X CEO Linda Yaccarino leaves the social media giant on the heels of antisemitic posts from AI chatbot Grok. SCOTUS rejects a challenge to a Texas law for age verification online. President Trump this week said he’ll impose a 50% tariff on copper. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino is joined by Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, to discuss all this.

When companies release earnings reports, they often predict where they’re headed next, profit-wise. Lately, thanks to all that pesky economic uncertainty, some firms have altered their forecasts or opted out altogether. In this episode, why some guidance is better than no guidance. Plus: OPEC foresees oil demand growth through 2050, protein is the latest food fad, and an environmental organizer takes us on a mini “toxic” tour of his community that’s adjacent to a petrochemical complex.

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Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Even before the catastrophic flooding in Texas, weather experts were ringing alarm bells over how staffing cuts at federal weather agencies could affect the reliability of weather forecasts in the United States. Marketplace’s Amy Scott joins us on the show today to explain how these cuts are impacting the day-to-day at the National Weather Service, and look at other headwinds the agency could face in the future, including privatization efforts and the ever-complicating factor of climate change.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• "Burning Questions: How do cuts to NOAA impact all of us?" from “How We Survive” 
• "FEMA cuts put more pressure on local disaster relief" from Marketplace 
• "Debate erupts over role job cuts played in weather forecasts ahead of deadly Texas floods" from AP News
• "Flood predictions could worsen when Trump’s cuts take hold" from Politico
• "As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas" from The New York Times
• "Republicans want to privatize weather forecasts. Do Trump appointees stand to benefit?" from Fast Company 

We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email [email protected].

More than 200,000 federal workers have been fired, resigned, or taken early retirement since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Now, this week, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump can proceed with additional job cuts at federal agencies. We'll unpack the sort of labor market fired federal employees face and hear how some job hunters are faring. Also, this spring's power outage in the Iberian Peninsula highlighted the vulnerability of modern payment systems.

President Donald Trump says he wants 50% import taxes on goods from Brazil, even though Brazil buys more from the U.S. than it sells here. Trump has criticized Brazil's treatment of its former right-wing president, who's on trial for an alleged coup attempt. We'll hear more. Plus, most Federal Reserve officials think Trump's tariffs will have enduring effects on inflation. And, a new report finds deportations could cost California $275 billion annually.

From the BBC World Service: Lesotho has declared a national state of disaster that will last for two years. The government says soaring youth unemployment and job losses have pushed the small, mountainous country into crisis, and it's bracing for things to get worse with U.S. tariffs and aid cuts announced by President Donald Trump. Plus, a growing number of countries are stepping in with new laws to make sure cash payments don't disappear.

In the latest episode of Million Bazillion, listener Shreen wanted to know, “How do you become a CEO?” No spoilers, but after Ryan and Bridget’s adventure in attempting to become CEOs themselves, Shreen still had some questions about how a successful CEO gets their job, and what they do all day. In this special bonus episode, Shreen interviews Christina Stembel, CEO of Farmgirl Flowers to find out more about what it’s really like to be a CEO, how to start and run a company, and what Christina did as a kid that helped set her on the path to becoming a CEO as a grownup.  

This episode is sponsored by Greenlight. Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com/million.

For years, AI crawlers have scraped data and content from the internet for free. But last week, Cloudflare attempted to change that. With an update to its web services, the tech company keeps AI crawlers out by default. The hope? To create a new economic model that makes AI companies finally pay for the content they collect.

In this episode, Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Cloudflare co-founder and CEO, Matthew Prince, about his vision for a fairer internet.

The June jobs report gave a sunny picture of the labor market. But if you’re, say, looking for a job right now, you may see things a bit differently. What gives? In this episode, we break down the pros and cons of backward-looking data, and search elsewhere for answers about the current employment situation. Plus: Entrepreneurship chugs along in this uncertain economy, rents finally seem to hold steady, and U.S. copper prices spike.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Now that the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is law, Congress is turning its attention to another matter: avoiding a government shutdown. We’ll explain what it will take to keep the government running beyond Congress’ Sept. 30 deadline. And, we’ll fill you in on another deadline: President Trump’s new due date for trade deals before a slew of higher tariff rates kick in. Plus, a listener’s story of frozen pizza and facing fears.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• "Why the federal government will shut down. And why it won’t" from Punchbowl News
• "Trump combats TACO reputation as White House extends tariff deadline" from The Washington Post
• "Too Many Goods Are About To Face Historically High Tariffs" from Tax Policy Center

• "Flint finally replaced its lead pipes" from The Washington Post

  
  

  Got a question for the hosts? Call 508-U-B-SMART or email [email protected].