In a recent report by the New York Times, franchisees across the country said that seemingly tiny violations, like cucumbers cut too thick and smudges on glass doors, have cost them their businesses. And when they try appeal to Subway's corporate leadership? They rarely get a response.  

This week on Money Talking, guest host Ilya Marritz talks to Tiffany Hsu, a business reporter at the New York Times who co-reported the piece, about how Subway's efforts to scale back have impacted franchisees.

Yet the country’s ambitions in space are far from over. In March of this year, Vice President Mike Pence expressed a renewed sense of urgency.

“Make no mistake about it — we're in a space race today, just as we were in the 1960s, and the stakes are even higher,” he told attendees at a meeting of the National Space Council in Alabama.

At the same meeting, Pence presented a new timeline for landing humans on the moon again: Within the next five years, four years sooner than the administration's initial timeline of 2028, leaving some to wonder if a new space race could be on the horizon.  

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Tim Fernholz, a reporter at Quartz covering space and author of Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the New Psace Race, about the latest chapter of space exploration.

It’s a dramatic shift from the days of Anita Bryant and Florida orange juice or companies like Wendy’s pulling their advertisements after Ellen came out on her sitcom. The greater acceptance of the LGBTQ community has presented an opportunity for businesses. While some take issue with companies commercializing this weekend's pride events, it’s hard to ignore how much mainstream businesses have embraced LGBTQ culture and consumers.

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Jim Ellis, assistant managing editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, about the business of pride past, present, and future.

So, who’s winning the trade war?

Trump’s approach could signal a historic shift in U.S. policy which has largely encouraged free trade around the globe. The casualties of this fight could include American farmers, the Chinese companies, and the U.S. economy and consumers. But it might also lead to changes in how U.S. companies conduct business in China.

This week on Money Talking, POLITICO Chief Economic Correspondent Ben White talks to host Charlie Herman about how much these escalating tensions should concern us.

For example, Senator Elizabeth Warren raised raised $6 million in three months for her campaign, while Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke each raised that much in just a day. Yet with more than a year to go until the 2020 election, how much will the money they raise today matter in the long run?

This week on WNYC’s Money Talking, host Charlie Herman talks to CNN national political writer Fredreka Schouten and The Washington Post national political reporter Michelle Lee about the candidates’ funds so far and their chances in the long run.

The Iowa caucuses are nine months away and if everyone stays in the race, it could challenging for voters to keep track of where the candidates stand on critical policy issues like healthcare, taxes, and climate change.

This week on Money Talking, WNYC's Charlie Herman talks to Rick Newman, senior columnist for Yahoo Finance, about some of the fiscal policies being put forth by the Democratic contenders — and what they might mean for your pocketbook. 

The movie is the culmination of a groundbreaking superhero movie franchise that’s pushed out 22 films in 11 years, starting with the blockbuster "Iron Man" in 2008. With this movie, the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe is expected to easily bring in more than $20 billion in global box office earnings. Love it or hate it, this franchise has become one of the most ambitious commercial endeavors in the history of Hollywood.

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Adam B. Vary, senior film reporter at BuzzFeed News, and Hunter Harris, associate editor at New York Magazine’s Vulture, about how the Marvel universe has changed the movie business.

The good? Ridership is up and Uber is expanding its food delivery service. The bad? The rid-hailing company is losing huge sums of money and faces steep competition.

This week on WNYC’s Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Aaron Elstein, Senior Reporter for Finance at Crain's New York Business and Maureen Farrell, IPO and markets reporter for the Wall Street Journal, about the latest information about Uber and what is says about the future of tech and driving.

McKinsey has defended its work around the world. In a statement, the firm told the Times that “since 1926, McKinsey has sought to make a positive difference to the businesses and communities in which our people live and work.” 

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with New York Times investigative editor Walt Bogdanich and investigative reporter Mike Forsythe about their reporting on the often hidden world of McKinsey and why it matters.

The tech giant’s monopoly means it’s almost impossible for businesses not to advertise with Google. That’s especially true if you’re a company that exists entirely online, like the ride-sharing app Lyft, or mattress brand Tuft & Needle. Lyft, for example, spent 92 million dollars on ads placed with Google last year. As a recent article in Bloomberg notes, that’s about 10 percent of Lyft’s 2018 net loss.

And if a business decides not to advertise on Google, a competing brand might buy its keywords and place an ad against them. It’s an advertising Catch-22.

This week on Money Talking, Ilya Marritz speaks with Jake Swearingen, a contributor for New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, about how Google came to dominate search advertising—and what it means for businesses and consumers alike.

Britain was on track to leave the E.U. one week from today, but a last minute reprieve has given British Prime Minister Theresa May a new deadline of April 12, to come up with deal.

No matter when or exactly how Brexit occurs, analysts expect there will be financial and economic consequences for the country. Already, the uncertainty has hurt businesses and overall economic growth. 

This week on Money Talking, WNYC's Charlie Herman speaks with Eshe Nelson, economics and markets reporter at Quartz about the effects of Brexit on that nation's economy and its people. 

The new neighborhood features supertall glass towers, luxury apartments, a high-end retail and restaurant hub, and a climbable honeycomb-like structure called the Vessel. And this is just phase one. Debuting in April, a new arts center called The Shed will be home to art galleries, concerts, and theater performances. There are also plans to build more public space, housing, and and even a new school. It’s a carefully-curated new neighborhood built from scratch.

This week on WNYC's Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Greg David, columnist at Crain’s New York Business, about the long road to the new Hudson Yards.

Trump says that trade relationship with China has been unfair to the U.S. To force a change, he’s put in place punishing tariffs on Chinese goods to gain leverage. But that’s also punishing some in the U.S., like farmers, automakers manufacturers and even some consumers.

If the deal is made, the big question will be, was it all worth it? On this episode of Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with Rick Newman, senior columnist for Yahoo Finance, about how the impact of the trade war and what, if anything, the deal will change.

According to the IRS, average refunds have been lower compared last year. If the trend continues, many Americans will end up with a smaller refund or worse — they may owe the government. Residents in high-tax states, like New York and New Jersey could see a bigger swing because President Trump's tax code overhaul capped deductions for state and local taxes.

But it doesn't mean people paid more taxes overall. The amount the IRS withheld from each paycheck was lower, so many people had a little more money each time they got paid. But it's a big change for those Americans who've become accustomed to pocketing some extra cash during tax season.

On this episode of Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks to Heather Long, economics correspondent for The Washington Post, about why this is happening and the political consequences it might have.

The report from House Democrats says the deal gained momentum during President Trump’s first days in office with help from then-national security adviser Michael Flynn. The efforts continued, despite warnings from ethics officials and staff at the National Security Council.

Behind the proposal was IP3, a company of former US generals that could benefit financially if the plan moved forward.

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with Isaac Arnsdorf, a reporter at ProPublica, who's been following the story for more than a year about where the plan stands today and what it could mean for Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. 

Lawmakers wanted to know what America’s top central banker thinks about President Trump's steadily escalating trade war. Since January, Trump has imposed or threatened to impose tariffs on 10,000 different products the U.S. imports from Mexico, Canada, Europe, and China. Those countries are retaliating with tariffs of their own.

Powell avoided commenting on Trump's tariffs, but did share the view of many economists on trade: "In general, countries that have remained open to trade that haven’t erected barriers including tariffs have grown faster, had higher incomes, had higher productivity and countries that have gone in more protectionist direction have done worse", said Powell. "I think that’s the empirical result."

This week on Money Talking, Ilya Marritz speaks to Neil Irwin of The New York Times on America’s growing protectionism, and how the Fed is preparing for it.

But that is just one of many items on Congress' to do list that includes must several must-pass pieces of legislation like funding the government and raising the debt ceiling.

This week on Money Talking, host Charlie Herman reviews what's head and what's at stake with Catherine Rampell, opinion writer with the Washington Post, and Rick Newman, columnist with Yahoo Finance.

But if Trump doesn't keep his promise to sever all business ties, he risks setting an ethically ambiguous tone for the rest of his administration.

With that in mind, Money Talking host Charlie Herman discusses whose interests some of Trump's appointees will represent with Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica and Rick Newman of Yahoo Finance.

Ending regulations put in place by the Obama administration; reforming the tax code; investing in infrastructure projects; revising trade deals; appointing new members to the Federal Reserve; ending Obamacare; those are just some of the items on Trump's economic to-do list.

This week on Money Talking, Rana Foroohar, author of "Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance & the Fall of American Business" and Rob Cox, global editor for Reuters Breaking Views, explain what "Trumponomics" might look like in the first 100 days of his administration — who wins, who loses and what it could mean for the American economy.

There is one race, though, she’s is winning: campaign donations. And it’s the securities and investment sector that's her biggest contributor.

So far, Wall Street's donated more than $41 million to her campaign and the super PACs that support her, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This far surpasses what's been given to Trump, who's received a little more than $100,000. 

It's a big change from 2012, when big banks showered Republican candidate Mitt Romney with campaign donations.

This has left many to wonder if Clinton is Wall Street's sweetheart, or if it has reluctantly embraced her because she's, well, not Trump.

This week on Money Talking, host Charlie Herman discusses how Clinton can manage receiving Wall Street's support and still make good on her promise to rein in the big banks with Sheelah Kolhatkar of The New Yorker and Joshua Green of Bloomberg Businessweek.

Government regulators have blocked corporate giants like Comcast, Pfizer or Halliburton from merging with smaller companies in a time when buying up businesses can be fastest way to grow.

And it looks like the president will continue to issue more business regulations as his term comes to an end.

This week on Money Talking, Alan Murray, editor of Fortune Magazine, joins host Charlie Herman to discuss the administration's hands-on approach to regulating companies and what it means for business.

But this is the election of 2016, and the usual rules do not apply. This year New York matters.

One of the hot topics in this election has been the financial sector — specifically campaign funding and Wall Street — and New York's primary on Tuesday brings those candidates who've been critical of financial sector to its center.

But here's the deal: campaign fundraising hasn't panned out like many financial leaders planned. Hillary Clinton has received significantly larger donations than Sanders, and yet it's not stopping him, it might even be helping. And on the Republican side, Wall Street has largely backed candidates who aren't even in the race anymore: Bush, Rubio, Christie, Walker. Remember Walker?

This week on Money Talking, Rob Cox, editor with Reuters Breakingviews, and Ben White, the Chief Economic Correspondent at Politico join host Charlie Herman to go deep into the minds and pockets of Wall Street.

But if you think he's discussing the state of affairs in the U.S., think again. He's actually referring to Britain (and Europe), where nations there are facing similar concerns to those closer to home.

In Britain, this populist moment is best seen in what's being called the 'Brexit:' a British exit from the European Union. Just last month, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that there will be a referendum on June 23, where Britons will vote whether or not to stay in or leave the E.U. If Britain votes to separate, that could have global implications, politically and economically.

This week on Money Talking, host Charlie Herman speaks with guests Patrick Foulis from The Economist and John Authers with the Financial Times about the upcoming vote, the consequences for Europe and America, and what it says about our current presidential election.

(And if you don't believe us about Europe and what the New York Times editorial board calls the 'Trump effect,' check out the Brexit anthem and its reference to Trump's singing girls.) 

Consequently, you push that person out of meetings, turn down their ideas, and exclude them from brainstorming sessions all for the better of the company (and maybe your sanity), right? Wrong.

"It's not possible or even preferable that you'll like everyone on your team," says Amy Gallo, editor at the Harvard Business Review and author of the article How to Manage Someone You Don't Like. 

Gallo explains to Money Talking host Charlie Herman that it is better for your team and your company to work with an array of people because "you don't want a team comprised entirely of people you'd invite to a party," Gallo said. "You need people who have a diversity of work style, thought, and approach. People who provoke and challenge you."

Gallo adds that there are some workarounds for managing an annoying employee, which all stem with you.

By altering the things within your control (like your perceptions and reactions), eventually you'll feel less inclined to want to rip your hair out (what's left of it) when that maddening worker is around. 

See the upside. Hiring someone who looks, acts, and thinks like you is incredibly dangerous in the office. Irksome employees can make you think twice about a decision you've made or a product you've created, essentially making you work harder or be more innovative.  Be the bigger person. As the boss, you need to be professional. Leave your personal feelings at home and focus on the big picture: having the best team or creating the most successful products. Discover their good qualities. No one is 100% annoying. Look for where that person excels. They may have unexplored talents that could prove useful.   Try aversion therapy. Sit near that employee, bring them into meetings, or go out to coffee with them to discuss ideas and strategies. Even though this sounds unpleasant, it is the best way to get beyond your distaste. 

[Listen to host Charlie Herman and Amy Gallo examine best practices when you are managing workers you dislike.]

The standoff, led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, came to a head this week when several militia members were arrested. After a nearly month-long stalemate, Ammon Bundy urged the remaining protesters to "go home." Even so, the situation continues to evolve.  

So what's at the heart of this standoff? About a century of history, some suspected arson, and a whole lot of economics.

Over the course of it, the militia members have been demanding that the Malheur land controlled by the federal government be turned over to the local government. In more basic terms: give the land back to the ranchers and loggers who can then live off and prosper from it. Unfortunately in today's economy, that might not work.

This week on Money Talking, host Charlie Herman talks with James Surowiecki with The New Yorker and Zoë Carpenter from The Nation about the motivations fueling the militia movement and what benefits, if any, the protest has prompted.

When Adele's pre-sale tickets went on sale in December of last year, so many fans were locked out of the 56-date tour that a social media frenzy erupted. (Including the meme: "Hello from the ticket line. I've clicked refresh a thousand times.") 

Soon after, tickets appeared online for hundreds and even thousands of dollars over face value. But who's snatching up all those tickets? And while Adele fans lament, there are plenty of other sporting events, plays, and concerts that we're getting locked out. So it begs the question: Why do the re-sellers and the scalpers seem to have all the luck? And is there ever a way to beat them at their own game?

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with Jason Abbruzzese from Mashable and Ethan Smith from the Wall Street Journal about the economics of online ticket sales and what you can do to get a ticket.

But you can break the habits of counterproductive and even detrimental behavior without spending years lying on a couch.

"It doesn't take long to change a habit. But it's hard. Really hard," writes Peter Bregman, CEO of Bregman Partners a leadership consulting and coaching firm, in a recent Harvard Business article "Quash Your Bad Habits by Knowing What Triggers Them."

In the article, he suggests a simple a three-step process to change your behavior in the office. 

Be aware. If you take a moment to pause before you react, you slow down your neurological response. That reaction comes from the part of the the brain where fight/flight/freeze reactions are decided. But by taking a beat, you can let whatever is happening get to the part of your brain that makes more rational choices. Resist urges. You might have an urge to react immediately, and that reaction might be a poor one. Before acting, ask yourself: What is the outcome I want from this situation? When you've thought about the desired outcome, you will react accordingly to get you closer to that goal.  Replace behaviors. You need something to de-trigger you and get you to the desired result. So whether you enlist daily meditation or use a "serenity now" mantra, any sort of replacement will be an improvement from your trigger-happy reaction.

[Click on "Listen" to hear Bregman talk through these steps with Money Talking host Charlie Herman.]

Think of your reactions as if they were a train and you were riding it to get to a final destination. Instead of sleeping through all the stops until the moment you arrive when you are forced to sprint off the train and completely forget your bag, consider five or six places to stop before you arrive at the destination. Maybe one stop is taking a deep breath and another is cracking your knuckles; identify what each stop is, get off on at each one, hop back on afterwards, and you'll arrive at a much more productive destination.

"As I like to say, there are different flavors of bad bosses," adds Amy Gallo, an editor at the Harvard Business Review. When the flavor is "dumber than you," it's hard to know how to proceed. You don't want to be disrespectful, but you don't want to sit stagnant in a job where you're not learning. 

If you think you're smarter than your boss, Gallo set out specific strategies about what you might do in her article, What To Do If You're Smarter Than Your Boss.

1. Accentuate the Positive: Have some humility and think about the ways your boss might actually have an edge on you. "It's your job, as his direct report, to unearth that expertise or unearth that experience you can learn from," Gallo said.

2. Cool down: Don't lead a coup. Your boss likely reached the heights where they currently sit for a reason. Trying to replace them or getting them fired not work out as you plan.

3. Find a stand-in: If you're not learning anything from your boss, go to other people in your organization. Don't be disrespectful to your boss, but ask some of his/her other colleagues for advice and mentorship. 

4. Consider an exit. Only after you make good efforts to learn from the people in the building, if you're still having a hard time, it might be time to leave the company.

[Listen to Gallo talk through these steps with Money Talking host Charlie Herman.]

In cease-and-desist notices submitted to FanDuel and DraftKings, the Attorney General's office wrote that much like a lottery, the websites mislead customers into believing they can win big, when the chances of winning are actually slim.  He also cited concerns about public health and economic risks associated with gambling. 

But how different are online fantasy sports games from poker or even trading on the stock market? Money Talking host Charlie Herman talks with Andrew Stern from Business Insider and Tim Fernholz from Quartz about the nuts and bolts of the multimillion dollar industry and who stands to lose if the Attorney General shuts down the two websites.

In the workplace, that's a dangerous proposition, according to Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, CEO of Hogan Assessments and professor of Business Psychology at University College London. Describing an article he wrote for the Harvard Business Review, Chamorro told Money Talking host Charlie Herman that to some degree, creativity levels are hard to change. And that's a good thing.

"Most people, as much as they may not like hearing this, have average creativity," he said.

There needs to be a diverse ecosystem at work made of people with varying degrees of creativity. Creative visions need to be executed, he said. If everyone's in his or her own head about creative ideas, nothing will ever get done. 

That said, there are still small ways to get a little more creative in your everyday tasks at work.

Get feedback. We're not good at evaluating our own work. If you want to expand your mind, find a good critic.  Get training on creative thinking skills. The way to get more creative is to get away from the daily grind. Chamorro said mindfulness, taking walks, or switching tasks can help us get a new perspective on the task at hand. Read up. Chamorro said it might sound anti-creative to do a lot of research, but, he said, "You need to know the rules of the game in order to break them." Become an expert in a subject area to get a feel for what kinds of creative risks you should take. Follow your passions. If you're not excited about the work you do, you won't put enough energy into it to think creatively.

Bosses looking to make their employees think more creatively should assign tasks that tap their employees' interests, and they should also build teams with different kinds of minds: both great idea generators and skilled project managers.

"Creative teams that have too many people who are traditionally creative would never get anything done," Chamorro said. 

Now that the crisis is over, the (unending) question is, "When will the bank raise interest rates?"

But the steps the bank took to bail out the economy have also drawn criticism, especially from those who think the Fed is overstepping what it can or should do.

In many cases, they're complaints that have been lobbed at the Fed since its creation more than a hundred years ago.

Roger Lowenstein has followed the Federal Reserve for years as a financial reporter who has written for the The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Fortune. In his latest book, America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve he explains how the arguments today about the financial system and the Federal Reserve echo the same ones that were made when the bank was created in 1913.

Listen to Lowenstein take Money Talking host Charlie Herman back in time to the days when supporters of the national bank were a daring minority, fighting an epic battle for greater financial stability and uniformity.

But when she entered the workforce at the age of 20 after completing a B.A. and graduate degree, she found it challenging at times for her ideas to be heard, especially with colleagues who had many more years of experience.

Understanding what it’s like to be pushed aside even when you know what you’re talking about, she came up with ways to get people to listen which she outlined in an article for the Harvard Business Review: "Get People to Listen to You When You're Not Seen as an Expert."

"If you look different than other people in the workplace," she said, "maybe you’re the one woman in a tech company or something like that, people’s biases may be toward not taking you quite as seriously as other people, and so if you want to be heard, period, you may need to exert some strategy."

1. Create an echo chamber: If you're facing one roadblock to being heard from your boss, try befriending other people in the office who your boss respects. They can vouch for you in meetings and show your boss you should be taken seriously. In politics, they call it "powermapping."

2. Begin to position yourself as an expert. Start creating content around the subject you want to master. Blog about it. If you're learning, take readers along on your journey on the topic.

3. Borrow from the experts. Research and read widely and cite the experts you're learning from. 

4. Find common ground. When you're trying to convince your coworkers to take you seriously, try to bond with them as best you can. People are more likely to root for you if they feel like they're on your team.

Dorie said there's no substitute for doing real work to educate yourself – her advice is for informed people with good ideas.

"These strategies can be used for good or ill," she said, but in the Internet age, you have to know what you are talking about. If you're a phony, someone will probably find out.

While Proust had his madeleine, all of France has U.S. credit cards. That’s because France, and pretty much the rest of the world’s major economies, has been ahead of U.S. payment technology for decades. This month, we are finally starting to give up our vintage credit cards with only the black, magnetic stripe on the back — the equivalent of a cassette or an 8-track tape — and switching to the “chip card." You may have gotten one in the mail already: they’re the new credit cards with a shiny computer chip on the front.

Also known as "EMV" — short for Europay, Mastercard and Visa, the three companies that created a standard for the chip in the early 90s — the chip card virtually eliminates the possibility of counterfeit card fraud. That's where crooks make a copy of your card, and it’s a kind of fraud that's been consistently growing in one place: the United States. 

Listen to Money Talking producer Julia Longoria as she went to find out what's taken us so long to get on board.

"It’s such a false scenario, right? Interviewing’s weird," said Patty McCord, former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix and contributor to the Harvard Business Review. "But you want to get the chance to have an authentic conversation with somebody."

If hiring managers don't know what they're doing, the process can be especially painful for applicants, and in the end, disastrous for companies. And McCord says, most large organizations don't do it well.

"Their objective is to put butts in seats instead of build teams," she said.

During the 14 years McCord worked at Netflix, it developed a reputation for its treatment of employees and its ability to identify talent. It's famous for the 127-slide "Netflix Culture" presentation. Now, McCord consults with companies about the best way to identify and maintain great teams. The key, she says, is to treat the process less like a science and more like an art.

"It's a little like painting," she says. "The finished result is because it’s all in the prep." McCord says there are some basic steps to bring discipline and professionalism to the the hiring process:

Cast a wide net, and reel some in. First, she says, if you're a hiring manager, you should gather a large pool of applicants by using social networking tools like LinkedIn. The best applicants may not always come to you; like a journalist seeking interviewees, you might need to go to them. Work backwards. When you begin the hiring process, she says, think first about the problem that needs to be solved rather than the kind of person you want to bring in.  Pick a star interview team. At least three different kinds of people in your company should be on the hiring committee: one to probe applicants for technical skills, one to discern problem-solving ability, and one who has a reputation for sniffing out good candidates. Do your homework. Read up on your applicants, and make sure you tell them who will be on the interview committee, to give them a chance to do their own homework. You'll have more to talk about if you've built some common ground beforehand. Don't prepare a laundry list of questions. Too often, we focus on the clever interview question instead of trying to have a genuine conversation. The goal isn't to stump the interviewee; it's to make them comfortable enough so they'll show their true colors. Let the conversation drift, while being sure to focus on skills and experience instead of pleasantries like beer preferences. 

McCord says in Silicon Valley, questions looking for a "good fit" about pleasantries like favorite movies or favorite bars lead hiring managers to look for people "just like me." Instead, Patty says the goal is to find questions that will make applicants stop and think — and go from there. For instance, instead of asking what their career goals are, ask "What do you not want to do anymore?" 

Listen to host Charlie Herman probe McCord for her strategies for interviewing and suggestions for the ways companies in Silicon Valley might make their hiring practices more inclusive.

Some players say yes.

The NCAA policy of preserving "amateurism" means players aren't paid like professional players are. They're students first. That policy has let the NCAA limit how student athletes are compensated, usually for expenses like the cost of attendance. The association argues that paying college athletes would create heated competition among universities for top players and distract them from their primary goal: getting an education. But some players say they work the equivalent of full-time jobs for the NCAA, and they want to be able to unionize and fight for better wages and better treatment.

This legal battle is ongoing. Last week, a court handed a somewhat mixed victory to the NCAA. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the way the NCAA limits athletes' pay to the cost of tuition is appropriate. Still, the court did insist the N.C.A.A. is not above antitrust law, thereby uphold a ruling from last year which scolded the NCAA for conspiring with schools to keep players from getting revenues from TV contracts.

Money Talking host Charlie Herman looks into the ongoing legal battle and the grey area where players find themselves with guests Joe Nocera from the New York Times and Allison Schrager from Quartz.

The high-end grocery chain has a reputation for slipping into developing neighborhoods just before the surrounding property values skyrocket. That's made them an important symbol for some struggling neighborhoods: when Whole Foods arrives, it's a sign those places have made it. Others say when the pricey chain touches down on their block, it's a harbinger of harmful gentrification and a rising cost of living.

But it seems Whole Foods has been having a rough year. The company has had pricing scandals, falling stock prices and this week it announced it's firing 1500 employees in order to lower prices. It's also announced a new spin-off chain, "365 by Whole Foods Market," aimed at a younger, more budget-conscious customer. Some Los Angeles residents near the site of the first 365 location say they want the "real thing" instead.

Hear guest host Ilya Marritz talk grocery-store strategy with guests Heather Landy from Quartz and Helaine Olen from Slate. 

And later in the show, Landy and Olen, who's the author of Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, weigh in on Sen. Elizabeth Warren's attack on the financial industry this week.

Warren, who's made a name for herself as the conscience of the financial industry, says corporations are secretly influencing Congress by paying experts who testify. This week, an expert with the Brookings Institution stepped down after Warren pointed out that a paper he submitted to the Senate was funded by the mutual fund manager The Capital Group. 

It's painstaking to reduce yourself to bullet points and then to get the formatting just right. And then when you're done, hitting "Send" on a cold job application often feels totally futile. In an age when resumes are easily uploaded online, the hunt for jobs seems more competitive — and discouraging — than ever.

But Gallo says you need to pay attention to the way new technology changes the resume game. As she explains in her article for the Harvard Business Review, in an age when employers are often reading your resumes in PDF on a screen, the rules are different.

Gallo says there's one old rule you can definitely drop in the digital age:

The One-Pager: You may have heard that you need to limit your resume to one page. Gallo says if a hiring manager is viewing your resume digitally, the convenience of a one-page resume doesn't really apply anymore. Stop making your fonts microscopic so you can fit all your experience onto one page. 

But Gallo says there's some conventional wisdom that's timeless:

The professional summary: The 20-word summary at the top of your resume might be the most painful sentence you'll ever write, and it's often the most cringe-worthy for hiring managers, but Gallo says you have to include one if you want to grab a hiring manager's attention. The trick is, there's a right way to do it. Don't prop yourself up with fluffy platitudes. Give something that's "clear, flatfooted, and answers the question of, 'Is this the right person for this job?'" Gall said. For instance: "Healthcare executive with over 25 years of experience providing superior patient care" is not cheesy; it's honest and impressive. Tailor the resume and summary to the job: You can't expect to send the same resume with every application. Plan to spend a significant chunk of time thinking about the job description and tailoring the descriptions of your achievements to what the job you're applying for requires.

At its core, a resume should be more than a list of your responsibilities.

"A resume is really a marketing document," said Gallo, "I think people, unfortunately, often think of it as a record of their work life — which it's not. You have to think of the hiring manager as the consumer, as your customer, and you're trying to sell yourself."

For more insights, listen to Gallo tear apart Money Talking host Charlie Herman's resume. (And he thought he had a good one.)

*Special thanks to Rebecca Ungarino for production help.

A scandal at Volkswagen over how the automaker rigged emissions inspections in the U.S. cost the CEO his job.

And accusations of price-gouging after a drug company raised the price of a 62-year-old drug by more than 5,000 percent led the CEO to announce he’d lower the price, but he didn't say by how much.

This week on Money Talking, Rana Foroohar with Time Magazine and Ben White with Politico review what could be the consequences of these scandals.

And then, Pope Francis visits the U.S., meets the President, addresses Congress, and then gives a mass at Madison Square Garden. What does he hope to accomplish during his trip?

But Pope Francis, Posner says, is for real.

In advance of the pontiff's trip to New York City, Money Talking host Charlie Herman talks with Posner about his book God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican, and how Francis is trying to reform the institution that has operated like an "offshore bank in the heart of Rome." 

And then, considering that New York City is a center of wealth and power, how will this pope balance the need to raise from money wealthy New Yorkers with his mission to make a church that is "poor and for the poor."

Business psychology professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic said technological innovations make us extremely aware of all the options out there — both in dating and in the job market. For example, he explained that about 70 percent of LinkedIn users are considered "passive job seekers" — checking out other jobs — even when they're not on an active search. This, Chamorro said, may be hurting our psyches.

"There's a known psychological rule that states that the more choice we have, the harder it is to choose and the less happy we are with the outcome," said Chamorro, a professor at University College London and the CEO of Hogan Assessments.

So the key is to cut through the noise your inner voice makes about how dissatisfied you are and figure out if it is truly time to leave.

In an article he wrote for the Harvard Business Review, "5 Signs It's Time For A New Job," Chamorro described the triggers he says indicate it's time to leave.

You're not learning. If you've learned all there is in your current role, that could mean it's time to find something more stimulating. You're under-performing. Good performance can be its own motivator. But if you suddenly find you're no longer doing a great job like you used to — and, in turn, you're not getting positive feedback — it might be time to find a new challenge that makes you want to work hard. You feel undervalued. It's subjective, but the feelings are what matter here: If you feel you're undervalued by management, it may be time to leave. You could do be doing the same work in a place where you are valued, and that would be much more rewarding. You're doing it for the money. If you feel like money is the only reason you get up in the morning, it might mean it's time to find something that makes you care a little more. You hate your boss. If you can't stand your boss even after you try to make it work, it might be time to look for another one. 

Chamorro tempered these triggers with one caveat: "This isn't an area where impulsive decisions are likely to pay off, so it's more sensible to wait, to think," he said. But if you keep feeling the symptoms described above even after you try to fix your situation, it can't hurt to start looking around.

And just like you'd do with dating apps like Tinder, if you're already taken, or in this case, employed, you might want to keep your search on the down-low.

The suspense may not keep everyone up at night, but a rise in the federal funds rate from nearly zero would be a sign that the economy has recovered since the financial crisis. So for months now, there's been a lot of over-thinking about the comments made by members of the Federal Reserve Board, trying to determine when, oh when, the interest rate will rise.

The latest prediction in the economic crystal ball: possibly next Thursday afternoon after a meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee.

Money Talking host Charlie Herman asks Allison Schrager from Quartz and Myles Udland from Business Insider what's at stake and, if the media hubbub is worth your attention.

Hulu. Netflix. Amazon. HBO. Showtime. Not to mention network TV. They are all creating new programming that’s getting people’s attention.

And now, there are reports that Apple might be looking to create it’s own, exclusive programming.

For viewers, it can be a daunting to figure out which shows to watch, where to find them, and how much it will cost. And that doesn’t even include finding the time to actually watch the shows.

This week on Money Talking, Emily Steel with the New York Times and Tim Stenovec with Business Insider review how television as we know it is being upended, who will be the winners and losers, and what it means for consumers.

If you’re looking to cut the cord and say good bye to cable, here’s Steel’s guide for figuring out which streaming service to use, and how much it will cost.

1. Slow down. 

2. Stop talking.

3. Listen.

But Amy Jen Su, an executive coach with Paravis Partners who has written and talked about the issue for the Harvard Business Review, knows it's not so simple, especially for some particularly stubborn bosses.

"I think many of us speak just to hear ourselves think," she said.

For one flagrant interrupter she worked with, Su pulled out some preschool training strategies and asked her client to use a "listening stick" at home with his wife: he couldn't speak until his wife handed him the stick.

If you can get the awful listeners to listen, the solutions are as simple as slowing down, getting comfortable with silence, and focusing attention on the speaker. But if you find yourself getting physically uncomfortable when you're not hearing the sound of your own voice, she said the first step is to get comfortable with the discomfort. 

"Part of listening is listening for the facts," Su said. "Is the person sharing facts that you weren't aware of? Hear the person out." She said as you listen, you need to have your mind open to being changed. And if you don't agree with the speaker, let the speaker know you've listened to what they've said, and then tell them why you disagree.

But if you're the one who isn't being heard during a one-on-one with your boss, Su said you need to go over the conversation at the end of your chat, and reiterate your points. If you're in a large meeting where you keep getting interrupted, you can use verbal cues during the meeting like raising your hand gently and saying "Hang on a second, let me just finish my point there," Su said.

And most importantly, don't rely on your own opinion to determine if you're a good listener. Go to a trusted colleague. They'll tell you the truth. If you're willing to listen and hear what she has to say.

But for the rest of us, it seemed like China's image changed overnight: from major engine of global economic growth to one of the market's biggest liabilities. When the Dow Jones fell more than a 1,000 points at the start of trading on Monday, it was perhaps the first, most visible indicator that if China stumbles, the global market will feel it.

Host Charlie Herman asks Rana Foroohar from Time and Jordan Weissmann from Slate whether the communist nation is up to the task of directing its faltering economy.

The article has been criticized as loosely sourced and anecdotal, but some of the Times story, like the data-driven management style or the way employees can report on each other directly to higher-ups, is part of the workplace design. And while some see it as a grim place to work, others might call the challenges Amazon poses to its employees as the way of the future.

Money Talking host Charlie Herman discusses what makes a good workplace with Patty McCord, the former Chief Talent Officer of Netflix, which has a reputation for being one of the friendliest places to work, and Nikki Waller, management and careers editor at the Wall Street Journal.

“The truth is, all of us have that little kid who doesn’t want to their homework buried inside somewhere,” Samuel told Charlie Herman, host of WNYC's host Money Talking.

The author of several books on mastering technology, Samuel wrote the article "How to Trick Yourself into Doing the Tasks You Dread" for the Harvard Business Review by turning to her own kids for inspiration. She says she gives herself something like the gold stars you get in grade school to motivate her to get work done. She's not above it — and she gets results.

But it's not only trick she uses to. First, it helps to identify the tasks at hand. According to her, there are two main types of tasks we tend to dread: the mindless ones, like emptying out email; and the daunting tasks, like writing a novel. Depending on the kind of task she's tackling, she gives herself a different kind of reward. 

Regenerative Rewards: To get yourself started on a this chore, promise yourself a restful reward at the end. These are rewards that recharge you body and brain and give you energy to take on the next task. Productive Rewards: There are some items on your To-Do list you actually enjoy. Reading a book you've been itching to read or an interesting article, for instance. Maybe you like tidying your desk or installing the latest editing software you've been dying to use. These tasks are easy and fun, like candy. They can be the light at the end of a dark tunnel of daunting tasks that can keep you going.  Concurrent Rewards: Some things you have to do are so boring that a reward at the end isn't enough to even get you started. In this case, reward yourself while you're doing it. For example, watch TV while you're emptying your inbox. Complete your quarterly budget report while sitting at your favorite coffee shop. This kind of reward is great for the tasks that don't take your whole brain to finish.  Cumulative Rewards: Think deferred gratification. Create a big reward for when you get something done. For example, create a special bank account where you pay yourself every day you do the task you don't want to do. Then once your finish, you get to put the money to use wherever you want as a reward.

Samuel says it's important to tailor the grown-up star chart to your own preferences.

"One person’s delight is another person’s dreaded task," she said Pay attention to which tasks stay undone on your To-Do list — that's where you should apply these rewards.

But wait. There's one more to consider. It's what Samuel calls "Avoid These Tasks." If there are projects you go out of your way to avoid doing, then just don't do them. Get rid of the guilt. And what you might find, as Samuel did, once you do that, you will actually check them off your list.

“The challenge we’ve got is right now there are no uniform rules of the road that require retirement advisers to act in the best interest of their clients,” Obama said, speaking before the AARP in February.

As it stands, advisers can suggest retirement plans that include high fees and provide low returns without facing significant consequences. To change that, the Labor Department in April proposed a new set of standards known as a "fiduciary rule."

During hearings this week about the proposed rule, representatives from the financial industry said it's impractical and burdensome, and would increase the cost of marketing, which would make it impossible to reach people living in remote areas of the country or clients with relatively small portfolios. Others said the rule patronizes consumers who should be able to make financial decisions for themselves. Some groups have proposed amendments to the rule which they say will help those who have less money to invest.

Money Talking host Charlie Herman interviews guests Jason Zweig, investing and personal-finance columnist for the Wall Street Journal, and Helaine Olen, "The Bills" columnist for Slate and author of Pound Foolish, about what the rule would accomplish and what it says about the current state of the financial advice industry.

We spend most of our waking hours with our coworkers, so right off the bat, we have a lot in common with them. But the intensity of a work friendship can sometimes fluctuate between two opposites: we love them or we hate them.

Shimul Melwani experienced this kind of tortured love-hate relationship at work, and she chose to find the silver lining: the proof is in her Harvard Business Review article, "Love-Hate Relationships at Work Might Be Good For You."

Melwani tells Money Talking host Charlie Herman the workplace seems perfectly designed for these kinds of relationships. 

"We're expected to cooperate with our team members," Melwani said, "but then we're also expected to compete with them for resources and promotions and time with our leader and money."

She added, however, that love-hate friendships might actually improve your work in the office more than purely positive or purely negative relationships ever could. Having a friend at work can be distracting, and if you have a someone you just despise, you can dismiss them completely. A love-hate friendship keeps you both empathetic and a little angry, so it can motivate you to work harder to understand what is going on and perhaps find a way to get along better.

The key is to minimize the damage your inevitable frenemy can cause to your psyche. As Melwani puts it:

Focus on the love. If you have to pick one side of this relationship to fixate on, keep your attention on the good parts. Enjoy the positive aspects of having a partner in crime as much as you can. Have some self-compassion. Understand where your negative feelings come from. If you feel competitive and resentful toward someone you also respect and like, the consequence is often to feel guilty. Give yourself a break. This kind of thing is normal. Teams, by default, reward people for acting cooperatively and then also expect people to individually shine: this is fundamentally confusing and it's okay to feel conflicted.

Melwani said most of all, it's important to find a balance.

"Just having lots of different kinds of relationships [at work] is really what's going to help you," Melwani said. You can have that best friend at work that keeps you sane and satisfied, a frenemy or two to push you to do better, and maybe even a straight-up enemy, to keep things interesting.

Fast food workers in New York claimed victory last week when a panel appointed by the governor agreed with them: their minimum wage should be increased to $15 an hour over the next few years. That recommendation must now be reviewed by a high commissioner, who's expected to approve it. But in Seattle and Los Angeles, city councils have already approved citywide increases to $15. And at the national level, a bill before Congress would more than double the federal minimum wage to $15 from $7.25.

This week, Money Talking raises a perennial economic question: do raises in the minimum wage help or harm the workers who fight for them? A raise might help the wage stagnation we're seeing in the national economy, but some economists suggest a raise too big could shrink the pool of jobs. In Los Angeles this week, some union leaders are asking to be exempt from the $15 city-wide minimum they fought for, in order to have more flexibility in asking for other benefits. And some critics suggest industry-specific raises, like the fast food one in New York, could lead to distortions in the economy.

Guest host Cardiff Garcia of the Financial Times asks Josh Barro from The New York Times and Reihan Salam from the National Review, who've both written on the topic, what the raises at local and national levels could mean for the workforce and other ways the government might improve conditions for workers.

What does this change signify?

U.S. capitalism has been creeping its way into communist Cuba since the 1990s. They called that decade the "Special Period," when the fall of the Soviet Union drained Cuban coffers and forced the economy to get creative. In 1993, using U.S. dollars was decriminalized and a mixed economy, combining elements of socialism and free market capitalism, emerged in a recession-plagued island. Then in 2011, private ownership was legalized when the government allowed ordinary Cubans to buy and sell homes.

With the embargo still in place and travel restrictions still technically in place, what's changed now? 

Money Talking host Charlie Herman asks Cardiff Garcia from the Financial Times and Tim Fernholz from Quartz, both of whom recently traveled to Cuba, for their view on the island's economy, and what this week's news means for the Cuban people. 

Almost one year ago, cigarette salesman Debo Lato stood on the street where Eric Garner also allegedly sold loose cigarettes. Lato told reporter Solange Uwimana, writing for Vice, that Garner's death would not hamper his black market business. Today, one year has passed since Garner died after being placed in a police chokehold — after he resisted arrest for selling loosies.

Uwimana says the black market still seems to be thriving. 

Cigarettes in New York City are the most expensive in the country, thanks in large part to the taxes here. The state tax is $4.35; the city excise tax adds another $1.50. Garner's death has sparked a debate among both conservatives and liberals about whether the tax is leading smokers to quit, as it was designed to do. Staten Island is the borough with the most smokers in the city, according to a 2012 NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene Report.

Shortly after Garner's death, Police Commissioner William Bratton said though the sale of loose cigarettes may seem like a "minor quality-of-life offense," it hurts local businesses. While untaxed cigarettes continue to thrive, the Wall Street Journal reported that arrests of illicit cigarette salesmen have dropped in the past year.

Money Talking Host Charlie Herman speaks with Uwimana, now with the Village Voice, about her Vice report to explore how the market works and what's changed one year later.

Maybe you envision you'll shoot up out of your cubicle, march gallantly over to your awful boss's office, and say exactly how horrible it has been to work for him (or her). In this fantasy, coworkers congregate, cheer, even applaud, as you storm off into the night, never to return to the corporate torture chamber where they'll continue to spend their days.

This, says Len Schlesinger, a professor at Harvard Business School, is a horrible idea. "Those are kinds of things you should leave to sitcoms on television."

In his article for the Harvard Business Review, "How to Quit Your Job Without Burning Bridges," Schlesinger explains that if you're on your way out, your coworkers and management won't care about your complaints. You're leaving anyway. And the glory of a dramatic exit does not outweigh the harm you could do to your reputation. You never know when you'll meet your old boss again.

"Think hard about how you start [a job] and think harder about how you leave," Schlesinger tells Money Talking's host Charlie Herman. People will remember.

Schlesinger says there are a few cardinal rules for making a graceful exit.

Tell your boss first. If you tell anyone else before your boss, he or she will probably hear about it before you tell them. Be respectful. Tell your coworkers the same story. Be consistent in what you tell everyone involved in your exit. Give at least two weeks notice. And be flexible if the company needs more time. In your conversations with your boss, the key is to shift the focus from your departure to how you can help your coworkers with the transition after your departure. Tell people where you're going next. Transparency will quiet gossip and shift the conversation away from speculation as to why you're leaving to the facts about where you're going. Beware the exit interview. It's not the time to air all your grievances to Human Resources; that could end up hurting more than helping if you find yourself back in business with your old coworkers. Furthermore, if you've never talked about the problems with HR or your boss before you left, do you really think the company will listen now that you are leaving?

And if you're a boss on the other end of an exit, Schlesinger says, don't take it personally. When someone decides to leave, both you and the person quitting should express gratitude for the work that's been done and focus on making the transition as painless as possible.

Homeownership is lower than it's been in over 20 years, and the stock of apartments and houses for rent is getting competitive as the share of households renting is at a 20-year high. In New York City, only 3.45 percent of rental properties are up for grabs. With so many people looking to rent so few apartments, that's helping to drive up rents.

But even so, home sales are rising to nearly six year highs, who's buying? Sure, there's been an increase in first-time buyers, but increasingly, Wall Street private equity firms are buying up properties and turning them into rentals. 

Money Talking host Charlie Herman asks Rana Foroohar of Time and Heidi Moore of Mashable what a renter dominated market means for the country.

Melba J. Duncan, for instance, once stopped a plane. The former executive assistant to Pete Peterson, former CEO of Lehman Brothers, Duncan says people often don't give people like her enough credit. Assistants succeed and become an asset to their bosses because they're not limited to their job description. Other employees, however, often misunderstand what exactly assistants do. 

Duncan now runs the Duncan Group, a consulting company that recruits, coaches and trains assistants. She says the good ones are adept at a delicate skill all employees should master.

It's called "managing up."

Learn what the executive — or your boss — is responsible for. Help your boss by taking away from her responsibilities you can take care of, though that will require you to understand what you're capable of managing, And if you are asked to do too much, be up front and explain this. Ask your boss what her priorities are and which tasks take precedence over others.

Duncan says employees can underestimate the skills, judgment and influence of executive assistants. Everyone in the office can benefit from taking a moment to pay attention to how effective assistants communicate with and manage the corporate bosses.

And if you're the boss, and you want to know what kind of people work for you, watch how they treat your executive assistant.

Goldman Sachs, a bank accustomed to multi-billion dollar dealings with wealthy customers, will make smaller loans to less wealthy consumers and small businesses via an online service. American Express — the brand (in)famous for its ultra-exclusive "black card," available only to those who charge more than $250,000 a year — is teaming up with Walmart to offer a pre-paid debit card, a product traditionally sold to low-income customers who don't have bank accounts. Banking brands of the rich and famous seem to be making grabs for the middle class.

Meanwhile, kale breakfast bowls popped up on the McDonalds menu earlier this year. Then, the hamburglar got a hipster-esque makeover. This looks like a piecemeal response to a post-recession slump in the industry. Fast food brands that survived the financial crisis relatively unscathed have been struggling. Just this week, KFC fought a campaign against its Chinese competitors, who accused the chain on social media of raising eight-legged chickens to maximize drumstick production.

Money Talking's guest host Stacey Vanek Smith of NPR's Planet Money invites Shelly Banjo of Quartz and Ben White of Politico to make sense of these moves — and asks the critical money question of the week: Which woman should be on the U.S. $10 bill? 

In the next few weeks, she and the other eight justices could be making a long list of friends — and enemies — when the court issues rulings on the the fate of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and same-sex marriage.

One group paying close attention are the businesses who have taken very visible positions on the two controversial issues. 379 companies have urged the Supreme Court to back gay marriage, while insurance companies and healthcare providers are demanding that the healthcare law be upheld.  In their friend-to-the-court briefs, the Federation of American Hospitals and the American Hospital Association wrote that if the Supreme Court strikes down the health care law, "Many people will get sick, go bankrupt, and die."

Money Talking Host Charlie Herman asks guests Emily Bazelon of New York Times Magazine and Rana Foroohar of Time if this court, helmed by Chief Justice John Roberts, has been listening to big business this term and what fallout we might expect as the justices make their decisions.

Since the 2008 recession, it's been tough for college grads. The pool of job openings has been both small and specialized. And stubborn unemployment rates haven't been the only problem: troupes of Ph.D.-holding baristas are symptoms of underemployment.

Economists are hopeful May's job report will tell a different story. Already, unemployment has dropped from 7.6 to 5.4 percent, and high skill jobs are on the rise. But underemployment is still about 7 percentage points higher than it was in 2000.

Ylan Mui of the Washington Post and Derek Thompson of The Atlantic have been keeping an eye on the job climate for young employment hopefuls. This week, Money Talking host Charlie Herman invites them both to discuss whether "The Economy Is Still Terrible For Young People" or "The Newest Crop of College Grads May Find Underemployment Easing a Bit."   

Perhaps the reason for bad presentations is because speaking in public is one of our biggest fears, right up there with death. We can be so scared of giving a bad talk, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But done right, even the smallest of speeches, even the weekly check-in with your boss, can "change the world, even if just a little bit," according to Nick Morgan, the president and founder of Public Words, a company that helps people tell their stories. He's also the author of Power Cues and is featured in the Harvard Business Review article, "How to Give a Stellar Presentation."

He's studied what makes speeches good, and just as importantly, what makes them bad. He said there are some sure fire ways to make a speech boring:

Start With a List: If you want to lose your audience at the very start, lead with a laundry list of things you'll cover. When you're speaking out loud, people don't connect to lists. Give them a reason to care first. Let In Your Nervous Filler: If you want to lose listeners, waste their time with niceties, coughs, and bad jokes. Shrug When You're Selling: If your body language is inconsistent with the things you're saying, people won't buy in to your message.

Morgan says before you start a speech, you have to understand where your performance anxiety comes from. He says the reason speakers make all these mistakes is because they often set a standard for themselves that just isn't achievable. So they're humiliated before they even begin. Nerves let filler take the place of genuine communication. 

Morgan says for big speeches, the solution is to use a personal story to hold the parts of your talk together. Get people emotionally invested by taking them on a journey with you. 

But you can't make every little speech a story. It gets old. In day-to-day business meetings, Morgan says the solution to mediocrity and monotony is very simple. All you need to do is spend a few minutes before the talk focusing on the emotions you want to convey. Too often, people enter a meeting with a to-do list in mind instead of a desire to motivate. When your body language and tone evoke emotion, it makes a meeting hum with energy.

They're breaking hearts in the movie "Ex Machina," splayed across the pages of The New York Times and filling the airwaves with a series from NPR's Planet Money on robots' role in the workforce.

It's a story we've heard before: since the days of the Industrial Revolution, machines have threatened to take our jobs. But in the 21st century, this is not your great-grandfather's robot. 

A recent paper by economists at Columbia and Boston University claims the kinds of robots being made these days might actually increase income inequality. And another study found that nearly half of U.S. employment could be a risk of being computerized.

Money Talking host Charlie Herman asks Stacey Vanek Smith from Planet Money and Cardiff Garcia with the Financial Times what kinds of robots could threaten to edge out workers, and whether the government should step in and help.

Motivating the people who make you crazy is Liane Davey's specialty. As President of Team Solutions at Knightsbridge Human Capital, her book You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done and the Harvard Business Review article "How to Motivate Someone You Don't Like" provide specific strategies for how to be a good boss to employees with difficult personalities.

First, Davey says, you have to understand why they rub you the wrong way. It comes down to three root reasons: 

Interpersonal Rub: They're different from you on a personal level and you have a hard time relating to them. Off-putting Habits: Their quirks annoy you. You're the highly organized and they're the distracted and messy. You're an extrovert and they won't opine on a single thing. Disrespect: They're gruff or blasé about your authority. Their behavior make you feel undermined as a boss.

When your employees get under your skin on a personal level, Davey says the key is to change your mindset. 

Teambuilding: Remind yourself you're on a team: Surround yourself with people who have different strengths from you.  Spin Weaknesses as Strengths: Think about those quirks as complementary strengths. They're not messy, they're creative. Compliment people on their best traits, and make that a positive place from which to give feedback.  Empathize: An unhappy boss's instinct is to reprimand; empathize instead. When someone's unsavory or a bully, this is coming from somewhere. We tend to think that the bully is nasty and strong. but most often, they're very weak and overcompensating. 

"We don't know what we like," Davey said. "We like what we know." She suggests that to warm up to the people you can't stand, you need to do the opposite of what you might think. Get to know them better; ask them to open up; cling to them. If they tell their story, you'll better relate to them on a human level. 

Then remember that on a professional level, people different from you often bring different strengths. It's in your best interests to warm up to the ones who complement your own weaknesses. If you're meticulous and they're a mess, you're can both stronger when you work together.

But you can't force anyone to like you.

"It's a two way street," said Davey.

If you understand where your employees or coworkers behaviors are coming from, that'll be enough to work with them better. You don't need to like people for the sake of liking them.

And for those office bullies, she says, the best solution is to kill 'em with kindness (and keep giving constructive feedback).

But this month, Navinder Singh Sarao, an independent trader based in London, was arrested for manipulating the market that day in 2010. He's accused of "spoofing," or entering a series of fake requests into the market, effectively bluffing, and making other traders think the market is going up or down. He says he's done nothing wrong.

Meanwhile, regulators are behind schedule on one potential protection against wily markets and suggest that as the stock market becomes more complicated, they won't be able to keep up.

Money Talking Host Charlie Herman asks guests Rana Foroohar from Time Magazine and Heidi Moore from Mashable how the market could rest in the hands of one man -- and what, if anything, can be done to stop it from happening in the future.

And then the Hamburglar. What more is there to say?

It's an argument voters have heard before when business leaders run for elected office.

Mitt Romney ran on his business acumen in the last presidential election. And Michael Bloomberg served as New York City's mayor for three terms after a successful career in business (which he has since resumed).

But some argue that history hasn't been kind to businessmen who find themselves in the Oval Office.

As for Fiorina, political analysts seem to have come to a consensus: she has no chance. She has never held political office, garnered just two percent of Republican votes in a recent poll, and has a decidedly mixed reputation in the business world. So why would she run for president?

Money Talking host Charlie Herman asks business reporters John Carney of the Wall Street Journal and Sheelah Kolhatkar of Bloomberg Business Week: Do good CEOs make good presidents? And for that matter, what makes a good CEO in the first place?

Before subjects reported their outcomes, they were told which side — heads or tails — would be the winner of 20 dollars in each toss. In the first control group, these bankers seemed to tell the truth: subjects reported winning about 50 percent of the time.

But when subjects were reminded they were bankers — what they call "identity priming" in sociology — they seemed to lie a little. They won 58.6 percent of the time — an outcome that's statistically unlikely to be true: They were likely cheating.

As Deutsche Bank joins the ranks of banks punished for bad behavior this week, Money Talking's host Charlie Herman asks reporter Jessie Eisinger of ProPublica and Wall Street employee-turned-observer William Cohan — who wrote an article on the topic in this week in this week's Atlantic — whether Wall Street's culture has evolved since the financial crisis and whether or not it can be changed from the inside.

This week, Clinton billed herself as the candidate for the "everyday American," criticizing CEOs' swollen salaries. Meanwhile, Rubio told NPR he wants the Republican party — which, he said, is portrayed unfairly as "a party that doesn't care about people who are trying to make it" — to transform into "the champion of the working class." 

Guest host Cardiff Garcia from the Financial Times probes whether the common messages we've heard actually match the candidates' records and asks how the two parties might tackle inequality differently. And guests Rana Foroohar from Time magazine and Joe Weisenthal from Bloomberg discuss ways to combat inequality with a messy tool not many politicians have been able to touch: the tax code.

Business psychology professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic says there's no way around it: when you've got people, you've got politics. Humans, he says, are inherently emotional creatures and "office politics" is really just another name for human psychology.

"Maybe in a hundred years or 20 years, robots will take over for us, and they'll be less political, but at this stage, it's just us versus us," he said. 

In his article for the Harvard Business Review, "The Underlying Psychology of Office Politics," Chamorro says if you want to understand the place you work, you have to learn to play the game:

Pay attention: Invisible forces of power are at play in any office. You can't ignore the dynamics; you're a part of them.  Put yourself in others' shoes: Empathy is key in understanding the psychology of the workplace and how to get along. Don't believe everything you hear. Even for employees who fancy themselves apolitical, a little skepticism makes you smart. It helps protect against people who might try to manipulate office dynamics.

Even though politics are inevitable in the workplace, the best companies have collective psyches that encourage both competition and compassion. Chamorro says they strike a healthy balance of three fundamental human needs that drive human behavior:

Get Along With Others: Human life is only possible if we live together. That's why we have an instinctual need to connect. Getting ahead: In tension with the need to make friends is the need to make a name for ourselves. Finding meaning: We want to understand the world's patterns, predict behavior, and be ready for what comes. 

When these three needs are in balance, employees are more engaged, and, in turn, they're more productive. Chamorro says while politics are inevitable in any organization, they don't have to be toxic.

"If you're too political," he said, "you'll self destruct." 

But the only way to change things is from the top.

"Senior leaders create culture in an organization," he said. "It's not a matter of hours or days or weeks. It takes months." Leaders can replace conniving employees and put in processes that make things more transparent and decrease the degree to which employees perceive the inevitable politics at play. For the employees at the bottom, you have to learn to play the game before you. And if the politics is too much, maybe it's time to find a new job.

"If you want to move up, you have to play the game," Chamorro says. "Once you get there, stop playing the Machiavellian game."

The dollar is strengthening faster than it has in nearly forty years: the euro-to-dollar exchange rate is almost back to 1:1. American tourists have more buying power overseas, imports are inexpensive, and acquisitions of foreign companies come at a cheap price. Just this week, Fedex bought Dutch package delivery company TNT.

But a soaring dollar bill also means buyers abroad are less interested in expensive American goods. If history's any indication, a strong dollar can be an omen of economic downturns ahead.

On this week's Money Talking, Rana Foroohar of Time magazine and Josh Barro of The New York Times explore the roots and risks of our strong American currency. And then a look at the future of TV as HBO's hit show Game of Thrones becomes available to viewers without cable. HBO's new stand-alone app, HBO Now, launched this week, is just one in a series of new platforms that's freeing content from cable providers and lets viewers watch traditional TV on a desktop in real time.

But this week, just as Indiana passed a "Religious Freedom" law and Arkansas considering passing a similar law, a tidal wave of strong denouncements from Fortune 500 CEOs — from Apple's Tim Cook to Wal-Mart's Doug McMillon — was almost immediate. In their view, the laws would let businesses refuse service to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender customers. Marriott's CEO Arne Sorenson went as far as to call Indiana's move "an idiocy." 

Money Talking host Charlie Herman asks why corporations would suddenly feel the need to speak out, and guests Cardiff Garcia of the Financial Times and Heather Landy of Quartz suggest the outpouring of CEO opinion could mean the role of American business in social politics is shifting.

Our statement on Arkansas #HB1228 pic.twitter.com/KFPd91ejdo

"Our internal policies have and will continue to stand up against #discrimination" http://t.co/vfXmIGzZKy #s4egala pic.twitter.com/IW25DYXwws

There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country. http://t.co/QJTkCuZVdo

Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination. http://t.co/SvTwyCHxvE

Angie's List will withdraw campus expansion proposal due to passage of #RFRA http://t.co/N4s7mFhhl6

An Open Letter to States Considering Imposing Discrimination Laws http://t.co/2iNMMP0aIt

Statement from #FinalFour coaches regarding the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act ... #RFRA pic.twitter.com/zOiX8oh99Q

Unacceptable. "Defying Criticism, Arkansas Legislature Passes Bill on Religious Freedom", via @nytimes http://t.co/wLn98jt42E

Joint Statement from NBA, @WNBA, @Pacers and @IndianaFever pic.twitter.com/vqABvR6ua6

Today we support the @HRC’s statement against laws undermining #Equality. We seek a society of tolerance, peace & prosperity for all. #RFRA

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the workplace, says Alexander Caillet, an organizational psychologist on the faculty of Georgetown University’s Institute of Transformational Leadership and co-author of the Harvard Business Review article, “How Your State of Mind Affects Your Work Performance.” 

“Ninety-four percent of the leaders surveyed report that the top three states of mind for effective performance and relationships are calm, happy and energized,” said Caillet to WNYC’s Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking.

He’s referring to research he conducted with Jeremy Hirshberg and Stefano Petti on how the state of mind of those in leadership roles impacts the entire organization. Leaders admit that stress and anxiety can sometimes help in the short-term to motivate people into action. Over the long-term, however, it’s simply not a workable approach to achieving an organization’s objectives. And it’s especially bad for relationship building.

Leaders with lower states of mind, defined as frustrated, disappointed and tired, are aware of these limitations, but get trapped into repeating patterns. Caillet recommends three practices leaders can adopt to shift to a higher state of mind, which he defines as happy, content and optimistic. 

Biology. When we workout, eat well and feel good physically, we can take on more stress without being pushed to our limits. Physiology. “The ability to stop, the ability to take a pause or to take a break, or to engage in breathing are actually ways that we can immediately shift into a quieter and clearer state of mind,” said Caillet. Acknowledge / Reframe / Refocus. “Calling out an emotion has the effect of reducing its intensity,” explained Caillet.  Refocus your attention to another project. Reframe the situation by breaking it down into smaller parts that can be addressed independently.

“Leadership is a public act,” says Caillet. If leaders are anxious and stressed, so is everyone else at work. States of mind are contagious.

Caillet says that leaders report that under higher states of mind, “they get better results, decisions get made, the meetings are quicker and people tend to collaborate more and be less defensive and reactive.”

We’re all going to be in a lower state from time to time, but acknowledging it and using these tools to break out of it are critical for organizational success.

“This isn’t easy and I don’t mean to imply that every parent walks into this with their head screwed on straight,” he said, “but often the process of having to teach it to kids, having to because we really do have to, helps the parents or parent figure it out for themselves.”

Without it, Yahoo will now be a much smaller company that by some calculations is worth less than $0.

And that might be the best thing for the future of the company, which was once a leading player in Silicon Valley — and Mayer’s plan to turn it around.

This week on Money Talking, Nicholas Carlson, author of Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo! discusses Mayer's plan, what challenges she faces and how being one of few female CEOs makes it more complicated.

This year, the theme is "The Next Global Context." Not sure what exactly that means? Well, it gives you a lot of opportunities for discussions about practically any topic.

And this year, there've been a lot of the conversations about the mixed global economic picture. In the U.S., the economy is growing. But for much of the rest of the world, it's slowing down, even struggling. The European Central Bank announced plans to inject $1.3 trillion into Europe's economy over fears it's facing deflation. And in 2014, China's economy grew at its slowest pace in over two decades. Then there are the oil states are bleeding money as oil prices plummet. 

Money Talking regular contributor, Rana Foroohar of Time magazine is in Davos and spent time with many of the event's biggest names. She explains what attendees are talking about, what concerns them and whether global income inequality is getting its due (spoiler alert, no).

And later in the show, Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (who's also in Davos this week!) talks to Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking about how to scale down our commitments to make space for the things that really matter. 

What they might want to feel is deceived.

"We've been conned with the idea that if we can fit it all into our schedules, we can have it all in our lives," said Greg McKeown, Harvard Business Review contributor and author of one of 2014's best business books, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

Over committing, McKeown says, can lead to anxiety and lost productivity. "If you don't prioritize your life, then someone else will," he told Charlie Herman, host of WNYC’s Money Talking.

His answer is what he calls “essentialism” or an approach that forces hard choices when it comes to selecting the things we ultimately do.

"It's about being so selective that you have the space to do the things that are absolutely fabulous, that are amazing, that are break-through experiences."

And McKeown advises that changing the question we ask ourselves before embarking on a new project or assignment may help us get there.  "If you're not 90 percent sure of doing something, just don't bother. Don't worry about it."

Heidi Moore, the U.S. Finance and Economics Editor at The Guardian, asks herself a similar question. "What do I want to want to spend my time on to show what I actually value in life?" It's a question that forces attention on only those things that have the potential to help us achieve our objectives. "Your time has to be spent according to what your real priorities are."

Overcommitting usually stems from our fear of missing out, or FOMO, and it is a powerful motivator. It pushes us toward browser windows with 14 open tabs and inboxes filled loads of unread emails. But while that fear is a powerful hedge against complacency, it robs us of the head space we need for bigger thoughts about long-term projects. As McKeown put it, "what we have to learn is the joy of missing out."

And if we end up a little bored as a result, that's okay too because "at the edge of boredom is all creativity," said McKeown. 

It’s something that Manoush Zomorodi, host of WNYC’s New Tech City believes. In the first week of February, she’s challenging people who sign up for their Bored and Brilliant campaign to rethink their relationship with their smartphones, to push themselves to space out and be bored. As she put it, that’s “where scientists, neuroscientists, say some of our most original thinking, our problem solving, our novel ideas come from.” Will you dare to embrace being bored?

But Oringer didn't shut down empty-handed. His marketing efforts had depended on stock images that he either had to license or create himself. It was a time consuming process not made easy by the existing photography agencies. 

"I knew that their was some sort of problem here with getting these images to creatives," said Oringer. In response, he created Shutterstock, a stock photo company. "I went out and over the course of year shot over 30,000 images, put them up on a website and created a subscription." He thought, if he was having this problem, then others must be too.

"Everything around me became some image that someone could use in a business to sell something else," he said. Eleven years and 400 million sold photos later, Shutterstock is a public company worth more than $2.5 billion dollars and one of the most successful on New York's technology scene. 

Charlie Herman, host of WNYC's Money Talking sat down with Oringer to discuss how to foster start-up worthy creativity in a company with more than 500 employees, why venture capital is the wrong way to measure success and whether activity on Shutterstock can be used to predict the next big news story. 

Pioneers of the digital age have been predicting a turn toward digital currencies for at least two decades. Say goodbye to change rattling in pockets and thick billfolds. In fact, maybe no more wallets at all. If you're scratching your head wondering what this is all about, it's because there is still a long list of unanswered questions about how bitcoin will work when the real world collides with the digital one.  

That's where Ben Lawsky comes in. He's the Superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, the agency that regulates banks and other organizations involved in money transfers. After his office proposed draft rules for virtual currencies and received over 3,000 public comments, Lawsky thinks he's found a balance that puts in place consumer protections without stifling innovation.

This week, Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking, sits down with Lawsky to discuss his optimism about the future of e-currencies like bitcoin, including money transfers with low fees and and encryption systems that prevent sharing personal information during transactions. But he also has concerns about a currency that's traded outside the purview of governing authorities, a valid fear given that many of bitcoin's early users were illegal actors.

And then later, as the new year gets underway, some advice on how to be less distracted in 2015 by Ned Hallowell, author of the new book from the Harvard Business Review , Driven to Distraction at Work. 

And screens. Everywhere, the screens. Even in those moments when we're waiting for something or somebody, we don't take a minute for a deep thought; we practically seek out distraction.

"We’re conditioned to bring out our iPhone, open up a laptop, look up at the television screen," said Ned Hallowell, a psychologist and author of the new book from from the Harvard Business Review Press, Driven to Distraction at Work. "I’m not saying let’s go back to a world without screens. I’m just saying what we have to do is put ourselves in charge of them and not let them be in charge of us."

Hallowel says we need to recognize that we have more control over our lives that we tend to think.

"We haven't learned how to recreate boundaries," he said. "You do have demands from other forces. But no one forces you to check your email at 3:00 a.m."

Don't pick up the phone every time it rings. Try not to get anxious from those blinking message lights. And realized, the brain is incapable of what we typically think of as multitasking. According to Hallowell, once you take back control, the rest can be handled by taking care of your brain: 

Sleep. "People say 'I'm too busy. I've got to stay up late.' Most of the time they're staying up late screen-sucking." Eat. "Eating right doesn't take time. It just takes selection." Exercise. "People say, 'I don't have time to exercise.' My answer is 'you don't have time not to.'"  Meditation. "It only takes a few minutes, a couple of times a day. It's a way of cleaning up your brain.

At the office, he suggests a quick burst of exercise will do the trick. Take a walk. Do some pushups even. And find some people along the way. Positive human contact is the universal antidote for clearing the mind, resetting your focus and slowing the world down for just a little while.  

It may sound like easy advice, but committing to it could make a difference.

The U.S. publicly accused North Korea of being behind the cyber attack of Sony Pictures that resulted in hundreds of embarrassing leaked emails and the cancellation of the release of The Interview. Turns out, North Korea was not amused by a plot line that contemplates the assassination of its leader, Kim Jong-un.

And finally, Cuba! In a historic move, President Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic ties after a 50-year embargo. It took Washington and the rest of the country by surprise. 

Russia, North Korea and Cuba – three Cold War-era adversaries dominating the news cycle exactly 25 years after the Berlin Wall fell.

This week, Joe Nocera of The New York Times and Rana Froohar of Time magazine join Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking, to discuss what's at stake for the U.S. 

But you're shaking your head. That's not you? Okay, it's not me either.

That rosy scenario is one of the real ironies of the age we live in. It's true that we have the tools to run things efficiently, but so often if feels like they've overwhelmed us. Technology puts us just one blinking, unread message away from everybody who wants us for something whenever they want it.

And that last part is critical. Too often, our productivity is sabotaged by the needs of others – especially at the office.

"The reason that that memo doesn't get finished or you don't work on the long-term, important project," said Dorie Clark, "is that you're so constantly responding to stimuli that you can't think for the hour or two that you need to get it done." Clark is a business professor at Duke University and author of the Harvard Business Review article, "Stop People from Wasting Your Time."

"We have to try to impose a structure so that they're more respectful of our time," she said, referring to our colleagues. And there are few things we can do to take back control of our day and our productivity.

First, insist on an agenda for all meetings. Too often people schedule meetings without a clear sense of what they want to accomplish. The sessions drift from the original purpose and eat away at our time.

Second, limit the number of times you check email throughout the day. There is nothing as oppressive as an overactive inbox. Clark suggests only checking email in a few discrete blocks of time and dealing with everything at once. 

And finally, remember your own power at work. 

"We don't really recognize that we have agency," said Clark. The habits of our colleagues don't have to be our habits. Take control of your time and manage it to maximize productivity. 

"The most important thing to remember is that it's about prioritization," said Clark. There are times when something truly critical warrants an interruption. "So the reason we limit the trivial stuff is to make room for what's really important and most meaningful in our lives."

Listen to the complete interview with Clark above or subscribe to the podcast by clicking on the button on the right.

The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the circuit judge provided “erroneous” jury instructions and that prosecutors provided insufficient evidence for a guilty verdict in the trial of Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson. Both were convicted in 2012.

It’s a blow for U.S. Attorney Preet Bahrara who had racked up 89 insider trading convictions. The ruling could call into doubt previous verdicts as well as future prosecutions of insider trading.

“Today’s decision by the Court of Appeals interprets the securities laws in a way that will limit the ability to prosecute people who trade on leaked inside information,” said Bahrara in a statement.

This week on Money Talking, what the decision means for the future of prosecuting behavior on Wall Street.

And then the car hailing service Uber: Sued in California; sued in Portland; banned in parts of India; ordered to cease operations in Spain and Thailand. But users (and investors) still love it. Can regulators and elected officials put the brakes on Uber?

Looking ahead, the dramatic fall in oil prices and the "hack from hell."

But now, some new players want to get in on the action.

Amazon doesn't just want to sell New Yorkers all the gifts on their holiday lists. It also wants to sell the milk and cookies for Santa. Long the purveyor of practically everything, Amazon wants to widen its offerings to include fresh produce – milk, cheese and eggs – delivered right to your door. Or, for residents of Brooklyn (where the company is currently delivering) kale, quinoa and gluten-free bread.

But other companies are also gearing up to compete with Fresh Direct. Fairway has partnered with Instacart to offer grocery delivery. Boxed.com sells and delivers bulk dry goods. And Google, where consumers search for nutrition facts and recipes, is joining the fray with its new Google Express same day service.

Reporter Sally Herships experimented with a few of these services for WNYC's Money Talking. Amazon delivered her items as promised with only a few raspberries squished. When she tried to order from Google, it was a complete fail as the world's biggest search engine currently doesn't offer delivery to her Brooklyn neighborhood.

While this holiday season may be a food fight for online retailers in New York, hopefully for the rest of us, it will promise a few days away from the office.

Continuing a series with the Harvard Business Review looking at how to survive the workplace, Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking, talks with Peter Bregman, author of the Harvard Business Review article, "What to Do on Your First Day Back from Vacation." Bregman says, don't get distracted by the small, anxiety-inducing tasks like dealing with email buildup.

"Before you do anything, you should pause for a moment and think about what is it that is most important for the organization to accomplish," said Bregman. "You want to reconnect with the vision of the organization. You want to reconnect with the strategy."

Returning from vacation can be overwhelming and Bregman has worked out a radical strategy for maintaining those good vacation feelings.

"Take lunch or pause for an hour – a whole hour – and maybe have lunch with someone you like and have a conversation with them," he said. "That's one way of bringing that vacation feeling back. It slows you down enough to remind you that you're a human being."

But then it ends. It always ends. And the path back can be ugly.

All those good vacation vibes are wiped out in the few short seconds it takes to scroll past the first hundred emails; our anxiety rises as we page down and start imagining the monumental effort ahead.

But maybe we can take more control over the transition back to work.  

Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, a leadership consulting firm and author of the Harvard Business Review article, "What to Do on Your First Day Back from Vacation."  

"Before you do anything, you should pause for a moment and think about what is it that is most important for the organization to accomplish," Bregman tells Charlie Herman, host of WNYC's Money Talking. "You want to reconnect with the vision of the organization. You want to reconnect with the strategy." 

In other words, don't get lost in the small, transactional aspects of the job, like your inbox. It's only going to recreate the anxiety you went on vacation to escape. You'll get to those eventually. 

Bregman says that for him, a successful transition back to work starts with "knowing what will move the business forward and me forward and then filtering everything that I do through that lens."

And if business books are what you prefer to read, then, at least according to Amazon, this year’s list of the best business titles should offer insight.

"There's a definite Silicon Valley angle that comes out," said Chris Schluep, the business and investing editor at Amazon.com, tells Charlie Herman, host of WNYC’s Money Talking.

Schluep is one of six editors at Amazon responsible for picking the 100 best books across all categories. Their “best of the year" lists are editorially curated without concern for how well the books sold, how much traffic they generated or how customers rated them. 

On Schluep’s list, it's easy to spot the innovation thread: there’s The Innovators by Walter Isaacson, Flash Boys by Michael Lewis and Zero to One by Peter Thiel.

The context might be technology, finance or entrepreneurship, but all these books are about thinking differently, thinking creatively, breaking the mold of established wisdom. 

"Two years ago, I thought every book was about the brain," said Schluep. "And now it's more about the mind and how people think."

But novel ideas don't substitute for good storytelling. Flash Boys is his number one business book of the year because Lewis spins a fascinating tale with strong characters who work the obscure field of high-frequency trading. People like advice, but they love stories.

Another book on Schluep’s list (and several other compilations as well) is Capital, the door-stopping economics tome from Thomas Piketty. The densely packed book got a lot of attention for the author's views on income inequality and his bold call for government intervention. But Schluep said, "the first two-thirds are set for non-business minds.” Writing a business book for a wider audience is a big factor in the selection process at Amazon.

At the other end of the spectrum is #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso, founder of the Nasty Gal fashion retailer.

"It's a rags to riches story," said Schluep. "She's trying to speak to people – especially women – to act and follow their gut, but also to get very serious. And if you don't get serious, you're really not going anywhere." 

Then, Money Talking talks to one of the authors on the list: Peter Thiel, best known as a founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook.

In 2012, he gave a series of lectures at Stanford, which he later refined and published in Zero to One. Still a prominent venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, Thiel's thoughts on innovation, disruption and capitalism veer away from the establishment in a big way.

"Peter Thiel's book was all about how competition is for losers," said Schluep.

The innovative spirit of many of this year's great business books is captured in the full title of Thiel's book: Zero to One: Notes on Startups or How to Build the Future. 

One of those issues is deciding whether or not to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA. Passed shortly after the attacks on September 11, 2001, it provided a federal guarantee to cover losses sustained from a terrorist attack once they exceed certain thresholds. 

The original intent of the program was to give insurance companies time to develop pricing models that accurately assess the risk of a terrorist attack. Over time, the program would wind down as the burden shifted back to insurers.

But TRIA was extended twice – in 2005 and 2007 – and is now set to expire again on December 31. 

The Senate passed a reauthorization bill 96-3 last summer to keep the program largely intact. But House Financial Services Chairman, Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican supports a different version that raises the cost threshold before the government intervenes.

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with WNYC's Ilya Marritz who's been covering the fight in Congress about why the stakes are so high for the real estate industry in New York.

After that, a conversation about annual employee reviews. Nikki Waller from The Wall Street Journal discusses new approaches companies are taking to evaluate employee performance.

And Sheila Heen, a contributor to the Harvard Business Review and co-author of Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well, examines how employees can – and should – take more control over the feedback process.

"One way to get coaching is to ask a very specific question,” said Heen. “'What’s one thing I’m doing or failing to do that you think is getting in my way or that you think would improve things?'"

Tech companies, like Google and Netflix, generally oppose proposals that allow broadband companies to charge different rates for faster speeds.

The president is pushing for rules that would reclassify broadband operators and permit more regulation, bringing them in line with how phone companies have been regulated for decades. That would prevent preferential pricing and eliminate the so-called "fast" and "slow" lanes."

Not surprisingly, broadband providers want a freer hand to negotiate pricing and say net neutrality, as it's known, will stifle innovation and curb investment in better infrastructure.

This week on Money Talking, Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia University and the man who coined the term "net neutrality" discusses why the outcome of this debate has the potential to fundamentally affect the way the Internet works, and by default, the way we work. 

Then, a look at encouraging curiosity and tough questions with Genevieve Bell, Intel's Director of User Experience Research. An anthropologist by training, Bell represents a growing trend of companies looking to social scientists to help predict what people will want in the future.