0:00

Today's

0:00

episode is brought to you by

0:02

Slack.

0:07

Welcome to Skim this.

0:10

The US economy got its latest

0:12

report card this morning, and

0:14

it actually wasn't as bad as people

0:16

thought. We'll break down

0:18

the latest numbers, along with the week's

0:21

other big headlines, including what

0:23

you need to know about RSV, the

0:25

virus that parents can't stop talking

0:28

about. Also on the

0:30

show, we're breaking down the

0:32

three biggest issues driving voters to

0:34

the ballot box for midterms. If

0:36

abortion is actually on the

0:38

ballot in a specific state, then it

0:40

can have a lot of impact. If it's

0:43

not on the ballot in a specific state,

0:45

the question is, are candidates putting

0:47

it front and center? And

0:50

to wrap things up, in honor of

0:52

midnight, We're asking a music

0:54

expert how to properly listen to an

0:56

album because apparently, we've

0:58

been doing it wrong this whole time.

1:01

It's me. Hi.

1:04

I'm on the problem it's me.

1:07

We're here to make you smarter, and the news

1:09

less overwhelming. I'm Alex

1:12

Carr. Let's skim this.

1:17

Let's start with some headlines from the week's

1:20

news. and give you some context

1:22

on why they matter.

1:24

First up, we got the latest US

1:26

GDP numbers this morning.

1:28

Quick reminder, GDP is

1:31

basically the measure of the overall

1:33

size of the economy. We

1:35

also watch GDP because it often

1:37

can tell us how close we are to being

1:39

in a recession. And

1:41

this morning, we found out the US

1:43

economy grew slightly. Specifically,

1:47

it grew two point six percent in the

1:49

third quarter of this year. That's

1:52

up two percent from the previous quarter

1:54

and it's the first GDP increase

1:57

in twenty twenty two. Digging

1:59

into the numbers, experts say

2:01

that spending on consumer goods slowed.

2:04

but Americans still spent money on

2:06

services like healthcare, travel, and hospitality.

2:09

And the biggest

2:11

boost came from the shrinking trade

2:13

deficit. meaning the US

2:15

imported less and exported more,

2:18

which helps the economy grow. So

2:21

what does all of this mean? Well,

2:24

the US isn't in a recession

2:26

at least for now, but

2:28

experts warn a slowdown is probably

2:30

still coming. Many economists

2:33

still believe a recession will hit the US

2:35

in the next twelve months and that

2:37

this was just a one time GDP

2:39

bump. And when we

2:41

look at some of the corporate earnings we got this

2:43

week, it seems like US businesses

2:46

are hitting a rough patch. Meta,

2:49

former screen name Facebook, reported

2:51

two consecutive quarters of revenue decline

2:54

for the first time ever. And

2:56

the company also said things weren't

2:58

looking so hot for q four. As

3:00

a result, Meta stock dropped twenty

3:02

percent after trading closed. Meanwhile,

3:05

Alphabet, which is Google's parent company,

3:08

reported more than a twenty five percent

3:10

decrease in the company's net profit from

3:12

the same time last year. And

3:15

considering those big tech companies made

3:17

record profits during the pandemic, it

3:19

seems like the boom was not

3:21

built to last. And

3:24

looking ahead to the coming months, the economic

3:26

forecast is still cloudy because

3:29

the Federal Reserve is expected to raise

3:31

interest

3:31

rates again at its meeting next week.

3:37

For our next headline, we're focusing

3:39

on the fallout after Yay, formerly

3:42

known as Kanye West, spelled it hate

3:44

speech and anti Semitic comments. wearing

3:46

a white lives matter t shirt. Kanye

3:49

West, it's a poor behavior. I hope he

3:51

gets help.

3:51

I can say anti Semitic things

3:53

and Adidas can't drive me. Adidas

3:55

did finally drop him

3:57

back to an age well. Here's

4:00

the context. Ye

4:03

has been in the headlines for several incidents

4:05

of

4:05

hate speech. this month.

4:07

At a Paris fashion show, he wore

4:09

a white lives matter t shirt. Then

4:12

he made fat phobic comments about

4:14

Lizzo, in bullied a vogue fashion

4:16

editor, both black women.

4:20

And in recent weeks, he made anti

4:22

Semitic comments in the press and on

4:24

social media. Specifically,

4:26

he made several anti Semitic comments

4:28

on Tucker Carlson Show on Fox News.

4:31

And in a screenshoted conversation

4:33

with a fellow rapper, he wrote

4:35

that Jewish people can't threaten or

4:37

influence him. Ultimately,

4:39

it got him banned from Instagram. And

4:42

just a few days later, he tweeted

4:44

that he'd go death con three

4:46

on Jewish people, which also got him

4:48

suspended from that platform. But

4:51

the hate didn't stop on social media.

4:54

Over the weekend, an anti Semitic

4:56

hate group took to Los Angeles' busiest

4:58

freeway and praised his comments.

5:01

By holding a sign that read, Kanye was

5:03

right about the Jews. They

5:05

held up Nazi salutes and other

5:07

anti Semitic posters as drivers passed

5:09

by. And at the same time,

5:11

Jewish residents in the city receive flyers

5:13

that blame Jewish people for COVID.

5:17

This sounded the alarms for a lot

5:19

of people since anti Semitism

5:21

has been on the rise since the pandemic started.

5:24

The anti defamation league which

5:26

is an organization dedicated to fighting

5:28

antisemitism, has found that

5:30

anti Jewish comments increased by

5:32

one third in twenty twenty one from

5:34

the year prior. And that only

5:36

accounts for reported comments. As

5:40

for the consequences for mister West,

5:42

at least ten companies have severed ties

5:44

with him. and Adidas was the

5:46

most

5:46

notable one.

5:47

Now Adidas is projecting a loss

5:50

of a quarter billion dollars in q four.

5:52

While Yay will lose his billionaire status,

5:54

according to Forbes. And we

5:56

should point out a lot of people criticized

5:58

Adidas and other companies for not

6:00

holding him accountable sooner. Because

6:03

after years of controversial and

6:05

hateful statements, many had

6:07

already reached their

6:08

breaking point.

6:10

Yay's comments also spark conversations

6:13

around mental health since he's been

6:15

open about his bipolar disorder diagnosis.

6:18

But experts note that people with bipolar

6:20

disorder aren't predisposed to be

6:22

antisemitic, racist, or fat

6:24

phobic, and that hate speech

6:26

is not excusable.

6:30

For our final headline,

6:32

we're scheming what you need to know about

6:34

RSV. or respiratory syncytial

6:37

virus. Because in

6:39

recent weeks, dozens of hospitals across

6:41

the US have reported spikes of

6:43

RSV in children. all

6:45

the children's hospitals are completely packed,

6:48

both on the floor in the emergency

6:50

room and in the pediatric intensive care

6:52

units. That's doctor Stephanie

6:55

Davis. She's a pediatric pulmonologist

6:57

at UNC's Children's Research Institute,

7:00

and she helped us understand what RSV

7:02

is and how to prevent it from spreading.

7:08

Let's start with the definition. RSV

7:12

is a common respiratory virus that

7:14

causes mild cold like symptoms,

7:15

like a runny nose or a

7:18

cough.

7:19

Adults can get it, but it's most

7:21

common among children. In

7:23

fact, almost all US children

7:25

will have RSV by the time they're two

7:27

years old. So if RSV

7:30

is so common, why

7:30

is it in the headlines now?

7:34

That's

7:34

because many kids weren't exposed to

7:36

RSV during the pandemic. so

7:38

they couldn't build up natural immunity

7:40

against it. And that

7:42

explains the huge influx in RSV

7:44

cases recently. Now

7:47

hospitals are struggling to

7:48

keep up. Several

7:50

children's hospitals in the Washington DC

7:52

area have been at capacity for

7:54

weeks. while the Connecticut Children's

7:57

Hospital asked FEMA in the National

7:59

Guard for help.

8:00

With flu season starting

8:02

and COVID

8:02

still spreading, healthcare workers

8:05

are growing nervous about what's to come

8:07

this fall and winter. Especially

8:09

since RSV could lead to pneumonia and

8:11

bronchialitis, in babies under

8:13

six months and in children with weaker

8:15

immune systems. But

8:18

while this all sounds pretty intense,

8:20

doctor Davis says, Remember

8:22

that most cases of RSV

8:23

are mild.

8:24

And she shared with us a few symptoms

8:27

to look out for in your kids before

8:29

you seek help from a medical professional. You

8:32

may see a drop in appetite or if

8:34

your child stops eating or

8:36

drinking formula breast

8:38

feeding, etcetera, you're gonna wanna have your

8:40

child to ride away because they can't get

8:42

dehydrated beneath the fluids. So

8:45

hydration is really important You can

8:47

certainly get them telenol or

8:49

something like that, but they've got a fever, and

8:51

then monitor their breathing. Children

8:54

who have ours they can have kind of a

8:56

wheezy sound,

8:56

a wisdom

8:57

sound, have

9:00

crackles

9:00

when

9:01

you listen to their chest. So those are the things

9:03

to look at.

9:04

The other thing is they may breathe faster

9:07

and have what we call retractions

9:09

where they're pulling in their chest form.

9:12

The TLDR is this. If

9:14

your kid isn't eating or drinking as

9:16

much or coughing with a whistling

9:18

sound, seek medical attention.

9:20

As for how we can keep our

9:22

kids safe, Well, it's giving us

9:24

deja vu from twenty twenty, but

9:27

Handwashing. Handwashing. Handwashing.

9:30

Our SP Spreads through droplets from coughs or

9:32

sneezes, which can make their way

9:34

onto surfaces. And

9:36

PS, they can survive for

9:37

hours. So

9:38

the next time you're cleaning up, remember

9:41

to give surfaces like doorknobs or

9:43

cribs some extra TLC.

9:45

and to keep those hands squeaky

9:47

clean.

9:50

There's some

9:53

drama going down in the desert.

9:54

Wanna go

9:56

to Saudi Arabia where investors have gathered for

9:58

the future investment initiative

9:59

dubbed Davos in the desert.

10:02

US

10:02

Saudi relations on the brink

10:04

pressure on

10:05

American companies in particular to basically

10:07

boycott this event. These just aren't any

10:09

executives. We're talking arguably some of the

10:11

biggest in the world

10:13

on my hits five dollars, then it's time to go sword

10:15

dancing with the Saudis on my right show.

10:17

Hundreds

10:20

of

10:20

America's top business leaders

10:23

Jet set to Saudi Arabia this week to

10:25

participate in a major

10:27

investment summit, and the

10:29

Biden administration was not too

10:31

happy about them attending. We'll

10:33

skim what's going on in

10:35

sixty seconds.

10:39

Saudi Arabia's annual future

10:41

investment initiative, also known

10:43

as Davos in the desert,

10:45

took place this week. According

10:47

to the organizers It's an event that

10:50

addresses major economic issues through

10:52

talks and summits. But

10:54

experts say it's also a place

10:56

for business leaders to shake hands and

10:58

seal deals with the Kingdom of Saudi

11:00

Arabia. And this year,

11:02

US representation was

11:04

strong. over four

11:06

hundred US business leaders attended,

11:08

including top finance pros like

11:10

JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie

11:12

Dimon, and Goldman Sachs's David

11:14

Solomon. as well as former Trump

11:16

administration officials like Jared Kushner and

11:18

Steve Mnuchin. And they

11:20

went because unlike the US,

11:22

Saudi Arabia's economy is doing

11:24

pretty well now. Its oil

11:26

dependent economy has thrived thanks

11:28

to, you guessed it, high oil

11:30

prices, and it's on track

11:32

to have one of the fastest growing economies in

11:34

the world this year. So

11:36

when you put all of those things on paper,

11:38

it makes sense that US business

11:40

leaders would look to the kingdom for cash. But

11:42

it turns out these CEOs

11:44

are actually making things

11:46

pretty awkward by attending.

11:49

because the US government and Saudi Arabia

11:51

are not friends right now. Things

11:54

first got tense in twenty eighteen.

11:56

When US intelligence determined

11:58

that Saudi Arabia was responsible for the

12:00

murder of the Washington Post columnist

12:02

Jamal Khashoggi. And much of

12:04

the west actually boycotted Davos in

12:06

the desert that year. And

12:08

this year, relations got worse.

12:10

When Saudi Arabia, the de facto

12:12

leader of OPEC plus, decided

12:14

to cut the group's oil production earlier

12:17

this month. That ticked

12:19

off team Biden because oil

12:21

cuts could bump gas prices

12:23

for America When it came to

12:25

US CEOs attending the summit, the

12:27

administration stopped short of saying,

12:29

But

12:34

it did warn them to consider the reputation of

12:36

the countries they do business with.

12:38

Still,

12:39

The CEOs who attended acted

12:41

like it was business as usual, and

12:44

maybe it was the desert heat that helped them

12:46

ignore the international awkwardness

12:48

between the US and the Saudis.

12:54

How do

12:54

we do? Want us to skim a question

12:56

from the news? Send us your

12:58

suggestions to audio at the scam dot

13:00

com. Whether

13:12

or not we've realized it,

13:14

politicians have had a huge impact on

13:16

our lives this year. In a

13:18

sweeping ruling

13:18

that overturned a half a century of precedence,

13:21

five justices ended the right of

13:23

American women to choose abortion

13:25

under the constitution. Happening

13:26

right now, White House has just unveiled

13:28

a plan to help people paying

13:30

off their student loans. The

13:32

president has already approved a major

13:34

disaster declaration

13:35

for Florida. And today, president Biden

13:37

announced more military funding for

13:39

Ukraine. And

13:41

as Election Day quickly

13:43

approaches, we're making sure you have all

13:45

the tools you need to vote with confidence.

13:48

The midterm elections are

13:50

just two weeks away,

13:52

and early numbers suggest that

13:54

turnout this year is strong. According

13:56

to one estimate, so far,

13:58

over fourteen million people have voted

14:01

early, and turnout is projected

14:03

to be higher than usual. This

14:06

week, we're breaking down the top issues

14:08

driving voters to polls with

14:10

some help from someone who's right at the heart

14:12

of it. I'm Laura Barron Lopez, White

14:14

House

14:14

correspondent for PBS NewsHour.

14:17

Specifically, we're taking a look at how

14:19

conversations around abortion, the

14:21

economy, and the future of our election

14:24

systems are influencing voters

14:25

across the country.

14:29

The first big issue we'll be talking

14:31

about is abortion. Since

14:33

the Supreme Court overturned Roe v

14:35

Wade back in June, The fight over

14:38

reproductive rights has become a defining

14:40

issue for voters. Near total

14:42

bans on abortion have already been enacted

14:44

in thirteen states. and abortion

14:47

is under threat in nearly half of the

14:49

country as multiple states faced

14:51

legal battles. So

14:53

this November, people are heading to the

14:55

polls to vote for candidates based on their

14:57

stance on abortion rights. And

14:59

in five states, California, Michigan,

15:01

Vermont, Kentucky, and Montana, They'll

15:03

be able to vote directly on the protection

15:06

or criminalization of abortion.

15:08

Two months ago, we actually got

15:10

a preview into how voters might be

15:12

thinking about reproductive to freights when

15:14

people in Kansas voted to protect the

15:16

right to an abortion in their state's

15:18

constitution. But

15:20

Barron Lopez told us that outcome was

15:22

surprising and good news for

15:24

Democrats, that might not

15:26

translate into more democratic momentum

15:28

in November.

15:30

When we talk

15:32

about Kansas, I think we have to be careful

15:34

when we apply it to all these other

15:36

states and to races across the

15:38

country. Right? It was

15:40

definitely surprising that is a state

15:42

that leans more conservative, so

15:44

the fact that voters decided

15:47

to protect their abortion access

15:49

there was a potentially

15:51

big sign for Democrats

15:54

who wanna make this a motivating factor

15:56

for voters heading in to November.

15:58

Now what it says is that if abortion

15:59

is actually on the ballot

16:02

in a specific state, then it can

16:04

have a lot of impact. If it's not

16:06

on the ballot in a specific state, the

16:08

question is, are candidates putting it

16:10

front and center, talking about it in nonstop to

16:12

make sure that it's something that voters are constantly

16:14

thinking about or not? And

16:16

in Wisconsin, candidates for

16:18

governor and attorney general are doing just

16:20

that. abortion rights are

16:22

hotly contested in the state. because

16:24

a law from eighteen forty nine banning

16:26

abortion took effect after the road

16:28

decision. The incumbent

16:30

Democrats have said they're not

16:32

enforcing the ban. but their Republican

16:34

opponents have campaigned on

16:36

upholding it. Whoever's

16:38

elected will play a large role in the

16:40

future of abortion access for the And

16:43

over in Georgia, one

16:45

candidate stands on reproductive rights is

16:47

taking center stage in the race for

16:49

the senate. Hershell Walker, the

16:51

GOP candidate running against incumbent

16:53

Democrat Rafael warnock, has

16:55

expressed his anti abortion with

16:57

no receptions. But

17:00

earlier this month, his ex

17:02

girlfriend told The New York Times he paid for her

17:04

to have an abortion in two thousand

17:06

and nine, and urge her to have a second one when she got

17:08

pregnant again. This

17:10

week, another woman came forward to

17:12

say walker also

17:14

allegedly pressured her to have an abortion in

17:16

nineteen ninety three. Walker has

17:19

denied the allegations and

17:21

continues to run on an anti abortion

17:23

platform but he seems to have lost

17:25

some support. And that's

17:27

a big deal because this race

17:29

could determine which party gets control

17:31

of the senate. Nationally,

17:34

Democrats are banking on the fact that this

17:36

issue will bring in votes for them literally.

17:40

They've spent over one hundred million dollars on

17:42

advertising about abortion since Labor

17:44

Day, while Republicans have

17:46

only spent four million according to the

17:48

Washington Post. And

17:50

that could be because the Republicans

17:52

don't exactly have a unified message

17:54

on this. We've seen Republican

17:57

candidate be very firm about, you

17:59

know, supporting abortion bans during

18:01

the primary, only to then backtrack

18:03

a bit during the general election.

18:05

where that they have to win more of the

18:06

electorate in order to win, particularly

18:09

statewide. Also,

18:11

when Democrats try to make it a

18:13

national conversation, there is not

18:16

agreement among Republicans about

18:17

whether or not they support some type

18:19

of national ban pass through

18:22

congress. But one

18:24

issue

18:26

that could really work

18:28

in the Republican's favor is the

18:30

economy. It's no secret that we've

18:32

been through a lot when it comes to the economy.

18:35

And Americans are

18:37

feeling the pinch. thanks to high

18:39

inflation, record high gas prices,

18:41

and a crazy housing market.

18:43

And voters have been clear about

18:46

one thing. The economy is overwhelmingly their

18:48

number one issue. Almost every

18:51

election

18:51

cycle. Economy tends

18:52

to be one of the biggest issues.

18:54

for voters. The big difference here, of course, is

18:57

that we've experienced a massive

18:59

pandemic, and the economy is

19:01

trying to recover from

19:03

that. the economy is complicated right

19:05

now. And on one hand,

19:07

unemployment is down. On one hand,

19:09

people have a better job market

19:11

But on the other hand, consumer good prices

19:13

are up. And that's making

19:15

people clearly upset and

19:18

feel as though they can't really get

19:20

ahead. That explains why eighty

19:22

five percent of US adults said the

19:24

state of the economy is either extremely

19:26

or very important to their vote according

19:28

to a ballot poll. And when

19:30

it comes to which party voters trust to

19:32

get things back on track, Veron Lopez

19:35

said it depends on who's currently

19:37

in the hot seat.

19:41

Midterms are all about voting

19:43

out the party empowered. There

19:45

are only so many things that a

19:48

president can do, whether it's a Republican

19:50

president or a Democratic president.

19:52

President Biden can't control gas prices

19:54

as much as

19:54

President Trump wouldn't have been able to control gas prices. So I

19:57

think that that's

19:57

something that voters really have a hard time

19:59

grappling

19:59

with because again, they

20:02

just see the price of chicken going

20:04

up and they see the price of gas fluctuating

20:06

and going up. That's what they're concerned

20:08

the most about and rightfully so because

20:10

they're trying to figure out how to

20:13

feed their families or feed themselves.

20:16

It's easy to look to the

20:18

president, looked Congress or the party in

20:20

power as why aren't you fixing

20:22

this? Even though

20:24

Democrats are trying to pass legislation to

20:26

help ease costs, voter won't

20:29

feel the benefits of their actions

20:31

immediately and are unlikely to vote on

20:33

it. Policy

20:33

changes like lowering the cost

20:35

of prescription drugs or executive actions

20:38

like student debt relief take time to

20:40

pay out for voters. And

20:41

that's where the GOP's strongest

20:44

election and messaging comes into play and could get

20:46

them a lot of votes. I think

20:49

that the GOP fashions itself

20:51

true or not true as a

20:52

party of tax

20:53

cuts. And under president Trump,

20:56

that was tax cuts predominantly for

20:58

the wealthy and corporations.

21:01

but I think voters sometimes

21:03

view that as they'll get a tax break.

21:05

And because of that, I think

21:07

sometimes they align more

21:09

with Republicans on that issue.

21:13

So

21:15

that brings us to the last big issue

21:18

people are voting on this midterm season,

21:20

the future of our election

21:22

systems. A recent New

21:24

York Times poll found that seventy percent of registered

21:27

voters think that our democracy is

21:29

currently under threat. And

21:31

given what we've learned since January

21:33

six, twenty twenty one, That

21:35

might not seem surprising. But here's

21:38

something else from that poll. Only

21:40

seven percent of those voters consider the

21:42

state of democracy the most pressing

21:44

issue today. So we ask

21:46

Barron Lopez why is it not

21:48

a bigger deal to voters?

21:51

I've said in a number of focus groups

21:53

where a lot of voters,

21:55

some who are independent, some who had been

21:57

lifelong Republicans who voted against former

21:59

president Trump

21:59

in twenty twenty, have said that it's

22:02

one of their biggest concerns that they

22:04

are absolutely worried about the

22:06

impact of this. I think though that

22:08

they also weighed at with the

22:10

more immediate impacts that they feel on their

22:12

daily life.

22:14

Election deniers on the ballot this

22:16

November have made false claims and

22:18

conspiracy theories a talking

22:20

point on the campaign trail, and

22:22

there's an audience for it. According

22:24

to the Washington Post, of the two

22:26

hundred and ninety one election denies running

22:28

for offices nationwide. One hundred

22:30

and seventy one of them are favored to

22:33

win. And as some

22:35

Americans cast their ballots in favor of election

22:37

deniers, Buron Lopez

22:39

says that these lies in conspiracy

22:41

theories could also spark

22:43

conflict like we saw on January

22:45

six.

22:46

There's

22:48

a potential for violence in twenty twenty

22:50

two, and extremism

22:53

experts the Sufon Centre, which

22:55

tracks extremism is already

22:57

warning about the potential for

22:59

violence around the midterms. the

23:01

other implication is that election deniers

23:03

may very well not concede if

23:05

they lose. So

23:07

what happens There are

23:09

a

23:09

lot of open questions

23:11

about the very devastating

23:14

impact

23:14

that these lies and these candidates

23:16

who refuse to concede could have.

23:18

As for what

23:20

will actually happen on election

23:22

day, that's anyone's guess.

23:25

But those are three of the biggest issues

23:27

driving voters to the polls this November.

23:29

And no matter what issue

23:31

you care about, we wanna hear

23:33

from you. Give us a call at

23:35

9292664381 and

23:38

tell us why you're voting. And

23:40

if you're looking for more resources to study

23:42

up ahead of election day, head to

23:44

the SCIM dot com backslash

23:47

midterms. We've got guides on some of the

23:49

nation's

23:49

tightest races.

23:54

Here at

23:56

the

23:57

SCIM, Slack is our

23:59

digital

23:59

HQ. It brings our

24:02

teams tools and ideas together in one digital

24:04

space. And its built in

24:05

features help us be more

24:08

collaborative, efficient, and innovative.

24:10

Take cuddles. We

24:12

start one whenever we need to have a

24:14

desk to desk style convo

24:16

while working in different physical

24:18

places. So we can share our

24:20

screens Top things out, and get on the same page

24:23

faster. Get started with your digital

24:25

h q at Slack dot com

24:27

slash DHQ

24:27

That's spelled SLACK

24:31

dot com slash DHQ

24:34

Slack, where the future works.

24:39

It's no

24:41

secret that the way we work has

24:44

changed a lot over the last three

24:46

years. For us at

24:48

the SCIM, it's meant adapting to hybrid

24:51

setup and finding new ways to communicate

24:53

across different teams and

24:55

time

24:55

zones. Through

24:56

it all, Slack has helped us

24:59

preserve our company culture and

25:01

get stuff done. We

25:03

think of it as our digital HQ.

25:05

And over the

25:05

next few weeks, we're teaming up with Slack

25:07

to give you a peek behind the curtain. By

25:10

taking you on a

25:10

little tour of some of our most

25:13

used, most loved most

25:15

important

25:15

Slack channels. We are

25:17

starting

25:18

with the skimmer feedback channel,

25:21

which is where we all come to share and

25:23

see real time reactions to our

25:25

content in the wild. And

25:27

we tapped Sophie Reese to break it

25:29

all down. She's our senior manager

25:31

of consumer insights

25:32

in UX research. So let me just start

25:34

a huddle here. Sophie,

25:38

can

25:38

you just describe what the skimmer

25:40

feedback channel is?

25:43

So

25:43

the skimmer feedback channel is great

25:45

because it's actually filled with

25:48

unsolicited feedback from skimmers.

25:50

from

25:50

a variety of different sources.

25:53

So, Skim

25:53

h queers host

25:56

things that they've gotten text or

25:58

emails from friends and

26:00

family we

26:00

also see post

26:02

the feedback that

26:03

people are posting about us on Twitter

26:05

or Facebook or LinkedIn. So

26:08

it's a really great way to kind of

26:10

get a pulse on how

26:13

people are feeling

26:15

as they are experiencing our

26:18

content. Since

26:18

so many people are in this channel, it's

26:21

really unique opportunity to

26:23

generate ideas

26:23

and think about how we can best serve

26:26

our audience in

26:26

ways that isn't just coming from my team,

26:28

the insights team, or the data

26:31

team. And also because

26:32

the feedback comes from so many sources,

26:35

you know, our CEOs are

26:37

posting in here. We have people who

26:39

just started a week ago, posting in

26:41

here. It helps to

26:43

create engagement and

26:45

investment through the the type of work that my team

26:47

does. And like I said before, it

26:49

can help us identify gap

26:52

or bring up questions that maybe we want to

26:54

dig into further. I've

26:56

definitely seen posts in

26:58

the channel where, you know,

27:01

somebody then started a conversation and

27:03

maybe I get tagged, and then there's

27:05

a conversation of can we learn more? Can

27:07

we speak to this user? Can we

27:10

follow-up? And these

27:11

posts really

27:12

trigger the kinds of discussions,

27:15

strategic

27:15

thinking, and thought about research

27:17

and insights that we need to push

27:20

ourselves to better serve

27:22

our audiences. I

27:23

wanna get a little technical for a second and

27:26

just ask about some of the Slack

27:28

features that we use in this channel

27:29

And

27:30

as I'm scrolling through here, I'm seeing

27:33

this post from our cofounder about

27:35

someone who named their baby after

27:37

reading a skim story. literally a person

27:39

who named their baby after Ash Carter,

27:41

and there are a lot of emoji reactions.

27:43

And that's a crazy story. But

27:45

what Slack features do actually think

27:47

are really helpful that we use here. The

27:50

reaction emojis are

27:53

really big, and I think something

27:55

that's really unique and awesome

27:57

in Slack is that you

27:59

can also

27:59

create your own and, of course,

28:02

here at a skin, we have the teal heart and we

28:04

have a whole variety of

28:06

really skin

28:06

specific responses that

28:10

generate a sense of

28:12

community

28:12

and engagement when people

28:14

are using them to share research

28:16

or to work on projects.

28:19

I use a lot of integrations, especially

28:21

with various tools that we use outside

28:24

of

28:24

Slack. So

28:25

new responses to surveys or

28:28

videos and clips from user interviews

28:31

that we run, those get

28:33

automatically shared into certain channels on

28:35

Slack, so that people can

28:37

find them also really well done in

28:39

this channel is when you can, like,

28:41

reply and keep it all together in

28:43

a thread, it makes using Slack

28:45

much easier and it makes

28:47

it much easier to find things that you're

28:49

looking for. I pin things all

28:52

the time in this channel and

28:54

Slack box. You name it. I'm using

28:57

it. Plus one emoji

28:59

to all of that. So we thank you.

29:04

Next

29:05

week, we're talking with some of the team

29:07

leaders of the skin, including

29:09

my boss about how they use Slack

29:11

as their digital HQ. to connect with

29:13

other managers and learn from each

29:16

other. Catch you in the next

29:18

huddle.

29:22

Taylor Swift

29:23

dropped her tenth studio album

29:26

last Friday.

29:27

It's called Midnight and

29:29

it's already become Spotify's most streamed album in a

29:32

single day. And

29:34

that release got us

29:36

thinking, How are you actually

29:38

supposed to listen to an album when it

29:40

comes out? For me, I

29:42

used to like to go on a long drive.

29:45

that's considerably more difficult

29:47

living in New York with no

29:49

car. So I

29:51

decided to ask an expert for some album

29:53

listening advice and etiquette. whether

29:55

you're just catching up on midnight's

29:57

or waiting for your favorite artist's

29:59

next

29:59

album. I'm Norpenciotti.

30:01

I work at the ringer,

30:03

and I am a co host on the podcast

30:05

every single album. The first

30:07

step before listening to any

30:10

new music is to emotionally prepare

30:11

yourself. Swifties, you

30:13

know what I'm talking about.

30:15

Deep

30:15

breaths, text your therapist,

30:18

We're just getting boundaries.

30:21

And then

30:21

it's time to pick how you're

30:23

going

30:23

to listen. Headphones, or

30:25

car speakers, those

30:27

are the two best ways to actually process

30:29

what's

30:30

going on in an album, particularly

30:31

something pretty heavily produced the

30:33

way the midnight is maybe

30:36

a midnight. If

30:38

you're listening on, let's

30:40

say, laptop speakers, It

30:41

is a lot harder to get the different

30:44

layers of production, so

30:46

I tend to be headphones probably

30:48

with the volume up

30:49

louder than a ear doctor or

30:52

men.

30:53

Then the

30:55

eternal question. Do

30:57

you listen to the album in order

31:00

or hit shuffle? I think with somebody like Taylor

31:03

Swift who does care about the album as a

31:05

format, I

31:05

do like to listen friend to back

31:07

to try to develop some understanding of,

31:09

like, what story is she trying to tell?

31:12

do I assess,

31:12

like, lavender haze differently

31:15

as an album opener

31:17

versus just like a song.

31:22

Now, playing

31:25

album shuffled is probably

31:27

more akin to how most people listen

31:29

to music in general, like we live in this

31:30

playlist world where people listen to

31:33

individual

31:33

songs, but I am a top to bottom

31:36

purist.

31:38

Okay.

31:38

So for this, you have to go lavender

31:40

haze to maroon to

31:41

anti hero. That is the preferred

31:43

way of going about this. It

31:45

is for me. morning and

31:48

camely. We're cleaning and sensor

31:50

fuel. I have a thing

31:52

where I get older, but just a

31:54

little wiser. One

31:57

night. Few

31:59

moons ago. Summer

32:02

went away. Still the

32:04

yearning stay. MPS. Prince

32:06

Yati's recommendation is to listen

32:08

to each song in its entirety.

32:10

Don't do what we just did here and listen

32:12

to the first ten or thirty seconds to

32:14

see if you're vibing. because you

32:16

could miss out on some gems

32:18

or

32:18

some killer last lines.

32:25

And if you're

32:28

tempted to head to Twitter or Reddit and look

32:30

into lyrics and theories,

32:32

I try

32:34

to

32:34

not look because

32:35

I like to form my own

32:38

opinions. The

32:38

problem is I think the discourse is

32:41

really fun So always have to draw a

32:43

line somewhere and make a call of how

32:45

much I wanna, like, hang out with the swifties

32:47

online on a Malvern release night versus, like,

32:49

how much I

32:49

just wanna be in my own head. and

32:52

really, really objectively say to myself how

32:54

much to, like, the song, what do I think this means?

32:56

Because group think does, I think, take over

32:58

very, very quickly. but

32:59

I do a little bit of

33:02

both. And Prince

33:02

Yati told us, give yourself

33:05

time and a few lessons to

33:07

let your feelings about the

33:09

songs develop. The first time

33:10

I heard cruel summer, off

33:12

lover.

33:12

It's not that I didn't like it, but

33:14

I think the first song in that album

33:16

that I really, really gravitated to was miss Marycon

33:18

and the Harper friends. But

33:21

I finished listening to that album

33:23

once through, and the first song that I clicked

33:25

factualist to do was not cool summer,

33:27

which now I'm like, when she goes on

33:29

tour to better play. I can't even imagine my

33:31

emotional state when when that

33:33

is like booming over an entire stadium. So

33:36

I think especially

33:39

those types of songs, it does really

33:41

evolve a lot.

33:43

We'll also

33:43

point out, this guidance works no matter who

33:45

the artist is. And

33:48

you didn't think we'd give you a complete

33:50

set of listening instructions

33:53

without actually breaking down midnight. Did

33:55

you? Please excuse me while I

33:57

role play a music journalist for

33:58

a second.

34:01

Something I

34:02

felt about this album is I actually

34:04

think and I, like, need to know

34:06

if you agree or disagree with me. Is this

34:08

feels to

34:08

me like her most millennial

34:12

album yet. And I say that because I think she's addressing

34:14

a ton of things. Like, people wanting

34:16

her to be married or her

34:18

career interfering with her

34:20

relationships maybe like a

34:22

reference to someone being sick or kind of cultural

34:24

obsession with aging. These are a lot

34:26

of things I think millennials people in

34:28

our audience, myself, experience all

34:31

the time. Do you feel like

34:32

this is her most, like,

34:34

true to

34:35

this generation album? I

34:37

think that

34:37

is

34:39

so spot on. Like,

34:41

so first of all, it's

34:43

very reflective. Thematically,

34:46

a lot of the songs are harkening

34:48

back

34:48

to moment in her life that she is rethinking

34:50

as a person in this moment. Even

34:54

musically, lavender

34:56

haze in a lot of places is I

34:58

think he knows. Like, she

34:59

samples out of the woods on question.

35:05

Good girl, sad boy,

35:08

bakes it. There

35:08

are a lot of musical moments that are

35:10

derivative of her own work. So in

35:13

a weird way, it's like this career retrospective

35:16

album. A lot of us are in this sort of,

35:18

like, pivotal time of life where

35:20

people are making

35:22

decisions about what their family looks like, what their job looks what

35:24

their career looks like, what their values are.

35:26

And we also just went through this

35:28

two plus year period

35:32

where at a

35:32

time when people think of their

35:34

lives moving forward, everything was,

35:37

like, really, really static.

35:39

And I

35:39

think it gave a lot of people sort of no choice,

35:41

but to look backwards

35:42

and, like, rethink their entire lives and

35:44

ways that could be really, really,

35:46

like, mentally

35:47

suffocating and I hear

35:50

so much of that from

35:52

her on this

35:54

album for someone who used

35:56

to write about, like, fairy tale happy endings all the

35:58

time. Yes.

36:04

She has this, like, kind of jaded

36:06

perspective on it now that I think

36:08

is very characteristic of

36:11

a

36:11

millennial woman being simultaneously excited about things

36:13

like a really rich interior life and

36:15

a strong relationship, but also looking at

36:17

the cultural expectation of

36:20

that and being matter much or gone?

36:23

the

36:30

It almost feels to me

36:31

like she's reimagining her own adulthood

36:33

a little bit or

36:35

even something like you know,

36:37

what have could have should have

36:39

acknowledging that some

36:41

of those perspectives that we

36:43

have when we're young we grow up

36:45

and grow out. Also, sometimes something happens

36:46

to you when you're a teenager and

36:48

you know it's

36:49

totally messed

36:52

up. and

36:52

you can be in your thirties and look back on it and go, that

36:54

was totally messed up and I was spot

36:56

on right about it at the time and I'm still

36:58

mad about it now and I'll probably never

37:01

get over it. So I think, I love

37:02

that she could do both of those things.

37:04

And in some ways,

37:06

really lampoon or past self

37:09

but also know when

37:11

her emotional acuity was

37:13

well deployed. And

37:14

last question for

37:16

you. What's the best lyric to

37:19

you on the album and then

37:21

maybe the best

37:23

burn? there's a couple

37:25

lyrics that I'm currently, like, really fixating on, and they're not

37:27

they're

37:27

not, like, the deepest, most

37:30

meaningful, tailored with lyrics of all time,

37:32

by far.

37:34

but

37:34

the some guy said my orange moonstone just because

37:37

he was high.

37:39

Like, he

37:41

cracks me up. individuals.

37:45

I think the

37:48

best burn man, I would

37:51

not want to give me back my girlhood. It was

37:53

my first written about me. Yeah. I would

37:55

not enjoy that experience.

37:57

And John

37:58

Mayer, just remember,

38:00

karma is the

38:02

cat. Thanks for listening

38:04

to Skim this.

38:07

game

38:07

This pod cast with skin

38:09

by me, Alex Carr. Along with producer Will Livingston and our associate

38:12

producer, Blake Lou Merwin.

38:14

We had additional help

38:16

this week from Hannah

38:18

Parker. This episode was engineered

38:20

by Ellie McPhehan and Andrew

38:22

Callaway, and the Skim's head of audio is

38:24

Grailyn Brechier. Skim this

38:26

will be back in your feet again next week.

38:28

Until then,

38:28

check out the Skim's other

38:31

podcast. It's called nine to five

38:33

ish and it's where we talk all things

38:35

career with our founders Carly and Danielle. You can find it

38:37

wherever

38:37

you're already listening

38:40

to

38:40

us.