Recession Indicator Memes Are Getting Too Real

Apr 30, 2025

31:52

forum

Ask episode

view_agenda

Chapters

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

Recession indicator memes are everywhere, pointing to everything from office wear at the club to Lady Gaga’s return to pop music as signs of looming economic doom. But with the stock market sinking and tariffs piling up, the jokes are starting to hit closer to home. In this episode, KQED community reporter Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí joins Morgan to unpack how the memes might be fueling the very recession they joke about. We also hear from USC public policy professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on the links between culture, consumption, and the economy.

Guests:

Candice Lim, co-host of ICYMI from SlateCarlos Cabrera-Lomelí, community reporter at KQED

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, professor of public policy at the University of Southern California