Vice President Kamala Harris this week went on her first foreign trip since taking office, visiting Guatemala and Mexico to address what she refers to as the root causes of mass migration, after the U.S. saw the largest number of border apprehensions in 20 years. Axios Re:Cap speaks with Juan Gonzalez, special assistant to President Biden and National Security Council Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere, about what Harris accomplished, criticisms of her trip and what happens next on U.S. ...
Jun 11, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Federal authorities this week announced that they successfully traced and recovered most of the Bitcoin that had been paid by Colonial Pipeline to a ransomware gang called DarkSide, following last month’s hack that had shut off gasoline supplies to much of the East Coast. Axios Re:Cap digs into the battle between law enforcement and crypto hackers, including what it means for future ransomware attacks and how ransomware has become a global industry of its own, with Gurvais Grigg, a 23-year FBI v...
Jun 10, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast This Saturday, Democrats in America’s largest city will be asked to begin picking their nominee for mayor, a person whose influence is certain to extend beyond the five boroughs. But the voting system is different than anything New York City has used before, and there still isn’t a frontrunner. Dan digs in with Dana Rubinstein, a metro desk reporter with the New York Times, to learn more about the candidates, why crime and policing have become the top issue and what to watch heading into Saturda...
Jun 09, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Senate Democrats and Republicans today are expected to overwhelmingly pass a $247 billion spending package focused on competing with China on technology. Dan is joined by California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna, who cosponsored this bill and who has been concerned about this issue and the ramifications for the U.S. of falling behind since he first campaigned for office.
Jun 08, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast West Virginia’s two Senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, each have disproportionate power to determine America's legislative future, including on voting rights and infrastructure. Dan digs into West Virginia’s moment at the center of America’s political world with Axios congressional reporter Alayna Treene. Plus, Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer joins to discuss Jeff Bezos’s announcement that he’ll go to suborbital space on a Blue Origin rocket.
Jun 07, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s jobs report showed that the U.S. economy added 577,000 jobs in May, which was a very strong number but below what many had been expecting. Dan unpacks the report with Axios business reporters Courtenay Brown and Felix Salmon, who go below the headline numbers and explain what it all means for President Biden’s big spending plans. Plus, we discuss Facebook's decision to ban former President Trump for another two years.
Jun 04, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast U.S. housing prices are soaring, due to a combination of ultra-low interest rates, sky-high lumber prices and a supply-and-demand imbalance brought on by the pandemic. But with the federal foreclosure moratorium just lifted, things could soon change. Dan speaks with Jeremy Wacksman, COO of real estate tech company Zillow, to better understand what the boom means for consumers and the country, and how long it might last.
Jun 03, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast For the second time in as many months, a major part of America’s infrastructure has been held for ransom by cybercriminals. This time is was a hack of JBS, the nation’s largest beef producer, which was forced to take its largest processing facilities offline. Dan speaks with Laura Reiley, The Washington Post’s business of food reporter, about why the country’s meat supply chain is vulnerable, domino effects from the hack and what it all means for consumer prices.
Jun 02, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Friday announced that U.S. employers are allowed under federal law to require that workers get coronavirus vaccinations. Dan goes deeper with Carol Miaskoff, the EEOC's acting legal counsel, to learn more about the new guidance, how it interacts with state laws against such requirements and whether further guidance could be coming.
Jun 01, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast America’s small business community is recovering from the pandemic, but large swathes of it haven’t yet recovered. That was the message yesterday from U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman, testifying in front of a House Financial Services subcommittee. Dan speaks with Guzman for the final of our six part America's Business Comeback series, about which small businesses still need help and what the SBA plans to do about it. Plus, the recovery view from Reckless Records' Matt Jencik in C...
May 29, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Most small business stories from the pandemic are about about pivoting or perishing, but there's also been an unexpected surge in new small business creation. One example is Agua Bonita, a canned beverage company that launched last year after both of its co-founders were laid off. Dan talks with Agua Bonita co-founder Kayla Castañeda and Techstars founder David Cohen about what it was like for startups over the past 14 months and what recovery means for businesses that didn't even exist before C...
May 28, 2021•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Buford Highway is a 10-mile stretch near Atlanta that's home to over 1,000 immigrant-owned small businesses. It's a constellation of home-away-from-homes, particularly for Asian and Latino communities. Dan speaks with Lily Pabian, executive director of the We Love Buford Highway nonprofit, about how the pandemic, the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and the nearby spa murders impacted Buford Highway's small business community. Plus, Dan is joined by Ryan Reese, a fishmonger at Pike Place Market in...
May 27, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the U.S. economy was staring into the pandemic abyss in March 2020, Congress passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to quickly get forgivable loans to small businesses, so they could keep workers on payrolls. Dan digs into the creation and roll out of the PPP, from the multi-day negotiations and late night phone calls to estimations of how many businesses it helped, with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Plus, Dan is joined by ...
May 26, 2021•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast George Floyd's murder, one year ago today, and the surge of support for Black own-small businesses that followed "had an unprecedented impact," according to Shelly Bell, CEO of Black Girl Ventures. Dan speaks with Bell in the second of its six-part series America's Business Comeback, about what 2020 meant for Black-owned small businesses and where things stand today. We also share the first of our conversations with proprietors of some of America's most iconic small businesses, starting with Fra...
May 25, 2021•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Shopping centers are where national chains rub elbows with mom and pops. Dan kicks off a new special series on America's business recovery by speaking to JP Morgan Chase Institute Co-President Chris Wheat, shopping center landlord Adam Ifshin, plus several of his tenants in an Allen, Texas property called The Villages, to understand what happened over the past year and where things stand today.
May 24, 2021•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're back with another episode of our Hard Truths series looking at the criminal justice system in the U.S. Today. Specifically, what happens when people of color make it out of that system and try to rebuild their lives. People of color are disproportionately imprisoned in the U.S. Black people are incarcerated five times more than white people, Hispanics nearly twice as likely as white people to end up behind bars. They also face longer sentences and harsher punishments which can make finding...
May 22, 2021•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast The pandemic has been a horror show for movie theaters. Some wondered if their time in the spotlight had passed for good, as new releases arrived via digital streaming services. Today, though, they've got lots of reasons for optimism.Axios Re:Cap talks with Shelli Taylor, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, about her cinema chain's bankruptcy, her industry's battles with streamers and why she's expecting this summer to be a blockbuster.
May 21, 2021•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast President Biden on Thursday signed a bill aimed at reducing and tracking anti-Asian hate crimes, which have increased significantly in 2021. Axios Re:Cap digs into the legislation and why it matters with Emma Lovewell, a Peloton instructor and Asian-American who lobbied for the bill in Congress.
May 20, 2021•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast The New York Attorney General's office announced late Tuesday night that its investigation into The Trump Organization has expanded from a civil one into a criminal one. Axios Re:Cap goes deeper with David Fahrenthold, a Washington Post reporter whose beat is the Trump family's business interests, to learn how the investigation started, why it's turned criminal and what big questions remain unanswered.
May 19, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Images out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict depict an imbalance in military might — Israel’s Iron Dome defense system neutralizing rockets launched by Hamas, while Israel’s retaliation against Hamas has led to more than 200 Palestinian deaths, including 61 children. World leaders, including President Biden, are calling for a ceasefire. Naomi Shavin is joined by Axios Tel Aviv author Barak Ravid to discuss the context of the current strife, the political motivations of Prime Minister Netanyahu...
May 18, 2021•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Clinical research treating mental illness with psychedelics has been ongoing for decades, but now there's a group of companies exclusively focused on using LSD and other psychedelics to treat mental health disorders. Dan digs into the argument for legalizing prescription psychedelics, and the treacherous FDA approval path, with MindMed CEO JR Rahn, whose company recently listed on the Nasdaq.
May 17, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast One of the most confounding parts of last week's abysmal jobs report was the disconnect between the unemployment and the help wanted signs plastered in the windows of almost every restaurant and retail store. Axios Re:Cap goes deeper with Brian Niccol, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grille, which just announced average starting wages of $15, to discuss pay, labor shortages and the CDC's new indoor masking guidance.
May 14, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Amazon today announced plans to hire 75,000 more workers, most of whom will sign on after Jeff Bezos officially steps down as the tech giant's CEO. Axios Re:Cap talks with Brad Stone, author of a new book called "Amazon Unbound," about how Amazon may change, what Bezos does next and how he found the woman who voices Alexa.
May 13, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jake Levine, an attorney and former Obama administration staffer, this week was named the first-ever "chief climate officer" at the Development Finance Corp., a U.S. government group that acts a bit like a venture capital firm focused on developing countries. Axios Re:Cap speaks with Levine and Axios climate reporter Andrew Freedman about the significance of this new role, and how Levine will handle billions of dollars in financing to combat global warming.
May 12, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast India is dealing with daily new COVID cases well above 300,000, and a new variant, first detected in India, has been declared a global concern by the World Health Organization. Political blowback and calls for a nationwide lockdown are proliferating, even after President Modi had critical Facebook posts removed. Dan discusses the difficult and deadly situation in India, the political tensions that seem to just keep escalating, and the role of social media amid the crisis with New York Times repo...
May 11, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Colonial Pipeline provides around 45% of the fuel used between Florida and Maine, transporting over 100 million gallons per day. But over the weekend, a ransomware attack caused the entire pipeline to shut down. Dan digs into what we know about this attack, what it tells us about U.S. energy vulnerability, and what it means for transportation in the short term with energy expert Amy Myers Jaffe.
May 10, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Economists had been expecting the economy to add nearly 1 million jobs last month but it only added 266,000. Now, this speed bump in the U.S. economic recovery could change the political debate over whether or not to spend trillions of dollars on infrastructure and social services. Dan is joined by Axios chief financial correspondent Felix Salmon and Axios political reporter Sarah Mucha to dig into what the jobs report says about our economy and what it means for Biden’s plans.
May 07, 2021•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast The idea of banning menthols was first floated in 2017 by then-FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, as nearly half of smokers between 12 and 17 smoke menthols. But around 85% of Black smokers prefer menthols, largely due to racially targeted marketing, and this has led to concerns about how enforcement of a ban could disproportionately impact Black Americans. Dan digs into the history of this proposed ban, what enforcement could look like, and when it might go into effect with Scott Gottlieb.
May 06, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast This morning, Facebook’s Oversight Board recommended that the social network maintain its suspension of former President Trump’s account, which has been in place since January 6. But it also said that Facebook must rethink the “indefinite” nature of Trump’s ban, throwing the ball back in Facebook’s court. Dan digs into the ban, the decision from the board and what’s ahead for Facebook with New York Times technology correspondent Mike Isaac. Plus, how the decision was received by Trump and his as...
May 05, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast The FDA is expected to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for use in children 12-15 years old next week, a major milestone on the path to getting more Americans vaccinated. Dan digs into how vaccine trials for children are different, what’s ahead this summer and whether young kids may be eligible for vaccinations before next school year with long-time drug discovery researcher and author of the blog In The Pipeline Derek Lowe.
May 04, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
