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IN THIS ISSUE
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| Another doping ban, the office holiday party and art with a shelf life.
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The News Fix
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This week, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from competing in global sporting events — most notably, next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Well, sort of.
Russian athletes who pass required drug tests will still be able to compete under a neutral flag. Hundreds did so during the 2016 and 2018 Olympic Games, even as the country was under a similar ban for state-sponsored doping during the Sochi and London games. That initial ban was lifted about a year ago on the condition that Russia provide access to laboratory data and samples. But the agency said this week that the data Russia provided was incomplete and called for
a new four-year ban.
For international spectators, the ruling won’t appear to change much at the upcoming Olympics and World Cup. In 2018, when the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” took home gold in men’s ice hockey, the team
sang Russia’s national anthem during the awards ceremony. The 2020 Olympics could look similar. And if Russia qualifies for the 2022 World Cup, the team would still play together — just with neutral uniforms.
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Smart in a Shot
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One ripe banana and some duct tape. That’s all it took to astound patrons of Miami’s Art Basel show, who poured into the gallery Perrotin to catch a glimpse of absurdist artist Maurizio Cattelan’s work, “Comedian” (pictured above, left).
“The unassuming banana unleashed total chaos on Miami,” Sarah Cascone wrote for Artnet. Part of that had to do with its pricetag: $120,000.
The shock waves rippled far beyond Miami. Companies from Absolut to Popeyes, Sweetgreen and the New York Mets took to social media to add their own spin on the duct-taped banana. Even Marketplace dipped its toes in (see above, right). Borrowing viral memes has become a common way for brands to engage with younger consumers.
But one of the splashiest riffs on “Comedian” came from inside the room. On Saturday, with dozens of showgoers milling around the gallery, performance artist David Datuna plucked the banana off the wall and ate it. What a way to promote your brand.
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The Numbers
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Heading to an office holiday party this weekend? You’re in good company.
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| 76%
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That’s the percentage of companies planning to hold
holiday celebrations for their employees this year, according to recruiting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That’s up more than 10% from last year.
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| 62%
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In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, only 62% of companies threw holiday soirees. But spirits have generally risen since then — with one exception. Last year, 2018, companies weren’t feeling so festive:
Only 65% said they were planning a seasonal get-together. Challenger, Gray & Christmas attributed the dip to a combination of factors including more sensitivity to the potential for inappropriate conduct and the growing number of remote employees at many companies.
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| $100,000
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That’s how much
Lyft is giving to five state highway safety offices (in California, Illinois, Maine, Oregon and Washington) to fund efforts to encourage safe driving during the holidays. Of course, the program includes discounts and credits for Lyft’s own rideshare services. A little more than half of companies say they’re planning to serve alcohol as part of this season’s festivities. Human resources experts advise offering free or subsidized transport home after boozy events.
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None of us is as smart as all of us
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| Tell us what’s making you smarter at
smarter@marketplace.org. We'd love to include your recommendation in a future newsletter.
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Summoning the Dark Side
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Listener Eric R. recommends
this episode of the podcast “Radiolab” about discerning fact from fiction in the age of the internet. He says video manipulation technology is “a scary bit of tech” and could get harder to detect. (For even more on the dangers of disinformation in deep fakes, check out
this episode of “Make Me Smart.”)
•••
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Deciphering the data
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Listener Tim K. recommends this
data visualization, compiled by Bloomberg, that shows how America uses its land to create wealth. There’s a lot of data involved, and many, many different ways to interpret it.
•••
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Watching all the movies
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| Marketplace digital producer Tony Wagner recommends
this ranking of movies from Vulture that covers 5,279 films released in the 2010s. “This is a very strange and interesting odyssey of hot takes I enjoyed skimming,” he said.
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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.
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