Changes are afoot at the Federal Reserve: President Donald Trump will name a new Fed chair in the coming year, and the central bank’s job could get complicated as the economy absorbs the full impact of new tariffs. In this episode, why Fed independence is crucial and where the federal funds rate is headed in 2026. Plus: Families weigh the cost of child care, the BLS remains behind on data releases, and state farm bureaus offer cheaper health insurance to farmers — with a catch.
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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.
Fifty years ago, special education in America was born.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the landmark law known today as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.
It guaranteed all children with disabilities the right to a "free appropriate public education."
Now, amid the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, there's growing concern that protections for students with disabilities are in jeopardy.
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This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Jeanette Woods and Nicole Cohen. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
We’ve all heard the Democrat talking points ad nauseam—from the Epstein files to Obamacare, from Trump’s health and MRI to inflation, affordability, and Biden-era policies.
But what’s the strategy behind focusing so heavily on their GOP opponents instead of the bigger picture? Victor Davis Hanson says it’s “just an excuse for the lack of a serious agenda”—and Democrat voters don’t seem to mind. Hanson breaks down these Democrat narratives and what it means for 2026 and beyond on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.”
“Do they say, ‘Here's my alternate plan for immigration. I want one million, two million, three million illegal. I want to go back to the Biden [administration] , two million illegal aliens a year’? No, nothing. ‘Obamacare: Here's how we're going to solve it so we don't need subsidies. A, B, C.’ Nothing.”
(0:00) Introduction
(0:24) The Epstein Files Controversy
(0:07) Obamacare and Government Shutdowns
(3:03) Trump’s Health and Media Narratives
(3:52) Affordability and Economic Policies
(5:00) Lack of Democratic Initiatives
(6:55) Conclusion
Plus: Dollar General shares surged after the discount retailer lifted its full-year outlook. And Snowflake stock tumbled following slower quarterly revenue growth. Danny Lewis hosts.
An artificial-intelligence tool assisted in the making of this episode by creating summaries that were based on Wall Street Journal reporting and reviewed and adapted by an editor.
We’ve seen some sky high valuations among AI companies lately, and it appears that Anthropic wants to use investor optimism to go public as early as next year. Competition among Anthropic, OpenAI, and many other artificial intelligence companies is heating up and could have profound impacts on investing decisions.
Tyler Crowe, Matt Frankel, and Jon Quast discuss:
- Anthropic’s IPO
- The competitive landscape of the large language models
- Klarna’s Buy Now, Pay Later offering looking more and more like a credit card
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The U.S. wine industry hasn’t had it this bad since Prohibition. WSJ’s Laura Cooper reports from Sonoma County, California, a major region for American wine production, on why growers are drowning in unsold grapes, shrinking demand and trade-war fallout. Jessica Mendoza hosts.
Trump’s use of his pardon power is downright crazy, and that’s not even counting his rescue of a convicted drug kingpin. He’s also sabotaging his own redistricting plans in Texas by pardoning Rep. Henry Cuellar, and wasting taxpayer money absolving a sports executive who was indicted by his own Justice Department earlier this year. Meanwhile, down in NOLA, two men with a Napoleon complex are unleashing misery of the psychic and economic kind on the city through its ICE and Border Patrol operation. Plus, someone needs to scour the immigration history of Phil Mickelson’s family, and why is Tucker so obsessed with the gays?
Hidalgo, Jimothy and Pure prompt Ben, Matt and Dylan to dive even deeper into the bizarre world of hidden structures underground -- including bunkers and top-secret missile siloes, just waiting for that launch command. Pastor Banks reaches out with a deep conversation about the nature of the soul, and Calamity Chris confirms the ancient folklore of dragon's teeth. All this and more in this week's listener mail segment.
In this episode, Rivers and Sam are hangin' out at Disgraceland Studios with our ol' pal and the pride of Lookout Mountain, comedian John-Michael Bond! We kick this one off by downing a reality TV couple's very coconutty energy drink. Then we talk about some of the most morally dubious reality TV shows of all time. After that, we sample a bit of the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary's erotic poetry. Plus, our big dumb president is making his Hollywood dreams come true in reuniting the whole gang from the film Rush Hour. John-Michael takes us on a tour of his hometown of Chattanooga, TN, and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" is our JAM OF THE WEEK! Give us a listen, folks! Follow John-Michael Bond on Instagram @JohnMichaelsMistakes Follow the show on social media @TheGoodsPod. Rivers is @RiversLangley Sam is @SlamHarter Carter is @Carter_Glascock Subscribe on Patreon for UNCUT video versions of the podcast as well as TONS of bonus content! http://patreon.com/TheGoodsPod Pick up a Goods from the Woods t-shirt here: http://prowrestlingtees.com/TheGoodsPod
