Over a year ago, the term "vibecession" was coined. It refers to the concurrent phenomena of a very strong U.S. economy according to all the typical measures (unemployment, GDP growth, stock market gains) and a populous that mostly thinks the economy is doing poorly. This isn't the first time we've discussed this topic, but a new poll brought us back here. So we wonder: why is the vibecession still so strong?

Two days after the inauguration of Taiwan's new president, The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China ran joint navy and air force drills on the northern, eastern, and western sides of the island. We discuss their reasoning for these drills and how they might play into a future invasion of Taiwan by China.

After winning a unionization vote at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, the UAW sought to keep their momentum going with a win at a Mercedes plant in Alabama. However, they lost the vote, with 56% of votes going against unionizing. We discuss how it went down, and whether this will affect future unionization efforts.

Chinese businesses are facing headwinds everywhere in the world at the moment. At home, they're struggling with weak demand, as their consumer base doesn't want to spend money because of the real estate crisis and low confidence. Abroad, buyer markets like the U.S. are becoming more and more protectionist as they look to carve out space for their own manufacturers to compete on the world stage.

Ebrahim Raisi, president of Iran, died in a helicopter crash last week. We discuss how this affects Iran's government and politics, and whether it will have any effect on the U.S.'s posture towards the country.

Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel's centrist party, has issued demands for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet, threatening to leave the governing coalition if he does not. The demands include more concrete plans on how to secure Israeli hostages held by Hamas and how to govern Gaza.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for several leaders of Hamas and Israel in the wake of the war in Gaza. We discuss how this move leaves Israel even more isolated on the world stage, and may accelerate deglobalization by leading countries out of step with the U.S. and Israel ideologically to go their own way in other matters as well.

Russia's military has pressed its advantage in Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv, as the Ukrainians await military aid from the recently passed resolution in Congress. The morale of Ukraine as a country may hinge on Kharkiv's survival.

Senator Jon Tester from Montana is facing one of the toughest re-election campaigns in the Senate this year, the fate of which could decide which party controls Congress. One crucial constituency for him is Native Americans, who make up about 6% of the population of the state. Their support for Tester is clear, but whether they will turn out to vote, is less so.

President Joe Biden recently unveiled a new swathe of tariffs on China after a yearslong review of Trump's tariffs which initiated this trade war. We discuss the effects on the economy, on the green transition, on the politics and whether any of these are at all a good idea.