Marketplace All-in-One

From the BBC World Service: Two of the world’s biggest energy companies, Total Energies and Chevron, are leaving Myanmar amid concerns about human rights abuses following last year’s military coup. Plus: Toyota is hit with production delays. And, can insects become a bigger go-to food staple globally?

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have continued to rise. One sticking point is Russia’s crucial role in supplying natural gas to Europe through Ukraine and what a military conflict would mean for that gas. Another is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe – and circumvent Ukraine. The pipeline, which is not yet online, could mean economic problems for Ukraine. Arkady Ostrovsky, The Economist’s Russia and eastern Europe editor, spoke to us about what’s at stake. Also today, we take a look into Amazon’s plans to open an actual brick-and-mortar clothing store in Los Angeles.

Even before the pandemic, the economy was seeing a shift to automation as companies looked for cheaper, more efficient ways to build their products or serve more customers. Now, the pandemic has led to staffing shortages in multiple industries and has accelerated the trend, which means in the future you may be more likely to order your food with a QR code, interact with a chatbot instead of a person for customer service or use a self-operating kiosk at a business that may never go back to the old way of doing things. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Kristen Broady, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, about how the pandemic is speeding up this shift. For many businesses, it’s an economic decision, Broady says.

Temperatures in Texas are tumbling this week, and occasional host Andy Uhler is getting flashbacks from last year’s deep freeze. We’ll talk about what Texas has and hasn’t done to prevent another disaster. Plus, we’re feeling a little hollowed out after we learned what some college students think the average American earns. To lighten the mood, we jump on the Worldle bandwagon!

Here is everything we talked about today:

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently upgraded their guidance on face masks: Nix the cloth or surgical masks in favor of N95s or KN95s. But not all masks are created equal. On today’s show, we hear from a “mask nerd” about how consumers can be discerning when shopping for face coverings online. Plus: Why unemployment claims are back up; how resume gaps are being destigmatized; and what construction companies are doing to tackle the labor shortage.

We’ve been chronicling the trend of younger people getting into stock trading via their phones, which has led to some interesting results, such as last year’s GameStop frenzy. Critics say the more trading stocks feels like a game, the bigger risks people take with their money. Diane Swonk talks the markets with us after data on jobless numbers reflect omicron’s damaging effects on the economy. President Biden said there’s a peacemeal path to move his Build Back Better plan forward.

The Senate Judiciary Committee takes up two bills today aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech companies such as Google and Apple. One bill would force tech giants to open up their app stores to more competition. The other would bar them from favoring their own apps and services. Rising prices haven’t stopped people from buying products from big companies such as Procter & Gamble, data shows. Community colleges will be getting a big financial boost from the Biden administration, so what can they do with it?

From the BBC World Service: Authorities in Peru say a tanker spill has caused an “ecological disaster” with hundreds of dead animals. Government officials have urged Repsol, the Spanish refinery operator, to do more to help cleanup efforts. Plus, a cyberattack on the International Red Cross exposes half a million vulnerable people. And, there are concerns the game-like nature of some stock trading apps encourages too much risk taking.

In order to make room for the expansion into 5G, carriers are shutting down their 3G networks. AT&T plans to discontinue its 3G network by February 22, T-Mobile by July 1st, and Verizon by the end of the year. Commercial 3G networks first started popping up in the early 2000s and were about 30 times faster than their 2G predecessors. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at the Wall Street Journal, who wrote about the coming shutdown.

AT&T and Verizon rolled out their expanded 5G services today. One listener wonders: What’s 5G anyway, and why do we need it? We’ll explain why it’s been a long time coming. Plus, our fill-in hosts answer more listener questions about wage theft, the Great Resignation and the climate implications of wood stoves versus electric space heaters.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

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