Numlock Sunday: Ellyn Briggs on the rise of the four-day work week

I spoke to Ellyn Briggs, who wrote “U.S. Enthusiasm for 4-Day Workweek Dips Without Remote Work Option” for Morning Consult. I loved this because finally we can put some hard data to a general trend. The idea that in today’s economy companies can scale back the time commitment for certain types of jobs without undermining the actual ability to deliver on those is a potentially massive shift in how this economy works, and there’s a lot of potential in shaving off the eight hours of the week that have the most diminishing returns and giving them back to workers. We talk all about how bullish Americans are about this possibility.

Numlock Sunday: Ryan Broderick on what's actually popular on the internet

I spoke to Ryan Broderick of the utterly delightful Garbage Day internet culture newsletter. Ryan’s not only responsible for one of the most reliably entertaining things I read on the internet, but earlier this year he branched out and with partner Adam Bumas launched Garbage Intelligence. This project, which is an audacious attempt to monitor and quantify what’s actually doing well on social media, is an attempt to solve a pervasive issue with the internet: The big platforms don’t actually want you to know what’s doing well on them. For reasons we’ll discuss in this extended interview, it can be argued that this information may mean the platforms face a potentially existential threat to their business.

Numlock Sunday: Aylin Woodward on the fascinating meteorite economy

This week, I spoke to Aylin Woodward, who wrote “A $25,000 Prize Still Sits in the Maine Woods. Meteorite Hunters Aren’t Giving Up.” for The Wall Street Journal. Aylin has a really compelling beat and is a fixture in the newsletter; she covers space and general science, and I was excited to hear all about this fascinating group of people. This one is a blast, all about some interesting people trying to find a lucrative rock.

Numlock Sunday: S.P. Sullivan and Amira Sweilem on rigged Jersey Shore boardwalk games

I spoke to S.P. Sullivan and Amira Sweilem, who wrote “Claw & Order, Jersey Shore edition” for NJ Advance Media. The boardwalks of the Jersey Shore are home to all kinds of games of skill — claw games, hoop tosses, basketball throws, and of course my personal favorites, the frog flippers — that many have often questioned, yo, is this rigged? Well, the state of New Jersey has your back in the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, or the “LG-Triple-C,” which conducted over 7,000 inspections last year alone. This felt like a perfect story to kick off summer. Sullivan and Sweilem talk about the task force that holds operators accountable, the biggest scandal on the Shore, and which games are the ones to avoid.

Numlock Sunday: Kate Bernot on how MLB rule changes are changing beer sales

I spoke to Kate Bernot, who wrote Change Up — Baseball Shrugs Off Pitch Clock’s Possible Blow to Beer Sales for Good Beer Hunting. Kate’s a great writer, and I particularly enjoy how she covers her beat, alcohol, from a cultural perspective, not just covering the day to day of the industry but how it reverberates across society. We spoke about the MLB rule changes and what they mean for concessions, the big kerfuffle in beer and why the distributors are a real power, and the beer brands that are scrapping their product and in some cases starting from scratch in order to find new fans.