This week, Amazon speeds up delivery even more. Plus, will BuzzFeed stay in business?
But first, Gecko, a robotics startup, landed a $71 million contract with the U.S. Navy. The 13-year-old Pittsburgh-based company says it'll be using its drones and wall-climbing robots to help find defects on ships. Then, it will use artificial intelligence to model current and future structural issues.
Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Anita Ramaswamy, financial analysis columnist at The Information, about all these headlines for this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”
After the end of a near 17-year legal battle between popstar Katy Perry and fashion designer Katie Perry, the Unexpected Elements team has been inspired to explore the question at the heart of the case – what's in a name?
First, we hear how marmosets use their calls as a way of naming which friend they’re talking to. Then, we discover why a phenomenon known as auditory pareidolia means you can’t necessarily believe your ears.
We're then joined by David Kaiser, professor of physics and history of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who explains just how hard it is to put physics into words.
Also, the disappearance of indigenous languages, the law for naming laws, and where did all our hair go?
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Andrada Fiscutean and Michael Kaloki
Producers: Imy Harper, with Lucy Davies and Sophie Ormiston
Cesar Chavez's name adorns city streets and university buildings, but later this month, Californians for the first time will celebrate Farmworkers Day after lawmakers voted on Thursday to change the name of the state holiday. This comes after a New York Times investigation came out Wednesday under the headline "Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years." It was a watershed moment and a time of reckoning with Chavez's legacy. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is racing to contain a growing global energy crisis as the war with Iran pushes oil prices further. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Thursday that the U.S. government could lift sanctions on Iranian oil, freeing up more than 100 million barrels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. In business, Josh D’Amaro has officially succeeded Bob Iger as CEO of Disney, and travelers face increasing ticket prices as jet fuel costs surge globally. Read more at https://LATimes.com.
Iran and Israel are trading airstrikes as the Israeli
prime minister pushed back against claims he forced the U.S. into the war with Iran.
Japan’s prime minister visited President Trump at the White House, where they
talked about Iran and China, and 2,200 Marines are on their way to the Persian
Gulf.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Bloch, Rebekah Metzler, Andrew Sussman, HJ Mai and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our Executive Producer is Jay Shaylor.
(0:00) Introduction (01:53) Israel and Iran Trade Airstrikes (05:49) Trump Meets Japan PM (09:06) Kharg Island Future
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This week, the Senate is debating the contentious SAVE America Act, a strict voter identification bill that could overhaul who gets to vote.
President Trump has called it his “No. 1 priority,” threatening to not sign any other legislation until it is passed.
Michael Gold and Nick Corasaniti, reporters for The New York Times, discuss why some Republicans are standing against the president to block it, and the administration’s other plans to try to reshape the electoral process.
Guests: Michael Gold, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, and Nick Corasaniti, a Times reporter covering national politics.
In a network exclusive, Dolores Huerta tells ABC that she was raped by labor icon Cesar Chavez. As oil prices skyrocket, the Pentagon says it could need $200 billion amid the war in Iran. And Meta appears to be giving up on its plans for the “metaverse.”
Andy Weir’s first time at the Hollywood rodeo was a singular trip. His debut novel, “The Martian,” went from self-published project to blockbuster, best picture-nominated film starring Matt Damon.
His most recent book, “Project Hail Mary,” was also a sensation, and its adaptation, starring Ryan Gosling as a middle school science teacher tasked with saving humanity from slow extinction, charts warmly familiar territory: a lone man, stuck in space far from Earth, solving science problem after science problem with many a humorous aside.
Weir joined the Book Review’s podcast and spoke to the host, Gilbert Cruz, about the similarities and differences between Mark Watney and Ryland Grace (the main characters of “The Martian” and “Project Hail Mary”), his second novel, “Artemis,” and the alien character that readers have fallen in love with.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to thebookreview@nytimes.com.
“The Book Review Podcast” is hosted by Gilbert Cruz and produced by Sarah Diamond and Amy Pearl. The show is edited by Larissa Anderson and mixed by Pedro Rosado.
Special thanks to MJ Franklin, Dahlia Haddad, and Paula Szuchman.
Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Taylor Glascock for The New York Times
Naomi Klein saw where our politics was headed before most people on the left. Her 2023 book “Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World” is hard to describe. But among other things, it traces the new coalitions Klein saw forming on the right, the ways they were co-opting issues long associated with the left, and finding huge audiences and influence outside existing institutions.
The people and coalitions that Klein wrote about run our world now. We are all living in the mirror world. As she put it, it’s “doppelgangers at the wheel.” So I wanted to have Klein on the show to help understand how that happened, what the left failed to see at the time and the lessons the left should take from it now.
As Klein told me: “The thing about doppelgangers is, in literature, they’re always a message telling you a warning: You have to look at yourself. There’s something about yourself that you’re not seeing.”
Note: We recorded this episode before the war in Iran.
1005. Is your company "returning" your retirement savings? In this episode, Laura answers a listener question from Jay P., who is frustrated that his contributions keep getting bounced back as taxable income.
If you’re a high earner or a diligent saver, nothing is more frustrating than seeing your hard-earned 401(k) contributions returned to your checking account. But why does the IRS penalize you just because your coworkers aren’t saving enough?
In this episode, Laura breaks down the "Highly Compensated Employee" (HCE) rules and explains exactly why your retirement plan might be failing its annual nondiscrimination tests. More importantly, she shares the specific steps you can take to keep your momentum going even when your workplace plan hits a ceiling.
Laura goes over:
The HCE Threshold: The specific 2026 income and ownership limits that trigger these IRS rules.
The "Safe Harbor" Solution: How to pitch a plan upgrade to your HR department that eliminates testing forever.
Tax Fallout: How to handle the tax liability of returned pre-tax vs. Roth contributions.
Pivot Strategies: Three powerful "Plan B" accounts—including HSAs and Roth IRAs—to house your returned cash so it stays invested for the long haul.
