What grocery aisle gossip can tell us about the economy

Make Me Smart May 10, 2024 Transcript

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Nova Safo 

Hello everyone, I’m Nova Safo. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where we make today make sense. It’s Friday, May 10. Kai and Kimberly are both out today, and I’ve got an extra special guest host joining me. Making her Economics on Tap debut, Marketplace’s director of podcasts and co-host of our kids’ money show Million Bazillion, our very own Bridget Bodnar. Hi Bridget.

Bridget Bodnar 

Hello. Hello. Hi, Nova. Thanks for having me. It’s so fun to be here on this side of the Make Me Smart mic. So, thanks all of our listeners on the podcast and on the YouTube for joining us. It is Friday, and this is the weekly happy hour episode.

Nova Safo 

That’s right, and we’re going to get some news, take a break, and then play a game. But before we get to it, let’s talk drinks. Bridget, you are the guest of honor. Tell us what you’re drinking.

Bridget Bodnar 

Yes. Okay, so I like the thing were the hosts open things on the mic because I think it sounds good. So, I’m doing sparkling water and cranberry juice because subscribers to the Make Me Smart newsletter will know that they had some really good suggestions in today’s newsletter for like drinks you could do, but I cannot enjoy any of those because I am pregnant. So, I am just doing mocktails, and will be doing that for a few more months.

Nova Safo 

But what sparkling water and which cranberry juice?

Bridget Bodnar 

It’s cranberry juice. So, I bought cranberry juice because I don’t want my existing children to drink a lot of juice, so I tried to buy cranberry juice because it’s like, not as sweet. That didn’t work. One of them really loves it and is drinking it a lot but um, so it’s like I don’t know cranberry juice with no sugar in it or something. And then the sparkling water is just the cheap one at the grocery store. So, that might be like the Vons name brand. I don’t know.

Nova Safo

Is it?

Bridget Bodnar

I think. I don’t know.

Nova Safo 

All right. Well, that sounds really good. I love mixing a little bit of juice with sparkling water. I think that’s great. It’s perfect. So, I’m drinking Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

Bridget Bodnar

Ugh, those are the best.

Nova Safo

Australian. Really?

Bridget Bodnar

Yes.

Nova Safo

You know this? I didn’t. I’ve never.

Bridget Bodnar 

Really? Oh, so this is the drink that I would do when I’m not pregnant is on Fridays in the evenings after the kids are asleep. We would mix that with some like whiskey.

Nova Safo

Wait, does this have alcohol in it?

Bridget Bodnar

No, you have to put the whiskey in it.

Nova Safo 

Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. That makes more sense. It’s so sweet. And the reason I’ve already opened it is because this has been sitting in my fridge for a very long time. And I needed to make sure it was still drinkable.

Bridget Bodnar

Well, it’s sealed, like what?

Nova Safo

Well, yeah, but let me tell you the date. It’s November 26, 2021.

Bridget Bodnar 

Wow. So, that was fresh because that was when everyone was drinking a lot because of COVID. So, that’s like an urgently made fresh batch. But is that the expiration date or is that like, the makers date?

Nova Safo 

I don’t know. It’s the only date on it.

Bridget Bodnar 

Suggested date. You drink it or not?

Nova Safo 

I think I don’t know. But hey, you know, they’ve done a good job with the seal because there’s that sound.

Bridget Bodnar

Good work.

Nova Safo

It tastes good. It’s a little sweet for me.

Bridget Bodnar 

It’s strong. Some ginger beers you’re kind of like, you didn’t want to commit to a flavor, so they were like, okay, we’ll give you this. This is something that you’re committed to. I like that we’re getting a couple of I’ve never heard of. So, Jason Hildreth in the chat suggested the Blenheim ginger ale. I’m actually originally from Michigan, so I grew up on Vernors. But I would try another ginger ale. Also, Vernors are like, pretty sweet. So.

Nova Safo 

Gotta keep that in mind. Vintage ginger beer. All right, shall we get to some news, shall we?

Bridget Bodnar

Let’s do it. Let’s do the news.

Nova Safo

We’re going to do some news, take a break, and then play a game. But before we get to it. Oh, I’m sorry. We just did the drinks.

Bridget Bodnar 

You can’t. We’ve already skipped. Nova, there’s no alcohol in your drink. Okay.

Nova Safo 

Yeah, what’s my excuse? All right, let’s do the news. You want to go first?

Bridget Bodnar 

It’s because he knows I’m not as excited to talk about the news as I am to play Half Full/Half Empty and also to try to throw in some royal news. But Nova already told me that he doesn’t follow the royal family stuff. So, it’s not. It’s probably not something we’re going to talk about. So.

Nova Safo 

No, no. Well, now we have to talk about it. What do you got, Bridget?

Bridget Bodnar 

Well, I’m just watching. I’m just watching this thing. You know what? I’m just watching the whole like, Prince Harry was over there. His family wouldn’t see him. Now we’re starting to see like, whose side of this argument are you on? Are you like the royal family? Do you know? Rebuffed him? Are you like, well, he’s the one who runs.

Nova Safo

When was this?

Bridget Bodnar

Like yesterday.

Nova Safo 

He was there yesterday, and the royal family did not want to see him at all.

Bridget Bodnar 

They didn’t want to see him at all. I know. Here’s how I’m going to make the pivot here. Because this reminds me of the new story I did bring, which is consumer sentiment. The University of Michigan released consumer sentiment data earlier today.

Nova Safo

That’s a hard pivot.

Bridget Bodnar

And what they found, because it’s all about like, how you’re feeling about things to begin with, and sort of where you’re like, what’s your like? The way you kind of see the world is the glass half empty? Is it half full? Like whose side of this argument are you on? So, sadly for us, most American consumers are not incredibly happy right now. Consumer sentiment was down, like 13%, which had been steady for a while. 13% is considered a big swing from the previous month. That’s the lowest it’s been since November. And they’re mostly, you know, worried about stuff like inflation and unemployment and interest rates. And inflation is still here with us. And interest rates are still high. Unemployment is actually kind of fine. And I don’t know, when you hear this, Nova, are you like, okay, more of this? Like business reporting more of this.

Nova Safo 

Some of the analysts. You know, I saw one analyst’s response right away after this number came out saying don’t read too much into the consumer sentiment figures right now. And I think that’s right. Because consumers are saying one thing and doing another.

Bridget Bodnar

Yes, they’re still spending. They’re still spending money.

Nova Safo

They’re still spending relatively well. They’re still putting debt on credit cards with the assumption being that they feel like they’re going to be able to pay that off. And while there, you know, there’s some bargain hunting going on. People looking for deals good. They’re sick of paying certain higher prices. That’s understandable. They’re not stopping spending, you know? They’re not pulling back in a significant way. I should calculate a saying there’s some evidence that that’s not true for the entire consumers spectrum of the consumer population. That lower income is starting to struggle.

Bridget Bodnar 

Which makes sense. We knew that like; inflation stays high. You see, like, 99 cent stores declaring bankruptcy. Anyway. So, definitely, like interesting things to happen. When these numbers come out, like how often are you kind of just pulling like random family members or acquaintances? Or like looking on Facebook to see like, what are? How does this match, like, what I kind of see around me.

Nova Safo 

You know what. I don’t pull family, but I love to hang out at the grocery store and the restaurants and the delis and see what people are talking about, how they’re reacting to the prices. And for the most part, to be totally honest, I’m seeing folks pretty accepting. I mean, they seem to be kind of have gone from the kind of complaining phase to understanding that this is where we are, and kind of adjusting their expectations and adjusting their spending or where they are spending or when they’re not. That’s what I’m seeing. But again, that’s certainly not a scientific study.

Bridget Bodnar 

I also like to picture you sneaking through the grocery store aisles, like peering around corners. Love it.

Nova Safo 

It’s more like just engaging folks in conversation.

Bridget Bodnar 

Do you have a cart? Like are you just going? Is this what you’re doing after like, this is when you go shopping?

Nova Safo 

Oh, I love it. I mean, yeah. I mean, I got my cart and going through the grocery store.

Bridget Bodnar 

Well, so it’s like the thing that you’re okay. You’re not just going there.

Nova Safo 

Yeah. And I was actually at Walmart, going through the grocery section. And that was interesting because as we know. Walmart has gained a huge share, a larger share of the grocery business in the United States because they have the scale and the power to really force their providers their wholesalers to give them better places. So. And they’re passing that on and consumers are going there for the cheaper goods.

Bridget Bodnar 

Which is a real twist. Like, who knew? 2024 good guy of the year is Walmart.

Nova Safo 

Well, good guy or maybe not? I don’t know. I think one of the things, when you’re seeing prices going so high so much at other grocery stores. And it’s not necessarily the grocery stores’ fault, it’s the suppliers. PepsiCo that’s raising the fees, you know, and passing it on. Those suppliers have to start thinking about, are we going to end up with very few choices of where we can sell our goods? And then, we are in not in a good position. So, there’s a balance that needs to happen, I think.

Bridget Bodnar 

It’s always a balance. It’s always a balance. So, besides stocking grocery store aisles to figure out how the world is feeling. What else are you? What other news stories are you looking at today?

Nova Safo 

Well, I think this exclusive from the Wall Street Journal really caught my attention. T-Mobile and Verizon are in talks to kind of carve out different pieces of US Cellular. And US Cellular, unlike some of the other smaller mobile providers, has its own spectrum. It actually has, you know, radio signal. And it’s not just a leasing out signal from T-Mobile or Verizon or AT&T. A lot of other resellers do that. My dad actually. I was just talking to him. I said, hey dad, what is your cellular company? Because he uses a reseller. And what did he say? I’m just going to tell you. PureTalk USA.

Bridget Bodnar

Wait, does your dad run a cell company?

Nova Safo

No, no. His own plan.

Bridget Bodnar

He has a phone? Oh, his plan. His cell phone. Okay.

Nova Safo

He keeps harping to me about what a great deal he’s got, so I was asking him.

Bridget Bodnar 

My dad is like, the phone won’t work. Like, plug it in please.

Nova Safo

Really?

Bridget Bodnar

Yeah.

Nova Safo 

No, he’s happy with his, but he’s a reseller. but US Cellular is an actual cell service provider. And so, what’s happening is T-Mobile and Verizon are in talks to purchase different sections of it because they want not the customers necessarily, although that’s fine. They want the spectrum. They want the radio spectrum. And here’s the fascinating thing that had skipped my attention. I had missed this completely about this story. It turns out that last year, Congress has let expire the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to auction off wireless radio spectrum.

Bridget Bodnar 

Excellent. That sounds very helpful.

Nova Safo 

Yeah, and that’s happened because senators and other folks in Washington, including the Department of Defense on one end of it, and others are arguing about which spectrum to allow to be auctioned off. And the Department of Defense is against certain sections of spectrum that it owns now being allowed to be auctioned, saying it could interfere with its radar signals. There are arguments to be made that it won’t. Because in Europe and elsewhere, they’re able to make that work. So, there’s this kind of back and forth going on.

Bridget Bodnar 

Yeah. The list of things that they can make work in Europe that don’t work here is quite long. Anyway.

Nova Safo 

I mean, I don’t understand the technicalities, but this is the debate going on. And there could be other issues. We don’t know about. But the point is that this disagreement has allowed a bigger problem to manifest, which is the FCC has lost its authority to auction spectrum. And when that happens, right now, there’s this huge buildup of 5g. We know this. There are all kinds of other technologies coming on that need mobile spectrum. Cars.

Bridget Bodnar

Yeah. Microwaves. Dishwashers. Yeah.

Nova Safo

Well, those don’t.

Bridget Bodnar

I know. I know.

Nova Safo

Yeah. But sorry. Yeah. Actually, some of the things I hadn’t thought of besides self-driving vehicles, drones. Drones need a spectrum to communicate. Satellites that we depend on need spectrum. So, if you look at the kind of especially the upper end of the radio spectrum. I was looking at a study by Accenture. A lot of that is actually taken up by the Defense Department government using satellite. It’s not available to, right now, to cellular service providers. And they need it because that’s where the high data is going to come from high data and high speeds and more customers being able to be supported by each tower. Excuse me. That’s the bubbly from the ginger beer. So, it’s a real problem. So, what’s happened is, it’s allowed a company like, so US Cellular has put itself up for sale or at least is looking because spectrum that now is more and more valuable because time is money. And companies need the spectrum now and if they can’t license it from the government, they’re looking around where they can get it. And so, US Spectrum is seeing an opportunity to, you know, get a huge cash payout. Most of the company apparently is owned by one family, or a big chunk of it. So, it’s understandable. But we’re talking about the potential of losing yet another mobile service provider. Reducing competition.

Bridget Bodnar 

There are so many stories in there. And also, just like what happens when like, government doesn’t act. When the actors in a market expect the government to behave in a certain way. And markets can kind of kind of spring up or like things happen that are law of unintended consequences.

Nova Safo 

Well, yeah, so all squabbling about spectrum we could be hurting ourselves permanently in terms of competition on the sense. So, very fascinating.

Bridget Bodnar 

I’m so glad that we both chose such very upbeat chipper news stories for our first time hosting together on Make Me Smart. I think the listeners are going to really like this.

Nova Safo 

Let’s see what they’re saying. Carroll, I’m thinking of dropping my cell service and going to signal flags. Hey, whatever works. Try cans connected by string that might work as well, you know?

Bridget Bodnar 

Okay, so keep brainstorming these ideas everyone. That’ll be it for the news. And we’re going to take a quick break. We come back we will play a round of Half Full/Half Empty. So, we’ll be back after this.

Nova Safo 

All right, we’re back. It’s time to play Half Full/Half Empty hosted by our very own Drew Jostad. Take it away, Drew.

Drew Jostad 

All right. This weekend an unusually strong solar storm could mean Northern Lights visible in the lower 48 states. Are you half full or half empty?

Bridget Bodnar 

You know what? I’m on the Slack channel where they discuss these half full half empties. And I worked very hard to not look at this channel, but I would say half full on Northern Lights. Half empty on is this why I have no internet and have to be in the studio today. It might be. It might be. LA Spectrum outage. 2024.

Nova Safo 

It affects it, right?

Bridget Bodnar 

Well, yeah, Maria Hollenhorst, she’s the producer for the pm show was in. I ran into her because she’s also here because of internet issues. So.

Nova Safo

Oh, really?

Bridget Bodnar

Yeah.

Nova Safo 

Huh. Interesting. I had to come into the office, had to come into the studio.

Bridget Bodnar 

On a Friday, like?

Nova Safo 

On a Friday. Not me. But hey, so anyway. Yeah, I’m half full for sure. I mean, isn’t that amazing? You don’t have to fly to, you know, cold arctic parts of the world?

Bridget Bodnar 

Well, yeah. Maria was saying her dad is trying to encourage her to drive somewhere where she can see them. And she’s like, not into the one-hour drive like wherever she could drive to get away from LA lights, which is a valid, but I would say like you guys. You can go to Iceland, which is not that far of a flight. And you can see the northern lights for like six months out of the year. But I guess it’s nice. Yeah.

Nova Safo

Iceland.

Bridget Bodnar

Iceland.

Nova Safo

Ice.

Bridget Bodnar

Yeah. No, you know that that’s a branding issue. So, Greenland has the ice. And Iceland is actually more green.

Nova Safo 

I know, but it’s cold.

Bridget Bodnar

Yeah. I mean, you know. It’s fine. It’s fine.

Nova Safo

I think it’s great that you can do it now.

Bridget Bodnar

Wonderful.

Nova Safo

Get out there people this weekend. When is it? This weekend? Or just today?

Bridget Bodnar

Isn’t it tonight?

Nova Safo

Is it tonight?

Drew Jostad 

This weekend.

Bridget Bodnar 

Are you going to go see it, Drew. You’re in the car right now.

Drew Jostad 

I don’t think it’s as far south as Southern California.

Bridget Bodnar 

Yeah, I think it’s like Northern California. But if you got in the car and started driving right now, you might be able to make it.

Nova Safo 

In a few hours, you’ll be able to see it. Alright, what’s next?

Drew Jostad 

Next one. Are half full or half empty on Apple updating Siri to add power from Generative AI?

Bridget Bodnar 

I saw a bunch of people talking about like, Hey Siri, and I was, oh no, I shouldn’t have said that. But I saw a bunch of people talking about this voice assistant again, and I was like it’s so funny. I haven’t heard anyone talk about Siri in so long and it’s like oh, okay because of AI.

Nova Safo 

What’s the AI component going to be?

Bridget Bodnar 

It’s just going to have AI with it.

Drew Jostad 

Something about how it’s like more able to carry on like a back and forth rather than just be responding to simple queries.

Nova Safo 

Wow, Jason Holdsworth is this very down on Siri. Siri is garbage. Okay, Jason, thanks a lot. Maybe something more constructive people online.

Bridget Bodnar 

So, know Nova that you’re not a fan of AI.

Nova Safo

This is true.

Bridget Bodnar

I feel like I keep trying to use AI but I’m like never successful at it. Like I’m like, oh, I gotta make an account. I gotta give you my email address, so far I haven’t That’s the same reason why I don’t use Ms Siri, but I’m sure it’s good for Apple. Like Apple will need to stay. All these companies are doing this because they want to be competitive with one another. And we just hope that it doesn’t lead to the end of the world.

Nova Safo 

Samsung took market significant market share from Apple this past quarter because they came out with a new phone that they just said AI a lot. You know?

Bridget Bodnar 

Do you ever feel like you’re just sitting here like, can someone just give me swipe back? Like that’s kind of all I want. I just want to able to send text messages like this. But anyway, I guess they’re going to give you AI.

Nova Safo

I don’t remember. When was that?

Bridget Bodnar

Well, Samsung had a really good swipe function on their Galaxy phones. Anyway. Where am I swipe fans in the chat?

Drew Jostad 

Nobody’s going to weigh in on this one?

Bridget Bodnar 

I say I’m half empty because I don’t know that ultimately, for us regular people, that this like full hearted embrace of AI is going to be a good thing. So.

Nova Safo 

Half empty because we were adopting something that we don’t fully understand yet. And yeah, that’s worrisome.

Drew Jostad 

All right. In 2022, 43 million people traveled for bird watching, that’s up from 18 million in 2011. Are you half full or half empty on a boom in birdwatching?

Bridget Bodnar 

This is so interesting because Disney released their earnings and they were like, streaming is up great, except people are not going to the parks as much, and they kind of I think they kind of tied it to like the end of the COVID travel boom. But apparently, it’s that we’ve switched now we’re just going to see birds instead of Mickey Mouse. Drew, does it say where they’re going? Like what parts of the country are they going to?

Drew Jostad 

This story was one that Elizabeth did that was specifically about the southern part of Texas, but I don’t know well enough if there are specific geographic.

Bridget Bodnar                                                                        

Half full if people are traveling to a places good for them to travel to. Like the economy needs it. They’re not doing any environmental damage. And you know, I’m sure getting out in nature as part of your activity is a good thing.

Nova Safo 

Half empty only because like, do something creative. Do something cultural. Go to a museum. Go to a concert. Go see a play.

Bridget Bodnar

What’s wrong with going to see birds.

Nova Safo

Um, it’s fine, but it’s like. Would I go somewhere to see that like actually travel for that? No, it’s nice, but like, okay, there’s a bird with different colored feathers. I don’t get it.

Bridget Bodnar 

Alright, so Nova is down on birds, and Bridget is fine with it.

Nova Safo 

I like birds. It’s just the traveling for the birds.

Drew Jostad 

Okay, new reporting from Bloomberg is out that McDonald’s is planning to launch a $5 meal deal. Are you half full or half empty?

Bridget Bodnar 

I’m half full. Maybe this time next consumer report, consumer sentiment time, people are a little up on the economy. Yeah, wasn’t that devastating when all of those dollar menus went away?

Nova Safo 

Yeah, yeah. So, that’s good. That’s good. Definitely half full.

Bridget Bodnar 

What does the meal consist of?

Nova Safo 

By the way, I’m getting a lot of hate on the on the chat. I see the hate. Thank you everybody.

Bridget Bodnar 

I do think that your take on bird is controversial. So, like it’s not uncontroversial? I’m trying to think. Do I hate you anything that could be as controversial.

Nova Safo 

Okay, all right. I think we’re at the poll, right?

Bridget Bodnar 

Yeah, time to poll.

Nova Safo 

All right. This is exciting. I’m really excited. I love the poll.

Bridget Bodnar 

I also want to see is it actually as hard to see how people have voted on the poll as Kai makes it out to be. So.

Drew Jostad 

So, after this season three finale last month, new one-to-three-minute mini episodes of “Bluey” will be on Disney Junior and Disney Plus in July. Are you half full or half empty?

Nova Safo 

On “Bluey”?

Bridget Bodnar 

Nova, are you watching “Bluey”?

Nova Safo 

I haven’t watched it. I’ve heard it’s really development into this cultural phenomenon I watched a bit of it.

Bridget Bodnar 

Well, my recs. I think. Wait, were they in this week’s newsletter or last week’s news? I think this week’s newsletter. Yeah, it’s been percolating in the Make Me Smart eco.

Nova Safo 

Yeah, we talked about it on one of the shows a while not too long ago. And I saw I went and saw like a bit of it because we were talking about some aspect of it.

Bridget Bodnar 

The episodes are like four-minutes long. You could’ve watched the whole thing.

Nova Safo 

Yeah. Well, you know, I got stuff to do.

Bridget Bodnar 

Not birds to watch but other stuff to do.

Nova Safo 

Not birds to watch. But like, I thought it was very charming and adorable. And I guess it’s really connecting. Yeah, there’s a cultural connection happening right now with the zeitgeist, if you will. So, I think that’s wonderful. I’m glad they’re putting out more episodes.

Bridget Bodnar 

I really liked “Bluey.”. My husband does not like it. So, the thing with “Bluey” is the parents are like exceptional dream parents of like gentle parenting. My husband feels like it’s an unrealistic expectation to set for anyone, for the kids, for us. I think it’s so delightful. My kids love the show. They will mimic the games. And it’s super cute.

Nova Safo

It’s educational, right?

Bridget Bodnar

No, not really. No, they’re not. I mean, they’re learning. Like, one of my kids started asking about cricket, which they would not have gotten if they had not watched.

Nova Safo 

Yeah, exactly, the little things. Little bit of something new.

Bridget Bodnar 

Yeah, it’s just short. They’re short opposite. I like it because I can very easily be like, you can watch. I can finish a task. And I can very quickly be like, okay, this is the last episode because sometimes if you do watch a 30-minute episode with your kid, once they start that 30-minute episode, turning that off is really hard. But turning the TV off when the episode is done is a much easier transition, I think for most kids.

Nova Safo 

That makes a lot of sense. So, if it’s nice and short, you guys can watch.

Bridget Bodnar 

They also could not make any more episodes of “Bluey.” And I think it would be fine because the kids just like watch the same ones over and over again anyway, but great. Like it’s good for the rest of us if there are new episodes. So, do you want to close the poll, and we’ll report back on. We went up to 113 votes and then went down to 112 votes and then back up to 113. So, I don’t know somebody here decided that they were not ready to make a decision on this, but then they’ve changed their mind. So, I’m glad. I’m glad that this time chatting with us has done something for them.

Nova Safo 

Let’s close that poll. Let’s see what the numbers are.

Bridget Bodnar 

It is half full 60%. Half empty 39%.

Nova Safo 

40% half empty. That is a large number. What’s wrong with you people today?

Bridget Bodnar 

Well, at least Barbara Montagain made sure to double check for the newsletter in her junk folder. That’s excellent. Sometimes you do have to make sure that it’s getting to your actual folder, it should come into your inbox on Friday morning. Lynn Stone did not like any mention of “Bluey,” so I guess maybe we need to ban “Bluey” references from the show.

Nova Safo 

What’s the Curse of Oak Island? Are you familiar with that one?

Bridget Bodnar 

No. Oh, is that a “Bluey” episode?

Nova Safo 

A five-year-old watches Curse of Oak Island.

Bridget Bodnar 

I don’t know what that is. I haven’t memorized all of the episode titles. Sorry.

Nova Safo 

Ryan says some people hate “Bluey” like you hate birds, and then misspelled my name. Thanks, Ryan. Okay.

Bridget Bodnar 

We work in radio. None of us know how to spell. I don’t think we should pick on other people for not knowing how to spell. We had to switch to putting scripts on ditch on the website. Like, the fury and stress that rose throughout there. It’s like you already have the script. Just put it on the website. It’s like nothing is spelled right. Anyway.

Nova Safo 

I actually make an effort to spell things correctly on my scripts for that reason. I’ve tried to build that habit in because you never know where it’s going to end up.

Bridget Bodnar 

When I’m slacking with people, I’m always like making mistakes and I am like, do I know them well enough where I think they can understand me and then I don’t bother to correct it. So, it’s how I know like, who my inner circle is. Am I making Slack errors to you?

Nova Safo 

That’s some serious Slack culture. All right. Well, I think that’s it for us.

Bridget Bodnar

Yeah, let’s wrap this up. So, Amy and Reema will take over on Monday. You have got a question or comment for us. You know where to reach us. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.

Bridget Bodnar 

Much appreciated when you do. Make Me Smart is produced by Courtney Bergsieker. Today’s episode was engineered by Charlton Thorp. Our intern is Thalia Menchaca.

Nova Safo 

The team behind our Friday game is Emily Macune, Jumilla Huxtable, and Antoinette Brock. Marissa Cabrera is our senior producer. Bridget Bodnar is the director of podcasts. And Francesca Levy is the executive director of Digital and On-Demand. And they’re all wonderful.

Bridget Bodnar 

They are. Should I use the short music? We used up all of our chat because we joined 18 minutes early instead of like the two minutes that the hosts usually join.