In this weekly Make Me Smart newsletter, we examine how the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are courting union voters, the impact of extreme heat on Americans’ electricity bills, and what the Make Me Smart newsletter The team learned about participating in the Olympic Games.
The News Fix
“When unions are strong, America is strong” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told a crowd of public sector workers in Los Angeles this week why workers would be better off with Kamala Harris as president than with Donald Trump.
Many unions are already on Walz’s side. As governor of Minnesota, Walz supported several pro-worker laws. He passed a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, expanded protections for unionized workers and declared new non-compete agreements unenforceable. If elected, he and Vice President Kamala Harris would grant similar rights to workers across the country, Walz said.
No party can take the unions’ electorate for granted. Union members make up just 10% of the U.S. workforce but are a powerful voting bloc. The Harris-Walz campaign estimates there are 2.7 million union members in swing states. Given that President Joe Biden won the Electoral College in 2020 by just 44,000 votes in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin, union members could play an outsized role in deciding this election. Unions can also encourage voting beyond their own membership. Union leadership often supports Democrats, but their rank-and-file members are more politically diverse. In 2023, 39% of union members said they lean Republican.
Former President Donald Trump also wants the union election, and he seems willing to deviate from Republican orthodoxy to do so. While many Republicans in Congress support a national “right to work” law — the kind of law that can weaken unions — Trump said at a meeting with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters last month that “right to work” should be left to the states. But some of Trump’s pro-worker comments behind closed doors contradict other public statements. The former president told Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this week that striking workers should be fired. In response, the United Auto Workers union filed an unfair labor lawsuit against Trump and Musk, accusing them of violating federal laws prohibiting intimidation of striking workers.
Trump was once a union member, but he resigned from the Screen Actors Guild in 2021. He is also not the first entertainer to become president of the guild.
Smart right from the start
Did your electricity bill skyrocket this summer? Then become a member.
About seven in 10 Americans say extreme heat affects their utility costs, according to a survey released last week by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey also found that heat also affects time spent outdoors, physical activity, sleep and work.
Americans will pay an average of $719 to keep their homes cool this summer, up $57 from last year and $243 from a decade ago.
Remember that extreme heat is not only expensive, it can also be deadly, especially when combined with high humidity. Last year, there were more heat-related deaths in the United States than ever before.
So how can we beat the heat without ruining ourselves? Solar panels and heat pumps come with huge upfront costs, as we explored in How We Survive. But anyone, including renters, can make their home a little more efficient for about $100 by covering the windows with blackout curtains or using the air conditioning more selectively.
The numbers
The 2024 Olympic Games wrapped up last weekend in Paris and two members of our team were there. Kai Ryssdal and Courtney Bergsieker shared their insights for anyone looking to participate in the 2026 Games. Let’s run through the numbers.
10 million
There were 10 million tickets available for the Paris Games, some for as little as €25. Kai said his cheapest seats were $200 apiece. And what’s on the high end? “Let’s just say a lot,” he told us. All tickets must be bought and sold through the International Olympic Committee, so there is no secondary market.
45%
The IOC sold 45 percent of the tickets for less than 100 euros. Producer Courtney Bergsieker and her friends stuck to a strict budget by choosing less popular events that still sold a lot of seats. They watched tennis, football, beach volleyball, BMX freestyle and men’s cycling – all for less than $300 in total.
~3,000 USD
In addition to tickets, international spectators must spend at least $5,000 to attend the Olympics, including flights, transportation, hotels, food and souvenirs. Courtney limited her costs to about $3,000 for six days by staying in the Paris suburbs, sharing a two-bedroom Airbnb with five other friends and cooking most of her own meals. She did treat herself to a few items of merchandise, including a little Phryge.
539 days
If you think it’s too early to plan a trip to the Olympics, you’re wrong. Courtney and her friends signed up for a ticket lottery two years before the Paris Games. The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, are just 539 days away. Tickets will go on sale in February 2025, but you can sign up for sales alerts now.
None of us are as smart as the rest of us
Let us know what makes you smarter at [email protected] and we’d love to include your recommendation in a future newsletter.
“Recyclable” redefined
All too often, the things we throw in our recycling bins end up in landfills and incinerators. Writer Ellen Rolfes (hi!) recommends reading an in-depth analysis from ProPublica that looks at whether companies should be allowed to label their products as “recyclable” or “compostable” if the materials aren’t reused.
Toxic home loans
Housing speculators who bought up older buildings during the pandemic aren’t making the profits they hoped for. Rental growth forecasts were too optimistic, and now they’re stuck with risky debt. Editor Stephanie Siek reads a Wall Street Journal article (link to gift) about America’s $80 billion in bad home loans.
How to rest instead of straining
Instead of optimizing your life to be the best, maybe you should just strive for average? Editor Tony Wagner reads a Business Insider article about how people are re-orienting their life and work goals to be just good enough.
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