Month: January 2024

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Planet Money - The Maine Potato War of 1976

When you think of a potato, one state probably comes to mind: Idaho. But for much of American history, Maine was home to the nation's largest potato crop.

That status had changed by the 1970s, with the West growing more and more of the nation's potatoes. But Maine still had one distinct advantage: A privileged position in the commodities market. The New York Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest such marketplaces in the country, exclusively dealt in Maine potatoes. And two deep-pocketed Western potato kingpins weren't happy about it.

So the Westerners waged what's now called the Maine Potato War of 1976. Their battlefield was the futures market: A special type of marketplace, made up of hordes of screaming traders, where potatoes can be bought and sold before they're even planted.

The Westerners did something so bold – and so unexpected – that it brought not only the potato market, but the entire New York commodities exchange, to its knees.

Today on the show, how a war waged through futures contracts influenced the kind of potatoes we eat.

This episode was hosted by Dylan Sloan and Nick Fountain. This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Molly Messick, engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Offloading EVs, vacating offices and reaping windfalls

It's Indicators of the Week, that time each Friday when we look at three of the most fascinating numbers from the news. Today we explain why Hertz is trying to sell off part of its EV inventory, why office vacancy rates are still climbing and what Apple's class-action payout yielded one of our hosts.

Related Episodes:
What could break next? (Apple / Spotify)
How the South is trying to win the EV race (Apple / Spotify)

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The Gist - The Houthi Haircut

The Houthis are monstrous militants, which would be reason enough to dispatch them via military might. But also, think of the carbon savings! Plus, Israel defends itself from genocide charges. And we're joined once more by Donald G. McNeil Jr. to discuss his new book The Wisdom of Plagues, a zoonotic origin of Covid, if Anthony Fauci answers about gain-of-function research were accurate, and public health cowardice in the face of m(onkey) pox.


Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Daily Signal - Threat of Houthi Rebels, Jewish Students Sue Harvard, 64 Ways Biden Has Undermined Border Security | Jan. 12

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down:


  • The U.S. and U.K. carry out airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. 
  • House Speaker Mike Johnson releases a document detailing 64 ways the Biden administration has weakened America’s border. 
  • Jewish students at Harvard University sue their school.
  • Member of the Finnish parliament Päivi Räsänen is being dragged back to court after winning a significant religious freedom fight last year. 


Relevant Links


Document outlines 64 times Biden undermined border security: https://www.speaker.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Biden-Admin-Actions-Undermining-Border-Security.pdf  


Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/

Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription

 

Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcasts

Sign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda



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State of the World from NPR - The U.S. and U.K attack targets in Yemen: What It Means for Global Shipping

The series of strikes in Yemen were against the Houthis, an Iran-backed military group, that had been attacking military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, in what they said was retaliation for Israel's war in Gaza. We hear from our national security correspondent and a international trade expert on the strikes and their economic implications.

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Motley Fool Money - Activist Investors are Acting Up

Twilio’s co-founder and CEO steps down due to activist pressure, and Elliot Management’s $1B stake in Match means changes might be coming.


(00:21) Ron Gross and Emily Flippen discuss:

- The latest inflation numbers and why we shouldn’t bank on rate cuts yet

- Activist investor activity at Twilio and Match Group, and potential plans to take Docusign private.

- Big bank updates, a surprising pop from WD40, and things to watch heading into earnings season.


(19:11) Documentarian Chris Temple talks about his new movie This is Not Financial Advice and how parasocial relationships are impacting what people do with their money and the causes of growing financial nihilism among younger Americans.


(32:46) Ron and Emily break down two stocks on their radar: Despegar and On Holdings.


Stocks discussed: TWLO, MTCH, DOCU, BAC, WFC, JPM, C, WDFC, ONON, DESP


Host: Dylan Lewis

Guests: Ron Gross, Emily Flippen, Mary Long, Chris Temple

Engineers: Dan Boyd

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - MARKETS DAILY: CoinDesk Market Index Week in Review

CoinDesk Indices presents six notable market movement highlights from last week.

To get the show every day, follow the podcast here.

The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) functions as a benchmark for the performance of the digital asset market, delivering institutional quality information to digital asset investors. Today’s takeaways are provided by Tracy Stephens, senior index manager of CoinDesk Indices with additional analysis from Miguel Kudry, CEO of L1 Advisors. For more on the CMI you can visit: coindeskmarkets.com.

This episode was hosted by Noelle Acheson. “Markets Daily” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl. All original music by Doc Blust and Colin Mealey.

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