5.18.26 Supreme Court considers geofence warrants, the summit in Beijing, and the Pac-Man craze

Summary

Podcast Summary: The World and Everything In It

Episode: Supreme Court considers geofence warrants, the summit in Beijing, and the Pac-Man craze
Air Date: May 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers a rich mix of legal analysis, international relations insight, and a pop culture retrospective. The main theme revolves around the intersection of technology, privacy, and law—centered on the U.S. Supreme Court's consideration of geofence warrants and their Fourth Amendment implications. The episode also covers recent global headlines, economic analysis of the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, and a nostalgic dive into the history and enduring popularity of Pac-Man.

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Key Segments & Highlights

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1. News Roundup

[01:01 – 07:04]

• Global Affairs: Drone strike at UAE nuclear plant; escalating U.S.-Iran tensions with President Trump warning Iran amidst stalled peace talks.
• U.S. Politics: Louisiana Republican Senate runoff—Trump-backed Julia Letlow advances over Bill Cassidy.
• Health Crisis: WHO declares Ebola emergency in Africa; local leaders urge self-sufficiency in vaccines.
  • Quote (Dr. John Kaseya, Africa CDC) [04:03]:
    “In Africa, we must manufacture vaccines... People are dying. I don’t have medicines. I don’t have vaccines.”
• National Events: 250th anniversary of U.S. independence celebrated with major Christian rally on the National Mall, featuring faith-forward speeches by key politicians.
  • Quote (Sen. Tim Scott) [05:06]:
    “The principles contained in the Declaration of Independence are saving principles. Can I get an amen?”
• Labor Strike: Long Island Railroad shut down by striking workers demanding fair wages amid inflation, with no new talks scheduled.

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2. Legal Docket: Supreme Court & Geofence Warrants

[07:45 – 17:29]

Case: Chatry v. United States

• Background: Police, investigating a bank robbery, obtained location data on every phone near the scene via a Google geofence warrant; led to the arrest of Okello Shatri.
• Fourth Amendment Issue: Does sweeping location data for all persons near a crime scene constitute an unreasonable search?
  • Quote (Adam Yunakowski, Shatri’s lawyer) [09:00]:
    “People have a property interest in their data... The search violated the Fourth Amendment because the warrant gave the police unlimited discretion, while casting Google into the role of magistrate.”
• Government's Counterpoint:
  • Quote (Solicitor General Eric Fagan) [09:29]:
    “Petitioner here is asking for an unprecedented transformation of the Fourth Amendment into an...impregnable fortress around records of his public movements. That would impede investigation of kidnappings, robberies, shootings…”

Key Justice Interactions

• Chief Justice Roberts Queries Consent:
  • Quote [10:15]: “If you don’t want the government to have your location history, you just flip that off. You don’t have to have that feature on your phone. So what's the issue?”
• Justice Alito – Justiciability & Policy:
  • Points out Google no longer keeps such data, suggesting the case’s real-world impact may be limited.
  • Quote [10:48]: “[...] why we are hearing this case other than the fact that at least four of us voted to take it....this involves a Google feature that doesn’t exist any longer.”
• Justice Barrett – Public Location Expectations [12:11]:
  “Nobody has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their public observable movements.”
• Justice Sotomayor – Modern Privacy Risks [12:34]:
  “Regrettably, because people take their phone now everywhere... you really have no idea what private information...it’ll follow you to a brothel, it’ll file you to a cannabis shop...”
• Justice Gorsuch – Precedent Implications [13:35]:
  “If we were to rule that there was a voluntary exposure here... that ruling would pertain equally to email.”
• Threat to the Fourth Amendment
  Quote (Adam Yunakowski) [14:11]:
  “If you're going to accept that argument... that is really the end of the Fourth Amendment for any private document you’re storing with Google.”

Practical & Constitutional Stakes

• Widespread use—thousands of warrants a year.

• Scope extends to all cloud data, not just location.

• Chilling implications for privacy rights and potential for government overreach.

• Notable Moment: Chief Justice Roberts on Church Surveillance [15:21]:
  “What’s to prevent the government from using this to find out the identities of everybody at a particular church, a particular political organization? What are the restraints...?”

Conclusion & Stakes [17:07]:

• Adam Yunakowski: “If the court says the good faith exception applies here, it’ll apply in every single case. The reason the outcry exists is that no one knows that thousands of times per year their accounts are being searched.”

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3. Supreme Court Quick Takes

[19:51 – 21:04]

• Unanimous rulings:
  • Montgomery Caribe Transport: Lawsuit can proceed against a broker who hired a trucking company with a poor safety record.
  • Jules v. Andre Belage Properties: Federal courts retain authority after arbitration stays.

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4. The Monday Money Beat: U.S.-China Summit

[22:00 – 31:59]

Key Discussion Points

• Outcomes of the Trump-Xi Beijing Summit [22:13, 23:55]:
  • “I think ... we don’t really know. ... If there were certain geopolitical things... we're not going to hear about that. ... On the economic side, doesn’t appear there was much done.” – David Bonson, financial analyst [22:29]
  • Soybean deals and trade announcements seen as standard rhetoric; real substance deferred until Xi’s reciprocal U.S. visit.
  • “President clearly has backed off of [decoupling]. They’re looking to sell more and buy more, not decouple.”
• Taiwan & Semiconductors [24:12]:
  • “I don’t think the current administration is as concerned with Taiwanese independence as they are with making sure the U.S.’s semiconductor interests are protected before whatever happens with China and Taiwan happens.”
• China's Position Amid Strait of Hormuz Closure [26:33]:
  • China’s relationship with Iran is transactional, not ideological; economic pressures exist for all sides.
• Interest Rates & Market Impact [28:41]:
  • New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh unlikely to raise rates soon, but global instability driving yields higher.
  • “The data tweaks in this stuff can turn very quickly. ... I'm not buying fed funds futures contracts.” [30:58]

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5. World History Book: The Pac-Man Phenomenon

[32:22 – 38:15]

• Origins:
  • Designed by Toru Iwatani in 1980, inspired by a missing pizza slice.
• Design Philosophy [33:21]:
  • “He wanted to create a game that everyone could play.”
• Unique Features:
  • Cheery ghosts, simple joystick-only gameplay, gender-inclusive appeal.
• Cultural Impact:
  • Rapid spread from arcades to home consoles (Atari), TV shows, merchandise, and even music (“Pac-Man Fever” [37:14]).
• Pac-Man’s Meaning:
  • Discussed as both a fun game and a subtle reflection on human need (“...you just have to eat and continue to move. Watch out for the obstacles, and then you thrive for another day.” [37:52])
• Legacy:
  • Continues to resonate across generations—“a fun reminder that everyone needs their daily bread.” [38:15]

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Notable Quotes

• Adam Yunakowski (Shatry’s lawyer) [14:11]:
  “If you're going to accept that argument, and that is really the end of the Fourth Amendment for any private document you’re storing with Google.”
• Chief Justice Roberts [15:21]:
  “What’s to prevent the government from using this to find out the identities of everybody at a particular church, a particular political organization?”
• David Bonson [22:29]:
  “Announcing... they're going to buy more soybeans. I don't know how many soybeans a country needs...I've been hearing this for 10 years.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• News Roundup: 01:01 – 07:04
• Legal Docket: Geofence Warrants: 07:45 – 17:29
• Supreme Court Rulings Recap: 19:51 – 21:04
• Monday Money Beat – China Summit: 22:00 – 31:59
• World History Book – Pac-Man: 32:22 – 38:15

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains a measured, analytical tone—serious in dissecting legal matters, factual in world events reporting, conversational and accessible in economic analysis, and nostalgic and upbeat in the Pac-Man feature.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode spans weighty debates on privacy in the digital age, shifting international alliances, and economic uncertainties, balanced by a joyful look back at one of gaming’s greatest icons. The big question raised: as technology permeates daily life, what protections do Americans truly have—and what are they giving up?

Transcript

[Mary Reichardt]

Good morning. Today on legal docket, unreasonable search and seizure meets the cloud. The high court considers a case that could expose to government searches nearly everything Americans store online.

[Adam Yunakowski]

So it seems to me if you're going to accept that argument, and that is really the end of the Fourth Amendment for any private document you're storing with Google.

[Nick Eicher]

Also today, the Monday money beat the economic value of the Trump XI summit in Beijing. David Bonson is standing by. Later, the world history book how a half eaten pizza gave rise to a popular video game.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

He developed the game on one concept and that was eating.

[Mary Reichardt]

It's Monday, May 18th. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichard.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Iker.

[Kent Covington]

Good morning.

[Mary Reichardt]

Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.

[Kent Covington]

A drone struck the United Arab Emirates only nuclear power plant on Sunday. No one immediately claimed responsibility, nor was anyone blamed right away. But Iran has regularly targeted the UAE as a regional US Ally. That comes amid stalled peace talks between the US And Iran. President Trump warned his words better get moving fast or there won't be anything left of them. Tehran fired back, saying its military fingers are on the trigger. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told NBC's Meet the Press that he asked the CIA director if Iran's current leadership is any less committed to destroying Israel and the

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

U.S. i think the answer is no. So weaken them further and you may

[Nick Eicher]

get a deal later.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

But you're not going to get a

[Nick Eicher]

deal with this crowd until you hurt them more.

[Kent Covington]

With November midterms approaching, Iranian officials may be betting that political pressure could force Trump to back down. Democrats are hammering the president over the war and rising gas prices. Trump pressed Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week to lean on Tehran. But Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen says,

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

I don't think we need China's support.

[David Bonson]

I think the fastest way to end

[Nick Eicher]

the war in Iran is just to

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

stop digging a hole even deeper. And that's what we should do right now.

[Kent Covington]

Most Democrats blame Trump for the war and the inflation that has come with it. But Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman has a different target.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

I blame Iran because Iran is an evil regime. For the last almost five decades, they've been the world's lead underwriter of terrorism.

[Kent Covington]

Israel says it is coordinating with the United States on a possible resumption of strikes. Louisiana's Republican Senate runoff is set for June, and Senator Bill Cassidy did not make the cut. President Trump backed Congresswoman Julia Letlow over Cassidy, calling the incumbent a disloyal disaster after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial after the Capitol riot. Cassidy conceded Saturday night in Baton Rouge, and his closing words seemed aimed straight at the president. I have had the privilege of representing

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

the state of Louisiana for 12 years. I have been able to participate in democracy. And when you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you want it to.

[Adam Yunakowski]

But you don't pout, you don't whine, you don't claim the election was stolen.

[Kent Covington]

Let Low led the field with 45% of the vote and will face Treasurer John fleming in a June 27 runoff. Cassidy becomes the first sitting Republican senator to lose a primary in nearly 15 years. The world Health Organization has declared a global health emergency in response to an Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda. Officials say more than 300 suspected cases and at least 80 deaths trace back to mining towns in eastern Congo. The outbreak is a rare strain of Ebola called Bundibugyo, with no approved vaccine or treatment. But Dr. John Kaseya, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says Africa cannot wait for Western countries to come to the rescue.

[David Bonson]

In Africa, we must manufacture vaccines, medicines that we need. People are dying. I don't have medicines. I don't have vaccines.

[Kent Covington]

The Africa CDC says the outbreak began in late April, but officials didn't catch it until a social media post on May 5, by which point 50 people were already dead in Washington. Thousands gathered on the National Mall Sunday to pray, worship and reflect on the country's Christian roots. World's Juliana Chen Erickson was there.

[Juliana Chan Erickson]

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson led a prayer of repentance and recommitment as part of Rededicate 251 of many events celebrating the 250th anniversary of America's founding today.

[John Riggs]

Here Lord, in this 250th year of American independence, we hereby rededicate the United States of America as one nation under God.

[Juliana Chan Erickson]

Johnson was one of several political leaders to take the stage at the Christian rally yesterday. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina also addressed the largely Christian audience.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

The principles contained in the Declaration of Independence are saving principles. Can I get an amen?

[David Bonson]

Saving principles.

[Nick Eicher]

Stand by those principles.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Be true to them on all occasions,

[Nick Eicher]

in all places, against all foes.

[Juliana Chan Erickson]

Vice President J.D. vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard gave prepared remarks via pre recorded video. All made overt references to their faith in God. Several evangelical leaders also spoke, including Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, and Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist church in Dallas, Texas. Events commemorating the 250th anniversary continue next week with a candlelit program honoring veterans and soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. For WORLD I'm Juliana Chan Erickson.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Where do we want it? When do we want it?

[Kent Covington]

Striking workers have shut down New York's Long Island Railroad for a third day this morning. It is the first walkout in three decades on North America's largest commuter rail, leaving a quarter of a million daily riders scrambling. Five unions representing half the workforce walked off the jobs before dawn on Saturday after months of stalled talks with their employer, the mta, or Metropolitan Transit Authority.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

They think they can push us around and we're supposed to just fall in line? All we're asking for is fair wages, record inflation the last few years.

[John Riggs]

Our contract goes back three years.

[Nick Eicher]

It's not going forward.

[John Riggs]

So we went through those record inflationary

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

years and they're trying to lowball us.

[Kent Covington]

But New York's Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul has a different take. She told reporters that a deal is possible, but the MTA needs a partner at the bargaining table.

[Mary Reichardt]

The MTA has made multiple generous offers with real wage increases. I urge both sides to come together as soon as possible and resolve this.

[Kent Covington]

But union leaders say no new talks are scheduled. I'm Kent Covington. And straight ahead, unreasonable search and seizure meets the cloud on legal Docket plus the Monday Money beat with David Bonson. This is the world and everything in it.

[Mary Reichardt]

It's the world and everything in it for this 18th day of May, 2026. We're so glad you've joined us today. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichardt.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Eicher. Time now for legal docket. The Fourth Amendment was written at a time when memories of British officers rummaging through homes and papers were still fresh in the minds of Americans. Now the Supreme Court has to decide what that centuries old protection against unreasonable search and seizure means in the digital age. The question in this case, when police ask a massive tech firm for location data on every person near a crime scene, is that legitimate police work or is it the modern equivalent of handing the redcoats our phones and passwords?

[Mary Reichardt]

Here are the facts In Chatry v. US in 2019, police in Virginia were investigating a bank robbery. They had no suspects, so they started with the phones. Investigators asked Google for data showing which devices were near the bank around the time of the robbery.

[Nick Eicher]

The search eventually led to a man named Okello Shatri, who prosecutors say committed the robbery. But Shatri argues that search violated the Fourth Amendment because it swept up the data of everyone within certain constraints of time and place, including innocent people. His lawyer is Adam Yunakowski.

[Adam Yunakowski]

The Court should hold that people have a property interest in their data. Additionally, petitioner had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his location history given both its sensitive and revealing nature and the fact that it was stored in his password protected account. The search violated the Fourth Amendment because the warrant gave the police unlimited discretion. While casting Google into the role of

[Mary Reichardt]

magistrate, the federal government frames the dispute very differently. Solicitor General Eric Fagan Petitioner here is

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

asking for an unprecedented transformation of the Fourth Amendment into an impressive impregnable fortress around records of his public movements. That's a debilitating and counterintuitive reading of the Fourth Amendment that would impede the investigation of kidnappings, robberies, shootings and other crimes.

[Mary Reichardt]

At the core is a modern question the Constitution never directly anticipated. When people rely on digital services every day, does storing that data with a tech company amount to consent for government access? Or or does the sheer necessity of digital life mean constitutional privacy protection still apply? Chief Justice John Roberts jumped in with Shatry's lawyer.

[Chief Justice John Roberts]

If you don't want the government to have your location history, you just flip that off. You don't have to have that feature on your phone. So what's the issue?

[Adam Yunakowski]

I take the point that you can flip it off, but I guess I just don't agree that one should have to flip off one's location history as well as other cloud services to avoid government surveillance. I mean, by the same token, you don't have to send email. You can flick that off as well, but that doesn't imply that you're implicitly consenting to the government searching one's email.

[Mary Reichardt]

Justice Samuel Alito wondered why this case was even at the High Court at this point.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Mr. Yunakowsky, I'm struggling to understand why we are hearing this case other than the fact that at least four of us voted to take it. Fourteen of the 15 judges on the en banc 4th Circuit voted to affirm nine relied on the good faith exception. Unless you think that we are going to say no reasonable officer could believe that this was a valid warrant, what you're asking for is an advisory opinion. This involves a Google feature that doesn't exist any longer.

[Mary Reichardt]

What Alito is saying is Google no longer stores location history that way. Instead of keeping massive centralized records in the cloud, much of that data is now stored directly on users devices. And that makes broad geofence sweeps harder to Carry out. Still, Shatry's lawyer argued the constitutional question remains urgent because police used these warrants thousands of times and because the court's reasoning could affect access to many other kinds of cloud storage data. But several justices seemed more interested in the broader constitutional question. When people rely on digital tools every day, how much privacy do they actually surrender? Justice Amy Coney Barrett took a wider view.

[Jenny Ruff]

Putting aside that this wasn't a password protected account taking out of the fact that Google had the right to use this for advertising purposes, right, I mean, he was. This was a few hours and it was a public location and nobody has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their public observable movements.

[Nick Eicher]

But Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed out how embarrassingly modern phones track some people's lives.

[David Bonson]

Regrettably, because people take their phone now

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

everywhere, including, I suspect, some people to the bathroom.

[David Bonson]

You really have no idea what information, private information, because it'll follow you to a brothel, it'll file you to a, a cannabis shop. It'll follow you to just about anywhere

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

where there's a reasonable expectation of privacy. Correct?

[Adam Yunakowski]

Yes.

[Nick Eicher]

Shatry's lawyer warned that the case reaches beyond location tracking. If simply using digital services wipes away privacy protections, he argued, then nearly everything people store in the cloud could become fair game for government searches. It was here that the argument really escalated. And if the simple act of sharing data with Google so that you can use that technology counts as consent, then what about everything else in the cloud? Justice Neil Gorsuch. So if we were to rule that

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

there was a voluntary exposure here to

[Nick Eicher]

Google that allows the government unfettered access to it, that ruling would pertain equally to email.

[Adam Yunakowski]

That's correct. Essentially all of your data on the cloud, which is kind of all, all of your data, if you use a computer, would be exposed to government searches without a warrant.

[Nick Eicher]

Justice Alito brought things back to personal responsibility.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

He not only turned it on, but had he read his contract with Google, he could see that Google retained the right to turn this information over to law enforcement if it thought that that was appropriate.

[Adam Yunakowski]

That is the same provision that exists for everything that you store in Google servers, including email and documents and everything else. So it seems to me, if you're going to accept that argument, and that is really the end of the Fourth Amendment for any private document you're storing with Google.

[Nick Eicher]

Justice Elena Kagan posed a hypothetical as a potential fix.

[David Bonson]

Suppose Google put that warning in red and it flashed a lot and it was totally noticeable. You know, we can give this to the government.

[Mary Reichardt]

Would that make A difference, Yunakowski said, not necessarily, because privacy expectations cannot just depend upon warnings like that. As for the government, it argued this was not a dragnet at all. Users opted to use location services. It was a targeted search with only 19 devices identified, and that was narrowed down to three from a very short time frame in a tiny geographic area.

[Nick Eicher]

Not only that, but some crimes would go unsolved without geofence warrants, such as the hit and run death of bicyclist Pamela Morehouse in California. That case had little evidence until geofence identified a suspect who had lied to police. In this exchange with the government lawyer, Chief Justice Roberts spotted a downside risk.

[Chief Justice John Roberts]

What's to prevent the government from using this to find out the identities of everybody at a particular church, a particular political organization? What are the restraints that would prevent that from becoming a problem?

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Well, number one, you, Honor, would be the Stored Communications Act.

[Nick Eicher]

The chief was not buying it.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

What really matters here is that people have affirmatively opted in. Only one third of active Google account holders do that.

[Chief Justice John Roberts]

So to prevent surveillance of sensitive locations, you have to rely on the fact that people are going to turn off something that many, if not most people find is an important service.

[Nick Eicher]

Yet in this comment to Chatri's lawyer, Justice Brett Kavanaugh saw the facts in a different light.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

We have probable cause. You admitted that. And it's just then is it sufficiently particular? And it seems like Detective Hilton here, you know, really went through the. A lot of the steps that should be applauded in terms of narrowing this down, going through multiple steps. I guess I'm trying to figure out why this was bad police work to get a warrant. A lot of Fourth Amendment cases, we say get a warrant. Well, they got a warrant.

[Nick Eicher]

Google is not a party to this lawsuit, but it did file a friend of the court brief that provides additional information. It warns these warrants can be broad and invasive. Some of the geofence parameters of thousands of people covered many miles and lasted for days. Churches, hospitals, and schools. Oftentimes, nobody even knows about the requests for information.

[Mary Reichardt]

Unakowski closed his argument on an ominous note, referencing the lower court's finding that the police acted in good faith, even if there probably was a constitutional violation.

[Adam Yunakowski]

If the court says the good faith exception applies here, it'll apply in every single case. The reason the outcry exist is that no one knows that thousands of times per year their accounts are being searched. And this is a good vehicle to decide the case because there's an extensive evidentiary record. You'll never have A case with a more detailed account of the technical aspects of the case than this one. And so that's why I think the court should decide the Fourth Amendment question in this case.

[Nick Eicher]

All right, on to case two now. Federal Communications Commission, VAT and T and Verizon. This one asks whether a federal agency can publicly accuse companies of major wrongdoing and then announce huge penalties before those companies ever even get to a jury trial. It started when the FCC proposed more than $100 million in fines against the carriers for mismanaging consumer location data. But the FCC handed down the penalties through its internal administrative process. No hearing.

[Mary Reichardt]

So the telecoms are striking back, arguing the move bypasses the courts and violates the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. Representing the telecoms, Jeffrey Wall argued that being branded as an egregious lawbreaker by a federal regulator leaves companies no choice but to protect their reputations.

[Chief Justice John Roberts]

That's a straightforward violation of the Seventh Amendment and this court's decision in Jarcassie. The government's only answer is that the penalties weren't binding. They were just invitations to pay. They want these forfeiture orders because they know that legitimate part parties pay 100% of the time. If your main regulator says that you are violating the law, you can't let that hang over your head indefinitely.

[Nick Eicher]

But the justice is pushed back. FCC forfeiture orders are technically non binding. There's no immediate legal obligation to pay. The Chief justice seemed to lean that way.

[Chief Justice John Roberts]

Counsel, I wonder if, though, at the end of the day, you're really just talking about a PR problem, right? And you're just saying they're big letters. The language said we did something bad, so everybody has to pay so they don't get bad pr. And I'm just wondering, in terms of the substantive legal issue, though, you are not obligated to pay until you get a jury. Well, Mr. Chief Justice, I think we have to separate whether you owe something from when you have to pay it. If I get a parking ticket from the government, I can ignore it and make them come after me, but I

[David Bonson]

still still owe it.

[Mary Reichardt]

The government's lawyer argued reputation is not a big deal and that if the carriers don't pay, then the DOJ sues in federal court, where a full jury trial will take place. Several justices sounded skeptical of the telecom's argument because the companies can still force the fight based on the questions. I think it gives the FCC the upper hand because the relevant law favors it.

[Nick Eicher]

Well, the Supreme Court handed down two opinions last week. We will briefly summarize both of them. First, in Montgomery Caribe Transport, a unanimous court ruled that a man injured in a truck crash can continue his lawsuit against the freight broker that hired the trucking company. Sean Montgomery was injured in that truck crash. He argued that the broker hired an unsafe trucking company with a poor safety record. Lower courts threw out the lawsuit, but the justices said that a federal transportation law includes a safety exception that allows states to regulate motor vehicles and including negligent hiring claims.

[Mary Reichardt]

Finally now, another unanimous decision in Jules v. Andre Belage Properties, the Supreme Court said that if a case starts in federal court and is paused for arbitration, the court still has power afterward to confirm or cancel the arbitration result. And that's this week's legal docket.

[Kent Covington]

Additional support comes from Eyewitness Ride to Freedom, three friends, one simulation trapped in history during the Freedom Rides now on all major platforms. Or eyewitnesspod.com from Peace International, serving South Sudan's refugees by educating children, empowering women and equipping pastors. Peaceint.org and from Reformation Bible College, where

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

theology shapes every calling.

[Kent Covington]

[e-mail].

[Mary Reichardt]

Coming up next on THE WORLD and everything in it, the Monday Money beat.

[Nick Eicher]

Time now to talk business, markets and the economy with financial analyst and advisor David Bonson. David heads up the wealth management firm the Bonson Group, and he's here now. Good morning to you, David.

[David Bonson]

Well, good morning, Nick. Good to be with you.

[Nick Eicher]

Well, a big summit week in Beijing last week, President Trump coming home saying fantastic trade deals, lots of good imagery, good feelings, nice meals. I assume when you strip all of that away, though, David, what do you think was actually accomplished?

[David Bonson]

Well, I think two things. I think, number one, that we don't really know because if there were certain geopolitical things as it pertains to China's efforts with Strait of Hormuz in Iran and including ongoing issues with Russia, Ukraine, I don't think that we are going to hear about that. And then I think that the other side of it is more or less the press accounts that it doesn't appear there was much done on the economic side that, you know, announcing if I have a nickel for every time I've heard they're going to buy more soybeans. I don't know how many soybeans a country needs and how many we have to sell. But I've been hearing this for 10 years and I get it because it is certainly one of the few agricultural commodities we have that we can sell to them. But, you know, the Boeing airplane thing seems to have been a disappointment. I think people thought they were going to commit to buying more, but I think it was mostly a setup, Nick, for when President Xi comes to the us. I believe that's in September. I think that that's probably going to end up being the more substantive summit. And this seems to have been mostly relational. Now, people could say, no, no, no, we really wanted to decouple from China, and I think that's fine, but that isn't happening. The President clearly has backed off of that. They're looking to sell more and buy more, not decouple, and this appears to have been a positive meeting.

[Mary Reichardt]

Yeah.

[Nick Eicher]

Okay. And that was my follow up. David, what do you think the expectations were going in? And could it be that maybe because the summit didn't blow up or the two of them didn't get into an argument, at least an argument that we saw that that just by itself is a good thing?

[David Bonson]

Well, I think that the whole relationship right now centers around the fact that we are basically trying to figure out what the trading partnership is going to look like for the decade ahead, and that there is a desire for the US to not alienate China, and yet for us to somehow be able to get a little more sovereignty over our critical minerals and other critical infrastructure components, including semiconductor. You know, I do the economic side, the geopolitical side is very hard for me because I am fascinated by it, I study it, and I talk to a lot of people I trust. But I want to stay humble because I know what I know and I don't know what I don't know. But I will say this. I don't think that the current administration is as concerned with Taiwanese independence as they are with making sure that the US's semiconductor interest are protected before whatever happens with China and Taiwan happens. In other words, I think that our strategic imperative right now is more focused on us getting more domestic control over semiconductor manufacturing than it is whatever is going to end up happening. I don't want to be cynical and say, let us get our semiconductors out and then you can go have Taiwan. I don't think that's the case. And I also am not one who believes it's true that China wants to go imminently take Taiwan either. I think China's benefiting a great deal from having stabilized their bond market and their currency. The US would have done very well to have had China's bond market and China's currency over the last 10 years. I hate to say it. So why China would disrupt that with a globally frowned upon invasion of Taiwan. I'm not certain that that's the case, but those are the things that matter into the future right now. But it's hard to think about stuff that's five and 10 years out when we gotta get the Strait of Hormuz open. And I think that, my guess is that's where President Trump is angling, is to see where China can agree to be an ally in that cause. Yeah.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm curious, what is your sense on that, David? Can you gauge from way over here how China is weathering the closed straight? I mean, this is where they get their energy. They don't produce their own energy. Are they hurting?

[David Bonson]

Well, I don't think it's where they get all their energy, but it's where they get a significant amount. They do get an awful lot, obviously, out of the Persian Gulf, but not all of it has to come through Strait of Hormuz. You know, I think about this ideologically because I'm a kind of worldview oriented guy. Communists are not my friend and jihadists are not my friend, but that doesn't mean that communists and jihadists are each other's friends either. And I think that China's relationship with Iran is entirely transactional. I don't think it is in any way ideologically sympathetic. And so to the degree that the US can become pragmatically more beneficial to China than Iran, I think that China would leave Iran in their dust in a second. And so, yeah, no, China's hurting from this, but there's no question that a lot of oil got shipped in the early stages of this. And I think there was a lot in storage that's been able to get going. But no, I think that everybody involved on the buy side and sell side right now, and you see even US Oil prices this week and bond yields as well, we're at the point now we're kind of continuing to say, wink, wink, nod, nod. We got this. It's about to. People need to see this strait opened up.

[Nick Eicher]

Right. David, I'd like to touch on interest rates before we go, but before we leave China, is there one final takeaway to add on the summit?

[David Bonson]

Last thing I'd say, Nick, is that you look back a year ago, we were threatening 145% tariffs, and now they got children dancing and they're talking about how good the, how beautiful the flowers are and stuff. Right. Things have moved a lot. I think a lot of that is what I refer to as market discipline, that China is well aware that markets both US Stock Bond currency, financial markets discipline the President that some of his threats of a year ago are a little less efficacious now than they were. And I think China knows that and we'll see where final deals end up going. But as I said before, I think it's going to result in more trade with China, not less.

[Nick Eicher]

All right, so Kevin Warsh is now taking over as chairman of the Fed. And I took a peek over at the CME Fed watch to find out if there's any change to the interest rate indicated. And it appears that it's actually going the other direction, up, not down. Does that come as a surprise to you?

[David Bonson]

Well, it's not a surprise at this point. It will be a surprise if it actually happens. I don't think there's any scenario by which this Fed is going to be raising rates. But I think that in a way you could argue Kevin Warsh might be benefiting from this situation and the amount of dissenters at the Federal Open Market Committee because he does have the ability to try to go vote for a rate cut now and not get one and say, Mr. President, I'm sorry, that there's four other people voting against it or five other people voting against it or what have you. So there's just enough kind of disarray going on. Let's talk about interest rates in two ways real quick. The long end of the bond curve skyrocketed this week and not just in the US but globally. That's strait of hormones oriented. That's global disruption. Uk, eu, Japan. You saw bond yields going up at the long end everywhere. And then it happened in the US and for the first time in a while it got above 4.5%. So nothing brutally high, but I mean, it moved 20 basis points on the week. The short end you're referring to about what the fed funds rate can control. You're exactly right that the futures market at CME is buying contracts based on no cuts and even a small possibility of a hike. And I think that the markets now have to get Kevin Warsh in and hear him talk. He's only been talking as a candidate and doing the highly politically sanitized Senate confirmation rhetoric. Once he gets in with his colleagues and makes an argument and makes a vote and does a press conference, then markets can see what his posture is. And it's not really about the very next meeting, but the meeting or two after that. Every. Everyone can look at it the way it is now, but if you get one bad unemployment number, that's going to change. The narrative significantly. Right now everyone's saying, hey, the jobs thing has gotten a little bit better and the price issue has gotten worse. Why would you be talking about cutting rates? But the data tweaks in this stuff can turn very quickly. So I am not at all convinced that we would be getting another rate cut by the end of the year. But let's put it this way, I'm not buying fed funds futures contracts.

[Nick Eicher]

All right. David Bonson is founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of the Bonson Group. He is a writer for World Opinions and he writes each [e-mail] his current dividend cafe expands on the conversation that we had last week here about the US Debt. So. So if you'd like a deeper dive on that, we've got a link to it in today's program transcript. Or you can just sign up and have them send it to your email inbox. That is the easy way to go. David, I hope you have a great week.

[David Bonson]

Thanks so much. Nick.

[Mary Reichardt]

Good morning. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported world Radio. I'm Mary Reichardt.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Icker. Coming next, the world history book. Over 45 years ago, a new video game captured the hearts of kids around the world, and not just little boys. This game didn't focus on shooting aliens or racing cars or playing sports.

[Mary Reichardt]

No, it didn't. The cute characters, colorful screens, and simple rules appealed to just as many girls as guys. World's Jenny Ruff reports.

[Jenny Ruff]

Step inside the 45 years of PAC man exhibit at the Paley center for Media in New York City. And it's as if you're living inside the iconic video game.

[Mary Reichardt]

When we walk in, it feels like you're going through the Pac man maze.

[Jenny Ruff]

Paley center spokesperson Teresa Brady says the exhibit celebrates the game that debuted in Japan on May 22, 1980.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Pac man was invented by a Japanese game designer in his mid-20s.

[Jenny Ruff]

That's Ron Simon, head curator for the Paley Center.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

His name was Toru Iwatani, and he wanted to create a game that everyone could play.

[Jenny Ruff]

Iwatani came up with the idea of Pac man after he saw a pizza with a single slice missing from the pie. That image inspired the main character, a yellow disc with an open mouth.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

He developed the game on one concept, and that was eating that. Pac man, to keep living, had to keep on eating these pellets and escape the ghost.

[Jenny Ruff]

Iwatani originally named his video game Puckman, a play on the Japanese phrase paku, paku, which means flapping one's mouth open and closed quickly, like when eating fast. But Puckman was not going to fly in America due to the fear, teenagers would alter the word into something less innocent. The game is simple. Players move Pac man through a maze where he gobbles up the pellets, a bunch of small white dots. Pac man must avoid four ghosts nicknamed Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. If a ghost catches Pac man, he shrinks and dies. Iwatani wanted the ghosts to be cheery, not scary. And he gave each one an individual personality and movement.

[John Riggs]

One of them will kind of, you know, play it safe.

[Jenny Ruff]

John Riggs runs a YouTube channel on retro video games.

[John Riggs]

But then if you get closer to where they are, then they'll kind of, you know, creep in on ya.

[Jenny Ruff]

For Riggs and many other American kids of the 80s, their experience with Pac man was through the at home Atari console. Riggs was 4 years old the day his dad came home with one.

[John Riggs]

And I remember thinking to myself, oh, so do I have to put quarters into it to play it at home? The Atari version, it was like, you know, microwaving leftovers to play the at home version of these great arcade games. Sissel had the four ghosts. And it's still the same premise where you're running around this maze to, you know, to eat all these. I think the Atari called them wafers because they were flat.

[Jenny Ruff]

Still the bestseller. Another secret of Pac Man's appeal. No need to use buttons or tracker balls. Just a flexible wrist.

[John Riggs]

Here's this cute, fun, lovable, approachable character in Pac man that you can play a very fun game and it just uses one joystick. There's no other buttons involved.

[Jenny Ruff]

Pac man expanded into a bunch of variations. At the Paley center exhibit, Brady encourages visitors to experience the game of their choice. Hands on.

[Mary Reichardt]

Come over here.

[Jenny Ruff]

We have different Pacman games so you can scroll down. Like Ms. Pac Man.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Oh, Ms. Pac Man.

[Mary Reichardt]

I love Ms. Pac man, though.

[Jenny Ruff]

It's been a while since I played.

[Nick Eicher]

All right, we can.

[Jenny Ruff]

Brady also liked Ms. Pac man when she was young.

[Mary Reichardt]

You know what it is? I like the opening music better. I think it was more charming. And of course, you know, I was a girl and she was a girl.

[Jenny Ruff]

Ms. Pac man has a bow on her head and starts the game in a pink colored maze instead of the original blue. A group of college dropouts created the unauthorized spinoff and Pac Man's original publisher, Nameco, acquired some of the rights. In a comic, complicated legal battle, Pac man turned into a cultural phenomenon.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Pac man pack me

[Jenny Ruff]

the animation studio Hanna Barbera had a huge hit in 1982 with its series Pac Man. In the cartoon, Pac man had a wife, a baby, and even a dog named Chomp. Chomp Paley center curator Simon again.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

And that sort of gave the possibility of Pac man having a family and traveling not just locked in a maze like Pac man originally was in 1980.

[Jenny Ruff]

Once Pac man burst out of that maze, he took off. The variety of games includes Super Pac Man, Baby, Pac man, and even the little known Professor Pac Man. Pac man. Merchandise ranged from metal lunchboxes to packets of trading cards, complete with a stick of pink bubble gum. It inspired cereal, board games and a hit song.

[David Bonson]

I got a pocket full of quarters

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

and I'm heading to to the arcade Cause I got Pac man fever.

[Jenny Ruff]

Pac Man Fever by the musical duo Buckner and Garcia sold over two and a half million copies. Some say Pac man carries a hidden message, like a warning against the dangers of consumerism. Riggs again?

[John Riggs]

Yeah, have to eat all the dots. I've heard all the stories where I think people find something even as innocent as Pac man, however innocent that can be. Yeah, you can twist it any way you want. I don't believe in any of those things.

[Jenny Ruff]

Neither does Simon.

[Government Lawyer / Justice Alito / Various Justices]

Well, I think it's just a fun game where you just have to continue to eat to stay alive. It's almost very much like what it means to be. To be a human. Any person, young, old, you just have to eat and continue to move. Watch out for the obstacles, and then you thrive for another day. At its core, I mean, it does have something very human about this video game.

[Jenny Ruff]

Pac man just may be one of the more fun reminders that everyone needs their daily bread. That's this week's history book. I'm Jenny Ruff.

[Mary Reichardt]

Tomorrow, will the President's visit to China affect US Objectives in Iran? We'll talk to an expert. And a baptismal pool plays a historic as well as spiritual part in the surrounding community. That and more tomorrow. I'm Mary Reichardt.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Eicher. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The Bible says, you have dealt well with your servant. O Lord, according to your word, teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. Psalm 119, verses 65 through 68. Go now. In grace and peace.