Nasdaq leads major U.S. indexes lower as the unemployment rate ticks up to 4.4% and oil prices surge to more than $90 a barrel. Plus: Gap shares slide on weak sales for its Athleta brand. Katherine Sullivan 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.
The conflict in Iran is on every investor’s mind as stocks seem to sink day after day. But panic is never the right answer and we discuss what we’re doing (or not doing) in today’s market. Then we deep dive into an unloved company, Disney.
Travis Hoium, Emily Flippen, and Lou Whiteman discuss:
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Reproductive technology is a modern miracle. It's made it possible for millions of people to become parents who might otherwise not have been able to. But growing demand has spawned a multibillion-dollar industry that’s largely unregulated in the U.S.
In our first episode looking at the wild west of the fertility industry, Ryan Knutson speaks with a three-time surrogate who ended up in a big legal battle. Nia Trent-Wilson was left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt after a family didn’t pay up after delivery. WSJ’s Katherine Long reports on how the industry fosters a dramatic power imbalance between surrogates and intended parents.
CrowdScience listener Ndanusa in Ghana, is gazing up at the stars, and wondering. Big philosophical questions, like… what keeps our universe in balance?
From our perspective here on earth, the universe seems like a vast, harmonious system, perpetuating eternally without change. But Ndanusa knows a thing or two about the stars, and he knows that they use up hydrogen as they burn, and release helium. And he’s wondering, is there something out there which does the opposite? Something that uses up helium, and produces hydrogen, to keep the universe in perfect, chemical equilibrium?
His question makes sense! Here on earth for example, animals use up oxygen and produce carbon dioxide, and plants do the opposite. A perfect cycle of production and consumption which (at least in theory), keeps our planet in perfect balance. Could the same kind of system be in place in the wider expanse of the universe?
His intriguing question leads presenter Alex Lathbridge on a journey into the blackness of deep space, the ancient origins of our universe, and the complex physics of the stars. He pops into the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory, just outside Accra, where astrophysicist Dr Proven Adzri helps him peer into the earliest few seconds of our universe, and find out what set the stars burning. And at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Linus Labik talks him through what’s going on at the atomic level. And in the deep blackness of the night, up above the tree canopy of Kakum National Park, he takes a peek at the stars for himself. Local guides Chris and Kwabena explain how much meaning there is behind the stars in the night sky.
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Producer: Emily Knight
Editor: Ben Motley
(Photo: Large orange and purple exploding orb - stock photo Credit: Soubrette via Getty Images)
Plus: Iran’s attack on the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export facility could be trouble for the global semiconductor industry. And DraftKings is working with ESPN to link March Madness brackets to sports betting accounts. Danny Lewis hosts.
Republicans and the Supreme Court have put basically no guardrails on Trump, so he started a global war that is costing taxpayers $1 billion a day. He shrugs about soldiers dying, and he lies about the school full of children that Americans likely killed. And he's downright giddy that because he signed off on all the bombing of Iran, he may get to choose the country's new leader. At the same time, one of the few occasions when Republicans stood up to him resulted in the firing of his first Cabinet member, the scandalous Kristi Noem. Plus, new job loss numbers show how Trump continues to hurt the working class, fuel prices are rising, the administration is again helping Russia in its war on Ukraine, Rand Paul may have an issue with Noem's chosen successor, and have the Dems' chances of retaking the Senate improved?
Neera Tanden, with the Center for American Progress, joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
Kristi Noem is out as DHS secretary; meanwhile, Cook County prosecutors dismiss 21 cases against local ICE protesters. Chicago is one step closer to video gambling in bars and restaurants and Jesse Jackson memorials conclude in Chicago.
In the Loop goes behind the headlines in the Weekly News Recap. Today’s panel: Mitch Armentrout of the Chicago Sun-Times, Geoff Buchholz of WBBM Newsradio, and Jake Sheridan of the Chicago Tribune.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Kristi Noem, his pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was leaving the agency amidst serious questions surrounding funding and the conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in cities around the country.
And, in global news, the world is still searching for answers in the wake of the U.S. and Israeli air strikes that hit Iran last weekend. New satellite images show the bombing of an Iranian elementary school hit more targets than initially believed, killing 165 people. And global leaders are wondering if the federal government’s meetings with Tehran officials ever had any hope of succeeding.
This week’s Texas primary elections were heated — and historic in terms of campaign spending. On today’s show, Blaise Gainey, state politics reporter for The Texas Newsroom, joins Kimberly to share his election takeaways and the economic issues that brought voters out to the polls. Plus, what does the Texas Railroad Commissioner have to do with oil and gas? And, we’ll pit Texas icons against each other during a round of This or That.
Our Washington Commentary Columnist Jamie Kirchick joins us to discuss Trump's firing of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and his new pick for the position, Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin. Plus, Tucker Carlson's newest antisemitic conspiracy theory involving Chabad, and the Russian connection to the Iran war.