Podcast Summary: The Indicator from Planet Money

Episode: Amazon’s outage, anxious retirees, and LA brings the Heat, too
Date: October 24, 2025
Hosts: Waylon Wong, Adrian Ma, Darian Woods

Overview

This episode of The Indicator from Planet Money is part of their "Indicators of the Week" series, in which the hosts spotlight compelling numbers from recent economic news stories. The team covers three main topics: a major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage, trends around Americans planning for Social Security, and California’s renewed push to incentivize film production—including the much-anticipated sequel, "Heat 2." The episode blends humor, insight, and memorable pop-culture references to make sense of timely issues shaping the economy.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Amazon Web Services Outage and the Internet’s Fragility

Key Indicator: 30%
(03:12)

• Darian Woods: “30%. That's how much of the Internet across the globe is hosted by Amazon Web Services, according to the analytics company HG Insights.”
• AWS experienced a significant global outage early in the week due to a DNS (Domain Name System) malfunction, impacting a wide swath of online services—including, possibly, basic workplace tools and payment systems.
• Waylon Wong: Recounts local disruptions including a broken grocery point-of-sale system and work email issues (02:56).
• Services hit included Snapchat and Reddit.
• Will Amazon suffer consequences?
  • Most customers are not entitled to major compensation—typically just minor credits.
  • Cloud outages happen; best practices dictate that clients should not rely on a single AWS region or provider.
  • Darian Woods: “The argument is that the owners should be not on Amazon per se, but on the companies using Amazon...”
• Despite the chaos, Amazon’s share price actually climbed 1.6% by the end of the period (04:31).
  • Waylon Wong (jokes): “Maybe everyone just realizes the switching costs are too high. So it’s like no matter what happens, we’re stuck.” (04:31)

2. Americans’ Anxiety about Social Security

Key Indicator: 44%
(04:40)

• Adrian Ma: “44%. It comes from this survey of US workers conducted by a financial management company called Schroeders.”
• 44% of those surveyed plan to claim Social Security before age 67, despite the harsh financial penalty for early withdrawal.
• Key Info:
  • Early collection at 62 results in about a 30% reduction in monthly benefits compared to waiting until 67.
  • Waiting until 70 can mean up to a 45% higher benefit than at 62.
• Rationale for Early Withdrawal: Many worry that Social Security will "run out of money," leaving them empty-handed if they wait (05:58).
• Darian Woods: Explains the looming shortfall—reserves may run out in less than a decade, after which the program would only be able to pay 81 cents on the dollar (06:25).
  • “It does not mean that Social Security will just disappear, but it does mean that people might not receive full payments that they’re entitled to...” (06:25)
• Waylon Wong: “Well, I feel like if I get to 62, 67, 70, whatever it is, and I’m only getting 81 cents on the dollar, I’m gonna be pretty unhappy.” (07:00)
• Discussion about policy proposals to raise the retirement age, but with so many collecting early, the effectiveness is uncertain.

3. California’s Revamped Film Tax Credits and “Heat 2”

Key Indicator: 52
(08:05)

• Waylon Wong: “My indicator is 52. That is the number of film productions that are getting tax credits from the state of California to shoot their movies locally.”
• California has more than doubled its film industry incentive program budget (from $330 million to $750 million).
• Why so many credits?
  • The state is fighting to keep productions from relocating to other states and countries that offer competing incentives.
  • Expected to generate about 9,000 jobs for cast and crew (08:46).
• Notably, one of the funded projects is "Heat 2," the sequel to the iconic 1995 Los Angeles crime thriller "Heat."
  • Waylon Wong: “This one is Heat two. It's the follow up to the Michael Mann action movie Heat from 1995. It stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino and there’s actually an econ lesson in the movie. So I’m going to play this for you guys. This is Robert De Niro robbing a bank.” (09:10)
  • Plays memorable clip:
    Robert De Niro (in-movie): “We’re here for the bank’s money, not your money. Your money is insured by the federal government. You’re not going to lose a dime.” (09:31)
  • The hosts riff on this as a “PSA about FDIC deposit insurance,” but joke that the real De Niro “didn't have time for the fine print” (09:50).
• Discussion ends on humorous notes about the original’s iconic LA scenes and hope for equally thrilling local sequences in the sequel.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AWS Outage:
  • “I saw a message in a local Facebook group that was like, no one go to the grocery store. Their whole point of sale system was down. And I don’t know if that was AWS, but there was definitely a lot of funky stuff happening.” – Waylon Wong (02:56)
• On Social Security Anxiety:
  • “This is way more math than I want to be doing in my twilight years, I will say.” – Waylon Wong (07:27)
• On Iconic Movie Finance Lessons:
  • “Robert De Niro in the midst of robbing a bank. Takes time for a little PSA about FDIC deposit insurance.” – Waylon Wong (09:38)
• On LA’s Hope for “Heat 2”:
  • “The original movie was shot on location in California and this shootout in downtown LA is absolutely iconic. So hopefully the sequel has some equally iconic California scenes, some learning and some action. I know. What more do you need?” – Waylon Wong (09:50)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• AWS Outage and Internet Reliance: 02:12 – 04:37
• Social Security Early Withdrawals and Anxieties: 04:40 – 08:03
• California Film Tax Incentives & “Heat 2” Announcement: 08:05 – 09:50

Podcast Tone and Style

Throughout, the hosts maintain a witty and conversational tone, often injecting humor (invented words like "co-hoster with the moster" and playful banter about math in retirement). Pop culture asides (especially “Heat”) blend seamlessly into the analysis, making each segment approachable without losing depth or relevance.

This summary captures all substantive content and key moments from the episode, skipping advertisement and generic outro segments. Listeners seeking bite-sized but meaningful economic insights—delivered with flair—will find this installment especially engaging.