There’s a lawsuit right now that’s testing the question of whether AI chatbots are protected by the First Amendment. And before we get into it, a warning that our story today includes discussion of suicide. Marketplace’s Nova Safo spoke with Jane Bambauer, law professor at the University of Florida, who’s been following this case.
Marketplace All-in-One - Labor force participation dropped last month
The latest jobs report is out Friday, and overall it’s pretty middling — some details are good news; others not so much. One data point sounding economic alarms? The labor force participation rate, which fell to 62.4% in May after several years of general growth since the height of the pandemic. In this episode, we explain what’s going on. Plus: E-commerce exporters in China describe the “rollercoaster” of keeping up with tariffs, and California’s Central Valley experiments with agricultural innovation.
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Marketplace All-in-One - Some fraying in the job market
Call it an "it could have been worse" jobs report. In May, 139,000 more people drew paychecks, which is higher than expected. Job growth was up in sectors like teaching and health care, but immigration policy is hurting hiring in construction and retail. What sort of picture does this paint of the economy? And later: The BBC's James Graham explores what it takes to shut down a fraudulent e-commerce website.
Marketplace All-in-One - Lessons in corporate governance from the Trump-Musk spat
It's a public breakup of sorts: Elon Musk thinks President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" is bloated and financially destructive. In response, Trump is threatening moves that will hurt Musk's companies including SpaceX and Tesla. We'll discuss what it says about how companies manage their CEOs. Plus, try not to finish all the popcorn before the movie starts. AMC says it will show even more ads ahead of feature films starting in July.
Marketplace All-in-One - A global crackdown on social media money gurus begins
From the BBC World Service: Financial regulators from the United Kingdom, Australia and the United Arab Emirates are teaming up to crack down on questionable financial advice on social media, targeting so-called "finfluencers." Then, India’s central bank has made its steepest rate cut in five years. And, how can you spot if a website is fraudulent and what can you do to take it down? We take a look at scam websites.
Marketplace All-in-One - Bytes: Week in Review: A bet to make AI less human, and more
Yoshua Bengio, one of the so-called godfathers of AI, wants it to be less human. Plus, a federal judge temporarily blocked a law in Florida that would ban kids under 14 from getting social media accounts.
But first, Meta announced an energy deal with one of the country's biggest operators of nuclear reactors. Marketplace’s Nova Safo is joined by Jewel Burks Solomon, managing partner at the venture capital firm Collab Capital, to break down these tech stories from the week.
Marketplace All-in-One - Churn goes the labor market
Unemployment filings and layoffs are rising, and private sector hiring hit a two-year low, recent reports show. Is it just healthy turnover or should we be worried about the direction the labor market is headed? For now, analysts are split. Also in this episode: Reddit sues an AI firm for scraping its user data and Kai spends more time in Utah County with ADP’s Nela Richardson exploring the obstacles and opportunities that come with a young population.
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.
Marketplace All-in-One - Some trade deficit whiplash
The trade deficit — the difference between what the U.S. imports and what it exports — shrank by the most ever recorded in a single month in April. That news follows the largest widening of the trade deficit on record in the first quarter. We'll unpack what to make of it all. Also, service sector activity falls as tariffs take a bite, and predictive contracts raise questions around gambling regulation.
Marketplace All-in-One - A creative way to get federal money sent back
Expect the White House to keep trying to claw back money that Congress appropriated and that the Trump administration is supposed to spend. Administration officials think they’ve found a loophole in the law that runs out the clock on federal funding through a process known as rescission. We'll hear more. Plus, a group of Altadena homeowners who lost houses to this year’s wildfires are banding together to try to keep rebuilding costs down.
Marketplace All-in-One - India takes the U.S. to task over tariffs
From the BBC World Service: India formally takes its dispute with the U.S. to the World Trade Organization, challenging Washington’s global tariffs on cars. Then, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia work to stop Russia's fleet of illegal oil tankers from passing through the Baltic Sea. And later, students at the University of Havana in Cuba boycott classes over a sharp hike in mobile internet fees, and the Nintendo Switch 2 launches worldwide.