Material World

Adam Neumann had a vision: to make his startup WeWork a wildly successful company that would change the world. He convinced thousands of other people -- customers, employees, investors -- that he could make that dream a reality. And for a while, he did. He was one of the most successful startup founders in the world. But then, in the span of just a few months, everything changed.

Foundering is a new serialized podcast from the journ...

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Mike Regan and Sarah Ponczek speak with expert guests each week about the main themes influencing global markets. They explore everything from stocks to bonds to currencies and commodities, and how each asset class affects trading in the others. Whether you’re a financial professional or just a curious retirement saver, What Goes Up keeps you apprised of the latest buzz on Wall Street and what...

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Francesca Levy and Rebecca Greenfield navigate the productivity industry by way of their own experiences. In each episode, one of the two becomes a human guinea pig as she tries to solve a specific work-related problem. Using the advice of so-called productivity experts, the duo tackles obstacles like ineffective to-do lists, overflowing inboxes and unruly meetings. Follow along with their att...

What’s the most sure-fire way to get a flight upgrade? How can you find the best, secret local restaurants by asking just one question? What's the first thing you should do when you get into a hotel room? On Bloomberg's new podcast Travel Genius, we'll give you those answers—and plenty more—as hosts Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood quiz the world’s most experienced globetrotters for their tried-and-true travel hacks. Listen weekly, a...

Where does a medical cure come from? 100 years ago, it wasn't uncommon for scientists to test medicines by taking a dose themselves. As medical technologies get cheaper and more accessible, patients and DIY tinkerers are trying something similar—and mainstream medicine is racing to catch up. Prognosis explores the leading edge of medical advances, and asks who gets—or should get—access to them. We look at how innovation happens, wh...

So far, the pay gap has proved pretty impossible to solve. But most of us aren’t just going to sit here and accept that we’ll be paid less than men for our entire careers. In the last episode of The Pay Check, host Rebecca Greenfield talks to Gaby Dunn, who hosts her own podcast called Bad With Money, about what she's learned from the many people she's sought advice from on her series. Jordyn Holman also travels to Seattle for the ...

The pay gap goes way deeper than just men's and women's salaries—that's why just paying women more doesn't solve the problem. In this episode, Claire Suddath talks to Salesforce.com Inc., the San Francisco software company that began doing pay equity audits in 2015 and has found a pay gap every single year. Host Rebecca Greenfield looks at another software company, Fog Creek Software, Inc., and how radical pay transparency is helpi...

Can companies be shamed into closing the pay gap? A new law in the U.K. requires companies with more than 250 employees to publicly disclose their gender pay gaps. More than 10,000 companies reported by the April deadline, revealing differences in median pay of as much as 60 percent in some extreme cases. Now it’s up to companies to decide what, if anything, to do about that. This week, Suzi Ring talks to one company that reported ...

There was a brief moment 150 years ago when it looked like women might get equal pay for equal work. But they didn’t—and that set the standard for decades to come. On this episode of the Pay Check, Rebecca Greenfield revisits a Civil War-era sex scandal that set the stage for the pay gap debates we're having right now. She talks to Claire Suddath about how a century of rules and laws saying what women can and can’t do have made it ...

For many people, going to movies in the theater is more of a hassle than a joy -- why sit in an uncomfortable chair and spend upwards of $10 to get a ticket, plus the cost of popcorn and a drink? As the number of shows on television and subscription services surges and home theater systems improve, it takes a lot to get customers to leave their homes. 

Lindsey Rupp and Jenny Kaplan talk with Anousha Sakoui, who covers the cinema an...

Retail has been undergoing a rapid, extreme time of change that hasn't happened  since online shopping came on the scene 20 years  ago. Companies like Wal-Mart,  the biggest retailer in the world, are trying to get ahead of the next trends  in how people will buy stuff. They're making a big bet on virtual reality and  augmented reality, and this week Jenny Kaplan and Lindsey Rupp take you behind  the scenes to use Wal-Mart as a cas...

The impact of climate change on the things we buy is already noticeable, but it’s bound to get worse. In future decades, the food we eat, beverages we drink and clothes we wear may all be altered by the warming planet. In the second of two episodes about climate change, Jenny and Lindsey dig into the future impact of global warming on shoppers. They talk with Andrea Illy, Chief Executive Officer of IllyCaffe; Dr. Peter Howard, econ...

Climate change is already worsening extreme weather events -- from hurricanes to wildfires -- and beginning to affect the U.S. economy and consumers. This episode is the first in a two-part series on climate and commerce. This week, Lindsey and Jenny dive into how changes in the environment are showing up in stores and businesses. Dr. Peter Howard, the economics director at the institute for policy integrity at NYU's school of law,...

 Big Food's having a tough time, and yogurt is no exception. Large, bureaucratic food companies have trouble keeping up with consumers looking for fresh ingredients and new products. Newcomers like Chobani are beating out old standbys such as General Mills' Yoplait and DannoneWave's Dannon. This week on Material World, Jenny and guest host Craig Giammona dig into the evolution of yogurt, the changing consumer and the lessons yogurt...

Last month, fashion lovers got a taste of what's going to be in this spring as designers and models took to runways from New York to London to Paris and Milan. But as customers look for instant gratification and retailers rush to get clothes on shelves faster, is New York Fashion Week as relevant and agenda-setting as it once was? Lindsey Rupp and Alex Barinka talk with Xcel Brands Chief Executive Officer Bob D'Loren, retail consul...

The majority of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee every day. The kinds of drinks and the companies producing them have changed dramatically over the past few decades. Consumers increasingly want their caffeine kick to be gourmet and iced. Meanwhile, artisanal coffee companies are being snatched up by big roasters, much as craft brewers have been acquired by bigger counterparts. This week on Material World, Jenny and Lindse...