The Daily Dive

As the Fed tries to combat inflation by raising interest rates and cooling down the economy, it risks moving us into a recession and causing a big spike in unemployment.  Now, there is a fight brewing about how big the jump could be or if it will be more of a soft landing like the Fed wants.  As it stands now, there has been a small drop in job openings, but there are still roughly two jobs open for each unemployed worker.  Courtenay Brown, economics reporter at Axios, joins us for the inflation vs. jobs fight.

Next, when it comes to student debt, the fastest-growing demographic of borrowers are those aged sixty-two and older.  Of the forty-five million Americans who have student debt, one in five are over fifty and we have seen their student loan balances increase over 500%.  One example of how bad it can get… a woman took out a $29,000 federal loan in 1983, she is now 91 and owes more than $329,000.  Eleni Schirmer, organizer with the Debt Collective and contributor to The New Yorker, joins us for how more Americans are aging into their debt.

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Hi Daily Dive Listeners - we have a new show we think you'll love.“Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” the landmark news and commentary program that reordered the world of cable news, returns as a daily podcast. Olbermann’s daily news-driven mix will include his trademark “Special Comment” political analysis, the tongue-in-cheek “Worst Persons In The World” segment, and his timeless readings from the works of the immortal James Thurber. The man who turned SportsCenter into a cultural phenomenon will broaden the content to include a daily sports segment, a daily call for help for a suffering dog, and a remarkable series of anecdotes covering a career that stretched from covering the 1980 Olympic Miracle on Ice a month after his 21st birthday, to anchoring the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and the 2009 Super Bowl pre-game show in a span of just twelve days, to rejoining ESPN as a “rookie” baseball play-by-play man at the age of 59.

Take a listen to the trailer and, if you want to hear more, find "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" in your listening app of choice and follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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President Biden made the announcement Monday that Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has been killed by a drone strike in Afghanistan.  The CIA zeroed in on his location by carefully studying the movements of him and his family until Biden authorized a “precise tailored airstrike” with two Hellfire R9X missiles hitting Zawahiri in the balcony of his safe house in Kabul.  Idrees Ali, foreign policy correspondent at Reuters, joins us how the strike happened and the impact it has made on the terrorist network.

Next, a popular side hustle selling Dum Dum lollipops on Amazon is costing the candy company who makes them millions and it’s also violating Amazon’s policy.  People are engaging in drop-shipping and pocketing the profits by looking for products with lower prices than on Amazon, then posting those items on the website, waiting for someone to place an order, and finally purchasing the product from the other retailer and shipping it directly to the customer.  A lot of these methods are also driven by tutorials on YouTube and TikTok.  Spencer Soper, reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for how it all works.

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Shortly after millennials hit their teens and started getting jobs, their employment numbers plummeted fueling the myth of the lazy millennial.  But now, after looking at the data, it seems like it might not be that they didn’t want jobs, rather they were entering the workforce after two recessions and competing with laid-off, more experienced workers.  Andrew Van Dam, Department of Data columnist at The Washington Post, joins us for what to know.

Next, the nonprofit agency that operates the transplant system is called the United Network for Organ Sharing and according to a recent review, the technology used to match donated organs to patients is in need of a full overhaul.  It has been plagued by aged out software, periodic system failures, and an over-reliance of manually inputting data.  Lenny Bernstein, health and medicine reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for more.

Finally, as the group of people who have not had Covid continues to shrink, many ideas begin to swirl about how they have avoided it for so long.  For some it could be a healthy immune system, masking, or just luck, but could genetics also be at play?  Katherine Wu, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins us for how scientists are looking into whether some are just naturally resistant to the virus.

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This week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is visiting 4 Asian countries to discuss trade, Covid-19, climate change and security.  Missing notably from her itinerary is whether Pelosi and her delegation would visit Taiwan in what would be the first visit from an American official since 1997.  China has warned of consequences if Pelosi does touch down there because China claims them as their territory.  Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill, joins us for what to know about this, Republicans increasingly courting Latino voters, and Biden testing positive again for Covid-19.

Next, the deadliest road in America is US-19, a stretch of highway in Pasco County, Florida.  The road has three lanes on both sides with extra turn lanes and a speed limit of 45-55 mph making it more like a freeway.  The road was definitely not built with pedestrians in mind as crosswalks are few and far between causing people to often cross where they can to access the businesses and restaurants along the way.  Roads like this are called “stroads” meant to be quick thoroughfares through multiple cities, but also share characteristics with smaller streets, places for people to live, shop, and eat and this combination can be deadly for those on foot.  Marin Cogan, senior correspondent at Vox, joins us for more.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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The U.S. economy shrunk for a second quarter putting us on a path closer to a recession.  GDP fell at a rate of 0.9% after a 1.6% decline in the first quarter.  Most of the dip was driven by slower consumer spending and drops in business and residential investment.  Reade Pickert, economy reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for how we will still need official news from the National Bureau of Economic Research to determine if the recession is here.

Next, as interest rates are rising, companies are calling workers back to the office, and home prices expected to fall, Zoomtowns that drew in remote workers during the pandemic are showing that the housing market is cooling fast.  Boise, Idaho in particular is emblematic of this with its housing market currently overvalued by 69%.  Nicole Friedman, U.S. housing reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know as more houses are sitting on the market longer.

Finally, the new battleground for fast-food restaurants is chicken nuggets.  KFC will be testing new nuggets that could replace their popcorn chicken and Boston Market has rolled out their first nuggets that are roasted and not fried.  The industry is looking to boost profits by targeting younger Gen Z customers who love their chicky nuggies.  Jennifer Kingson, chief correspondent at Axios, joins us for the nugget wars.

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Two HIV patients have joined a very small group of patients who seem to have beaten the virus.  A 66-year-old man who received a transplant of stem cells with a genetic mutation that blocks HIV has no virus in his body and a woman in her 70s that was treated with retroviral drugs and immune boosting therapies is “functionally cured.”  Researchers are hoping that these cases will provide clues to a possible cure in the future.  Betsy McKay, senior writer at the WSJ, joins us for what to know.

Next, let’s talk about all those pandemic impulse buys you may be regretting.  It was a time when everyone had a lot of time on their hands and some extra money, so people bought Peloton bikes, roller skates, bread makers, even new homes or pets, but now that things have returned a little more to normal those things have hit the back burner.  Emily Stewart, senior correspondent at Vox, joins us for pandemic buyer’s remorse.

Finally, high inflation costs have sent businesses searching for new sources of revenue and greener way to deal with waste and it’s leading to some interesting new products.  Think compost made from crabs, vodka distilled from dairy waste, and soap made from bacon grease.  Harriet Torry, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how customers are reating to inflation’s funky byproducts.

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With much of President Biden’s legislative agenda stalled recently he is finally poised for some big wins in Congress.  The first major prescription drug legislation in nearly 20 years and a $50 billion bill to subsidize semiconductor chip manufacturing are two bills that have bipartisan support and appear to be on their way to passing.  Mike DeBonis, congressional reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for how Democrats hope these bills have big political payoffs.

Next, as inflation continues to push prices higher for everyone, businesses are looking to offset their increased costs by making products slightly smaller but keeping the same price.  It’s called shrinkflation, and if you don’t pay close enough attention, you could be missing out.  Laura Daily, contributor to The Washington Post, joins us for how to combat shrinkflation by looking at unit pricing and keeping an eye on tricky labeling.

Finally, the sober-curious movement is making its way into dating and more people are opting to go out without the drinks.  Social norms around drinking on dates have changed and people looking for more authentic connections.  They are also making sure to mention it on their online dating profiles.  Rachel Wolfe, consumer trends reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how younger adults are looking for more creative dates without the booze.

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