Marketplace All-in-One

Let’s talk about gardening technology. Not some fancy gadget for monitoring water or sunlight, but technology that feeds the dirt itself. Washington, D.C.’s wastewater-treatment plant is one of the largest high-tech plants in the world. It uses a process akin to pressure cooking to turn what’s flushed down the toilet into fertilizer fit for planters at home. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams takes a tour to learn more about thermal hydrolysis tech.

This episode originally aired on July 26, 2021.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the recommended isolation period for people who get COVID-19 from 10 days to five. Still, COVID cases are surging with the spread of the omicron variant. Now airline, health care and service industries are facing yet another wave of staffing disruptions without the government support they had at the beginning of the pandemic. Also on today’s show: How the pandemic has shifted the gaming console industry, an early look at holiday shopping stats and identifying the impact of the next Great Migration.

The number of women in the workforce has plummeted since the era of the pandemic began. Now, omicron threatens to undo much of the progress that’s been made as concerns about the variant have upended back-to-office plans, steering many women to take on caretaking duties at home. A new study suggests that virtual conferences have been a solid tool in the struggle against greenhouse gas emissions. Medical debt is one of the ways people eventually find themselves declaring for bankruptcy, but even that process comes with its own road of costs.

A new study from Harrisburg University suggests that leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs are effective at cutting down on methane emissions. Arvind Ravikumar, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the researchers behind the study, discusses the findings with us. We also look into how shoppers appear to be spending a lot more this holiday season, according to data from Mastercard SpendingPulse.

From the BBC World Service: The European Union looks to make one final push to rein in Big Tech with a new competition law in the new year. Plus, a look at how the booming popularity of cryptocurrencies has also brought about a boom in the number of scams.

Ah, the metaverse — that alternate reality that we’ll soon be able to escape to whenever we want. Tech companies are in a race to make the metaverse in their own images so that they can take our future dollars. Facebook recently announced it was even changing its name to Meta, to reflect its focus on the space. Marketplace’s Jed Kim speaks with Dean Takahashi, who writes about gaming for VentureBeat. Takahashi said it’s now getting clear just how seriously tech giants have been working to build the future of the metaverse.

At the start of 2022, more than 50 jurisdictions are slated to raise their minimum wage rates, many to $15 an hour or more. Despite widespread support for increased minimum wages and years-long activism, efforts to boost the minimum wage at the federal level have largely stalled. But even as many employers independently raise pay amid a tight labor market, inflation continues to chip away at the gains made by many workers. Also on today’s program: A look back at the week, what consumer spending looks like amid the arrival of omicron, how the surge in electric vehicle demand impacts the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a festive take on The Numbers.

About 9 million Americans benefit from Canada’s potatoes every year, but a fungal outbreak at two farms up north has led to a ban of spuds heading south. That’s leading to a lot of concern from farmers. We check in on the waves of COVID-triggered flight cancellations from various airlines as travelers attempt to fly for the holidays. Nashville’s business district is healing from the wounds from a Christmas Day bomb that tore through it last year.

AAA estimates 109 million travelers over the next few days, which is nearly as many as the Christmas before the pandemic. Lots of those people are going to try flying to their destinations, but omicron’s impact has led to waves of flight cancellations. While the act of getting a COVID test has become more commonplace in the U.S., we find that the country’s health care system has some inherent flaws when it comes to testing overall. The BBC reports on Beijing hitting back at the new U.S. law thats banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region.

From the BBC World Service: China hits back at a new U.S. law requiring proof that goods imported from China’s Xinjiang region were not made by forced labor. Plus: London’s Selfridges department store is being sold to Thai and Austrian buyers. And, how Santa is persevering through a shortage of helpers this year.