The Daily Dive

The clothing industry is the last trillion-dollar sector that hasn’t been fully automated.  Many apparel makers have also been hesitant to talk about automation because of the ramifications and possible loss of jobs.  Still, there is a quiet effort underway to develop machines that can automate some parts of jeans factories and hopefully bring more manufacturing back from overseas.  Tim Aeppel, reporter at Reuters, joins us for how robots are coming for your blue jeans.

Next, as more of Gen Z enters the workplace and communications increasingly happen online and in text formats, something is getting lost in translation.  Older colleges are having a hard time keeping up with Gen Z’s use of emojis, slang, and even punctuation. Danielle Abril, “Tech at Work” writer at for the Washington Post, joins us for how workplace language is changing with younger employees.

Finally, when is a bumblebee a fish?  When a unanimous ruling by a California state appeals court deems it so.  Public-interest groups had asked the state to include four types of bumblebees on its list of endangered species, but the 50-year-old law only applied to birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, or reptiles.  Because the legal definition of a fish was vague and had been used to include other animals in separate instances, the bee was added to the list. Matt Grossman, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for the legal wrangling it took to get there.

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Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder and former CEO of crypto company FTX, has been arrested in the Bahamas and charged by federal officials with eight counts of fraud, conspiracy, campaign finance law violations and money laundering.  He is being accused of funneling customer money into his hedge fund to make investments and loans to himself.  About $8 billion in client funds have gone missing with only $1 billion being recovered.  The difficulty there is that there was no adequate record-keeping as it was found out the multibillion-dollar company was using QuickBooks.  Dan Primack, business editor at Axios, joins us for what to know.

Next, a significant breakthrough when it comes to fusion energy, something that could one-day provide us with unlimited clean power.  Researchers at the National Ignition Facility were able to achieve what is called ignition, getting more energy out of a reaction than what they put in.  The team fired 192 laser beams at a small fuel pellet and produced a small amount of net gain energy.  While this is an important step in proof-of-concept of the science, it is still a long time away from being a commercially viable energy source.  The lasers and equipment used would have to be drastically upgraded to produce more energy.  Umair Irfan, senior correspondent at Vox, joins us for this fusion energy breakthrough.

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The labor market remains tight, and employers still need workers to fill their ranks.  In order to speed up the process, some companies are dropping a once crucial step: the interview.  Places like UPS, Home Depot, and The Gap are dropping it for mostly hourly positions and in places with high turnover and warehousing.  Some are offering jobs 25 minutes after applying and others are making offers 24-48 hours after applying.  After exhausting other methods to attract workers, some are going with speed.  Sarah Chaney Cambon, labor economics reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know.

Next, the condiment business is hyper competitive and one of the major players in the spice game, McCormick, has been making acquisitions to take over the world of hot sauce.  They bought Frank's Red Hot and Cholula Hot Sauce in deals worth millions of dollars each.  The past few years have proven to be beneficial for McCormick as many people stayed in and cooked more at home, but they were not immune to supply chain issues that affected the industry when it came to acquiring key ingredients.  Austin Carr, features writer at Bloomberg BusinessWeek, joins us for the fight for hot sauce supremacy.

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Shakeup for the Democrats in the Senate.  After clinching a 51-49 majority with Raphael Warnock’s win in Georgia, Sen. Krysten Sinema announced she would be leaving the Democratic party and register as an Independent.  While the impact may be minimal when trying to pass legislation, it means a lot when we look ahead to 2024 and how the two parties will fight to win that seat.  Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill, joins us for how this decision plays out, Kari Lake files an election lawsuit in Arizona, and the big fight of the week, Congress struggling to fund the government and avoid a shutdown.

Next, a look into the hyper competitive world of body building and the extremes it takes to get those outrageous physiques.  There is hours and hours of training, strict diets, and then there are the drugs… steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.  It is leaving athletes with irreparable damage to their bodies, with some having heart problems, needing kidney transplants, and worst-case, death.  Jenn Abelson, investigative reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for how the extreme sport of bodybuilding is pushing some to the edge.

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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 Biden administration stuck a deal with Russia to free WNBA star Brittney Griner.  In exchange for her freedom, the U.S. released arms dealer Vitkor Bout, who is known as the “Merchant of Death.”  This caps a 10 month ordeal for Griner after she was arrested for possession hash oil cartridges in Russia.  Alex Ward, national security reporter at Politico, joins us for what to know about her release and what happens to Paul Whelan another American in Russian custody for espionage chargers.

Next, the chip manufacturing boom in the U.S. is just beginning.  This week President Biden toured a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant in Arizona that is tripling its investments to build new semiconductor chips.  As the relationship between China, Taiwan, and the U.S. continues to be strained, we are rushing to build our own local supply.  Matt Phillips, markets correspondent at Axios, joins us for how the U.S. semiconductor industry is just starting.

Finally, more businesses are getting rid of their customer service reps you can reach by phone and increasingly offering options such as chat boxes to resolve issues.  For many companies, it is cost prohibitive to maintain staff just to answer calls and the result is they are making their numbers harder to find or getting rid of them all together.  Rachel Wolfe, consumer trends reporter at the WSJ, joins us for why connecting with a human is almost impossible.

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There’s a new food category coming to your grocery stores… “thaw and eat” foods.  The makers of Uncrustables and Hot Pockets are both offering products that can be ready to eat in a couple of hours with no microwave required.  Think turkey and cheese or ham and cheese sandwiches.  These are being targeted to adults who want grabbable, no-mess bites.  Jennifer Kingson, chief correspondent at Axios joins us for what to know as food companies are throwing more resources at launching this new frozen category.

Next, the Good Morning America cheating scandal is proving that people still love an old-fashioned tabloid drama.  While other scandals have been met with lots of negative emotion, there are some in the public that seem to be rooting for anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes.  They are both temporarily sidelined for now, but ratings have been up since the scandal surfaced.  Aja Romano, culture reporter at Vox, joins us for what to know.

Finally, the data shows that married couples hold four times as much wealth as unmarried couples who live together.  The leading thought as to why, is because they pool their resources together.  Other research is now showing that couples who do combine finances are also happier.  Julia Carpenter, personal finance reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what joining finances does in a relationship.

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One of the biggest components of inflation is starting to ease.  Housing costs are coming down, but it could take some time before it shows up in official inflation numbers.  Economists say that increases in rents and home prices will remain low as the economy has slowed and mortgage rates remain elevated.  Shelter inflation is one of those things that tend to be sticky, which means that once it starts moving in any direction it is slow to change back.  Gwynn Guilford, economics reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know.

Next, what do you do with an iconic Los Angeles landmark that became too old to operate normally and too much of a treasure to tear down?  LA County would like to turn the old General Hospital building into affordable and homeless housing, but to do that, there is a ton of work to be done.  The county has already committed $250 million to removing hazardous materials, upgrading electrical and water systems, installing air conditioning, fire sprinklers and so much more.  The eventual goal will be to have “Healthy Village” with as many as 1,400 units with beds for housing, and medical and mental health care.  Doug Smith, senior writer at the LA Times, joins us for the future of LA’s General Hospital.

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The hot weight-loss drug Wegovy is in short supply and high demand.  The drug has proven to help people lose as much as 15% of their weight by suppressing appetite, but the company expected a more gradual adoption of the drug and has lost out on a ton of potential cash.  Selling only $700 million to date, analysts had projected $2 billion in sales for 2021 and 2022.  Peter Loftus, pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for why you can’t find Wegovy.

Next, the Real ID requirement for air travel has been delayed once again.  Americans will have two more years, until May 2025 to go to the DMV and provide the proper paperwork.  The deadline was extended to help DMVs with pandemic related setbacks.  To date, only about 49% of people have gotten their updated IDs.  Luz Lazo, transportation reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for what to know.

Finally, a pair of marijuana bills may be attached to “must-pass” year-end bills in Congress.  A bipartisan group of senators will be trying to add the SAFE Banking Act to allow cannabis businesses to access loans and open bank accounts and the HOPE Act, which would provide grants to states that expunge former convictions.  Sophia Cai, congressional reporter at Axios, joins us for the plan to pass pot legislation.

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