Here are a couple of Marketplace segments I heard that were extra interesting to me.
Are we suffering from the planned economic realignments of Project 2025, or is this simply Trump pulling another one of his grifts? It seems likely to me that both are in play.
I’m a regular viewer of Washington Week on PBS. The current moderator of the panel is Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. Goldberg is now in the circumstance of having gone from journalist to being the story.
A recap: Google notified registered users of its Pixel 4a phone that an update would affect battery performance. Three alternatives were offered in compensation.
I chose to take the $100 credit at the Google Store. Combined with a sale price that was already $100 off, I bought a Pixel 8a for $300.
All’s well that ends well… except when it doesn’t.
I planned to… switch my “appeasement,” but then I noticed the fine print: No changes are possible after making a selection. So—no money for me.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/how-google-nerfed-my-pixel-4a-then-stuck-it-to-me-too/
Do we really need yet another British murder mystery? Yes, if it’s Adolescence.
The Netflix mini-series is both compelling and confounding. Is Adolescence a police procedural? A serious sociological and psychological study? A reality show? A soap opera? Yes to all.
Something quite remarkable is that each of the four episodes was recorded in one continuous take. If there are any cuts at all, they were very deftly hidden.
This isn’t a gimmick. Once you start watching, the seamless flow of motion makes the verisimilitude* all the more effective, and the acting all the more impressive.
The logistical planning, coordination and practice must have been daunting. The second episode is a tour de force of what I suppose can be called “synchronized cinematography.”
https://www.netflix.com/tudum/videos/adolescence-inside-episode-2
* Sorry about that. It won’t happen again, and I promise to never use any form of “juxtapose.” 😉
Trump turned the White House into the backdrop for a Tesla commercial. The Secretary of Commerce recommended buying Tesla stock.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/20/trump-commerce-lutnick-elon-musk-tesla-stock-doge-cybertruck.html
Musk was going to be briefed at the Pentagon on plans for a potential war scenario with China. He threatened whomever leaked the story.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-calls-prosecutions-pentagon-140430579.html
Trump wants the Fed to lower interest rates as a way of offsetting the inflation that’s likely to come from his sweeping tariffs. Doing that could create a new supply chain problem and raise inflation to the point where it results in stagflation.
We’re only eight weeks into this maelstrom, and the signs are already clear that we can’t wait for the midterm elections. Congressional Republicans must act and do something to put limits on Trump and Musk.
I have very high hopes for season 2 of Andor.
That’s a Steve Earle song in the trailer.
