Marketplace All-in-One

Last year, dozens of container ships waited off the Californian coast — some for weeks — to  dock and unload all the goods consumers were demanding. But those backlogs have eased substantially. Today, we’ll take a trip to the Marine Exchange of Southern California to hear what’s changed since and what hasn’t. Plus, why jobless claims are dipping and what Hurricane Ian means for Florida’s fragile insurance industry.

“This Is Uncomfortable,” our podcast all about life and how money messes with it, returns for our seventh season on Oct. 6.

This season, we’re looking at some of the expectations we carry with us about how life should play out, and all the ways money can interfere with the best-laid plans and lead us to a totally different reality.

We’ll take a look at the roller coaster of married life, the secretive world of scam baiting, the competitive world of college esports, how we embrace the generosity of strangers and so much more.

Listen to the trailer above and follow “This Is Uncomfortable” wherever you get podcasts.

And to get even more Uncomfortable during the season, sign up for our newsletter. Each Friday morning we’ll bring you a note from Reema, new stories from listeners, tough money questions and recommendations from our team! Here’s the latest issue.

Diane Swonk discusses the economic impacts of the storm surges in Florida. House Democrats introduce a bill to halt stock trading by members of Congress. Monkeypox can also leave a financial mark on those infected.

First, we discuss what the damage figures from Ian, now a tropical storm, could entail. Salary ranges in job postings are giving candidates an edge. Walmart will begin offering fertility benefits.

From the BBC World Service: In her first media appearance since the British pound’s nosedive, the U.K. Prime Minister defended her plans despite widespread criticism and a rare intervention from the Bank of England. The Lebanese central bank revalued its official currency exchange rate, and in Germany, Porsche debuts on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

Mathematics can be a subject that’s a bit unrelatable for some. Perhaps you recall sitting in a math class at some point wondering, “When am I ever going to use quadratic equations?” But a new book wants us to reconsider math as something that gives us fundamental building blocks for not just the technology we use every day, but also the natural world around us. That book is called “The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math.” Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with author Manil Suri about his book and what motivated him to write it for the mathematically uninterested.

The United Kingdom’s economy is hurting. But the plan to get it under control — cutting taxes and raising interest rates — is a bit of a head scratcher. We’ll explain why we can’t make this one make sense (well, I guess we can, but the answer is not great). Plus, guest host Reema Khrais answers questions about boycotts and the multilevel marketing world.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

If you’ve got a question about the economy, business or technology, let us know. We’re at [email protected] or leave us a message at 508-U-B-SMART.

With the midterm elections approaching, help us make everyone smarter about the economy. Donate today.

The U.S. dollar has been appreciating this year as investors take advantage of climbing interest rates. But the value of the dollar is forcing economies around the globe to pay the price. Today, we’ll delve into how a strong dollar is affecting imports, exports and the debts of foreign countries. Plus, the Bank of England makes a drastic move, and Hurricane Ian highlights power grid resilience.

Heavy hitters on Wall Street admitted to record-keeping violations and now face billions in fines. Susan Schmidt of Exchange Capital Resources discusses the British bond market with us. We tackle the question of whether colleges should be responsible for parts of student debt.

We try to explain why some Medicare premiums are actually going down. Explosions on the Nord Stream pipeline have some suspecting sabotage. We check in on the state of the SNAP program as the White House talks hunger and nutrition today.