About nine thousand tech workers in the Seattle area have lost their jobs in the past year. That could be nine thousand people competing for a shrinking pool of tech jobs.

This year started off with the most layoffs we’ve seen in a January since the Great Recession, and the lowest hiring on record. Many companies are now citing artificial intelligence in their layoff announcements.

On today's episode, where have all the laid off tech workers gone? And what can the rest of us learn from the first shock in the AI earthquake?

Do you have an idea for a Booming episode? Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at booming@kuow.org.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do we decide who gets financial support from the government? Usually, it comes down to the federal poverty line.

You might think a lot of data and research goes into establishing that number. But in reality, it’s much squishier. So squishy in fact that it involves Jello...

Today, a special episode brought to us by our friends at Control F: the surprising history of the federal poverty line.

Sources in this episode:

• U.S. Census Bureau Timeline of Poverty Measure, 2014
• How the U.S. Census Bureau Measures Poverty, 2022
• What does living at the poverty line look like?, USA Facts, 2023
• Poverty Guidelines vs Poverty Thresholds, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Poverty Line Matrix, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2026
• Remembering Mollie Orshansky — The Developer of the Poverty Thresholds, Society Security Administration, 2008
• Relatively Deprived, New Yorker, 2006
• Mollie Orshansky, Statistician, Dies at 91, The New York Times, 2007
• Mollie Orshansky: Inventor of the Poverty Line, NPR, 2007
• Thrifty Food Plan, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021
• Thrifty Food Plan: Better planning and accountability could help ensure quality of future reevaluations, U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters, 2022
• Family Food Plans and Food Costs, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1962
• The Indians in the Lobby, Season 3, Episode 8, The West Wing, 2001
• NPR audience call out on SNAP benefits, 2025
• Legacies of the War on Poverty, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political & Social Science, 2024

Control F wants to answer your questions about how our world works! Click here to submit a question using their online form, or email the team at ControlF@kuow.org

Do you have a tip for the Booming team? Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at booming@kuow.org.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first time ever, cities across Mexico, Canada, and the United States will be sharing the world’s most viewed sporting event... the FIFA men’s World Cup.

But sports economists will tell you, the cost of hosting these games isn't always worth the reward.

On today's episode, will the World Cup be an economic win for the city?

GUEST:
Lynnette Buffington, chief of staff for the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce

Do you have a question for the Booming team? Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. You can also email us at booming@kuow.org.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you have sticker shock at the grocery store, you’re not alone. In Seattle, the cost of groceries is about 30% higher today than before the pandemic.

Those high prices are straining family budgets and causing many people to change how they shop.

Today, creative hacks for putting food on the table now that your dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to.

GUESTS:
Rebecca Chobat, Dollar Tree Dinners
James McCafferty, Director of Western Washington University's Center for Economic and Business Research

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twenty years ago, buying a house in Seattle felt like a stretch. Today, it feels like you need to win the lottery.

Homeownership is slipping out of reach for a lot of people, especially those with modest incomes.

But there’s a movement underway in Washington State -- one that could bring housing costs back within reach.

State legislators want to make it legal to live in an RV in someone’s backyard or driveway year-round.

On today's episode: could letting people live in tiny houses on wheels on someone's property actually reduce our state’s housing shortage? And could it be a solution for you?

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Data centers needed more space, so they literally moved there.

This week, Elon Musk announced he has merged his rocket company, Space X – with his AI company, xAI. The reason? He wants to build AI data centers in space.

But his company is not the only one that wants to take the cloud... off the planet. Various companies from Google to Blue Origin to smaller startups are looking to Earth's orbit as the next data center frontier. And companies in Seattle are leading the charge.

Today, how close are we to actually putting data centers in space? And why would you want to?

GUEST:
Dr. Saadia Pekkanen, professor of Law, International Studies and Political Science at the University of Washington

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Coming up:  Have you been laid off from a tech company in the last couple of years? We'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail with your hacks-- it could be featured on an upcoming episode. You can also email us at booming@kuow.org.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Amazon announced it's laying off 16,000 employees.

It’s part two of a continued downsizing Amazon started in October, when it laid of 14,000 employees. Taken together, this is Amazon’s biggest reduction in force ever. This week's layoffs are also the latest in a series of tech downsizings over the past few years that have pushed Seattle’s unemployment rate well above the national rate.

On today's episode, is Seattle facing a tech recession?

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The cost of child care is at an all-time high. The typical American family with young kids now spends more on child care than housing.

In most of the developed world, the government pays for child care so parents can work and contribute to the economy. But free, universal child care is nearly unheard of in the U.S.

At least it was until a few months ago. In November, New Mexico became the first state to launch free, universal child care.

On today's episode, what can Washington learn from a state that managed to pull it off?

GUEST:
Elizabeth Groginsky, Cabinet Secretary for New Mexico's Early Childhood Education and Care Department

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.