It’s hard to get around without a car these days. But in the last couple of years, owning one has become very expensive. We’ll explain the deceptive practices happening in the auto lending market. And, we’ll explain how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s power in the Democratic Party was demonstrated by a campaign contribution. Plus, we’ll play a round of Half Full/Half Empty and weigh in on “dumbphones” and adult gap years.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

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  • “Ocasio-Cortez Never Steered Money to a Key Arm of Her Party. Until Now.” from The New York Times
  
  
  
  

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  • “The rise of the scammy car loan” from Vox
  
  
  
  

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  • “Decades later, Bonnie Tyler still finds new fans for her hit song every total eclipse” from CBC Radio
  
  
  
  

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  • “Tech is supercharging pre-employment personality tests” from Marketplace
  
  
  
  

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  • “The Dumbphone Boom Is Real” from The New Yorker
  
  
  
  

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  • “Broadband ‘nutrition labels’ help you comparison shop for cable” from Marketplace
  
  
  
  

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  • “Brands in Space: What’s behind the rush to advertise in the final frontier?” from Marketplace
  
  
  
  

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  • “‘Companies are starting to realize burnout is an issue’: Meet the lucky workers taking sabbaticals and ‘adult gap years’ to recharge” from Fortune
  
  
  
  

We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.