Slate Money

Fast food prices are sky high, but chains will take losses to get you in the door. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the economics of a new value meal trend. Also: millennials are taking secret “quiet vacations” and dicey geopolitics are affecting bond markets. In the Plus segment: Yankee Stadium is now card-payment only. Do Americans have the right to use cold hard cash? If...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Tesla shareholders’ overwhelming support of Musk’s pay package, the return of the GameStop meme stock influencer, and why Governor Hochul killed New York’s congestion pricing plan. In the Plus segment: a Missouri restaurant has banned 20-somethings. Can they do that? If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plu...

It’s Money Talks…live! This episode was taped at The Hewlett Foundation’s annual New Common Sense Conference, where Felix Salmon chatted with Jerusalem Demsas , who covers housing and infrastructure for The Atlantic. They discuss the NIMBY mentality, regulatory tangles holding back real estate development, and what we have to give up to gain more affordable housing. If you enjoy this show, please...

Even the Grey Lady struggles to profit from the news. This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Semafor founder Ben Smith to discuss media profit models, the impact of Google’s AI on the news biz, and the TikTok-ification of information. In the Plus segment: Vivek Ramaswamy comes for Buzzfeed.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate...

On week’s special Money Talks, Teresa Ghilarducci, author of  Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy   joins Felix Salmon to discuss all things retirement. They dig into what other countries are getting right (and wrong) about retirement, how the 401k failed, Teresa’s ultimate plan to fix retirement, and more.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Alex Kantrowitz of the Big Technology podcast. They discuss why the Nvidia juggernaut isn’t going to slow down any time soon, the man, myth, and legend of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and whether U.S. texters will embrace WhatsApp and voice memos. In the Plus segment: Which candidate is most TikTok-able? If you enjoy this show, pl...

Lesbian businesses are great for the queer women’s community, but making them profitable is a different matter. For this Money Talks, Felix Salmon chats with June Thomas , author of A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women's Culture , to discuss a unique mix of cultural and economic challenges facing the queer economy. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Kyla Scanlon, author of the new book In This Economy?: How Money & Markets Really Work to talk about the disconnect between reality and perception that lead what she calls a “vibecession” – wherein many believe we’re in a recession that isn’t actually happening at all. Also: The many reasons that may have led to Red Lobs...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the motivations and impacts of new tariffs plus the cultural forces behind China’s economic policy. Also: Congress is trying to figure out what to do with AI, and Melinda French Gates is getting her groove back. In the Plus segment: Rates for new mortgages suck right now, but what if you could buy out someone existing one? Also: D...

The “Fama–French model” is a Nobel laureate-designed tool for predicting the stock market. It guides hundreds of billions in investments. The problem? Its numbers keep shifting. For this Money Talks, Felix Salmon chats with Planet Money host Mary Childs about her deep dive for Bloomberg into finance mathematics. They question the nature of investing, markets, and reality itself. If you enjoy this...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by legal scholar Mehrsa Baradaran, author of The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America. Mehrsa explains the roots of the neoliberalism movement and how the myth of free market made the American economy more oppressive, especially against black and brown people. Also: A misogynistic party culture has been revealed...

This week: A new DEA designation for cannabis means high times for pot smokers, but what about the industry? Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the future of the cannabis business, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s lax, four-month prison sentence, and why Americans keep buying more cheap junk (but spend fortunes on ravioli). In the Plus segment: Elon Musk fired Tesla’s Su...

Too busy running the rat race to…run? Former Wall Street Journal fitness columnist Jen Murphy has some advice. She chats with host Emily Peck about making time for diet and exercise and the value of investing in your health at any age and stage of life. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an addition...

Correction, April 29, 2024: In the audio of this podcast, Emily Peck originally misstated that the FTC sued to block the Penguin Random House–Simon and Schuster deal. It was the Department of Justice. This week: a reservation at Carbone New York may cost a thousand dollars, but you’ve always got a table at Slate Money! Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss restaurant reservation...

This week: Elon Musk wants his colossal, court-blocked pay package, and Tesla’s board wants to give it to him. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers also chat with Alicia Montgomery, current Slate audio VP and veteran of NPR, to discuss what is — and isn’t — behind NPR’s troubles. Also: inflation is high, but does the Fed really need to cut rates? In the Plus segment: Why Biden is going...

Five years ago, tech investor Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz bet our own Felix Salmon a 100-year-old bottle of wine that 10% of Americans would be using Bitcoin to pay for something by now. Ben lost, of course, but he’s ready to double down with a new digital wager! He and partner Chris Dixon discuss the past and present of crypto, blockchain, and AI. If you enjoy this show, please consider s...

This week, Slate Money hacks the mainframe! Washington Post tech writer Shira Ovide joins Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers to discuss what’s wrong with America’s internet industry, how YouTube became the media empire no one talks about, and the promise and peril of the AI toothbrush. In the Plus segment: OpenAI is using YouTube to train ChatGPT. Is that legal? If you enjoy this sho...

This week: Americans are less revved up about EVs. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss if Elon Musk’s mischief has played a role in slowing sales. Also: the crisis in the wine industry, and how a combination investigative publication/hedge fund wants to blow the lid off corporations — while shorting their stock. In the Plus segment: the proxy battle for the future of Disney. ...

For this edition of Money Talks: Are you feeling trapped in Zoom/Teams/Slack purgatory? Author Cal Newport’s book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout has a way forward. Host Emily Peck speaks with him about how the digital office became an “invisible factory” and how you can take back control of your working life. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for...

This week: Truth Social is the latest meme stock, and buying it could win favor with a president. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss what Truth Social means for Trump, whether Sam Bankman-Fried’s 25-year sentence is too harsh, and a Visa/Mastercard antitrust settlement that could change credit card fees as we know them. (Platinum holders beware.) In the plus segment: Why a gl...

This week: Biden’s comin’ for your iPhone! Or at least, his administration wants to make it less restrictive to third-party developers. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the new Apple DOJ lawsuit, how Reddit can leverage its massive IPO, and new rules for real estate brokers that could change the home-buying experience. In the Plus segment: Unilever is dropping Ben & Jer...

For this edition of Money Talks, Felix Salmon chats with Jay Newman , the former hedge fund manager who helped Elliot Management recover $2.4 billion from Argentina after that country defaulted on its loans. Jay shares his philosophy on sovereign debt and recounts a 16-year battle full of judicial intrigue. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get a...

This week: Americans don’t care as much about work. They have better things to do.  Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the prospect of a four-day workweek and what it could mean for the economy. Also: How Liquid Death made water rad as hell, and the uncertain fate of TikTok in America. In the Plus segment: Tanning is back! Producer Cheyna Roth joins the hosts to discuss the r...

In a special episode of Money Talks, Emily Peck chats with writer/director Chloe Domont , whose feminist thriller Fair Play explores what happens when an ambitious woman outshines her well-meaning but insecure partner. It was inspired by Chloe’s experience surpassing the men in her own life. (But there is a happy ending!) If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plu...

The New York Times declared that physical wallets are on the outs. But is digital enough? Felix Salmon Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers discuss! Also: Steve Mnuchin’s heroic $1 billion bailout of New York Community Bank, and new rules requiring public companies to report their carbon emissions. In the Plus segment, a leaked Department of Labor email to a mysterious group of “super users” may reveal...