|
|
|
IN THIS ISSUE
|
| Airport pickups, a moonwalk catwalk and the numbers on scary movies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The News Fix
|
This month, Los Angeles International Airport is putting an end to ride-hailing at its terminals — that means Lyft, Uber and even traditional taxis won’t be allowed to pick up curbside. Weary travelers will have to catch a shuttle to a repurposed parking lot and hail rides from there.
Other airports — in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and Austin, Texas — have either relocated ride-hailing pickup zones or are planning to as the popularity of the apps has grown.
It’s a classic example of the “cobra effect,” where an attempted solution to a problem ends up
making the problem worse. Ride-hailing apps, billing themselves as “disrupting” the cab industry, have caused such a surge of vehicle traffic at LAX that many drivers now spend as much as 30 minutes getting around the airport’s 1.5-mile loop to pick up a single passenger.
So if you’re flying into any of these airports, here’s our advice: Take a deep breath and download
a good podcast.
|
|
|
|
Smart in a Shot
|
|
The future of space fashion is going to be out of this world. (Sorry.)
This week, NASA released prototypes of its latest spacesuits. They will be worn by the team of astronauts planning to visit the moon — including the first woman to make the trip — as soon as 2024. The suits, while bulky, are designed for moonwalks and allow the wearer to move around and bend down easily, which should be an improvement over what the Apollo astronauts wore. Their suits were so restrictive, they opted to “bunny hop” on the moon’s surface instead of walking.
Virgin Galactic also unveiled a jumpsuit and boots for future travelers on its commercial flights to space. The ensemble, designed by Under Armour, includes a base layer that promotes blood circulation in zero gravity. The blue and gold outer suit includes a clear interior pocket, just above the heart, intended to hold “a photo of a loved one.” The outfit comes free … with purchase of a $250,000 ticket to space.
|
|
|
|
The Numbers
|
Halloween is just around the corner, and that means it’s the perfect time to take a closer look at scary movies.
|
| 10.9%
|
That was the horror genre’s share of the overall
movie market in 2018, according to Fortune. Horror movies are gaining market share as audience tastes shift and more Hollywood producers discover
how profitable the genre can be. A good horror film, which costs relatively little to make, can draw huge crowds to theaters.
|
| $327 million
|
That’s how much money the 2017 film “It” brought in at the U.S. box office, making it the highest-grossing horror movie ever. (“It” came in seventh at the domestic box office in 2017, beating out “Thor: Ragnarok” and a “Despicable Me” sequel.)
|
| 227
|
That’s the number of horror movies on Netflix, at last count. According to the streaming service, at-home viewers really like scary shows and movies — the most recent season of “Stranger Things” was watched by more than 60 million households.
|
| 11
|
That’s how many movies already exist in the “Halloween” franchise. Another two “Halloween” movies are planned for 2020 and 2021. For Hollywood studios,
horror sequels are a tried-and-true moneymaker.
|
|
|
|
|
|
None of us is as smart as all of us
|
| Tell us what’s making you smarter at
smarter@marketplace.org. We'd love to include your recommendation in a future newsletter.
|
|
|
|
|
Let's get political
|
Listener Mara L. recommends the “Talking Politics” channel on YouTube, in particular
this episode about the impact Facebook can have on elections. She says the videos make complex topics interesting and easy to understand.
•••
|
Farm-to-table comes home
|
Marketplace’s Peter Hernandez recommends
the cookbook “Japanese Farm Food” by Nancy Singleton Hachisu. He says the recipes are simple and focus on using a similar set of ingredients again and again, incorporating vegetables “both familiar and foreign.”
•••
|
Game-ifying energy economics
|
| The Make Me Smart team recommends Power Grid, a
board game in which each player runs an energy company and competes for limited resources. The game is a great way to learn about the economics of
energy markets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elevate your understanding of what's trending, breaking and buzzing with Make Me Smart. Because none of us is as smart as all of us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
