The consumer economy is showing signs of stress and strain. Lending platforms report an increasing number of “buy now, pay later” users falling behind on payments. “Buy now, pay later” refers to the short-term loans and missed installments are a sign of faltering financial health especially in the low-income working class— who are being confronted with rising inflation, cuts in SNAP and the Trump administration’s move to collect on federal student loans.
After Elon Musk publicly criticized Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” for overspending, a once-productive relationship spiraled into mutual recriminations, accusations, and veiled threats.
Victor Davis Hanson breaks down the sudden, bizarre, and historically unprecedented rupture between two powerful figures who, until recently, appeared to be allies in reshaping America’s economic and political direction on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
“ So, what was it all about? People have given all sorts of different explanations. One of them is that the new big, beautiful bill will phase out subsidies for all electric vehicles. And given Tesla’s attacks on—people attacking stations, chargers, dealers, individual drivers, the bad publicity the Democrats ginned up, he can’t afford that right now. … He’s angry about this bill. And then, when Trump sort of brushed it off, he went DEFCON 1.
“Elon Musk needs Donald Trump for the space exploration, for a fair shake on his business deals. And Donald Trump is aided by Elon Musk, especially the SpaceX. So, it’s a mutually beneficiary relationship, not just for both of them, but for us, the American people.”
👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com
It’s the fourth day in the war between Iran and Israel.
Many questions hang in the air. Chief among them: Will Israel be able to fulfill its main goal in the war—to end Iran’s nuclear program? Will it put troops on the ground to do so, specifically to blow up Iran’s most important nuclear site? Or will the U.S. get involved? Will Trump provide the bunker-busting bombs necessary to destroy the facility at Fordow?
Will the regime fall—and if so, what will come next? How does this struggle fit into the much, much larger geopolitical conflict between the U.S. and China?
So today, I have two experts to break it all down: Niall Ferguson and Dexter Filkins.
Niall Ferguson is a historian and Free Press columnist who just wrote in our pages, “Israel’s attack restores the credibility of the West.” Dexter Filkins is a longtime foreign correspondent who has reported from Iran. He is a contributor at The New Yorker, has covered this topic for years, and is the author of The Forever War.
Massive protests in LA (not to mention many more US cities) prompt the federal government to send in marines and activate the California National Guard -- without the consent of the governor. Japan pays people to stand still on escalators. Germany plans rapid bunker expansion amid fears of Russian attacks. All this and more in this week's strange news segment.
Thousands of people gathered in Daley Plaza on Saturday, June 14, to protest the Trump administration’s policies, including his mass deportation efforts. Reset sits down with WBEZ immigration reporter Adriana Cardona-Maguigad and Strategic Coordinator Organized Communities Against Deportations Antonio Gutierrez to discuss the latest.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Walmart and Amazon are looking into stablecoins and two dividend stocks to get on your radar!
Jason Moser and Matt Argersinger discuss:
- Why Walmart and Amazon are considering launching their own stablecoins.
- Roku and Amazon expand their partnership.
- Two dividend stocks Matt thinks are worth getting on your radar.
Tickers mentioned: WMT, AMZN, ROKU, TTD, OC, WHR
Host: Jason Moser
Guest: Matt Argersinger
Producer: Ricky Mulvey
Engineer: Dan Boyd
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Dr. Melyn McKay of Coala Pay explains how blockchain rails are transforming humanitarian aid by enabling instant, secure payments to partners in the world's most challenging locations.
Dr. Melyn McKay brings 15 years of humanitarian aid experience to her role as founder of Coala Pay, a blockchain-based payment platform revolutionizing how aid money moves globally. In this conversation, she shares her journey from carrying cash in war zones to building technology that enables instant, transparent aid disbursements through stablecoins and smart contracts. McKay discusses the massive inefficiencies plaguing the traditional aid sector, the trust challenges preventing more direct giving and how Coala Pay is scaling across conflict zones to ensure aid funding reaches local partners safely and efficiently.
In contrast to the saddest military junta parade in history, millions of patriotic people took to the streets on Saturday to defend American values and principles against Trump. But the deflated birthday boy now wants to ramp up the militarization of our largest cities on a completely partisan basis to achieve his mass deportation. Meanwhile, folks on the right are showing a vicious irresponsibility about the assassination in Minnesota—Mike Lee in particular should have his head examined since he's showing a complete disregard for the truth. Plus, Terry Moran discusses his firing from ABC, his truth-telling about Stephen Miller, and how Trump is mean, but not that tough.
Terry Moran and Bill Kristol join Tim Miller. show notes
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