Looking back at more than 25 years in public service, Susan Rice — former U.N. ambassador for the United States and national security adviser to President Barack Obama — describes much of her career as a balancing act. Sometimes, that meant toeing the line between her personal and professional life. "My now 22-year-old son, in fact, learned to walk in the halls of the State Department," recalls Rice in an interview with NPR. "And there were those who thought that was a little bit inappropriate for the staid halls of the State Department." But luckily, she says, she had the support of then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Other times, Rice had to balance her ambition with her identity as a person of color: At the age of 28, having just started her career in government, Rice turned down a position working on African policy for the Clinton administration out of fear of pigeonholing herself. She worried "this predominantly white national security establishment would see [her] as

Updated at 8:47 a.m. ET The coronavirus pandemic has pushed unemployment to its highest level since the Great Depression, but the pace of layoffs has been easing. And there are now some signs that the job market could slowly start to recover. The Labor Department says another 1.87 million people filed claims for unemployment insurance last week. That's down 249,000 from the previous week. While still very high by historical standards, the number has been declining steadily from a peak of 6.8 million the week ending March 28. In the past 11 weeks, 42.6 million new claims have been filed. Continued claims for unemployment went up 649,000, to 21.5 million, in the week ending May 23, the latest week for which data was available, after dropping the prior week. While some workers continue to get pink slips, others have started going back to work. The payroll processor ADP reported Wednesday that private-sector employers cut just under 2.8 million jobs between April and May. That's a much

Since the coronavirus pandemic battered China's economy, tens of millions of urban and factory jobs have evaporated. Some workers and business owners have banded together to pressure companies or local governments for subsidies and payouts. But many of the newly unemployed have instead returned to their rural villages. China's vast countryside now serves as an unemployment sponge, soaking up floating migrant workers in temporary agricultural work on small family plots. "Say a factory used to hire 1,000 temporary workers; now, without new orders, these business owners can't afford to hire this many people," Yan Xiyun, a labor intermediary, told NPR. "The factory I usually go to in previous years could easily hire 2,000 people. Now there is scarcely anyone [on the factory floor]." Ten years ago, Yan left her own village near the small city of Zhumadian in Henan province for the first time and joined the migrant workforce. Now, she's a headhunter working on commission, placing thousands

It may seem obvious, with double-digit unemployment and plunging economic output. But if there was any remaining doubt that the U.S. is in a recession, it's now been removed by the official scorekeepers at the National Bureau of Economic Research. The bureau's Business Cycle Dating Committee — the fat lady of economic opera — said the expansion peaked in February after a record 128 months, and we've been sliding into a pandemic-driven recession since. In making the announcement , the committee pointed to the "unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its broad reach across the entire economy." At the same time, the committee noted the recession could be short-lived. The U.S. added 2.5 million jobs last month after losing more than 22 million in March and April. Many forecasters said they expect economic output to begin growing again in the third quarter. The standard definition of a recession is "a decline in economic activity that lasts more than a few

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . In summer of 1967, African Americans protested, marched, and rioted in cities across the country. The unrest convinced President Lyndon Johnson to set up the Kerner Commission, which spent about six months doing research, visiting slums, and holding hearings. In 1968, they published a provocative report that civil rights leader Jesse Jackson recently called "the last attempt to address honestly and seriously the structural inequalities that plague African Americans." "Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans," the Kerner report said. "What white Americans have never fully understood — but what the Negro can never forget — is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it." Fifty years later, Americans are taking to the

After the coronavirus lockdowns forced it to shut down its 345 U.S. theaters, Texas-based Cinemark in April decided to do what a lot of companies have done: borrow money by selling bonds. The sale was made easier by the fact that the Federal Reserve was lending out trillions of dollars to businesses and governments, providing a much-needed boost to the corporate debt market in an effort to prop up the economy. Even as it was borrowing money, Cinemark also announced a number of steps "to endure a prolonged period of no revenue." They included laying off 17,500 workers with no guarantee when they'll be rehired. During the current crisis, the Fed, which began a two-day meeting on Tuesday, has pulled out all the stops to keep the economy afloat, lowering interest rates to zero and starting a series of unprecedented and historic new lending facilities practically overnight. "It has taken what were already extraordinary, exceptional, unusual, unconventional tools and has expanded them even

Updated at 4:12 p.m. ET The Federal Reserve left interest rates near zero Wednesday and once again promised to deliver whatever monetary medicine it can to an economy that's badly ailing from the coronavirus pandemic. "The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time," the central bank said in a statement . While noting that "financial conditions have improved, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy," the Fed's rate-setting committee reiterated its intent to leave interest rates at rock-bottom levels, "until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals." Notes released along with the committee's statement suggest no rate increases are expected at least through 2022. "We're not thinking about raising rates," Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference. "We're not even thinking about thinking about

Our national fascination with sourdough starter appears to have stopped. Or at least slowed down a bit. The price of baking flour fell last month along with the price of eggs, suggesting that the baking craze that gripped hungry and housebound consumers in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic has cooled. "Sourdough is definitely a commitment," says Kristin Hoffman, who makes instructional YouTube videos for aspiring bakers. "I have heard a couple of people say that they really don't understand why somebody would want to put so much effort into a loaf of bread." Hoffman's Baker Bettie website saw a surge of interest from first-time bakers in late March and April, when tens of millions of Americans found themselves stuck at home with time on their hands. "I saw four to five times higher traffic than even during peak holiday-baking season," Hoffman says. "It has started to kind of level back out, now that things are reopening." Even if the bake-off was a turnoff for some, people

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . Johannes Eisele / AFP via Getty Images The United States has been grappling with a global pandemic, an economic meltdown and massive protests — and yet, until recently, the stock market basically shrugged it all off. Between March 23 and late last week, the market surged 45% , erasing the drop it had seen at the start of the pandemic. That is, until last week, when apparently the market rediscovered that there's a freaking pandemic still going on. Public health experts have been warning for months now about the dangers of reopening without a solid plan for testing and tracing. But they're just uptight nerds, right? Economists consider the stock market a "leading indicator" of the economy, meaning it often signals where the real economy is headed. But it's a notoriously faulty signal. The MIT economist Paul Samuelson famously joked that big drops of the stock market had predicted nine out of the last

Jerome Powell has thrown himself, all guns blazing, into saving the nation's economy from the grips of the coronavirus recession. And yet the White House heaps ridicule on him. Last week, top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Powell had "probably the worst bedside manner of any Fed chairman in history. ... The old joke in the marketing thing is, if Jay Powell was going to market sushi, he'd sell it as cold, dead fish." And top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Powell needed to lighten up a little: "You know, a smile now and then. ... I'll talk with him, and we'll have some media training at some point." The scornful comments came after the stock market went into a tailspin last week when Powell shared his view on where the U.S. economy is heading. He pointed out that even as people were returning to their jobs, the country is "still going to face, probably, an extended period where it will be difficult for many people to find work." His warning, combined with

Ever wonder if a podcast could go to space ? Or ask why a $60,000 bag is always out of stock ? Or want to learn the secrets of snack vendors at a baseball game ? Do you want to find connections between a huge IPO and a Greek new age keyboardist ? Are you the kind of person who finds delight in a report from the Federal Reserve ? Are you a meticulous (and speedy) fact checker? Do you have ideas for improving our Twitter , Instagram and TikTok ( yes ) game? We are looking for TWO interns this fall: One to work on Planet Money , and one to work on The Indicator from Planet Money . You will be working remotely, like all of us. But you'll be part of our daily meetings, regularly scheduled edits, and weekly happy hour. This moment is unusual, we know. We consider it an opportunity. We are especially interested in candidates who might not otherwise be able to move to NYC for an internship, or people who might not usually apply at all. We still expect you to be a fan of the show, be eager to

Shanna LaFountain has been a nursing assistant in New England for 20 years. About two months ago, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, she stopped working. "It was an extremely hard decision," she said. LaFountain has three children and made the decision once their schools closed and their learning went online. "My son was not answering teachers, not doing assignments," she said. "I had to be home with my children." Instead of working, she gets state unemployment benefits and receives another $600 each week from the federal government. She is making more money now than when she works. LaFountain is not alone. As part of the CARES Act, the federal government added an extra $600 per week to individuals' unemployment checks. Such benefits may be available not only to those who were let go but also to those who quit their jobs due to the virus. While a Federal Reserve report said the expanded benefits provide a critical lifeline to many individuals, there is concern that the

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . Geoff Caddick / AFP via Getty Images Brooklyn Heights sits across the East River from Lower Manhattan. It's filled with multimillion-dollar brownstones and — usually — Range Rovers, Teslas and BMWs. These days it's easy to find parking. The brownstones are mostly dark at night. The place is a ghost town. And the neighborhood's sushi restaurants, Pilates studios, bistros and wine bars are either closed or mostly empty. It's a microcosm for what has been the driver of the pandemic recession: Rich people have stopped going out, destroying millions of jobs. That's one of the key insights of a blockbuster study that was dropped late last week by a gang of economists led by Harvard University's Raj Chetty. If you don't know who Chetty is, he's sort of like the Michael Jordan of policy wonks. He's a star economist. He and his colleagues assemble and crunch massive data sets and deliver insights that

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . A health worker sprays disinfectant inside government offices as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus. ARUN SANKAR / AFP via Getty Images Last week, I went into Planet Money 's vacant office in midtown Manhattan to pick up some stuff. It felt like visiting the ruins of a bygone age. It reminded me of a time when you could hop in a crowded subway car, stroll into work without a mask, and interact with your colleagues without having to stare at their disembodied heads through a computer screen. Our building is still mostly abandoned, but our building's manager had already taken precautions for that elusive day when we might all return. There were stand-six-feet-apart circles in the lobby to encourage social distance. Our elevators could only fit four circles, and they didn't even seem like they were actually six feet apart. This being a skyscraper, it had always been a pain in the

Updated at 5 p.m. ET Employers added a record 4.8 million jobs last month, as the U.S. economy continued to slowly bounce back from a deep and painful coronavirus recession. The unemployment rate dipped to 11.1%. Job growth accelerated from May, when revised figures show employers added 2.7 million jobs. Loading... "Our economy is roaring back," President Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room. "It's coming back extremely strong." What's odd this time is that the closely-watched monthly jobs report offers a snapshot of the economy that was already somewhat out of date as soon as it was issued. The Labor Department report reflects conditions from the middle of June. The COVID-19 outbreak has since been accelerating in many states , which could put the brakes on the nascent economic recovery. Investors welcomed the positive jobs news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 92 points while the Nasdaq composite index hit a new, record high. "This is not just luck, what's

Many people with underlying medical conditions are worried about what's going to happen at the end of the month. It's not currently safe for many of them to go back to work. The COVID-19 death rate is 12 times higher for people with underlying conditions. But an extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits, which has been enabling them to pay their rent and other bills, will stop coming at the end of July. "We don't have a whole lot of options that don't involve risking our lives," Lauren Van Netta says. "We need help. We really do." Van Netta lost her job at a perfume store in New Orleans during the outbreak. She says she's had serious bacterial infections that have damaged her lungs and compromised her immune system. And she has asthma. So even if she could find another job in retail, she says her doctors have told her it would be risky. She says even wearing a mask and trying to keep social distancing in a workplace, "it's like the fear of, you know, I could make a mistake.

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images Craft beer sales are surging at stores, but craft breweries are still struggling. Cheap beer is surging, but it's still losing market share. That's because the economics of the beer business are complicated. (And that's before you start drinking.) But the beer business can tell us a lot about the last two recessions. Take Natty Light (seriously, take it, we don't want it). Natty Light falls into a category that the beer biz calls "subpremium" — a category filled mostly with beer that closely resembles water. After over a decade of decline, the pandemic has pushed subpremium beer sales up big time. According to data from IRI, a market research company, store sales are up over 11% as compared with the same time period last year (early March to late June). This surge has happened *despite* the shutdown of colleges, frat parties and beer pong. Subpremium beer

Updated at 8:44 a.m. ET From airlines to paper mills, the job news is grim, and there are growing signs it won't be getting better anytime soon. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported nearly 2.4 million new applications for state and federal unemployment benefits last week. And United Airlines is warning that it may have to furlough as many as 36,000 employees this fall. Demand for air travel has collapsed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The president of the flight attendants union called the warning a "gut punch" but also "the most honest assessment we've seen on the state of the industry — and our entire economy." Union President Sara Nelson tweeted that demand for air travel had recovered a small fraction of its pre-pandemic levels this summer and "even those minimal gains evaporated over the last week due to surging COVID-19 cases across the country." Jobs in other industries are facing similar threats as the coronavirus tightens its stubborn grip on the country. Derse

Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here . Pixabay Banks and laundromats are scrambling. Arcades and gumball machine operators are bracing for the worst. Grocery stores are rounding their prices to even dollars or rejecting cash altogether. The specter of the coin shortage lurks everywhere. Blame COVID-19. The U.S. Mint cut back on coin production this spring to keep its workers safe. Meanwhile, the economy is constipated. "With the closure of the economy, the flow of coins through the economy has ... kind of stopped," explained Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last month. Coins sit idle in closed stores' cash registers and people's homes, and they're not making it to the banks and companies that need them for business. The coin shortage could be a rallying cry for a long-running movement that has lost steam in recent years: Kill the penny! Last year, almost 60% of the coins that the U.S. Mint churned out were pennies. 60 percent . It

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York will face Representative Lee Zeldin this fall. Two Trump-endorsed candidates won key primaries in Illinois. Here’s what else happened.

Democratic interference in Republican primaries paid off in some places but not others, election-denying candidates were halted in Colorado, and incumbents proved their staying power.

The waterfront town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore provides a timeless getaway for nature seekers and admirers of early American history and architecture.

Their positions are popular. So why are they going extinct?

The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, and his counterparts in Britain and the European Union spoke at a conference in Portugal.

The decision followed a landmark 2020 decision that said much of eastern Oklahoma falls within an Indian reservation, limiting the authority of state prosecutors.

The former White House aide’s appearance before the House Jan. 6 committee raised a host of issues sure to be topics of further inquiry.

Former President Donald J. Trump’s endorsement has helped propel some candidates to victory, but he’s also had some notable defeats.

Without a federal right to abortion, questions about how states can regulate speech about it suddenly become much murkier.

A new photo ID requirement is the latest in a Republican-controlled state. The law also does away with the state’s presidential primaries in favor of a series of caucuses.

As the chief law enforcement officer of the Senate, he did not seek the National Guard’s help in advance of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide, testified that the former president directed his chief of staff to reach out to Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, who had ties to the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

Tim Miller fled Republican politics, disgusted with the party’s direction under Donald Trump. Now he has written a memoir that is as much a warning as it is a searing exploration of his own shame and regrets.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Mr. Meadows, the White House chief of staff in the Trump administration, described him as scrolling through his phone as rioters approached the Capitol.

Explosive testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, has raised questions about President Donald J. Trump’s actions on the day of the Capitol riot.

That the House panel did not provide the Justice Department with transcripts of Cassidy Hutchinson’s interviews speaks to the panel’s reluctance to turn over evidence.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s top pandemic adviser, sought to discourage doubts about the antiviral drug Paxlovid following what appeared to be a “rebound” of Covid-19 after taking the pills.

In a forceful speech, the congresswoman also denounced Republican leaders who had “made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man.”

Roughly half of those surveyed say they are worse off financially than a year ago, and most disapprove of President Biden’s handling of inflation.

Mr. Cipollone, who repeatedly fought extreme plans to overturn the election, had resisted publicly testifying to the panel.

Thomas Windom, a little-known federal prosecutor, is overseeing key elements of the Justice Department’s intensifying investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

In the final, frenzied days of his administration, Donald J. Trump’s behavior turned increasingly volatile as he smashed dishware and lunged at his own Secret Service agent, according to testimony.

The former White House aide’s revelations about Jan. 6 chipped away at any potential defense that Donald J. Trump was merely expressing well-founded views about election fraud.

Peri-menopause and menopause are still woefully understood phases of a woman's life. Here's a couple of recent Ask MetaFilter questions that delve into various aspects of these natural biological processes:

1. If hormones mess with you, what was peri/menopause like?

2. Menopause woes

In addition, here's the menopause tag for AskMetaFilter, and don't forget to see the Related Tags sidebar!

image via pixabay.com

my inbox's thousands of unread emails could achieve sentience and I still wouldn't care about it — scruss. People are talking about how they handle their emails in response to Well I never's Ask Me post, "What's in your email inbox?"

The Final Pam screenshot

Rhaomi posts about one of the funniest goddamn things ever published on the internet – McElroy brothers' Monster Factory vids, with beloved faves ... and new episodes!

dancestoblue posts about a surprisingly potent technique to boost your short and long-term recall. Just lie back and think of ... nothing.

Photo by Lisa Zins, via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisazins/)

DirtyOldTown has the most appropriate question for this time of year: What's your favorite scary movie. No, this is not about real life or the US Presidential election, just plain ol' Halloween!

Photo by Ruth Ellison, via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/laruth/)

The question is simple, yet so important: What things make you happier when you do them? Community member Eyelash is asking and thankfully, MeFites are pouring in with answers!