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If you’ve listened to public radio, tuned in to television news or scrolled through news feeds at any point in the last few years, you may have noted one commonplace term: “uncertainty.”

It’s a key theme in American life right now, whether that has to do with the rising cost of living, the flurry of actions by the Trump administration or even costly natural disasters. All of this adds up to uncertainty, and it has Americans on edge.

In fact, the latest University of Michigan Survey of Consumers finds sentiment down significantly. Alissa Quart, executive director at the nonprofit Economic Hardship Reporting Project, says pervasive uncertainty can pave the way for deeper inequality. She has a new piece in Time magazine titled “How Insecurity Became the New Inequality.”

She spoke with “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

David Brancaccio: People in, for instance, North Carolina or California out searching for rentals because their house was destroyed in a disaster, they don’t feel less secure; they are — in terrible ways — actually less secure. When policies change with this new presidential administration, some may feel more secure, others less. But you, Alissa, you think insecurity like this leads to inequality, widening the gap between rich and poor.

Alissa Quart: It’s not just a gap between haves and have-nots, but it’s those who can’t absorb the blows of things like the LA fires or the mudslides in Kentucky, and so on and so forth, and middle-class people who can’t keep up with inflation or the tariffs that will raise our prices. So, this is insecurity as much as it is inequality, and they’re inextricably linked.

Brancaccio: I think there’s a lot of logic in this. Insecurity can be seen as like a reverse indicator for well-being, right? You can track insecurity, and when it goes up, it’s not something that you want or that society wants.

Quart: Right. Insecurity has become an indicator that scholars now [use to] assess societal well-being. There’s the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index. They talk about “uncertainty shocks” that create economic disorders. So, the example they used was Brexit, so this preceded our current period.

Brancaccio: When the lowest-income people feel insecurity, it is a terrible thing, but part of the point that you’re trying to make is that this — I mean, I don’t ever like the word “precarity” — but this insecurity is being felt not just among the lowest-income people.

Quart: Yeah, it was an abrupt precarity in relation to the pandemic for a lot of the poorer Americans. Remember that we had the American Rescue Plan, expanded child tax credit that reduced child poverty tremendously. Then, you also had this growing middle-class precarity, which I actually have been writing about since 2018. You know, I wrote a book called “Squeezed,” where I called it the “middle precariat.” That’s “middle class” plus “precarious” plus “proletariat.” So, I see this as kind of a form, potentially, of solidarity between people who are upper-middle class, middle class and lower income, this insecurity. And it’s something that was mentioned by Astra Taylor in a great book called “Age of Insecurity,” where she saw that not just as a bane, but a potential way forward, if we could start thinking of ourselves in those terms.

One of the most famous bets in the past half-century — at least among economists — wasn’t about the Super Bowl or a presidential election. No, it was about the price of metals. That is, whether five critical metals would be worth more or less in 1990 than they were in 1980.

Really, though, this was about how we consume natural resources and whether we would just gobble up more and more as the human population grew or figure out a better way to manage what the planet provides.

Researchers are now looking at this question all over again, and Marketplace’s senior economics contributor, Chris Farrell, went back to the future along with “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio.

The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

David Brancaccio: What’s the full story on this crazy bet?

Chris Farrell: So it’s famed biologist and environmentalist Paul Ehrlich, and he predicted population growth would deplete the planet’s resources, and the increasing scarcity of resources would drive commodity prices higher. Now, this iconoclastic economist Julian Simon, he just didn’t buy this forecast. He believed human innovation and ingenuity would overcome commodity shortages; prices would fall over time rather than rise. So, Simon, being an economist, challenged Ehrlich to put some money on the line.

Brancaccio: All right, real money. Challenge accepted. Exactly what were they betting on?

Farrell: OK, so they wagered on the decadelong price of five metals: copper, chrome, nickel, tin and tungsten. Ehrlich would win the so-called scholarly wager of the decade if the inflation-adjusted prices of these metals were higher in September 1990 compared to September 1980. Simon, of course, would win if prices were lower.

Brancaccio: And I vaguely remember this: Simon wins the bet, right?

Farrell: He does. So at the end of the decade, the world’s population had risen by 800 million people, while nominal prices and inflation-adjusted prices of each of the five commodities were down. Ehrlich wrote Simon a check. The bet, by the way, David — I mean, obviously it’s long over — but its meaning, its significance and its symbolism are still being debated 35 years later.

Brancaccio: Enter some new research on this. What did you see?

Farrell: Hannah Ritchie is a senior researcher at Oxford University and deputy editor of “Our World in Data.” And she looked at the price trend of the five metals starting in 1900. Prices didn’t change much over the past century, even though the economy is dramatically different today. Studies going back as far as 1840 show that a broader basket of mineral prices has been essentially trendless, she says.

Brancaccio: All right, but what’s the big conclusion here?

Farrell: So, looking at price trends over the long haul, she finds herself closer to Simon’s perspective about the impact of human innovation. For instance, she notes that the world produces 40 times as much copper annually and 250 times as much nickel as it did in 1900, yet prices aren’t that different from 1900, she says. The lesson in the price message: When resources become scarce, the price signal unleashes human ingenuity, and new supplies bring prices back down.

Brancaccio: If past performance gives us some indication of the future, I guess. Marketplace’s senior economics contributor Chris Farrell. Thank you.

Sonic the Hedgehog shows no sign of slowing down — so to speak. The blue blur's third movie was a hit at the box office, and it's coming to Paramount+ sooner than you might have expected. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will land on the streaming service in the US and Canada on February 18 i.e. tomorrow.

The film zoomed into theaters in December and vacuumed up cash faster than Sonic loses his rings when he runs into spikes. To date, it has pulled in over $478 million, making it the second highest-grossing video game film behind one that stars one of Sonic's oldest rivals. The Super Mario Bros. Movie raked in $1.36 billion.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 picks up soon after the events of the Knuckles spin-off series. It sees Sonic and the gang taking on a new opponent, a powerful hedgehog named Shadow (voiced by Keanu Reeves). It's safe to say that Sonic et al probably make it through that encounter given that a fourth movie in the series is on the way. Sonic The Hedgehog 4 is scheduled to spin dash into theaters on March 19, 2027.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/sonic-the-hedgehog-3-zooms-onto-paramount-on-february-18-182404772.html?src=rss

Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden have both made it a priority to secure a sufficient supply of critical minerals from the ground. But some in the current Trump administration have called for mining a new source: the ocean floor. 

Deep-sea mining remains controversial and has yet to be approved in either federal waters or internationally. But the industry is seeing opportunity.

As president, Biden pushed the U.S. to get minerals from places other than China. But when it came to the bottom of the ocean?

“The Biden administration was officially on the fence, but really not wanting to do anything with deep-sea mining,” said Oliver Gunasekara, CEO of Impossible Metals, which hopes to harvest potato-shaped hunks of metal from the Pacific.

He said the Trump administration views the Department of the Interior like a balance sheet. “An opportunity to extract oil and gas and critical minerals. And they’ve been talking very much about the seabed.”

The shift in policy is a welcome one for the fledgling industry, which aims to start mining the seafloor in the coming years. 

“For us, America First is good news,” said Gerard Barron, CEO of the Metals Co., which is also eyeing the Pacific. “As America became energy independent with the advent of shale, it can become mineral independent with this resource 1,000 miles southwest of San Diego.”

But that could pose a risk to the health of the ocean, said Beth Orcutt, vice president of research at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

While mining companies have developed some ways to clean up after themselves on land, like reforestation or water treatment, Orcutt said there’s no evidence that it’s possible to do that in the deep sea.

“The disruption may be permanent, at least on human life scales,” she said.

There are also financial concerns. Two of the main metals available on the ocean floor are nickel and cobalt. Those have been key parts of electric car batteries, said Victor Vescovo, CEO of Caladan Capital. But today?

“There has been some major advancements in battery technology, the biggest being lithium iron phosphate,” he said.

Most EV batteries sold in China, the world’s largest market, use those materials. Vescovo said you can’t really find them on the ocean floor.

“So deep-sea mining is an extremely difficult solution to a battery metal problem that existed 10 years ago,” he said.

Still, the U.S. Geological Survey deems nickel, cobalt and other potential seabed resources as critical to the economy and national security. And the mining industry sees the next four years as its chance to go to sea and get them.

Elon Musk is taking aim at federal workers and organizations, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Now, Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) is blocking Signal.me links, a URL used by encrypted messaging service Signal that allows people to quickly contact others directly, the blog Disruptionist reports. Federal workers have used Signal to covertly report relevant and dangerous activities. 

Anyone who attempts to post a Signal.me link in a DM, public post or on their profile page receives error messages such as, "This request looks like it might be automated. To protect our users from spam and other malicious activity, we can’t complete this action right now. Please try again later." Other responses include, "We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially harmful." Engadget confirmed the block in a test. 

Users who try to click existing Signal.me links get a message stating, "Warning: this link may be unsafe. The link you are trying to access has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe, in accordance with X's URL Policy." They can choose to ignore the warning and proceed to the link. 

Musk is working with President Trump to cut federal workers across the board. Over 9,500 employees were fired on Friday, February 14, alone. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-blocks-users-from-sharing-links-to-signal-170642686.html?src=rss

DeepSeek, the massively popular Chinese AI assistant, has been temporarily unavailable from app stores in South Korea since February 15. A press release from the country’s data protection authority, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), stated that downloads will resume once the Chinese AI company complies with local data protection laws, while those with the app can still use it. DeepSeek is also blocked on South Korean government and military devices.

DeepSeek only established a local presence in South Korea on February 10. The company also acknowledged that it didn’t fully consider South Korea’s data protection laws when launching the service globally. Fortunately for South Korean users, the new AI powerhouse intends to cooperate with the PIPC.

The PIPC says that inspecting DeepSeek will take some time. On-site inspections of six AI services from Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and others took around five months. This inspection should take less time because it only involves DeepSeek.

In a statement to TechCrunch, the PIPC revealed that it discovered DeepSeek was transferring Korean users' data to ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. Local users were warned against entering personal information into the app.

Last month, the Italian Data Protection Authority or Garante, sent DeepSeek an information request asking what type of data the models were trained on and several other questions. Other countries like Australia and Taiwan have also banned the app on government devices due to security concerns.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded to South Korea’s DeepSeek ban, claiming Beijing would never ask any company or individual to store or collect data illicitly.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/south-korea-pauses-downloads-of-deekseek-ai-over-privacy-concerns-163302224.html?src=rss

Tired of losing stuff? Chipolo is selling a four-pack of its One Bluetooth trackers for $67.50. This represents a discount of 32 percent. Just remember to pop in the code “ENGADGET10” at checkout. That brings the sale price of $75 down to $67.50. The discount applies to all colorways, and there are a bunch to choose from. There are also combo packs that include multiple colors.

This gadget not only made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers, but it’s our very favorite release in the product category. The One is a near-perfect tracker. The battery lasts two full years, it works great with both Android and iOS devices and the ringer is incredibly loud. This is great news for those who tend to misplace items under mountains of linens or between couch cushions.

There’s also no perceptible lag between pressing the Ring to Find button and hearing the trill. This isn’t true of many rival trackers. It even has a handy hole for attaching to keychains and the like. This may seem like an obvious design element, but Apple AirTags lack this hole.

The only downside involves the finding network. Chipolo isn’t a big name like Apple or Samsung, so there are fewer people on the network. This could be an issue if you don’t live in a major metropolitan area. Basically, the One is perfect for looking for lost items in or near the home, but not as useful when searching for misplaced stuff (like luggage at an airport) out in the wild.

One last thing. Remember that coupon code from before? It works across the entire site, so feel free to grab a ten percent discount on everything else Chipolo makes. This includes wallet trackers that are shaped like credit cards and smaller tracking rings.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-a-four-pack-of-chipolo-one-bluetooth-trackers-for-32-percent-off-130015886.html?src=rss

Viktor Antonov, best known for his work as art lead on Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has reportedly died at age 52. Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw broke the news in an Instagram Story, and other former colleagues have since taken to social media to pay tribute as well. “I didn’t want to say much till I felt it was confirmed, but I learned today that Viktor Antonov, our visionary art lead on HL2, has died,” Laidla wrote in the now-expired post, which was reshared by LambdaGeneration on Saturday night.

Antonov got his start in video games working on Redneck Rampage, and in addition to serving as art director for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, he went on to consult on titles including Doom (2016) and Fallout 4. The Bulgarian artist just recently appeared in a documentary celebrating the 20th anniversary of Half-life 2 this past November.

“RIP Viktor Antonov. I wish I told you how much admiration I had for you but we get caught in our lives until a surprise like this hits us,” Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios and Wolfeye Studios, wrote on Bluesky. “You were instrumental to the success of Arkane Studios and an inspiration to many of us, also a friend with whom I have many fond memories.” In another post, game designer Harvey Smith added, “All this about his impact and talent is true, but I will also always remember how much he made me laugh, with his dry, devastating wit. RIP.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/viktor-antonov-art-director-for-half-life-2-and-dishonored-has-died-according-to-colleagues-203219167.html?src=rss

Apple Vision Pro may soon get an update bringing Apple Intelligence to the headset, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The first Apple Intelligence features started rolling out to iPhone, iPad and Mac in the fall, bringing features like notification summaries, ChatGPT integration for Siri and Genmoji over the last few months. But Apple’s AI hasn’t yet made it to the Vision Pro. According to Mark Gurman, that may change with the visionOS 2.4 update, which sources said may arrive in April with Apple Intelligence and a new app for viewing spatial media like 3D images and panoramas.

The first Apple Intelligence features to come to Vision Pro will reportedly include Writing Tools, Genmoji and Image Playground. Gurman reports that developers may get access to these features in beta “as soon as this week.” Don’t expect any major changes to Siri on Vision Pro just yet, though. According to Gurman, a “major AI overhaul” the company had been planning for the assistant has been delayed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/vision-pro-will-reportedly-get-apple-intelligence-as-soon-as-april-180751381.html?src=rss

YouTube TV has reached a deal with Paramount to avoid cutting off subscribers’ access to certain channels, including CBS, CBS Sports and Nickelodeon. Earlier this week, YouTube TV announced in a blog post that Paramount content would be removed from its platform after February 13 because the two had failed to reach “a fair agreement” that would keep those channels available. On Friday, that deadline was extended, and YouTube TV said in an update on Saturday night that a deal had been reached and access would now go on uninterrupted.

“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached a deal to continue carrying Paramount channels, including CBS, CBS Sports, Nickelodeon and more,” YouTube TV wrote in a blog post and on X. “With this agreement, YouTube TV will continue to offer 100+ channels and add-ons including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and will enable more user choice in the future. To our subscribers, we appreciate your patience while we negotiated on your behalf.” BET+ will also remain available.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/youtube-tv-has-reached-a-deal-with-paramount-to-keep-carrying-cbs-cbs-sports-and-other-channels-154245757.html?src=rss

In a blog post on Friday, Perplexity introduced a new tool called Deep Research that it says can conduct “in-depth research and analysis” to deliver detailed reports in response to your questions, and it’s free for limited use. It comes just a couple of weeks after OpenAI announced its own Deep Research feature for ChatGPT Pro users… which itself followed Google’s December announcement of Deep Research for Gemini. Perplexity’s tool is available only on the web to start, but it will hit the iOS, Android and Mac apps soon too.

Introducing Deep Research on Perplexity.

Deep Research lets you generate in-depth research reports on any topic.

Available to everyone for free—up to 5 queries per day for non-subscribers and 500 queries per day for Pro users. pic.twitter.com/obovx7YEUF

— Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) February 14, 2025

Perplexity says its Deep Research “excels at a range of expert-level tasks — from finance and marketing to product research” and takes about 2-4 minutes to come up with an answer, during which it “performs dozens of searches, reads hundreds of sources, and reasons through the material.” Once finished, its reports can be shared or exported as a PDF. The company claims it outperforms competitors — like OpenAI’s o3-mini and o1, and DeepSeek-R1 — on the Humanity’s Last Exam benchmark, earning a 21.1 percent accuracy score (though this is lower than OpenAI’s Deep Research scored).

Free users will be limited to five queries per day, while Pro subscribers will get 500, according to a tweet from the company.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/perplexity-has-its-own-deep-research-tool-now-too-224653030.html?src=rss

Nintendo of America announced that it's opened purchases of the game-themed alarm clock, Alarmo, to the public so anyone can snag one, with or without a Switch Online membership. The bright red alarm clock comes with a handful of built-in themes to choose from at the start — Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 and Ring Fit Adventure — and Nintendo says others, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, will be available for free down the line. Alarmo will also be sold in select stores starting in March, as well as online in other regions.

Alarmo first went on sale back in October, but only for Nintendo Switch Online members. That changed on Friday, when the company announced, “Nintendo Sound Clock: #Alarmo is now available on My Nintendo store, no Nintendo Switch Online membership required.”

Nintendo Sound Clock: #Alarmo is now available on My Nintendo store, no Nintendo Switch Online membership required. Available while supplies last. Learn more: https://t.co/0EkqZJ9X5A pic.twitter.com/1Wwd96hQyx

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 14, 2025

Alarmo can wake you up and put you to sleep with sounds and animations from your chosen title, and it has a motion sensor for sleep tracking (though Engadget’s review found the latter to be pretty useless). There’s an undeniable charm to it all; the characters will even celebrate when you finally drag yourself out of bed. The downside is that it costs $100. Still, I can’t say the idea of having a troupe of Pikmin greet me first thing every morning isn’t extremely tempting.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/anyone-in-the-us-can-now-buy-nintendos-alarmo-clock-from-the-online-store-171945008.html?src=rss

New releases we picked up this week that belong on your reading list.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-ali-smith-gliff-dystopian-fiction-horror-comics-creepshow-160016239.html?src=rss

Uber is suing DoorDash, accusing the biggest food delivery provider in the US of putting pressure on restaurants to exclusively use its services. According to The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, Uber filed the lawsuit in California on February 14. Uber said it filed the lawsuit after hearing from "restaurants across the country" that were left with no choice but to "cave to [DoorDash's] demands or pay the price." 

Both DoorDash and Uber Eats offer their delivery services to restaurants, even for customers who buy from an establishment's own website or app. At the same time, they also offer advertising within their apps for those that want to promote their businesses. DoorDash has a significantly larger share of the market than Uber Eats and had previously said that 90 percent of major restaurants in the US is available on its platform. 

DoorDash allegedly threatened to charge higher commission rates for handling orders made through its marketplace if the restaurant is also on Uber Eats. In its complaint, Uber said that that in one instance, the company threatened to raise a restaurant's commission rate by 30 percent per order placed. The lawsuit stated another instance wherein DoorDash allegedly told a restaurant that it would cost them millions of dollars in additional fees if it also teamed up with Uber. In 2024, a large restaurant group scrapped long-running plans to launch on Uber after threats from DoorDash to increase its commission rates, Uber said. In addition, DoorDash allegedly threatened to demote restaurants also available on Uber within its app. 

Uber is now asking the court to compel DoorDash to change its business practices. Meanwhile, DoorDash denied all accusations. "Uber’s case has no merit," the company said in a statement. "Their claims are unfounded and based on their inability to offer merchants, consumers, or couriers a quality alternative."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/uber-accuses-doordash-of-anti-competitive-practices-in-a-lawsuit-130032964.html?src=rss

One of our favorite grill accessories, the ThermoWorks Thermapen One, is on sale for $79 right now. This Engadget exclusive sale shaves $30 off this speedy thermometer. While it’s not the record low price, $79 is pretty close.

The Thermopen One is calibrated to record temperatures accurately, with an error margin of 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.3 degrees Celsius). It also does this within a second. To help users check the temperature conveniently, the display rotates 360 degrees and has a smart backlight display that brightens when it’s covered or in a low-light environment.

The company claims that a single AAA battery in the thermometer will last for 2,000 hours, and it’s partly due to how it automatically turns on or off when you pick it up or put it down. An IP67 rating makes it safe to use in wet and dusty locations for a while. (You should still try to keep it clean and dry, though.) If that’s not reassuring enough, each Thermapen One comes with a five-year warranty.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-thermoworks-thermapen-one-is-on-sale-for-79-right-now-100052804.html?src=rss

“My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.

Mindy Kuhn and Shonali Thomas are co-owners of CCB Bistro & Vine, a wine bar, restaurant and bookstore in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Kuhn and Thomas were introduced through a mutual friend. Kuhn, who also works as a book publisher, helped Thomas publish her cookbook prior to starting a business together. At the time, Thomas was working as a caterer. The pair became fast friends. With the shared goal of expanding their businesses, the two decided to open CCB Bistro & Vine.

The two parts of the business, the bookstore and restaurant, are complementary. “When you walk into the restaurant, the books are around the edge,” Kuhn said, describing the setup of the shop. “So oftentimes people come in, they’ll get drinks or food, and then they’ll shop for books.”

Shonali Thomas (left) and Mindy Kuhn started their relationship as author and publisher. Now, they’re business partners and close friends. (Courtesy Kuhn)

To hear more from Thomas and Kuhn about their business, click the audio player above.

Let us know how your economy is doing using the form below, and your story may be featured on a future edition of “My Economy.” .captcha { padding-bottom: 1em !important; } .wForm .captcha .oneField { margin: 0; padding: 0; } // initialize our variables var captchaReady = 0; var wFORMSReady = 0; // when wForms is loaded call this var wformsReadyCallback = function () { // using this var to denote if wForms is loaded wFORMSReady = 1; // call our recaptcha function which is dependent on both // wForms and an async call to google // note the meat of this function wont fire until both // wFORMSReady = 1 and captchaReady = 1 onloadCallback(); } var gCaptchaReadyCallback = function() { // using this var to denote if captcha is loaded captchaReady = 1; // call our recaptcha function which is dependent on both // wForms and an async call to google // note the meat of this function wont fire until both // wFORMSReady = 1 and captchaReady = 1 onloadCallback(); }; // add event listener to fire when wForms is fully loaded document.addEventListener("wFORMSLoaded", wformsReadyCallback); 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On Friday, the Census Bureau gave us retail sales data for January, which fell 0.9% from December. That’s a much bigger drop than economists were expecting.

Now, we usually see a drop in retail sales at the start of the year as people and their bank accounts try to recover from their holiday spending sprees.

With those swings, plus the snowstorms and fires that have hit the country, a number that indicates how much people are shopping doesn’t necessarily indicate how much people want to be shopping.

Tracking retail sales is a way to measure consumer demand in this economy. But the overall tally, almost $724 billion in January, can obscure a lot of nuance.

“If what you’re trying to look at is some measure of consumer confidence, then you don’t want the number that you’re looking at to be driven by whether or not the harvest for avocados was good,” said Erica Groshen, former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and a current senior economic adviser at Cornell.

So there are a few different breakdowns of the data in the census report. Isolating a control group, sometimes called “core retail sales,” strips out more volatile categories like automobiles, gasoline and building materials.

Plus, different groups and companies have their own versions of “core retail sales” depending on their view of the economy, said Brian McCarthy, retail strategy lead at Deloitte.

“So you can see one core group being your typical grocery, soft goods, hard goods, and then another group being your grocery, soft goods, hard goods, including gas and restaurants,” said McCarthy.

Changing those inputs can make a big difference in the headline number. For example, in January’s report, said Bea Chiem, a managing director at S&P Global Ratings, “if you stripped out, you know, autos, the decline was actually a little bit less to the overall retail sales number. So that was down 0.4% versus down 0.9% with everything in.”

Same data, same economy, just a slightly different view.

Sales of meat sticks — think Slim Jims or Chomps — were up significantly last year and became the fastest-growing category in snacks. In total, the Wall Street Journal reported that sales of dried meat sticks hit more than $3 billion last year.

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with the Journal’s Jennifer Williams about her story on the popularity of meat sticks. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Kai Ryssdal: Three billion dollars worth of meat sticks in this country. Are you kidding me?

Jennifer Williams: People love their meat sticks. Some love the protein. Some like the convenience of that versus reaching into a bag for, say, jerky. And some just really think is healthier than, say, a bag of potato chips.

Ryssdal: Can you define meat stick for me please?

Williams: I can. And I think there’s some debate even in what I’ll say. I would say it’s any meat offering packaged as a stick. It’s all in the name. But people I spoke with would say some mass produced options shouldn’t be called a meat stick, they should be called a snack stick, because who knows whether it’s meat or not.

Ryssdal: Those who are familiar with meat sticks in the listening audience here will probably recognize Slim Jims. But my, oh, my has this industry grown well beyond a Slim Jim.

Williams: Yes. The $3.29 billion in sales through the end of last year, that’s up 10.4% and it’s the fastest growing category in snacks.

Ryssdal: My kids probably will chime in here at some point after this interview airs. They would always say, Dad, can I have a Slim Jim or whatever? And I’m like, nah, that’s just salt and garbage, and it’s bad for you. But there are, like, grass fed versions, and stuff with fewer preservatives. There’s a wide range of of approaches here, shall we say?

Williams: Yes, that’s true. I think brands are realizing the opportunity here. And there are, as you pointed out, sugar free options, and ones that claim to use only grass fed meat. And I think for those who are eating a meat stick with health in mind, they’re gravitating towards those. Some I don’t think care so much about what’s on the label, they just like the convenience. And then there are those, you know, meat stick purists, who would only buy from a butcher or make their own, which I think is a whole interesting community.

Ryssdal: I flipped through your biography on the Journal site, as I do when I talk to people, and you usually write about like, you know, financial news and audits and pensions and corporate finance. Did you just see all these meat sticks in your local Piggly Wiggly and say, there’s a story there?

Williams: No, I cover ConAgra brands, and usually read through their earnings. And shortly after their latest meat stick acquisition, they had some really fun commentary on the earnings call about sort of appealing to a more sophisticated meat stick eater. And so I thought there’s prime ground there for a funnier story.

Ryssdal: Okay, so you do this story. Did you try a bunch of meat sticks, and do you have a favorite?

Williams: I did. I tried several. I would say I’m brand agnostic, but I do love a spicy flavor, whatever the brand may be.

Newly restored pages on the websites of government agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) now include a disclaimer rejecting "gender ideology," as spotted by 404 Media. The move allows agencies to comply with a recent court order to restore missing webpages, while continuing to push the Trump administration anti-trans executive order that led them to delete those pages in the first place.

You can see the disclaimer — which lifts language directly from President Trump's order — on the FDA's guidance document on the "Study of Sex Differences in the Clinical Evaluation of Medical Products" and a page linking to results from SAHMSA's report on "Behavioral Health of Adolescents across Sexual Identities." Like a lot of the current administration's slapdash attempts to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion, the disclaimer doesn't appear everywhere. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page on "Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines" doesn't include it, for example.

The contents of the disclaimer are reproduced below:

Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59 PM on February 11, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department reject it.

Government agencies were first directed to "end all agency programs that use taxpayer money to promote or reflect gender ideology" by the Office of Personal Management (OPM) in January, which prompted the webpage takedowns, The Washington Post writes. Doctors of America, represented by Public Citizen, sued OPM and other agencies that took down pages over safety concerns, leading to the order to restore the websites to their original form this month. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/trump-administration-adds-note-rejecting-gender-ideology-to-government-websites-220253562.html?src=rss

About a quarter of all trade value between the U.S. and Canada happens over one bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit. 

The key driver of the relationship is the auto industry. It’s estimated that every vehicle that comes off the line here passes over the international crossing about eight times.

“So from an economic perspective we’re integrated very tightly,” said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. His office at Windsor City Hall overlooks the downtowns of both his city and Detroit. He’s lived in Windsor his whole life, but he went to grad school in Detroit and spent some of his professional life there. 

“And so Detroit for me and my family has just been an extension of my back yard,” he said.

But the threat of a trade war between the two countries has rattled some business and political leaders, like Dilkens.

President Donald Trump has said tariffs are an important tool for the U.S., and he that he wants to push our neighbors to the north and south on border security.

Drew Dilkens in the mayor of Windsor, Ontario. (Laura Weber Davis/Marketplace)

But some economists say if President Trump follows through with 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports, the automotive sector could suffer. And that could send a chill through a region that shares warm economic and cultural ties.

“You know, we’re brothers from another mother,” said Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, of the relationship between Detroit and Windsor. Baruah said he hears the outrage coming from Canadians over President Trump’s tariff threats. “Frankly, I think outrage is deserved. Canada is our dear friend both culturally and economically.”

The Detroit Regional Chamber recently polled Michigan voters and found 68% of Michiganders view Canada as an economic friend, and a majority also view tariffs as detrimental to that relationship.

“Sixty-eight percent for anything — I mean even apple pie, motherhood and Chevrolet — is an odd development these days,” said Baruah. “So to have 68% of Michiganders agree on this point … is a big deal.”

The city skylines of Detroit and Windsor face each other across the Detroit River. Folks on the Canadian side grew up listening to Motown and root for the Detroit Lions. Southeast Michiganders grew up watching kids’ television programs on CBC, and know the lyrics to “O Canada.” 

“There’s a lot of cultural touch points, from sports to food. We’re always going to be connected,” said Travis Wright, a Metro Detroiter. He was born in Ontario and moved to Michigan as a child. He said he likes spending time on the Detroit riverfront so he can see Canada and absorb he two homelands.

“There’s just a sense of home,” he said. “As much as I’m Americanized — and I became a citizen — I’m Canadian to the bone.”

Travis Wright was born in Ontario but lives in Michigan. (Laura Weber Davis/Marketplace)

Thousands of people on either side of the river have family and friends in the other country. People cross the border for work every day. Many own property on the other side of the bridge.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said that closeness is what makes the threat of a trade war so jarring.

“Let me make no bones about this — this economic threat, it hurts,” he said. “The thought that there’s going to be an economic assault by the United States on Canada, I mean we’re shaking our heads saying ‘How did we get here? How does this happen?’”

Dilkens said he is considering what economic levers he has to pull if President Trump’s broad tariffs go into effect. But he said something else is happening at the street level; Canadians are beginning to shy away from buying any U.S.-made products because they feel burned.

“The U.S. is picking on their closest neighbor, largest trading partner and, what I would argue to be, best friend. But clearly friendship doesn’t mean anything.”

Dilkens said Detroit and Windsor will remain close no matter what. But if a trade war breaks out, these two cities will be on the front line.