TikTok was on the verge of being sold to a non-Chinese company when Trump rolled out his new tariff plans. Now everything is thrown into uncertainty and the company has until mid-June to find another buyer—or be banned in the United States.

Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times reporter covering TikTok, technology and emerging media companies.

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The same day  Nintendo was officially introducing its latest console, Donald Trump was announcing his new global tariff plan. As a result, gamers were treated to an early preview of what a world bound up in tariffs would look like. Spoiler: It’ll probably cost you a lot more.

Guest: Jason Koebler, a co-founder of 404 Media

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Elon Musk’s polarizing persona and antics have created a toxic cloud around his companies, particularly Tesla. But despite that, Wall Street can’t seem to quit him. Why? 

Guest: Felix Salmon, host of Slate Money and chief financial correspondent for Axios.

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This week, DOGE set its sights  and scythe on the Department of Health and Human Services, with a goal of cutting 10,000 federal workers, once again raising the question: what’s their endgame here?

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer for WIRED

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Ketamine has gone from a recreational psychedelic to an approved treatment, and it has caught on in Silicon Valley in a big way. Are the long-term effects of using ketamine—recreationally or therapeutically—sufficiently known? Are we witnessing them right now?

Guest: Shayla Love, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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Memecoins are a niche type of cryptocurrency with no intrinsic value. But they remain a popular form of crypto, as seen earlier this year with President Trump’s own memecoin. And if it worked for him, then why not our little podcast? 

Guests: 

Azeem Khan, advisor to UNICEF’s crypto fund and cocreator of the blockchain Morph.

Nitish Pahwa, Slate staff writer covering business and tech.

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During his first term, President Trump and Jeff Bezos openly sparred with each other. During this second administration, though, it seems like Bezos is trying to endear himself - and his companies - to the White House. So what changed?

Guest: Dana Mattioli, reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the author of The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power.

Special thanks to David Maraniss.

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The National Institutes of Health is the primary engine of biomedical research around the world, which makes the Trump administration's dramatic cuts to its grant program both confusing and potentially incredibly harmful.

Guest: Katherine J. Wu, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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With a Trump-friendly Supreme Court and a contentious relationship with the press, could Donald Trump follow through on his 2016 campaign goal of making it easier to sue media companies for libel—and imperil America’s free press?

Guest: David Enrich, business investigations editor at the New York Times and author of “Murder The Truth.”

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The public’s anger towards Elon Musk and DOGE has found an outlet in the form of Musk’s car company Tesla. How long can the company put up with a sinking reputation and stock price? 

Guest: Pranshu Verma, tech reporter for the Washington Post. 

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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