Slate Business

This week: the Longshoremen’s strike is over, and economic disaster has been averted. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the strike, sketchy union leader Harold Daggett, and how the White House put its thumb on the scales to help cut a deal. Also: OpenAI just had a $6.6 billion investment round, but the company is bleeding losses. Then: Dish Network wants to buy DirecTV for $1, but the bondholders who own its billions in debt might kill the deal.

In the Plus bonus mini-episode: It's a chicken tender world, and we’re just livin’ in it. The hosts discuss how chicken tenders (and nuggets and fingers) came to dominate American dining. (Even if Felix never eats at those sorts of places.) Then — bonus within the bonus — Felix and Emily get into a debate about Long Island pizza vs. Manhattan pizza.

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Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.

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In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the idea of a climate haven has been upended. And as the climate change gets worse every year, fewer places will be safe from its devastation.

Guest: Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post climate reporter covering humanity's response to a warming world.

Keith Campbell, managing editor at the Asheville Watchdog

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For this Money Talks, it’s time to turn the rat race into a rat walk on the beach. Brigid Schulte, author of Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life, speaks with Emily Peck about America’s toxic relationship with labor in which employees at all levels are underpaid, under-rested, and over-hustled. They discuss what America can learn from work cultures in other countries and what it will take to achieve the four-day workweek.

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Podcast production by Jared Downing, Cheyna Roth, and Patrick Fort.

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America is caught in a vicious cycle of trying to alleviate traffic by expanding and building more highways, only for them to clog right up with more cars. How do you beat the traffic?

Guest: David Zipper, Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative who writes about transportation policy.

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information.

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This week: the tragic tale of Nike, Foot Locker, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Bloomberg’s Kim Bhasin joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers to discuss his recent piece on the downfall of the Nike brand and the peril of direct-to-consumer marketing. Then, they discuss Kim’s other feature on Jamie Salter, the man who made a fortune buying up mall “zombie brands” like Izod and Brook’s Brothers. Finally: The DOJ is suing Visa for monopolistic practices, but will it mean anything or ordinary consumers?

In the Plus bonus mini-episode: Three Mile Island is back, baby! The hosts discuss Mincrosoft’s power purchase agreement that involves switching on the defunct nuclear plant and Americans’ troubled relationship with nuclear in general.

Want more Slate Money? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Slate Money show page. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.

Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information.

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Silicon Valley is a place where big ideas are transformed into thriving businesses and multi-billion dollar fortunes. But it has also built a reputation for being a boys club, with limited opportunities, harassment, and sometimes open hostility to women in its workforce. Women of color remain severely underrepresented in the world of Big Tech, with just an estimated 3% of industry jobs held by Black women. So what’s the path ahead for African Americans in Big Tech, and is the prize worth the fight?

On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson discusses the issue with Bari Williams. She’s a lawyer, a tech entrepreneur, and the author of Seen Yet Unseen: A Black Woman Crashes The Tech Fraternity. 

Guest: Bari Williams, attorney and author of Seen Yet Unseen: A Black Woman Crashes The Tech Fraternity

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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Over the last decade, the European Union has been the vanguard regulating Big Tech, and the push has been led by Margrethe Vestager. As she steps down, Vestager is looking both back at the battles she’s fought, and how the fight will continue. 

Guest: Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition. the European Commission’s Executive Vice President on a Europe Fit for the Digital Age.

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Ari always dreamed of starting his own podcast. When he started interviewing fellow academics for the Taylor Swift class he’s teaching, Ari suddenly had the perfect opportunity to turn those conversations into something called ¿What Are Taylor Swift Studies Anyways? Now he just needs to find an audience. On this meta episode of How To!, Carvell Wallace brings on Lauren Passell, founder of Tink Media and author of Podcast the Newsletter. Lauren shares creative ways to find new listeners and connect with your audience; tips that apply to all kinds of passion projects. 

Resources Mentioned:

If you liked this episode check out: How To Succeed at Social Media

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sara McCrae.

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Given Laura Loomer’s history of saying outright offensive and often bewildering things, how did she get into the Trump campaign’s inner circle?  

Guest: Ken Bensinger, New York Times politics reporter.

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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Mortgage rates are down! Inflation is less inflation-y! Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss what the Fed’s interest rate cut means for the American economy — and American voters. Also: Trump is promising tax cuts like there’s no tomorrow, but are any of them good ideas? And Axel Springer is spinning off its media empire in yet another news business shakeup.

In the Plus bonus mini-episode: Tupperware is bankrupt, but it shall live on in the underground communist container-sharing network.

Here’s a link to the Yukiko Morita bread lamps Emily mentioned in the numbers round.

Want more Slate Money? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Slate Money show page. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.

Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information.

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