When revenue grows, hiring grows — usually. But in November, retail sector job cuts were up nearly 140% year over year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in spite of strong consumer spending. What gives? Mostly, more automation. Also in this episode: Medium-term bonds send hints about Fed interest rate decisions, an AI bubble burst will come with new jargon, and small business owner optimism is up.
Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.
Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.
The philosopher discusses The Book of Memory: How We Become Who We Are, exploring how recollection constructs identity, coherence, and the personas we inhabit. He explains why memory is less an archive than an act of ongoing authorship, shaped by emotion, imagination, and the stories we rehearse. The conversation traces the boundary between what we remember and what we invent. Also: art-heist incompetence from Brazil to France and in The Spiel a reckoning with how visual framing distorts our understanding of the Venezuelan airstrike scandal.
Rare-earth elements help power our everyday electrical devices, and that’s because most batteries are made with minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. As of now, China has the largest reserve of these minerals. But some mining companies are eyeing the deep sea’s floor, says Marketplace contributor Dan Ackerman, because such rare earths form organically way down there. Plus, the ethical concerns that come with this deep-sea mining.
Venezuela dominates the headlines, but very little attention is paid to what life is like inside the country.
In September, the Trump administration began a series of strikes targeting what U.S. officials call "narcoterrorists" in small vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
Those strikes are ongoing and have killed more than 80 people. Then, in October, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
She's been in hiding since last year, when Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in an election widely seen as fraudulent.
Machado is expected to receive her award on Wednesday, in Oslo. And if she does, she might not be let back into her country.
Machado, who supports the Trump administration’s campaign in the region, says the end of the Maduro regime is imminent.
While the world is focused on Oslo and María Corina Machado's Nobel Peace Prize. We wanted to get the view from inside her country. We speak with a journalist in Venezuela about what daily life is like.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Karen Zamora & Matt Ozug with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
In an era of World War II revisionism, it’s worth remembering what really led to Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 84 years ago on Dec. 7, 1941.
Victor Davis Hanson breaks down the real context behind the attack, why Japan miscalculated so badly, the myths that still distort this history, and how Pearl Harbor became the beginning of Japan’s greatest strategic blunder on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”
“Why did they attack? They said that they did not want to attack. They were in the process of negotiating a peace settlement. They said that we had cut off their oil exports. And we had because we had no other mechanism to convince them to get out of China, it was not their territory, to get out of Korea, to get out of Southeast Asia, and to not absorb the Dutch East Indies.
“They had refused on all of those accounts and said, yet, we will find a peaceful solution, as they planned the attack. The attack happened at seven in the morning, deliberately, on a Sunday morning when people were either at church or still asleep from Saturday night partying. And they came out of the rising sun. Two waves. And they destroyed four battleships and injured, or just—I don't wanna say injured, they were inanimate objects. But they disabled four that sunk to the shallow bottom of Pearl Harbor.”
Are our elections more secure today than they were a year ago? Join the Federalist Elections Team, including Elle Purnell, Shawn Fleetwood, Brianna Lyman, Beth Brelje, Maisey Jefferson, and Federalist Radio Hour Host Matt Kittle, as they review the most consequential election integrity news of 2025 and examine the rising threats to the safety and security of the 2026 midterms.
You can find more Federalist election integrity coverage here.
The Federalist is a nonprofit, and we depend entirely on our listeners and readers — not corporations. If you value fearless, independent journalism, please consider a tax-deductible gift today at TheFederalist.com/donate. Your support keeps us going.
P.M. Edition for Dec. 9. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” last week to prioritize the company’s ChatGPT chatbot after a competitive threat from Google. WSJ reporter Sam Schechner explains what drove that decision and the implications it could have for ChatGPT, the world’s dominant chatbot. Plus, what investors expect as the Federal Reserve kicks off its last meeting of the year ahead of tomorrow’s rate decision. And why is it so hard to get a clear picture of the economic health of U.S. consumers? WSJ’s Telis Demos says one reason is the rise of a lending alternative: private credit. Alex Ossola hosts.
$70 billion can get a lot… but in the case of Netflix, it can’t buy anything better than Warner Bros Discovery. Host Emily Flippen is joined by Jason Hall and Dan Caplinger to break down what it means for investors, streamers, and how to evaluate mega-mergers to determine when they’re accretive or dilutive.
They cover:
- What Netflix is actually buying - and why Warner Bros said “yes” to Netflix over Paramount and Comcast.
- Whether or not this smart capital allocation or peak hubris on the part of Netflix
- A framework for judging mega-mergers in your own portfolio and how to evaluate when they do (or don’t!) make sense
Companies discussed: WBD, NFLX, DIS, PARA, CMCSA
Host: Emily Flippen, Dan Caplinger, Jason Hall
Producer: Anand Chokkavelu
Engineer: Dan Boyd
Disclosure: Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, “TMF”) do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within advertisements. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement.
We’re committed to transparency: All personal opinions in advertisements from Fools are their own. The product advertised in this episode was loaned to TMF and was returned after a test period or the product advertised in this episode was purchased by TMF. Advertiser has paid for the sponsorship of this episode.
The mayor of a city in the state of Michoacan, Mexico launched a full-frontal assault on organized crime in his community. Last month he was assassinated by a lone gunman. His death has lead to a protests across Mexico and calls for more to be done to combat drug cartels and corruption.
