Business

A PodShare co-living building in Venice Beach, Calif. Dorm beds here go for about $1,400 per month.

Can't Find An Affordable Home? Try Living In A Pod

4:41pm October 21, 2018

by Anna Scott

Co-living projects are popping up in cities where housing costs are too expensive for middle-income residents. It's dorm-life for adults, with shared kitchens and bathrooms, and it doesn't come cheap.

The Sears catalog home model Bellewood. This model was offered through the catalog from 1931 to 1933.

National

Sears Is Fading, But Memories Of Its Mail-Order Homes Endure

2:03pm October 20, 2018

by Ayesha Abid

In the early 1900s, Sears sold thousands of homes around the U.S. through its mail-order catalogs. Many of those houses are still around, and their owners are saddened by the retailer's bankruptcy.

CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 24: A sign announcing the store will be closing hangs above a Sears store on August 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. Sears Holdings Corporation, which owns both Sears and Kmart, said today it was planning on closing another 28 Kmart sto

Economy

Tears For Sears

4:25pm October 19, 2018

by Cardiff Garcia

A storied American retailer has filed for bankruptcy.

Michelle Clements got her first job working in the coal industry at age 17. Her father, Rob, worked underground in the Delta County mines for almost 30 years.

A Rural Colorado Coal County Was Struggling. Then A Tech Company Brought New Jobs

3:42pm October 19, 2018

by Kirk Siegler

For the first time in years, Delta County in western Colorado is experiencing population growth, one indicator that rural Americans are increasingly feeling optimistic about their economic future.

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Load Trail has had a hard time hiring welders to fabricate its trailers since Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested about a quarter of its workforce in August.

After ICE Raid, A Shortage Of Welders In Tigertown, Texas

11:46am October 19, 2018

by John Burnett

In August, immigration officials hauled off 150 workers from a northeast Texas plant — one of ICE's largest operations in a decade. Now the employer is pushing back.

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Examining The Close Ties Between Saudi Arabia And Silicon Valley

8:42am October 19, 2018

Steve Inskeep talks with writer Anand Giridharadas about the relationship between Silicon Valley and Saudi Arabia. The presumed killing of a Saudi journalist raises concerns about the investments.

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National

Sears And The Future Of American Malls

5:43pm October 18, 2018

The Sears bankruptcy highlights the struggle that many suburban malls face, especially when an big anchor retailer shuts down. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with former Sears Canada CEO Mark Cohen about malls in the post-Sears era.

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When one of Jose Nuñez's retinas was damaged by diabetes in 2016, the Los Angeles truck driver expected his Medicaid managed care policy to coordinate treatment. But Centene, the private insurer that manages his policy, gave him the runaround, he says, a

Private Medicaid Plans Receive Billions In Tax Dollars, With Little Oversight

5:25pm October 18, 2018

by Chad Terhune

More than two-thirds of Medicaid recipients are enrolled in privately run Medicaid managed care programs. Yet the evidence is thin these contractors improve patient care or save the government money.

The barley used to make beer as we know it may take a hit under climate change, but growers say they are already preparing by planting it farther north in colder locations.

Bye-Bye, Beer? Brewers Say They've Got A Plan On Climate Change

4:34pm October 18, 2018

by Alastair Bland

A scientific paper published this week predicts climate change will send beer prices skyrocketing and drastically reduce the barley crop. It got tons of media attention. But is beer really doomed?

Economy

Beating Bollywood

4:26pm October 18, 2018

by Sally Herships

Amazon and Netflix are trying to take on India. But, so far a Hollywood ending, south-Asian style, has eluded them.