This week: The Trump administration offered a resignation deal to millions of federal employees. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss why this plan seems like a bad idea – for everyone. Then, Invidia’s stock dropped this week when Deepseek proved AI can be done cheaper. But is this just steam engines and Jevons paradox all over again? Finally, the bookstore is back. The hosts discuss the recent success of Barnes & Noble and why they, and other bookstores, are the unexpected winners of the digital media age.

In the Slate Plus episode: CVS has a new way of locking up their stuff.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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Slate Money | The Federal Employee ‘Buyout’ Makes No Sense