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Just because Trump says something doesn’t make it true
Aug 6, 2018

Just because Trump says something doesn’t make it true

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President Donald Trump's tweets made a lot of news Sunday, but we want to zoom in on this bit: "Because of Tariffs we will be able to start paying down large amounts of the $21 Trillion in debt," Trump wrote. "While at the same time reducing taxes for our people." Leaving aside that tariffs are taxes, could they ever pay off the national debt? Or even just the deficit? We looked into it. Then, a look at JPay, a company that lets prison inmates and their families exchange emails — for a cost. Plus, we'll talk with Mandy Harris Williams about her Instagram account @idealblackfemale and her experience as a woman of color at the mercy of Facebook's algorithms.

Segments From this episode

Tuning pianos to fill in the financial gaps

Aug 6, 2018
Instead of relying on a single income source, one music teacher took up a new trade.
Michael McTigue listens to a concert grand Model D piano in the final tuning room at the Steinway & Sons factory in Long Island City, New York, in 2005.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

A new twist on rent-to-own housing

Aug 6, 2018
Tech startup Divvy Homes offers "fractional" home ownership, at a premium.
Erin Bullock and Gabby Jacobs are renting this house in Lyndhurst, Ohio, from tech startup Divvy Homes, with an option to buy within three years.
Amy Scott/Marketplace

Where are the workers, in a labor market this tight?

Aug 6, 2018
With unemployment so low, at 3.9 percent in July, some employers are taking a second look at workers they might have passed on before
Commuters make their way through Grand Central Terminal as the sun shines in through the windows. 
DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s tweets made a lot of news Sunday, but we want to zoom in on this bit: “Because of Tariffs we will be able to start paying down large amounts of the $21 Trillion in debt,” Trump wrote. “While at the same time reducing taxes for our people.” Leaving aside that tariffs are taxes, could they ever pay off the national debt? Or even just the deficit? We looked into it. Then, a look at JPay, a company that lets prison inmates and their families exchange emails — for a cost. Plus, we’ll talk with Mandy Harris Williams about her Instagram account @idealblackfemale and her experience as a woman of color at the mercy of Facebook’s algorithms.

Music from the episode

Black Lemon Generationals
Tom's Diner Suzanne Vega, DNA
Jeeper Creeper Sinkane