This week: How do you buy an election? Throw a sweepstakes! Emily Peck, Elizabeth Spiers, and Rueters’ Anna Szymanski (filling in for Felix Salmon) discuss Elon Musk’s scheme to get potential Trump voters to the ballot box and the maneuverings of the campaign finance industrial complex. Next, they discuss a French gambler whose massive bet on the election may affect Trump’s real-world odds. Finally: Many Americans report living “paycheck to paycheck,” even though they have savings and splurge on luxuries.
In the Plus bonus mini-episode: Keurig Dr. Pepper plans to spend more than a billion dollars on the Ghost energy drink company. The hosts discuss what’s powering the energy drink renaissance and how some hyper-caffeinated, sugary beverages are managing to brand themselves as health and fitness drinks — and what it’s doing to the Gen Zs swallowing the bait.
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Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.
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