Long lines and broken chargers: Demand for powering EVs outpaces infrastructure

For the millions of residents and visitors who commute in and out of the areas daily, billboards in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area have long been a way to see where the state of tech is at the moment — and where it’s headed next.

Yesterday, we explained San Francisco’s fraught relationship with the tech industry. Tech workers weren’t always welcome in the eyes of many other residents, and when the COVID-19 pandemic began, a lot of them left, taking their dollars with them. But on a recent Thursday evening, organizers of a block party downtown were trying to bring people back. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke to Manny Yekutiel and Katy Birnbaum about their efforts to revive the city’s downtown.

Cities across the country are still trying to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic changed how and where many of us work, leaving big holes in downtown office districts. San Francisco, once teeming with tech workers, is no exception. But few cities have suffered the sustained reputational damage that San Francisco has. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali recently visited the city to meet with Heather Knight, The New York Times’ San Francisco bureau chief. Knight, who has been covering the city for more than two decades, offered her take on San Francisco’s image problem, economic situation and tech culture.

In the past week or so, Nvidia’s stock finally encountered the law of gravity — what goes up must eventually come down, at least a little bit. And we look under the hood of artificial intelligence companies that aren’t necessarily making headlines. Plus, the Supreme Court ruled against Republican-led states that accused the federal government of coercing social media companies into suppressing content. But first, major music labels, including Universal, Sony and Warner, are suing two startups that produce AI-generated music. The labels accuse Suno and Udio of using copyrighted works scraped from the internet to train their AI models. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali speaks with Anita Ramaswamy, columnist at The Information, for her takes on these stories in this week’s Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review.

It feels like eons ago, but during a town hall on violence in America in 1994, then-President Bill Clinton took to MTV to reach the nation’s youth. Clinton’s openness to MTV and what The New York Times called “other unconventional media” had helped pave his path to the White House two years earlier. Fast-forward to today, and even reluctant politicians use TikTok to reach younger voters — President Joe Biden is no exception. His first post came just ahead of this year’s Super Bowl. We invited Marketplace’s senior Washington correspondent, Kimberly Adams, and Joshua Scacco, professor of political communication and director of the Center for Sustainable Democracy at the University of South Florida, to discuss the evolution of political messaging with Marketplace’s Lily Jamali. Scacco said Clinton’s MTV moment informed how future presidents, including his successor, George W. Bush, have engaged with Americans.

This week, we’ve been taking stock of how tech has both helped and harmed Americans trying to get abortions in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. After the Dobbs decision, some experts warned consumers that menstrual tracking apps would provide a means of surveilling abortion seekers. There was even a social media campaign on what was then Twitter advising people to delete their period trackers. But it’s turned out that the threat to privacy isn’t limited to those apps. Other digital data can actually be more likely to reveal an illegal abortion. That’s according to Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. He told Marketplace’s Lily Jamali that everyday consumer apps generate sensitive data that can be used for abortion surveillance.

After the U.S. Supreme Court took away the federal right to abortion two years ago, telehealth has helped provide ongoing access, including to people in states where abortion is now banned. That was our subject Monday. Now we are looking into apps that link patients with abortion providers. Julie F. Kay, executive director at the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, told Marketplace’s Lily Jamali that digital privacy protections are far from equal across these services.

Two years ago this week, the Supreme Court ruled that abortions are not constitutionally protected in the U.S., a decision that would draw protests across the country. Since then, 14 states have outlawed abortions. Still, some people in those states have been able to cut through barriers to get abortions via telehealth, according to a recent report from the research project #WeCount. Usually, this requires a virtual visit with a telehealth care provider. The provider assesses the patient and gets their information, then can mail them mifepristone and misoprostol, which aid in ending a pregnancy. The Supreme Court preserved access to mifepristone in a ruling this month, which means it can still be prescribed and mailed to patients. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali discussed the increase in telehealth abortions with Ushma Upadhyay, professor of OB-GYN and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, and a coauthor of the #WeCount report.

Big Tech subscription services are once again in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission, nonprofits with links to OpenAI are becoming less transparent, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is urging Congress to require warning labels on social media. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali speaks with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired magazine, for this week’s Tech Bytes: Week in Review

Picture this: The year is 2014. The song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams is playing on every top 100 station, and the Ellen DeGeneres star-studded Oscars selfie has just “broken Twitter.” As all of this is happening, a bunch of content creators in certain corners of social media are about to start making a whole lot of money. Culture reporter Steffi Cao recently wrote in The Ringer that 2014 was the year that shaped the internet we know today. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke to her about what happened online 10 years ago.

Welcome to the Real Estate Jerky Daily podcast episode, where Ed Parcaut and Mike Kelly discuss the latest real estate news and market updates. In today's episode, they covered a range of topics including the Small Business Optimism Index, electric vehicles, rent control software lawsuits, credit report changes for FHA, and the rise in house prices.

1. Small Business Optimism Index Decreases: The Small Business Optimism Index declined in August, marking the 20th consecutive month below the 49-year average. Inflation and worker shortage continue to be major obstacles for Main Street.

2. Challenges with Electric Vehicles: Ed and Mike discuss the challenges faced by electric vehicle adoption, including limited charging infrastructure and the weight of batteries for trucks, as well as the implications for the cost of goods and potential delays in distribution.

• Rent Control Software Lawsuit: A property management software company called Yardies is being sued for allegedly driving up rental prices through its algorithmic pricing recommendations.
• Delay in Credit Report Changes: FHA delays implementation of FICO Ten T and Vantage Score 4.0 to address concerns and ensure compatibility with potential homebuyers' preferences.
• Rising House Prices: CoreLogic reports a 4 tenths percent increase in house prices in July, with a 2.5% year-over-year rise. The forecast predicts further increases in August and a 3.5% rise over the next twelve months.
• Inflation Concerns: The podcast hosts emphasize the need to address inflation and the negative impact it has on the economy, urging voters to make informed decisions and seek effective policies.

Overall, this episode highlights the challenges faced by small businesses, the complexities of electric vehicle adoption, legal issues surrounding rent control software, and the implications of delayed credit report changes. Additionally, it sheds light on the continuous rise in house prices and the importance of addressing inflation through informed voting and effective policies.

#RealEstateJerkyDaily #MarketUpdateTuesday #RealEstateNews #InflationWoes #WorkerShortage #RentControlLawsuit #SmallBusinessOptimismIndex #CreditReportChanges #LowInventory #HousePriceRise #CPIForecast #StopTheInflation #VoteWisely #PoliciesThatHurt #RealEstateMarketUpdates #StayInformed #PodcastListeners #HousingMarketTrends #EconomicOutlook

Frogs. Bees. Finicky software. There are a lot of things that can cause an electric vehicle charging station to break. We need to replace fossil-fuel powered vehicles with EVs as soon as possible—but if the stations don’t work, it will slow the adoption of EVs.

In Los Angeles, two Black women have started training a small army of technicians to fix broken charging stations, and they’re taking their model around the country. They couldn’t have started at a better time: The U.S. is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in EV charging infrastructure. 

But as they’re fixing these stations, they’re asking an equity question: who benefits from this rapidly growing industry? Will cleantech remain a field dominated by white men? 

As part of their business model, they’re training a diverse, inclusive workforce to be a part of the industry. In effect, they’re solving a carbon emissions problem and an equity problem at the same time. 

The Big Switch is produced by Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy in partnership with Post Script Media. This episode was produced by Daniel Woldorff and Alexandria Herr Theme music and mixing by Sean Marquand. Story editing by Anne Bailey. A special thanks to Natalie Volk, Kirsten Smith and Kyu Lee. Our managing producer is Cecily Meza-Martinez. Our executive editor is Stephen Lacey.

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TODAY'S TOP NEWS STORIES:

• FIERY DISCOURSE
• BUSINESS CYCLE
• CHANGES TO POSSESSION LAWS 'NYL
• GATEWAY TO THE OLD WEST

In episode 18, John and the crew talk about Environmental, Social, and Governance investments and how these can be targeted to your benefit.  

John Cindia can be found at www.lifestagesadvisory.com and this podcast can be found on all major podcast platforms. Additionally, if you have information to share or want to be on the show, please email jcindia@lifestagesadvisory.com