018

Some disturbing “Wonder Years” math

“U.S. Hits Pandemic Milestone With More Vaccinated Than Cases” from Bloomberg

IsTheSqueezeSquoze.com

“‘Black Panther’ Helmer Ryan Coogler Stakes His Proximity Media Banner To 5-Year Exclusive Disney Television Deal; Wakanda Series In Works For Disney+” from Deadline

“Big step forward for Dr. Martens as shares jump in $5 billion London debut” from Reuters

“Pandas at National Zoo play in snow” from CNN

We just can’t look away from these stonks! The whole affair around GameStop, r/WallStreetBets, Robinhood and the rest is like a car crash — a 20-car pileup of money, power, technology, regulation and more. It’ll be with us for a bit longer here. Today we start assessing the fallout. Plus: We play “Half Full/Half Empty” with outdoor dining, buying American and more.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“After GameStop Backlash, Citron Research Will Stop Publishing Short-Seller Reports” from The Wall Street Journal

“Some businesses may struggle to follow Biden’s ‘Buy American’ rules” from Marketplace

“Outdoor dining returns to L.A. County with new COVID-19 rules: TVs off, no more than 6 per table” from the Los Angeles Times

Thanks to everyone who joined us live on YouTube! To have a drink with Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood and hear some extra chatter, subscribe so you don’t miss the next one!

Two things you need to know about the situation with GameStop, WallStreetBets and that whole mess today: First, retail traders aren’t actually the customers at Robinhood, the stock-trading app that many of those retail traders are mad at. Second, while the potential losses of retail stock buyers max out at 100%, if a hedge fund is selling short, as they often do, the losses can be infinite. We’ll fill you in on what you need to know — or you could just watch this.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“WeWork in Talks to Combine With SPAC or Raise Money Privately” from The Wall Street Journal

“Robinhood’s Customers Are Hedge Funds Like Citadel, Its Users Are the Product” from Vice

And, one more time, this “stonks” explainer

The Reddit- and Discord-fueled explosion of GameStop’s stock isn’t over. In fact, a bunch of other companies are seeing their stock prices inch closer to their ’90s and 2000s glory days, befuddling hedge funds and raising questions about who gets to manipulate the market. A bunch of listeners have written in with questions about “stonks,” so we’ll spend a little time on one today. Plus, we’ll get a little wonky and take you behind the scenes of why we do “The Numbers.”

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“What exactly is going on with GameStop?” from Marketplace

“The GameStop stock frenzy, explained” from Vox

A few heartwarming investor stories

“What the heck is reconciliation?” from Marketplace

In just the past three Wednesdays we’ve seen an insurrection, a (second!) impeachment and an inauguration. Coming off this not-so-peaceful transition of power and months of election conspiracies, President Joe Biden declared in his inauguration speech, “Democracy has prevailed.” Has it, though? Sure, the insurrection failed, but that doesn’t mean our democracy is in particularly good shape after these four years, or even the past 40 years. On today’s show, MIT economist Daron Acemoglu, author of “How Nations Fail,” tells us how the health of our democracy affects the economy, and vice versa.

We looked at GameStop’s ballooning share price Friday, and since then things have … progressed. Today, we’ll look at what happened between the beleaguered video game retailer and r/WallStreetBets with “numb fascination.” Plus: contrasting Twitter and Facebook’s rules around misinformation and — one more time — Janet Treasury-Secretaryin’.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“A Fight Over GameStop’s Soaring Stock Turns Ugly” from Wired

“Twitter launches ‘Birdwatch,’ a forum to combat misinformation” from NBC News

“Trump Wants Back on Facebook. This Star-Studded Jury Might Let Him.” from The New York Times

“Budweiser skips Super Bowl ads in favor of vaccine education campaign” from Axios

“Senate Confirms Yellen as Treasury Secretary as Stimulus Talks Loom” from The New York Times

One more time, here are all the links to listen to Dessa’s song “Who’s Yellen Now?”

A Rolex watch and Peloton coverage topped the list of presidential “scandals” Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood were none to happy to read about this week. They dive into why the media (ahem) shouldn’t be spending so much time on this kind of coverage. Later in the show, they’ll finally share their very specific predictions for 2021 and pay tribute to the late home run king, Hank Aaron. Plus, a short round of “Half Full, Half Empty.” Have a great weekend! Here’s everything we talked about today:

“Is That a Rolex on Biden’s Wrist?” from The New York Times

“Biden Has a Peloton Bike. That Raises Issues at the White House.” also from The New York Times

“People Are So, So Mad at GameStop Investors and FinTok Influencers” from Vice

“GameStop soars nearly 70%, trading briefly halted amid epic short squeeze” from CNBC

“Hank Aaron, Home Run King Who Defied Racism, Dies at 86” from The New York Times

“Pandemic drives backyard ice rink boom” from Marketplace

“Instacart is firing every employee who voted to unionize” from The Verge

Finally, here are all the links to listen to Dessa’s song “Who’s Yellen Now?”