The Daily Dive

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Streaming Services Frustrated as Customer Loyalty Declines Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

Streaming companies continue to be frustrated by customers who subscribe to their service, watch the shows they want, then cancel and go to another platform. Competition is stiff for the streamers, but price-conscious customers looking for more content are following specific shows rather than staying loyal to any one service. Sarah Krouse, streaming reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how customer loyalty is declining at the top streaming services.

Next, as we continue to see low job satisfaction and high burnout rates among workers and changing policies and priorities from leaders, middle managers are stuck with pressure from both sides and are having a hard time keeping everything on track. Especially hard is implementing return to work plans and dealing with turnover. Julia Herbst, senior editor at Fast Company, joins us for why no one wants to be a middle manager anymore.

Finally, on the ballot this November, one Southern California county will ask its residents if they want to secede from the state. Feeling like they aren’t getting enough funding, San Bernardino County will ask voters if they want them to “to study all options to obtain its fair share of state and federal resources, up to and including secession. “ Dani Anguiano, reporter at The Guardian US, joins us for how residents feel and the hard road ahead to actually break away.

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How Trump’s Handling of Secret Docs Led to the FBI’s Raid at Mar-A-Lago Aug 15, 2022

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Former President Trump had a very tumultuous time last week as his home at Mar-a-Lago was raided by the FBI. There they seized 11 sets of classified documents, some that were labeled top secret. Latest reports say that in his final days in office, he was so preoccupied with trying to overturn the election, that he failed to properly prepare to leave the White House leaving aides to just throw everything into boxes. Trump now faces three separate criminal investigations. Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill, joins us for what to know about the raid, how Republican leaders are reacting, and two primaries to watch out for this week.

Next, stick shift cars may soon be a thing of the past. Of the hundreds of new car models for sale in 2022, only 30 can be purchased with a manual transmission. A couple of reasons why the manual is on its way out, is that new car technology has become too good and the rise of electric vehicles, which have no gear boxes, continues to push them out. Still, many car drivers love the connection they feel when controlling the car and lament how they may no longer be, myself included. Ian Bogost, contributing writer at The Atlantic, joins us for the end of the manual transmission.

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WEEKEND EDITION- Nebraska Teen Abortion Case, Twitch Stars Pay Price of Online Fame Aug 14, 2022

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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WEEKEND EDITION- Inflation Eases and Gets Easier to Hire People, Harder to Feed Hungry as Food Prices Remain High, Craft Brewers Face CO2 Shortage Aug 13, 2022

Show notes

This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some Employers Say Its a Bit Easier to Hire Workers Despite Hot Labor Market Aug 12, 2022

Show notes

Coming out of the Great Resignation and the tight labor market, some employers are saying that it’s finally getting a little easier to hire. Especially when we look at the hospitality and healthcare industries, employers are having a better time at recruiting and getting people to accept offers. Uber, which has rebounded with drivers, said they think inflationary pressures motivated more people to drive for the platform. Chip Cutter, workplace reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how inflation could be bringing more people to the workforce and causing less turnover.

Next, an interesting story about how a mother and her daughter are facing criminal charges after the daughter had an abortion in Nebraska. In this case police obtained their Facebook messages through a search warrant. In Nebraska, 20 weeks is the limit to have an abortion, and the teen at the time had it some weeks after. The pair contracted with another man to bury the body after the baby came out stillborn. Jason Koebler, editor in chief at Motherboard, joins us for how this case highlights how tech companies could be enlisted by law enforcement to prosecute these cases.

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Inflation Rate Eases Slightly Driven by Falling Gas Prices Aug 11, 2022

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U.S. inflation has eased slightly to 8.5% down from its 40-year high of 9.1%. Some of the gains have been made up with falling energy and gas prices, but grocery prices are still as concern as they are up 13% from last year. The Fed has been managing the inflation crisis with adjustments to the key interest rate and meets next month to evaluate. Gwynn Guilford, economics reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know about the latest inflation numbers.

Next, the labor market remains tight despite recession fears and the U.S. added 528,000 jobs in July driven mostly by travel and hospitality sectors. On the other hand, the tech sector has been dealing with cuts and business is booming for layoff specialists. These are companies that help businesses with identifying who to layoff, make sure they receive the right amount of severance, and day-of communication plans. Maxwell Strachan, features writer and editor at Motherboard, joins us for what to know.

Finally, the Covid pandemic has changed just about every aspect of Americans’ health, and it has mostly been for the worse. As people missed health screenings, abandoned routines, and went through isolation we saw a range of other chronic diseases worsen. Overall death rates of heart disease and stroke rose, drug overdose deaths and alcohol abuse rose, and even mental health took a hit. Brianna Abbot, health reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more.

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Travel and Hospitality Industries Keep Adding Jobs, but They Still Need More Employees Aug 10, 2022

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In this time of high inflation and recession fears the country continues to add more jobs driven by gains in the travel and hospitality industries. Restaurants, bars and hotels keep hiring people, but they still don’t have enough as pent-up demand for those services remains high. Allison Pohle, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how many of these industries have recovered almost all of their pre-pandemic jobs.

Next, Amazon recently held an event where they debuted some improvements in their text-to-speech technology and had and AI mimic the voice of someone’s dead grandmother. What’s amazing is that it’s becoming easier to create these artificially generated voices to sound like anyone and in this case, they only needed about 60 seconds of audio rather than 60 hours. Adam Bluestein, contributor to Fast Company, joins us for how this is just the beginning for voice cloning.

Finally, craft beer lovers beware! Brewers are facing a shortage of carbon dioxide and it could cause delays in production. Breweries rely on CO2 for putting bubbles in the beer itself, but also along the production process to move the beer through lines and purge oxygen from tanks. Emily Heil, food reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for the latest challenge for craft brewers.

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More Americans Are Turning to Food Banks for Help, Inflation Is Making It More Expensive to Feed Them Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

We are seeing an increase in food insecurity around the country and this time around it is not due to a wave of people losing jobs, rather high inflation has been hitting Americans hard, leading many to seek out help from food banks. Lora Kelley, business reporter at the NY Times, joins us for how the food banks themselves are struggling to meet demand as they see decreasing donations and increased costs due to paying more for transportation and acquiring food.

Next, despite fears of a recession and record-high inflation, pent-up demand for travel and fun are leading people to Las Vegas. After sheltering for most of the pandemic, older consumers are returning to the Strip, international travelers are also back, and work and fan conventions are filling up the calendar. Katherine Sayre, gambling reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how people are feeling lucky as Vegas is still booming.

Finally, American’s urge to spend has not stopped even as prices have increased, and they are whipping out their credit cards and charging it. There has been a shift in buying physical goods and home items during the pandemic to spending on experiences like travel and entertainment and it’s raising the amount of credit card debt. Javier David, managing editor for business and markets at Axios, joins us for what to know about soaring credit card debt.

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Inflation Reduction Act Passes in the Senate Paving Way for Another Biden Victory Aug 08, 2022

Show notes

Senate Democrats have passed the Inflation Reduction Act with a 51-50 vote, Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. Democrats say the bill will combat climate change, reduce health care costs, reduce the deficit, and raise taxes on big corporations. The bill now moves on to the House before it hits Biden’s desk, but the bill also delivers another big win for the president. Despite some wins however polls still show that Americans are worried about the economy and Biden’s approvals remain low. Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill, joins us for what to know.

Next, some streaming stars are learning the hard way what the price of online fame can be. Stars on the video game streaming platform Twitch invite viewers into their homes to hangout, interact with fans and they can gain big followings pretty quickly, but they also have to deal with stalkers and harassment. While it’s not new that celebrities have had to deal with these difficulties from fans, the intimacy that the streaming relationship allows for just amps it up. Kellen Browning, tech reporter at the NY Times, joins us for how content creators and streamers are now hoping that platforms put a greater emphasis on personal security.

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WEEKEND EDITION- Dum Dum Drop Shipping Scheme and Aging Student Debtors of America Aug 07, 2022

Show notes

This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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