Marketplace All-in-One

Last week, Californians were hit with a scorching heat wave, and as households blasted their air conditioners in the afternoons to keep cool, it placed extreme stress on the state’s power grid. So, for the first time, Californians received an emergency text alert asking citizens to conserve electricity to avoid blackouts. And it worked. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Severin Borenstein, who researches energy markets at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

COVID-19 has been circulating for well over two years, and new research looks at what the disease has meant for the workforce. Kimberly and guest host Amy Scott dig into it. Plus, who’s in charge of investigating a crash in space? Then, is it too early to start talking about leaf peeping and Halloween? Welp, we’re going to do it anyway.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We’re taking them all. Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voice message at 508-U-B-SMART.

We’ve learned just how fragile the global supply chain is the past few years, and we’re not out of the woods yet. Today, we examine two threats to the supply chain’s recovery: a potential strike of U.S. rail workers and continued lockdowns in China. We’ll also take a look at a new merchant code used for gun sales and hear how food banks are grappling with rising food costs.

There’s a sense among forecasters that inflated eased up last month, which should show in the upcoming consumer price index. Julia Coronado discusses that with us to open up the week. The Fed’s Beige Book offers a snapshot on demand for business loans. The BBC’s Victoria Craig helps us check in on the British economy in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing.

From the BBC World Service: Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of attacking civilian infrastructure, resulting in widespread blackouts in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. There are concerns for how prepared the regions are for the upcoming winter. Plus, British economic growth slowed in July and another public holiday for the Queen’s funeral next week could dampen growth this month.

Many people lean on the U.S. News list of best colleges and universities to help make their school choice, but what goes into those rankings? Major credit card companies are going to start keeping track of gun store purchases. We check in on a Texas ruling that deals with employers, religious liberty, and HIV medication.

There have been a lot of conversations here on “Marketplace Tech” about digital privacy. More folks are paying attention to things like encryption and the security of their messaging apps. Signal consistently ranks as one of the more popular choices for privacy advocates, and the app is increasingly being used by people beyond the cybersecurity crowd. Signal’s staff is small compared to that of messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp or iMessage — which comes pre-installed in iPhones — but it’s growing. Former Google researcher and digital privacy advocate Meredith Whittaker just signed on as Signal’s new president and today is her first day on the job. She’s been on Signal’s board since 2020 and says she plans to continue the company’s focus on encryption. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with Whittaker about the future of the company, how she’d like to grow Signal without monetizing its users’ data and digital privacy issues at large.

We pick up today’s show where we left off yesterday, talking about global reaction to the death of Queen Elizabeth. Plus, we’ll discuss the role of social media in driving counternarratives to stories from mainstream media organizations. Then, we play a round of Half Full/Half Empty. And, corgis FTW!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

If you’ve got a question about money, business and the economy, give us a shout. We’re at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at [email protected].

A new report says restaurant bookings are back to pre-COVID-19 levels, which should be good news, but profitability in the industry is down. We’ll talk to some restauranteurs about menu changes, customer attitudes and fears around raising prices. Plus, “The Big Bang Theory” vs. Chinese censors, a new “affordable” Chevy EV, and the Fed chair’s recent remarks about “economic pain.”

Russia has cut down its gas exports to Europe, leaving officials to figure out a solution as winter crawls closer. We get a less than promising update on the U.S. grain crop. Christopher Low of FHN Financial discusses why American consumers are borrowing more.