Americans face more than $1.3 trillion in student debt, with less and less assurance the job market’s going to provide salaries to cover it. For all the students home for the holiday break (and their parents) we’re revisiting and interview we did last January with Maura Reynolds, a senior editor at Politico. She’s reported extensively on the school-skills-jobs pipeline. Plus, part two of our annual predictions episode: Last year Kai said “Nothing will change”. Was he right? We talk about it and look ahead to 2020.

Finally, our end-of-year fundraiser ends today. Don’t wait: Become a Marketplace investor right now at Marketplace.org/donate.