Make Me Smart

As Kimberly gets ready to step into her new role as the host of “Marketplace Morning Report,” her predecessor David Brancaccio joins her to talk about his years on the morning shift and what he’s looking forward to on his new beat covering future effects for Marketplace. Plus, the two swap summer reading recommendations and play a round of Half Full/Half Empty!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

"Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis
"Number Go Up" by Zeke Faux
"Pattern Recognition" by William Gibson
"The Sum of Us" by Heather McGhee
"Public pools used to be everywhere in America. Then racism shut them down." From Marketplace
"Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI" by Ryan Rolansky and Aneesh Raman
"Want to make new friends? There's an app for that" from Marketplace
"Why online courses sold by influencers have become so popular" from Marketplace
"The Roomba Guy’s Second Act: A Robot You’ll Want to Snuggle" from The Wall Street Journal
"The Spirit Airlines Comeback Story No One Saw Coming" from Inc.

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The WNBA’s 30th season tips off tomorrow. This year, things look a lot different for players after the league and players union recently signed a landmark collective bargaining agreement (CBA). On today’s show, The Athletic’s Annie Costabile joins Kimberly to break down how the deal has transformed the way players are paid. Plus, has women’s basketball ever really been given the chance to maximize its earning potential?

The power struggle between the states and federal government is as old as the U.S. itself. But under the second Trump administration, that struggle has become particularly fraught. Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy joins Kimberly to explain how the president is wielding federal funding as a tool to expand his authority, and how states are fighting back.

Hey Smarties! There won’t be a livestream for “Economics on Tap” today. But don’t worry! We’ll be back next week. For now, we’re sharing an episode from our friends over at “This Is Uncomfortable.” Enjoy!

What happens to your retirement savings when you leave a job? And if you’ve forgotten about an old 401(k) account, how do you track that money down? That’s the mystery Reema is trying to solve this week, as she confronts her own financial anxiety and goes searching for retirement accounts left behind at previous jobs.

Along the way, she talks with retirement expert Geoffrey Sanzenbacher about just how common this is -- only about 15% of people roll their retirement savings over to a new employer's plan! And she asks behavioral economist Katy Milkman why this kind of chore feels so hard. Plus, brain hacks that will help you get through that daunting financial to-do list.

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We’re approaching graduation season for this year’s crop of college seniors. But along with all the celebrations, there’s an extra dose of uncertainty hanging in the air around new grads, as they face an extra-tough job market and the rise of AI. On today’s show, Kimberly talks to New York Times labor and workforce reporter Noam Scheiber, whose new book “Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class” digs into the historical context for the environment today’s seniors are graduating into.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

”Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class” by Noam Scheiber
”Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years” from The New York Times
”The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates” from The Federal Reserve Bank of New York
”College Graduates Are Struggling to Find Jobs. AI is Partly to Blame.” from CNBC
”U.S. Worker Thriving Declines as Job Market Pessimism Grows” from Gallup

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