Last week Elon Musk revealed that he had been through the Social Security Agencies database and found millions of people aged over 100.
The vast majority of these people are dead, but their accounts and social security numbers remain live.
Elon claimed that he had uncovered ?the biggest fraud ever? prompting some news outlets to speculate that billions of dollars might be being paid to these dead people every month.
But is it true? We look at whether this is new information and what the data actually tells us.
Produced and presented by: Lizzy McNeill
Series producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: James Beard
Why are some people able to talk with just about anyone—about almost anything? One answer may lie in the questions we ask—and how deeply we ask them. Stick with us here…
In this episode, host Charles Duhigg examines why deep questions are so powerful and how to ask them in everyday life.
He talks to Nick Epley, psychology professor at the University of Chicago and lifelong researcher of deep questions. And we catch up with Mandy Len Catron, 10 years after she wrote the viral New York Times article “The 36 Questions That Lead to Love.”
This Slate miniseries dives into the art and science of meaningful conversations, inspired by Duhigg’s bestselling book, Supercommunicators.
Supercommunicators was produced by Derek John and Sophie Summergrad.
There's this cautionary tale, in the finance world, that nearly any trader can tell you. It's about placing too much confidence in math and models. It's the story of Long Term Capital Management.
The story begins back in the 90s. A group of math nerds figured out how to use a mathematical model to identify opportunities in the market, tiny price discrepancies, that they could bet big on. Those bets turned into big profits, for them and their clients. They were the toast of Wall Street; it looked like they'd solved the puzzle of risk-taking. But their overconfidence in their strategy led to one of the biggest financial implosions in U.S. history, and destabilized the entire market.
On today's show, what happens when perfect math meets the mess of human nature? And what did we learn (and what did we not learn) from the legendary tale of Long Term Capital Management?
This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Mary Childs and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
Los Angeles Mayor sacks fire chief following devastating wildfires. More layoffs for federal workers. The man accused of killing United Health Care CEO appears in court. Matt Pieper is in for Jennifer Keiper.
Following the firings of a slew of employees at federal agencies responsible for things like fighting pandemics and taking care of nuclear weapons, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire key positions.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says that he and his Republican colleagues are moving forward with their plans for a budget, despite Trump endorsing a competing plan put forward by the House.
Meanwhile, European leaders gathered in Paris this week to discuss what the Trump administration's future relationship with the continent looks like.
And following weeks of a shaky ceasefire, Hamas has offered to return all of its hostages to Israel in return for a permanent truce.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Rodgers joins to break down the suspension of criminal charges in the case of NYC Mayor Eric Adams. Plus, in The Spiel, we keep track of the growing list of court rulings against Trump—along with the few he's actually won.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner is just a few weeks on the job, but he’s already saving money for American taxpayers. The HUD secretary spoke with The Daily Signal from CPAC today.
It took an all-night vote-a-rama, but finally at 4:45 a.m. the U.S. Senate approved a $340 billion budget reconciliation bill. The final vote was 52 to 48, with just one Republican—Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky—voting against the measure.
President Trump met with the nation’s governors at the White House today, and he used the occasion to call out Maine Gov. Janet Mills over the issue of male athletes competing against women in sports.
Plus, our news flash:
Sen. Josh Hawley reintroduced legislation to assign a special inspector general to investigate U.S. funding for Ukraine.
Hamas handed over the bodies of four deceased Israeli hostages Thursday, but one of them was not Shiri Bibas.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ upcoming trial date was vacated, but Judge Dale Hol refused to dismiss the federal charges.
President Trump will close out the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. The Daily Signal will be at CPAC to cover his remarks.
Thanks for making The Daily Signal Podcast your trusted source for the day’s top news. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and never miss an episode.
The key in retail right now? Multiple business segments that can carry companies through reduced discretionary spending.
(00:21) Asit Sharma and Jason Moser discuss:
- Walmart’s approach to tariffs, and what their results – paired with earnings from Etsy – say about the state of the consumer.
- How MercadoLibre’s multi-pronged strategy keeps pushing it to new highs
- The real opportunities the market is giving investors with Wingstop and Block, and why investors should continue to be careful with China’s large tech companies.
(19:11) To celebrate his 500th Rule Breaker Investing episode, Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner and friends Randi Zuckerberg and Morgan Housel talk about some of the enduring lessons from their time in college, where they look for true insight in the world, and a fun way to use AI for perspective.
That's just one of the things President Trump has said about one of the most high profile departments in federal government — a department Trump says he wants to eliminate.
Trump says he wants to save money, and kill policies he doesn't like. Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE has already started cutting funding from the department.
The Trump administration wants the Department of Education gone. But can they get rid of it, and what could be lost in the process?
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