Make Me Smart

Native Americans have the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the country. Technology, particularly new financial tech, offers an opportunity for this historically marginalized group to better access the strong economy. But getting online in largely rural, remote reservations is a challenge — to say nothing about access to capital and credit. Tribal sovereignty can also make access, taxes and generally doing business more complicated. To help talk us through the challenges and potential technology offers, we’re joined by Dante Desiderio, executive director of the Native American Finance Officers Association and a member of the Sappony Tribe.

Planes are bad for the environment, we know this. Innovation in electric cars has surged in the past decade, so why not electric planes? Today on the show, Aviation Week and Space Technology managing editor Graham Warwick talks us through making the friendly skies a bit friendlier.

Planes are bad for the environment, we know this. Innovation in electric cars has surged in the past decade, so why not electric planes? Today on the show, Aviation Week and Space Technology managing editor Graham Warwick talks us through making the friendly skies a bit friendlier.

How does a company lose $39 billion in value in just a few weeks? This week we’re diving into all the unicorn companies that rode a wave of venture capital hype onto the rocky, unforgiving shores of the stock market. It’s not just WeWork either — Uber, Slack, Snap and plenty of other tech darlings have struggled after their splashy IPOs. Is it the exception or the rule? And what’s it say about how investors assess a company’s value? Here to help us sort through it is the New York Times’ Erin Griffith, who reports on startups and the VC world.

How does a company lose $39 billion in value in just a few weeks? This week we’re diving into all the unicorn companies that rode a wave of venture capital hype onto the rocky, unforgiving shores of the stock market. It’s not just WeWork either — Uber, Slack, Snap and plenty of other tech darlings have struggled after their splashy IPOs. Is it the exception or the rule? And what’s it say about how investors assess a company’s value? Here to help us sort through it is the New York Times’ Erin Griffith, who reports on startups and the VC world.

What happens to our clothes when we’re done with them, they go out of style or just lose a button? Maybe we donate them, or sell them, but too often we throw them away. And that’s to say nothing about how they’re produced — The clothes we wear are tied to climate change as what we eat or how we get around. And in recent years, the impact of clothing on the environment has drastically increased. That’s the argument fashion reporter Dana Thomas makes in her new book “Fashionopolis: the Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes.” She joins us this week to unpack the problems and explore some potential solutions. Programming note: This week was supposed to be our sixth Explainathon, but we had to delay it a couple weeks. The good news is you have more time to submit your questions!

What happens to our clothes when we’re done with them, they go out of style or just lose a button? Maybe we donate them, or sell them, but too often we throw them away. And that’s to say nothing about how they’re produced — The clothes we wear are tied to climate change as what we eat or how we get around. And in recent years, the impact of clothing on the environment has drastically increased. That’s the argument fashion reporter Dana Thomas makes in her new book “Fashionopolis: the Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes.” She joins us this week to unpack the problems and explore some potential solutions. Programming note: This week was supposed to be our sixth Explainathon, but we had to delay it a couple weeks. The good news is you have more time to submit your questions!

It’s been three years, three months and 15 days since the Brits voted to leave the EU. There have been three prime ministers since then, and so far none of them have successfully brokered a Brexit deal. This time, new PM Boris Johnson says it’s gonna happen by the end of the month, no matter what. To help us sort through what’s going on and what it means for the rest of us, we’re joined by Ros Atkins, who hosts “Outside Source” on the BBC.

It’s been three years, three months and 15 days since the Brits voted to leave the EU. There have been three prime ministers since then, and so far none of them have successfully brokered a Brexit deal. This time, new PM Boris Johnson says it’s gonna happen by the end of the month, no matter what. To help us sort through what’s going on and what it means for the rest of us, we’re joined by Ros Atkins, who hosts “Outside Source” on the BBC.

We heard you: After our show on climate change, several listeners wanted to know more about nuclear power and its place in the green energy discussion. Joining us is Suzy Hobbs Baker, the creative director of the Fastest Path to Zero Initiative at the University of Michigan. She’ll walk us through the basics of how nuclear power works, its impact on the environment, its tricky economics and, yes, the image problems it can’t shake. By the way, we have an Explainathon coming up and we need your questions! Send your voice memos to [email protected]!