The great data center space race

Data centers needed more space, so they literally moved there.  This week, Elon Musk announced he has merged his rocket company, Space X – with his AI company, xAI. The reason? He wants to build AI data centers in space.  But his company is not the only one that wants to take the cloud... off the…

16,000 Amazon employees just lost their jobs. Are we in a tech recession?

This week, Amazon announced it's laying off 16,000 employees.  It’s part two of a continued downsizing Amazon started in October, when it laid of 14,000 employees. Taken together, this is Amazon’s biggest reduction in force ever. This week's layoffs are also the latest in a series of tech downsizi…

Lessons from the state that made child care free

The cost of child care is at an all-time high. The typical American family with young kids now spends more on child care than housing. In most of the developed world, the government pays for child care so parents can work and contribute to the economy. But free, universal child care is nearly unhe…

How a bad bet built the internet: a short history of bubbles

According to a Harvard economist, spending on data centers and artificial intelligence accounted for 92% of U.S. economic growth in the first half of last year.    That's fueled speculation that we’re in an AI bubble, because spending on that level doesn’t feel sustainable. If the bubble pops and …

Housing costs dropped in Austin. How they did the impossible

Austin, Texas is not a cheap place. But for the last few years, it’s been a real outlier. While many cities saw rent go up, Austin’s average rent actually fell. A lot.  On today's episode, what is Austin doing right? And what could Seattle learn from it?  GUEST: Audrey McGlinchy, Housing reporter…

Sports ticket prices have skyrocketed. Here's why (encore)

Happy New Year! The Booming team is taking a week to rest and recharge before the new year begins...we’ve got lots of new episodes up our sleeve that we’re excited to share with you.   In the meantime, we wanted to revisit some of our favorite episodes. This one is about the rising costs of Seattl…

How stores are spying on you (encore)

The Booming team is hard at work on some new episodes coming out next year. In the meantime, we wanted to revisit some of our favorite stories this holiday season. We think this one will be particularly useful for those of you still doing some last-minute holiday shopping. It explores the ways AI …

How does Seattle's cost of living stack up to other cities?

We all know the cost of living is really high in Seattle. Whether it's housing or groceries, this town is a tough place to make ends meet.  But just how expensive is Seattle compared to other cities? On today's episode, Monica talked to a researcher who sends armies of shoppers to find out. And w…

The climate migrants seeking refuge in the PNW

The Pacific Northwest has been booming for decades, and home builders have struggled to keep up.   That’s led to a housing shortage, homelessness crisis, and transportation headaches. But we may see an even bigger population boom here as climate change makes more places unlivable.   Climate migra…

What happens to Seattle if the AI bubble pops?

You may have heard that the economy is maybe... definitely... probably... in an “AI bubble.”  Companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build the AI infrastructure of the future. The hope is all that spending will pay off with super-advanced AI that will more than cover the cost of…