Global markets closed out their most bruising first half of a year in decades, leaving investors bracing for the prospect of further losses. Accelerating inflation and rising interest rates have fueled a monthslong rout that left few markets unscathed. The S&P 500 fell 20% through Thursday heading for its worst first half of a year since 1970, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Investment-grade bonds, as measured by the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond exchange-traded fund, lost about 11%—o...
Jul 01, 2022•47 sec•Ep. 1
Global markets closed out their most bruising first half of a year in decades, leaving investors bracing for the prospect of further losses. Accelerating inflation and rising interest rates have fueled a monthslong rout that left few markets unscathed. The S&P 500 fell 20% through Thursday heading for its worst first half of a year since 1970, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Investment-grade bonds, as measured by the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond exchange-traded fund, lost about 11%—o...
Jul 01, 2022•5 min•Ep. 2
Pickleball, a genetic cross of tennis and ping pong played on a badminton-size court, is in a bit of a pickle. The sport dates back to the 1960s but took off in recent years, especially during the pandemic. It’s the fastest-growing sport in America and is especially hot with the over-55 crowd, who, thanks to the game’s smaller dimensions, don’t have to run around like Rafael Nadal. But there’s a problem that is driving some communities to distraction: Plastic perforated pickleballs make a sound ...
Jun 29, 2022•40 sec•Ep. 3
Pickleball, a genetic cross of tennis and ping pong played on a badminton-size court, is in a bit of a pickle. The sport dates back to the 1960s but took off in recent years, especially during the pandemic. It’s the fastest-growing sport in America and is especially hot with the over-55 crowd, who, thanks to the game’s smaller dimensions, don’t have to run around like Rafael Nadal. But there’s a problem that is driving some communities to distraction: Plastic perforated pickleballs make a sound ...
Jun 29, 2022•5 min•Ep. 4
One of the simplest lessons of stock market history is that innovations often lead to bubbles and busts, from new tulip bulbs through canals and railways to the internet. Less well understood is that financial innovations count for double, as new tools expand the supply of what looks like money, allowing the bubble to grow larger—and the bust to be even more serious. The cryptocurrency implosion currently under way followed rampant creation of new digital money, something that never ended well i...
Jun 24, 2022•49 sec•Ep. 5
One of the simplest lessons of stock market history is that innovations often lead to bubbles and busts, from new tulip bulbs through canals and railways to the internet. Less well understood is that financial innovations count for double, as new tools expand the supply of what looks like money, allowing the bubble to grow larger—and the bust to be even more serious. The cryptocurrency implosion currently under way followed rampant creation of new digital money, something that never ended well i...
Jun 24, 2022•6 min•Ep. 6
Businesses in several different industries are rescinding job offers they made just a few months ago, in a sign the tightest labor market in decades may be showing cracks. Companies including Twitter Inc . , real-estate brokerage Redfin Corp . , and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc . have rescinded offers in recent weeks. Employers in other pockets of the economy are pulling away offers too, including some in insurance, retail marketing, consulting and recruiting services. At the same...
Jun 23, 2022•50 sec•Ep. 7
Businesses in several different industries are rescinding job offers they made just a few months ago, in a sign the tightest labor market in decades may be showing cracks. Companies including Twitter Inc . , real-estate brokerage Redfin Corp . , and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc . have rescinded offers in recent weeks. Employers in other pockets of the economy are pulling away offers too, including some in insurance, retail marketing, consulting and recruiting services. At the same...
Jun 23, 2022•6 min•Ep. 8
or Mackenzie Crocker, chats with friends and colleagues often turn to weddings. But Ms. Crocker has an unusually full bouquet of tidbits to add to the conversation. She expects to attend 18 wedding celebrations this year. “Everyone and their mom in my life is getting married,” says Ms. Crocker, a 25-year-old from Conway, Ark. “It’s become a part of my personality at this point.” The summer wedding season is upon us, and this time it’s coming down with the force of two tons of rice. Between nupti...
Jun 22, 2022•48 sec•Ep. 9
or Mackenzie Crocker, chats with friends and colleagues often turn to weddings. But Ms. Crocker has an unusually full bouquet of tidbits to add to the conversation. She expects to attend 18 wedding celebrations this year. “Everyone and their mom in my life is getting married,” says Ms. Crocker, a 25-year-old from Conway, Ark. “It’s become a part of my personality at this point.” The summer wedding season is upon us, and this time it’s coming down with the force of two tons of rice. Between nupti...
Jun 22, 2022•4 min•Ep. 10
On the night artist Anna Weyant’s work debuted at Christie’s, the 27-year-old painter was too nervous to attend or even watch the livestream. Instead, Ms. Weyant holed up in her small Manhattan apartment and listened to a calming app on her cellphone until a friend texted with news. “Summertime,” Ms. Weyant’s portrait of a woman with long, flowing hair that the artist had sold for around $12,000 two years before, resold for $1.5 million , five times its high estimate. It has been a rocket-fueled...
Jun 20, 2022•58 sec•Ep. 11
On the night artist Anna Weyant’s work debuted at Christie’s, the 27-year-old painter was too nervous to attend or even watch the livestream. Instead, Ms. Weyant holed up in her small Manhattan apartment and listened to a calming app on her cellphone until a friend texted with news. “Summertime,” Ms. Weyant’s portrait of a woman with long, flowing hair that the artist had sold for around $12,000 two years before, resold for $1.5 million , five times its high estimate. It has been a rocket-fueled...
Jun 20, 2022•7 min•Ep. 12
What is black, yellow and coated in pollen? Bumblebee, you say? A panel of top judges in California reviewed the matter and came up with fish, a judgment sending ripples across the state. The unanimous ruling last week by a state appeals court was intended to straighten out a legal swarm involving conservationists, farmers and the interpretation of a scientifically challenged, half-century-old law. The animal-kingdom confusion kicked off four years ago when public-interest groups asked Californi...
Jun 17, 2022•42 sec•Ep. 13
What is black, yellow and coated in pollen? Bumblebee, you say? A panel of top judges in California reviewed the matter and came up with fish, a judgment sending ripples across the state. The unanimous ruling last week by a state appeals court was intended to straighten out a legal swarm involving conservationists, farmers and the interpretation of a scientifically challenged, half-century-old law. The animal-kingdom confusion kicked off four years ago when public-interest groups asked Californi...
Jun 17, 2022•6 min•Ep. 14
The Federal Reserve approved the largest interest rate increase since 1994 and signaled it would continue lifting rates this year at the most rapid pace in decades as it races to slow the economy and combat inflation that is running at a 40-year high . Officials agreed to a 0.75-percentage-point rate rise at their two-day policy meeting that concluded Wednesday, which will increase the Fed’s benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%. The rate increase departed from unusually...
Jun 16, 2022•52 sec•Ep. 15
The Federal Reserve approved the largest interest rate increase since 1994 and signaled it would continue lifting rates this year at the most rapid pace in decades as it races to slow the economy and combat inflation that is running at a 40-year high . Officials agreed to a 0.75-percentage-point rate rise at their two-day policy meeting that concluded Wednesday, which will increase the Fed’s benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%. The rate increase departed from unusually...
Jun 16, 2022•6 min•Ep. 16
When Sarthak Malani passes other runners in a half-marathon, the astonished look on their faces gives him a little ping of satisfaction. Mr. Malani has a clear view of those faces. He runs backward. “People are always telling me I’m going the wrong way,” Mr. Malani said. If so, he isn’t the only one. More runners these days are reversing direction, even on treadmills—turning around and running where they can’t see ahead. What could possibly go wrong? Some are running backward to fight boredom, s...
Jun 15, 2022•40 sec•Ep. 17
When Sarthak Malani passes other runners in a half-marathon, the astonished look on their faces gives him a little ping of satisfaction. Mr. Malani has a clear view of those faces. He runs backward. “People are always telling me I’m going the wrong way,” Mr. Malani said. If so, he isn’t the only one. More runners these days are reversing direction, even on treadmills—turning around and running where they can’t see ahead. What could possibly go wrong? Some are running backward to fight boredom, s...
Jun 15, 2022•5 min•Ep. 18
TOKYO—At the Manuscript Writing Cafe, people on a deadline pay to put themselves under the gaze of a manager in hopes of curing writer’s block. Joe Sasanuma, a lawyer at a technology company, is under orders from his publisher to complete a legal book by the end of the year. Alas, the words to explain the contractual obligations of cloud-computing providers haven’t flowed effortlessly. So Mr. Sasanuma has been visiting the cafe. The cafe’s co-owner, Takuya Kawai, directs his customers to set a g...
Jun 13, 2022•52 sec•Ep. 19
TOKYO—At the Manuscript Writing Cafe, people on a deadline pay to put themselves under the gaze of a manager in hopes of curing writer’s block. Joe Sasanuma, a lawyer at a technology company, is under orders from his publisher to complete a legal book by the end of the year. Alas, the words to explain the contractual obligations of cloud-computing providers haven’t flowed effortlessly. So Mr. Sasanuma has been visiting the cafe. The cafe’s co-owner, Takuya Kawai, directs his customers to set a g...
Jun 13, 2022•6 min•Ep. 20
Big technology stocks are in the midst of their biggest rout in more than a decade. Some investors, haunted by the 2000 dot-com bust , are bracing for bigger losses ahead. The S&P 500’s information-technology sector has dropped 19% in 2022 through Tuesday, its worst start to a year since 2002. Its gap with the broader S&P 500, which is down 13%, is the largest since 2004. The declines have prompted investors to yank a record $7.6 billion this year from technology-focused mutual and excha...
Jun 10, 2022•43 sec•Ep. 21
Big technology stocks are in the midst of their biggest rout in more than a decade. Some investors, haunted by the 2000 dot-com bust , are bracing for bigger losses ahead. The S&P 500’s information-technology sector has dropped 19% in 2022 through Tuesday, its worst start to a year since 2002. Its gap with the broader S&P 500, which is down 13%, is the largest since 2004. The declines have prompted investors to yank a record $7.6 billion this year from technology-focused mutual and excha...
Jun 10, 2022•5 min•Ep. 22
Now playing at a theater near you: a suspense drama over whether there will be enough popcorn for the summer moviegoing season. The plot was palpable at CinemaCon, an annual convention for movie-theater operators this spring. The Las Vegas event floor had a festive vibe, coming after two years of pandemic-darkened screens. A-list vendors such as Mars Wrigley (M&M’s, Snickers, Twix) hawked sugary wares near makers of polyester theater-worker vests and seating experts modeling the latest in au...
Jun 09, 2022•50 sec•Ep. 23
Now playing at a theater near you: a suspense drama over whether there will be enough popcorn for the summer moviegoing season. The plot was palpable at CinemaCon, an annual convention for movie-theater operators this spring. The Las Vegas event floor had a festive vibe, coming after two years of pandemic-darkened screens. A-list vendors such as Mars Wrigley (M&M’s, Snickers, Twix) hawked sugary wares near makers of polyester theater-worker vests and seating experts modeling the latest in au...
Jun 09, 2022•5 min•Ep. 24
NEWARK, N.J.—A recent National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the Florida Panthers was a wild ride with 13 goals and an overtime winner. But the loudest cheers in the arena weren’t for either team: They were for the referees. In the upper corner of Newark’s Prudential Center, a boisterous crowd of around 200 fans dressed in striped referee jerseys spent most of the game on their feet, celebrating every icing whistle as if it was a goal. Their heroes weren’t Devils stars Jac...
Jun 08, 2022•39 sec•Ep. 25
NEWARK, N.J.—A recent National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the Florida Panthers was a wild ride with 13 goals and an overtime winner. But the loudest cheers in the arena weren’t for either team: They were for the referees. In the upper corner of Newark’s Prudential Center, a boisterous crowd of around 200 fans dressed in striped referee jerseys spent most of the game on their feet, celebrating every icing whistle as if it was a goal. Their heroes weren’t Devils stars Jac...
Jun 08, 2022•4 min•Ep. 26
The River Thames is beautiful in early summer, and the stretch just upstream of central London is full of birds: motionless herons watching for fish, bustling moorhens poking around the submerged plants, and watchful flocks of preening swans. But as my canoe club paddles along the river, we’re always looking out for our clear favorites: the mother ducks with a fluffy cluster of ducklings tagging along behind. When they’re lingering at the shore, it all looks slightly chaotic, with baby birds daw...
Jun 06, 2022•4 min•Ep. 27
The River Thames is beautiful in early summer, and the stretch just upstream of central London is full of birds: motionless herons watching for fish, bustling moorhens poking around the submerged plants, and watchful flocks of preening swans. But as my canoe club paddles along the river, we’re always looking out for our clear favorites: the mother ducks with a fluffy cluster of ducklings tagging along behind. When they’re lingering at the shore, it all looks slightly chaotic, with baby birds daw...
Jun 06, 2022•53 sec•Ep. 28
Before we were born we had no feeling; we were one with the universe. This is called “mind-only,” or “essence of mind,” or “big mind.” After we are separated by birth from this oneness, as the water falling from the waterfall is separated by the wind and rocks, then we have feeling. You have difficulty because you have feeling. You attach to the feeling you have without knowing just how this kind of feeling is created. When you do not realize that you are one with the river, or one with the univ...
Jun 02, 2022•3 min•Ep. 29
Drew Meyer is either going to be mountain biking or kayaking this weekend, but he hasn’t made any firm plans. He doesn’t need to. Ever since he bought his minivan this year, he’s had it packed for camping and mountain biking on a moment’s notice, and he has a rack on top for his kayak. This, after years of poking fun at his friends who drove minivans. Mr. Meyer, 43, became a convert while renting one for a February business trip. “I got in and started driving and pretty much knew I was going to ...
Jun 02, 2022•40 sec•Ep. 30
