From social media and dynamic pricing to meme stocks and AI hype, gamification has taken over our lives—and a recent op-ed argues that it’s even spread into our economy, driven by Trump. Nate and Maria discuss the psychology behind the “casino economy” and why speculation and risk are so addicting. They talk about what it means when governments, businesses, and individuals lean into risk even as buffers against bad bets shrink—and why it’s easy not to object until it’s already too late.
All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.
- Occulture, Technomancy vs Tradition, and the Role of Magick in 2025
- The Shady Business of Lethal Injection: The Heart Stops Reluctantly
- The Shady Business of Lethal Injection: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
- The Shady Business of Lethal Injection: The Quality of Mercy
- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #40
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Air travelers navigate through delays and cancellations on the day the FAA is reducing the number of flights at airports because of the government shutdown. Senate Democrats propose a compromise to end the shutdown...which was promptly dismissed by Republicans. NTSB reviews audio of the cockpit voice recorder from the UPS plane that crashed in a fireball in Louisville.
Meanwhile, a top Israeli military lawyer was incarcerated this week after she leaked footage of Israeli soldiers allegedly sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner. Now, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are working to combat what he calls the “most severe public relations attack that the state of Israel has experienced.”
In our news wrap Friday, Cornell University announced a $60 million deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding and end investigations into the school, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country has received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy and Denmark 's government announced a plan that would ban social media access for anyone under the age of 15. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
The former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, has been analyzing the rise of autocracies and the threats they pose to democracy for decades. Amna Nawaz sat down with McFaul to discuss his new book, “Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.” PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
Consumer sentiment — as in, how everyday people feel about the economy — fell to a low not seen since 2022, according to the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers. The decline was consistent across demographics, except among the wealthiest Americans (as measured by volume of stock market holdings). In other words, economic mood just became another k-shaped indicator. Also in this episode: Colleges shutter satellite campuses to cut costs and small and midsize businesses shrink their headcounts.
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On today’s edition of Economics on Tap, we’re heading to Virginia! The state held major elections this week, and affordability was top of mind for voters. VPM News reporter Patrick Larsen joins Kimberly to debrief the election results and explain why rising energy costs were a key campaign issue—and what data centers have to do with it. Plus, we’ll play a round of Half Full/Half Empty!
The president of the Pacific island nation, Palau, considers whether COP is still worth it. Also on the programme, thousands of flights have been cancelled or delayed in the US on the first day of reduced air traffic caused by the government shutdown; and, the so-called "Google Maps" of Roman Roads -- the most extensive digital map that reveals hundreds of thousand of kilometres of old roads.
(Photo: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez embrace next to European Council President Antonio Costa and Para state Governor Helder Barbalho as delegates attending the Belem Climate Summit ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) gather for a family photo, in Belem, Brazil, November 7, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado)
