Will Brownlow, who has been farming in southeast Kentucky for close to three decades, says he first planted 10 acres of hemp in 2016 for the “novelty factor.” This year, he planted 40, and next year he plans to cover 60 to 80 acres (25 to 32 hectares) of the 340 acres he farms in hemp.
The US Census Bureau is concerned about privacy. Maybe a little too concerned.
North Korea has a lot to learn from Vietnam, and it appears to know it. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho recently completed a four-day trip to Vietnam to meet with his counterpart there, Pham Binh Minh. Among Ri’s goals was to study Vietnam’s successful economic reforms, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
Increasingly, compensating employees is about a lot more than just wages.
Ariana Grande knows how to make an entrance.
The best job for someone is not always in the area where they live. Often times, the job that will pay them most, and make the best use of their skills means moving to another city, state or country. Though making the choice to move can be difficult emotionally, it is extremely good for economic growth. Productive people make productive economies.
As they say in Italian, Così va il mondo. For our US readers, hardly any of whom speak the language anymore, let me translate: “So the world goes.”
At Quartz, we have historically measured Christmas creep, the way the holiday season seems to come a little earlier every year, by the date when Christmas lights appear on Oxford Street, London’s most famous shopping thoroughfare. This year, there is a new metric in town.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a blockbuster. With international sales of $725 million, the video game had the biggest opening weekend in history. It has received stellar reviews, with the New York Times calling it “true art.” The game, which takes place on the US frontier at the end of the 19th century, may resurrect the Western in American popular culture.
Gross domestic product, perhaps the most commonly used statistic in the world for evaluating economic progress, has some issues.
The Cheese Board Collective is one of the most important and unusual bakeries in the history of American cuisine.
Have you heard of Post Malone? If so, you probably aren’t a baby boomer.
The first time I ever dog-sat for a friend was in 2009. The dog was a pint-sized Yorkie named Bella who loved to sleep on your lap. The next year, I adopted my first dog, and she often played with my neighbors’ rambunctious boxer puppy named Bella. Then, a friend from college got a beagle, and named her—you guessed it—Bella.
Pornography is not a big political issue in the US these days. Though porn is easier to access than ever, and more people are watching it, you don’t hear much from elected officials about regulating the industry.
Late capitalism may be having a banner year.
As data becomes an ever larger part of work, for many people spreadsheets just are not enough. Programs like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are powerful tools, but they have limitations in terms of the amount of data you can work with, the kind of analyses you can do, and the types of charts you can make. When data users reach these limitations, the obvious next step is learning a programming language.
In January 2019, Gavin Newsom will become the governor of California. It’s a big job. The state has a population of about 40 million people and a GDP of about $2.8 trillion. If it were a country, it would be the world’s fifth-largest, just ahead of the UK, France, and India.
Blue wave—or periwinkle ripple? The debate about whether Democrats’ gains in the House of Representatives were better or worse than expected rages on. One narrative everyone seems to agree on, though, is the realignment of rural America into a bulwark of support for Donald Trump and his Republican party.
Do you happen to know a lot of 27-year-olds? Are you 27 years old? If you live in the US, this isn’t a coincidence.
For three weeks beginning in mid-October, the soundtrack for Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s hit movie A Star Is Born sat the very top of Billboard’s Top 200 Albums, the most prominent ranking of music popularity in the US. It’s a rare feat for a soundtrack. Only four other soundtracks made the top 10 in 2018, and the 22 others made the top 200.
US businesses are getting old. Literally.
Hedge fund manager Robert Mercer may be the most influential political donor of the Trump era. Though fellow hedge fund manager Tom Steyer and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson have given far more money, their investments were not as well targeted.
There’s a record number of women running in the US midterm elections Nov. 6—and a record amount of money from women voters has rushed in to support them and other candidates that support women’s rights.
The US economy is doing well. GDP growth is robust and the job market is strong. Yet Donald Trump’s approval rating is low, and his party is expected to lose a lot of seats in midterm elections on Tuesday. So does that mean the economy no longer matters for elections?
