The largest fast-food company in the world -- with about 24,000 stores -- was once known for its rapid expansion mindset. Now, Subway is closing stores faster than ever and pushing out franchise owners in the process.

In a recent report by the New York Times, franchisees across the country said that seemingly tiny violations, like cucumbers cut too thick and smudges on glass doors, have cost them their businesses. And when they try appeal to Subway's corporate leadership? They rarely get a response.  

This week on Money Talking, guest host Ilya Marritz talks to Tiffany Hsu, a business reporter at the New York Times who co-reported the piece, about how Subway's efforts to scale back have impacted franchisees.

Next week marks fifty years since Neil Armstrong took “one small step” on the moon’s surface. The Apollo 11 mission was an historic voyage, fulfilling President John F. Kennedy’s goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s. More than half a billion people watched the astronauts live on television. But in the years that followed, America’s interest and commitment to space exploration largely disappeared. 

Yet the country’s ambitions in space are far from over. In March of this year, Vice President Mike Pence expressed a renewed sense of urgency.

“Make no mistake about it — we're in a space race today, just as we were in the 1960s, and the stakes are even higher,” he told attendees at a meeting of the National Space Council in Alabama.

At the same meeting, Pence presented a new timeline for landing humans on the moon again: Within the next five years, four years sooner than the administration's initial timeline of 2028, leaving some to wonder if a new space race could be on the horizon.  

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Tim Fernholz, a reporter at Quartz covering space and author of Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the New Psace Race, about the latest chapter of space exploration.

After months and months of speculation, former Vice President Joe Biden announced he’d be running for president in 2020. Already an early frontrunner, Biden joins a crowded field of potential Democratic nominees. There are now more than 20 candidates running, from policy wonk Elizabeth Warren to newcomer Pete Buttigieg to 2016 veteran Bernie Sanders.

The Iowa caucuses are nine months away and if everyone stays in the race, it could challenging for voters to keep track of where the candidates stand on critical policy issues like healthcare, taxes, and climate change.

This week on Money Talking, WNYC's Charlie Herman talks to Rick Newman, senior columnist for Yahoo Finance, about some of the fiscal policies being put forth by the Democratic contenders — and what they might mean for your pocketbook. 

How details about the investigations into Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election suggest financial motives as well as political ones.

President Trump is looking to make good on his “America First” pledge by launching “Made in America” week. The plan is to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. But what do his family's business practices say about what it would take to do that?

Martin Shkreli is often described as the “most hated man in America” for raising the price of a lifesaving drug by 5,000%. Now, he’s on trial for securities fraud. WNYC’s Money Talking looks at Shkreli’s case and what it says about the prosecution of white collar crimes.

As President Trump sits down with global leaders this week, he’s also reportedly considering slapping a tariff on steel imported into the US. Could this spark a global trade war?

Republicans are united in their opposition to Obamacare, yet they're finding it difficult to repeal and replace the law. So what happens if Obamacare is here to stay?

Travis Kalanick’s resignation this week as CEO of Uber marks the end of one tumultuous ride for the company. What's next for the app that dreamed of changing the face of transportation?

The Trump administration is proposing to revise and change financial regulations put in place after the Great Recession. House Republicans want to go even further.

While FBI Director James Comey led the headlines this week, President Donald Trump spent his time promoting his infrastructure plan and how he'll pay for it with private investments.

Last month, the Trump administration secured a $110 million dollar agreement to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia. Around the same time, the CEO of Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman secured a $20 billion investment from that country for his company’s new U.S. infrastructure fund. The blurry lines between business and government in the Trump administration.

What you find when you dig into the world of Donald Trump and Jared Kushner’s businesses, pension funds, and big-time political fundraisers.

"Avengers: Endgame" is officially opened at movie theaters across the country. It’s the most highly-anticipated movie event of the year and is expected to set a new box office record. Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, and the whole Avengers crew are back to do battle with super villain Thanos after he wiped away half of the universe’s population with a single snap of his fingers in last year’s "Avengers: Infinity War."

The movie is the culmination of a groundbreaking superhero movie franchise that’s pushed out 22 films in 11 years, starting with the blockbuster "Iron Man" in 2008. With this movie, the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe is expected to easily bring in more than $20 billion in global box office earnings. Love it or hate it, this franchise has become one of the most ambitious commercial endeavors in the history of Hollywood.

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Adam B. Vary, senior film reporter at BuzzFeed News, and Hunter Harris, associate editor at New York Magazine’s Vulture, about how the Marvel universe has changed the movie business.

This week, executives from major TV networks are in New York to promote their shows to advertisers and the media. Its known as the "upfronts." Advertisers are expected to shell out billions, even as network TV ratings are falling. What's the future of broadcast TV?

Like many retailers, J. Crew is fighting a mighty foe — the Internet.

French citizens will chose between independent centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen.

Many presidents before him have tried — and failed — to enact tax reform. For his plan to succeed, there's going to be negotiations.

Sure, it's an arbitrary number, but it's become a way to assess a new President's early successes, failures and leadership style. So, like Mayor Koch used to say, "How am I doin'?"

What happens when giants like Macy’s, Sears and J.C. Penney close hundreds of shops, leaving empty shopping malls throughout the country.

With the deadline for high school seniors to pick a college approaching, students — and their parents — are considering how to pay for the financial burden of higher education. 

While the attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare failed, legislators could still make it hard for the healthcare law to survive. What will that mean for the insured?

Before becoming an advisor to President Trump, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, made a name for himself in Manhattan real estate by purchasing a $1.8 billion skyscraper on Fifth Avenue. Now a Chinese company with possible connections to the Chinese government is reportedly considering investing in the building, now owned by Kushner’s family.

The President and his supporters have been dismissing government statistics they disagree with, opening the doors for future attacks on independent agencies and their numbers.

Uber has taken its first steps to becoming a publicly traded company, following rival Lyft’s debut on the stock market last month. The initial filing from Uber reveals even more extensive details about the company's revenue, ridership and potential roadblocks.

The good? Ridership is up and Uber is expanding its food delivery service. The bad? The rid-hailing company is losing huge sums of money and faces steep competition.

This week on WNYC’s Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Aaron Elstein, Senior Reporter for Finance at Crain's New York Business and Maureen Farrell, IPO and markets reporter for the Wall Street Journal, about the latest information about Uber and what is says about the future of tech and driving.

Wall Street seems unfazed by the issues that have surfaced in the Trump administration — but even as stocks reach record highs, should Americans brace for a drop?

From claims of sexual harassment to allegations it stole self-driving technology, the company and its CEO are having a tough couple of months.  

Many Republicans spent years fighting financial regulations put in place after the 2008 recession. Now that President Trump is in charge, they’re trying to roll back many of the rules. 

With a repeal of Obamacare slowing down and a trillion dollar infrastructure plan up in the air, tax reform might the promise Donald Trump can make good on this year.

There's a new boss at the FCC who might be taking a "less is more" approach to regulating telecoms. And that has many consumer advocates worried.

Two weeks into the Trump presidency and U.S. business leaders are already coming under fire for criticizing — and for staying silent —about the new administration's proposals. But, should they chime in?

The president is promising to help American workers by taking aim at international trade agreements — but rising technology may be a bigger threat.

With confirmation hearings nearing an end, a look at what they revealed about the men Donald Trump has picked to run the country’s finances.

A look at the economic successes and failures of the Obama Administration, eights years after inheriting one of the country's worst recessions.

The bank says there's "considerable uncertainty" figuring out how Trump's economic agenda will affect the economy. Is it headed for a possible collision with the new President?

Much of the way influential consulting firm McKinsey & Co. operates is shrouded in secrecy. But recent reporting by the New York Times has revealed some of the company’s secrets, including its involvement with controversial companies like Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, as well as foreign leaders and governments in Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Additional stories have focused on the firm’s hedge fund MIO and alleged failures to make required financial disclosures.

McKinsey has defended its work around the world. In a statement, the firm told the Times that “since 1926, McKinsey has sought to make a positive difference to the businesses and communities in which our people live and work.” 

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with New York Times investigative editor Walt Bogdanich and investigative reporter Mike Forsythe about their reporting on the often hidden world of McKinsey and why it matters.

From Brexit to the soaring stock market, to the growing pains of Obamacare — here's a look at the some of the biggest business and economic trends of 2016, and what’s in store for 2017.

The e-commerce giant unveiled plans for a self-service, brick and mortar grocery store, disrupting the retail world once again.

Whether it's reports that the Secret Service might rent office space from Trump Towers in Manhattan, or Donald Trump suing Washington, D.C. to lower taxes on his new hotel, the president-elect has a great deal of business conflicts to resolve before entering the White House.

But if Trump doesn't keep his promise to sever all business ties, he risks setting an ethically ambiguous tone for the rest of his administration.

With that in mind, Money Talking host Charlie Herman discusses whose interests some of Trump's appointees will represent with Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica and Rick Newman of Yahoo Finance.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump attacked Wall Street and in turn, Wall Street gave him little support. But now, bankers and financiers are warming up to the president-elect.

President-elect Donald Trump is calling for swift action to enact his plans for growth. Since Congress is also controlled by Republicans, it could signal a busy start to 2017.

Ending regulations put in place by the Obama administration; reforming the tax code; investing in infrastructure projects; revising trade deals; appointing new members to the Federal Reserve; ending Obamacare; those are just some of the items on Trump's economic to-do list.

This week on Money Talking, Rana Foroohar, author of "Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance & the Fall of American Business" and Rob Cox, global editor for Reuters Breaking Views, explain what "Trumponomics" might look like in the first 100 days of his administration — who wins, who loses and what it could mean for the American economy.

Airbnb continues to butt heads with legislators in New York and is facing new restrictions. But Uber, which was also met with hostility at first, seems to be thriving.

If you go by the latest headlines, it seems like the future of the Affordable Care Act could be in jeopardy. Are things that bad? 

It might be impossible to get through this seemingly eternal election cycle without bringing up politics at work. But is it really a good idea? Should you? And what do you do if you find out you disagree with your coworkers? Navigating this year's presidential election when it comes up at work.

A look at what Clinton may have said to bankers and financiers behind closed doors.

Because specifics can be hard to come by during debates or on the campaign trail, a closer look at what each candidate is proposing and how it could affect you.

New York City just became the first city in the country to implement congestion pricing. As part of the effort to ease traffic and raise money to fix public transportation, drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street could pay between $10 and $15 per day for cars and possibly double for trucks. But how the system will work technologically, who might be exempted from paying the fees and how much they will actually raise are details that have yet to be decided. Cities like London and Stockholm have already implemented congestion pricing, but with mixed results. This week on Money Talking, Charlie Hermanand WNYC transportation reporter Stephen Nessen talk about the ways congestion pricing will cost you, and how it might pay off.

Amazon's got Echo. Apple has Siri. Microsoft calls it Cortana. And Google has Assistant. They're all fighting to be a part of your life, on your phone and in your home.

The bank's CEO faced a second round of criticism on Capitol Hill, trying to explain why thousands of his former employees were accused of illegal banking practices.

Legislators across the country are trying to regulate companies like Airbnb, but a law passed 20 years ago is making it tough.