April 17, 2021

The Biden administration’s first big faux pas

24 minutes

The White House is walking back its plan to keep the cap on refugees at the historic low set by the Trump administration. President Joe Biden had previously indicated he wanted to raise the limit from 15,000 to several times that, and after much backlash his press secretary now says a final number will be announced next month. On today’s show, we’ll talk about that policy and the administration’s first big stumble. Plus: Kai Ryssdal’s piping hot take on the boba shortage and another round of Half Full/Half Empty.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“Biden administration may keep refugee cap at Trump’s level, though it says final number will come next month” from The Washington Post

“Another Unlikely Pandemic Shortage: Boba Tea” from The New York Times

“NASA selects SpaceX as its sole provider for a lunar lander” from Ars Technica

“Is shopping by livestream the next chapter of e-commerce?” from “Marketplace”

“California ‘Zoom town’ grapples with influx of remote workers” from “Marketplace”

“What drives corporations to sign — or not sign — a letter opposing voting restrictions?” from “Marketplace”

“March retail sales soar 9.8% thanks to relief payments” from Marketplace.org

“Dogecoin spikes 400% in a week, stoking fears of a cryptocurrency bubble” from CNBC

Three things supported by our departing media designer Ben Tolliday: Sabri Ben-Achour’s ceramics, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles. We’ll miss you Ben!

Thanks to everyone who joined us live on YouTube! Join us every Friday at 3:30 p.m. Pacific/6:30 p.m. Eastern for happy hour! Subscribe to our channel and sign up for notifications so you don’t miss it.

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