Marketplace All-in-One

Looking for an exclusive pastel Trader Joe’s mini tote? How about the latest Labubu? Once a staple of sneaker and streetwear, the “limited drop” release model is popping up all over the place. In this episode, find out why every brand seems to be chasing the “drop.” Later, we spill the tea on office gossip and what it’s like to run a dance studio. Also: A new survey shows 9% of Affordable Care Act enrollees are now uninsured after subsidies expired.

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From the success of “K-pop Demon Hunters” to the return of BTS, K-pop is having a moment. But the rise of Korean culture was no accident—it has a decades-long backstory of investment by the South Korean government. On “Economics on Tap,” Kimberly talks with Michelle Cho, researcher of East Asian pop cultures at the University of Toronto, about the history behind the spread of Korean culture and how it’s shaped industries from entertainment to beauty. Speaking of K-beauty: sunscreen or sheet masks?

Here’s everything we talked about today:

‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Leads the Wave Back to Korea from Foreign Policy
BTS Is Back With ‘Arirang,’ but the K-Pop Landscape Has Changed from The New York Times
K-everything: the rise and rise of Korean culture from The Guardian 
"Americans Are Learning Korean Because of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’" from The New York Times
"What’s So Special About Korean Sunscreens?" from Vogue
"How K-pop Stars Are Leading Mental Health Conversations for AAPI People and Beyond" from Teen Vogue

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If you're traveling in the next week or so, get to the airport early. Airport security lines are growing as workers with the Transportation Security Administration go without pay during the partial government shutdown. Nearly 50,000 TSA workers missed a paycheck last week, and if Congress doesn’t act, they could miss another one next Friday. Then, we'll dig into how wide salary ranges on job postings can influence an applicant's approach to negotiation over pay.

The Postal Service says it's facing a "severe financial crisis." Postmaster General David Steiner testified before a House subcommittee this week and said that the USPS was struggling and could “be out of cash in less than 12 months” unless something changes. Today, we check the finances of the postal service. And later, war in the Middle East is driving up fertilizer and diesel costs, worrying U.S. farmers during planting season.

This week, Amazon speeds up delivery even more. Plus, will BuzzFeed stay in business?

But first, Gecko, a robotics startup, landed a $71 million contract with the U.S. Navy. The 13-year-old Pittsburgh-based company says it'll be using its drones and wall-climbing robots to help find defects on ships. Then, it will use artificial intelligence to model current and future structural issues.

Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Anita Ramaswamy, financial analysis columnist at The Information, about all these headlines for this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”