You guys, so many Romance girlies are reading "On Tyranny" that they've broken the Goodreads recommendations algorithm. 10/10; no notes. #romancelandia

At Curriculum Night at the middle school, the social sciences teacher was telling us about the current unit on the Columbian Exchange. The slide said "Three cultures meet," referring to European/African/indigenous. It took every ounce of self control not to yell AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED

I was telling my 12yo about Task and said, "It's about an FBI agent and a robber." Her: "Do they fall in love?" Me: "Um, I don't think so."

Clicked on this article hoping for an announcement that Gap was bringing back its fragrance line from the 90s but nope [throws laptop out of window in anger] www.wsj.com/business/ret...

This reminds me of @caseynewton.bsky.social's erstwhile game show podcast, Converge, where he did a recurring bit asking each guest what they would put on the blockchain. That podcast is from like 5 years ago but I still think about this gag, mostly bc what is the blockchain anyway

All I wanted to do yesterday was pick up my KATABASIS pre-order from the bookstore and start reading. But instead I ended up doing an emergency episode about what's happening at the Fed. Which was, I suppose, its own kind of descent into the underworld. www.npr.org/2025/08/26/n...

A Palantir exec has a WSJ op-ed today arguing that Harvard should expel Chinese students. What if, and I'm just spitballing here, there was some kind of legislation...that banned Chinese people from the U.S., full stop? We could call it, I don't know, the Chinese Exclusion Act...?

Devastated that neither Chicago daily has a film critic anymore. Thanks for a great run, Michael Phillips! I was always too nervous to introduce myself when I saw you in the elevator at Tribune Tower (which is now luxury condos) www.thewrap.com/chicago-trib...

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVINS

Was explaining the Mary Magadalene/Jesus ❤️ theory to my 12yo and she deadpanned, "Hmmm, disciples to lovers"

an incredibly earnest and apolitical post for Vogue about what we lose if (when?) we lose public radio www.vogue.com/article/what...

It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.

Hear me out—a romance where the jumbotron thing happens, and the rock star feels bad and reaches out to the jilted wife and sparks fly! My other idea is THE DATING COMMITTEE, about 2 economists on the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee who fall in love while arguing about if we're in a recession

Alec-Nevala Lee interviewed me for NYT! The story mentions Lovecraft (my thesis was on women, eugenics & HPL), how weird it was when they optioned Mexican Gothic, & that I don't watch superhero flicks (sorry! I gorge on Sinners & Nosferatu, not Marvel. mmm... Horror) www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/b...

Happy Pub Day to my better half, Alec Nevala-Lee! His biography of Nobel-winning physicist Luis Alvarez, COLLISIONS, is out today and you should read it if you are into ✅ Oppenheimer / Manhattan Project / WW2 ✅ Dinosaurs ✅ the Keith Hernandez episode of Seinfeld bookshop.org/p/books/coll...

Congrats to Broadway producer Hunter Arnold, who just won a Tony for Best Musical for Maybe Happy Ending. I'm sure this is his second proudest moment after coming on The Indicator to talk to me about the economics of Broadway! www.npr.org/2023/10/18/1...

My theater kid, watching the Tonys: "Hey, it's Darren Criss!" Then the camera pans to George Clooney and she says, "Who's that?" I say "George Clooney" and she says "He made Star Wars?" I explain and then add that his wife is a world-renowned human rights lawyer. "Oh, like Elle Woods."

Jobs Friday AND opening day for Ballerina! Listen to me yap about labor productivity with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee or about Ballerina with @aishaharris.bsky.social @originalsp.in @trevellanderson.bsky.social www.npr.org/2025/06/06/1... www.npr.org/2025/06/06/1...

My 12yo told me about a girl who drew Xs and wrote UGLY on classmates' yearbook photos, including on a picture of a girl who used to be her friend until they had a falling out relating to spoken word club, and anyway I am just thinking about that today for no reason

I got to see Ballerina last night and my spoiler-free reaction is that if you've ever wondered what would have happened if the Duke of Weselton were actually a psycho killer and took over Arendelle, you're in for a treat!

Pope Char Siu VI

Are you telling me we now have a Pope who's seen the Eagleman insurance TV commercial? Victory Auto Wreckers? Dare I say it, Sybaris Pool Suites?! I am going to hell for that last one but c'mon, those ads were unavoidable

Just imagine that your sibling is ELECTED POPE and within a couplea two tree hours you're correcting the record, calling news orgs being like "Yeah no dat guy der isa Sax fan."

If I were an assignment editor at a Chicago media outlet, I'd be sending someone to get reax from customers at the Portillo's drivethru right now. Maybe I'll just go to the Portillo's drivethru anyway because that chocolate cake isn't going to eat itself

Mentioned Wagner's Tristan & Isolde out loud today and then got a TikTok video of the London Phil playing it 👀 👂 Looks like ISOLDE my data to TikTok

Let's check in on how The Indicator team is doing on this Monday morning

Reading Jamie Dimon's shareholder letter

I did an episode of The Indicator that explains the WTO's role in trade disputes and why the U.S. has tanked its ability to play referee (starting in the Obama years) www.npr.org/2025/03/19/1...

If Trump buys a Tesla, does that purchase count toward GDP or no

My kid has a little frenemy that she knows from various extracurriculars (musical theater, youth orchestra) and I follow this girl on TikTok. Her latest TikTok story is simply a post that says "Please don't DM me unless it's for business inquiry's [sic]!" How did we even get here as a society

If this job requires physical strength and patience and entails all the things described here, maybe we should stop describing this kind of work as low-skilled?!

Thanks to @ericagroshen.bsky.social and @elisegould.bsky.social for chatting with me for this Jobs Friday episode on the integrity of BLS data: www.npr.org/2025/03/07/1...

I watched the first episode of Meghan's cooking show instead of Trump's speech last night. Her one-pot pasta dish looked pretty good so I went to google the recipe and apparently this spaghetti is the worst thing that western civilization has ever produced

Having a very normal conversation with an AI customer support agent

A book rec for those of you who love romance AND economics: The Finest Print by Erin Langston. - set in London in 1848 during a pivotal era for print media - the 3rd act complication involves TAXES, the primary antagonist - the MMC has great forearms (not econ related)

Still thinking about how my 12yo, totally unprompted, said "Somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this" as we walked into Costco yesterday

This was the last video the algorithm showed me. At least my feed went out on a high note

This moment calls for this iconic clip of Christopher Plummer hissing "You're gonna finesse me? You're gonna lawyer me some more?" at Gina Gershon in The Insider, a movie I think about at least once a week youtu.be/sB3PLjELn4M?...

This weekend, two grown men (one with a 3yo in tow!) almost got into a fistfight at the closing sale of our local independent bookstore. Like, one guy lunged at the other while yelling LET'S GO, in the aisle between fiction and personal growth. I feel skeptical we need more masculine energy anywhere

If there are any California homeowners out there with FAIR plan coverage who want to talk about your experience for The Indicator, please get in touch! [email protected]

just watched a fantastic TikTok that was a montage of Anthony Bridgerton & Newton the dog set to "What Is This Feeling." The first comment was "the government is trying to take this from me" 😅 now *I'm* feeling radicalized

Made myself a little to-do list and someone added an item while I wasn’t looking 🚽📺

The range of stuff offered in my local Free to a Good Home FB group is enormous. One time, someone posted a photo of gently crumpled used paper towels that they said could still be good for additional cleaning. This morning someone is giving away Aesop shampoo and conditioner (not sample sized!)

My hot take on Hot Frosty is that it will radicalize some viewers on the topic of cash bail

My nieces and daughter use a shared Google Doc for their Christmas lists. My nieces are like wholesome, Depression-era children, asking for things like an umbrella or a single balloon (!), while my kid wants "Lululemon It's Rulu Ribbed Cropped Half Zip (Updated)" 🥴 This is almost certainly my fault

omg paging @jonas.do @dankim.com

My kid screamed this morning when her Spotify Wrapped came out. Her top song this year was Olivia Rodrigo's making the bed, which dethroned last year's top song: 76 Trombones from The Music Man 😆 🎺 🛏️ 🏆

Had a super fun time playing in the It's Been A Minute sandbox to talk about love, economics, and looking for a man in finance! I threw in a "like calls to like" Easter egg in there for anyone who can't quit ACOTAR www.npr.org/2024/11/29/1...

We redid our deck/fence in 2021, when lumber prices were at their peak. Now we're embarking on a kitchen reno and will be buying new appliances etc during next year's potential tariff-palooza. Basically we are unmatched in finding the worst possible times to make big purchases

Having a millennial dental hygienist means that we spend the first few minutes recommending podcasts to each other, and then the rest of the cleaning apologizing to each other (her for poking me and me for having teeth that need any amount of professional maintenance)