{"podcast":{"title":"Optimist Economy","slug":"optimist-economy-7257068","podcast_index_feed_id":7257068,"rss_url":"https://publicfeeds.net/f/14811/feed-rss.xml","website_url":"https://optimisteconomy.com/","image_url":"https://f.prxu.org/14811/images/160bea8c-1709-420c-9302-11462f46d1b6/20250316_120343_934a657c8303c901ea17b8b7452ae07d.png","author":"Kathryn Anne Edwards and Robin Rauzi","episode_count":62,"summary":"Optimist Economy is the anti-doomscroll economics podcast. Work rules, tax fairness, healthcare, housing costs, retirement security — the economic forces shaping American life have real problems. But also real solutions. Each week, economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and editor Robin Rauzi break down one problem and solution with data, history, humor, and a belief that tools to build a better economy exist. We just haven't tried them. New episodes on Tuesdays. ✨ Support the podcast at: optimisteconomy.com ✨ Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: optimist.economy@gmail.com","last_synced_at":"2026-07-07T18:17:17.071935+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068"},"episode":{"title":"Optimist Q&A: The AI Bubble, the Rapture, and Free Lunch","slug":"optimist-q-a-the-ai-bubble-the-rapture-and-free-lunch","published_at":"2026-06-23T08:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068/optimist-q-a-the-ai-bubble-the-rapture-and-free-lunch","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068","url":"https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_14811_ff2f25f7-a8bd-4b92-bd82-750bb9d86055&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F14811%2Ffeed-rss.xml","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/sblTq32fyWAjsHzze2LG/dovetail.prxu.org/14811/ff2f25f7-a8bd-4b92-bd82-750bb9d86055/260623_OE_222_QAJune_Final_Clean.mp3","summary":"We can’t give financial advice. Or feedback on your 20-page tax proposal. But economist Kathryn Edwards did take a run at nearly 20 listener questions in under 60 minutes. Among them: Why care about birth rates if robots are taking all the jobs? What happens if the AI bubble bursts? Will the dollar collapse? Can the bond market sway the White House? Plus: Why the minimum wage matters even if it doesn’t alleviate most poverty and how to argue for universal free school lunch. Chapters : 1:43 — AI & birth rates 2:57 — AI & birth rates (cont.) 5:43 — AI bubble burst 8:11 — The experience of inflation 11:20 — Minimum wage & poverty 13:55 — Job loss after 50 17:30 — Productivity squeeze 21:00 — CEO pay ratio cap 21:49 — Could the dollar collapse? 26:59 — Bonds & the Fed 28:35 — Debt ceiling fix 31:12 — Trump Accounts vs 401k 34:42 — Tax dollar waste myth 36:46 — Universal school meals 40:11 — Part-time for new parents 42:28 — Fighting monopolies 44:14 — Policy ideas for Texas 47:34 — Mamdani goes federal? 50:43 — Top 1% wealth myth Dis-save a bit to help Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com Unbeeped episodes at the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ . Short videos on Instagram at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy . We are on Facebook. Search for us. Get in on the Optimist chat on Substack. Get on the wait list for our next batch of hats: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy Get in touch: optimist.economy@gmail.com","meta_description":"We can’t give financial advice. Or feedback on your 20-page tax proposal. But economist Kathryn Edwards did take a run at nearly 20 listener questions in…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3138,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/optimist-economy-7257068/episodes/optimist-q-a-the-ai-bubble-the-rapture-and-free-lunch/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068/optimist-q-a-the-ai-bubble-the-rapture-and-free-lunch.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}