Most Recent Posts

Thanks to the fast-growing sharing economy, anyone can make money renting out their home or car — or becoming a personal chef.

Just ask Time magazine columnist Joel Stein. He decided to give the sharing economy a try, then wrote about his experience, The explosion of new social apps and services powering this new consumer landscape gave him the opportunity to run a few of his own DIY businesses. He rented out his Mini Cooper, drove people around in it a-la-Lyft and cooked for strangers.

'Sharing' As A Misnomer

A recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the sharing economy is growing faster than ever, led by Airbnb and Uber. And those participating feel it's more personal and convenient.

Of the 44 percent of U.S. adults who are familiar with the sharing economy, 86 percent say it makes life more affordable, 83 percent say it makes life more convenient and efficient and 78 percent say it builds a stronger community.

All Tech Considered

For Ridesharing Apps Like Lyft, Commerce Is A Community

All Tech Considered

What's Mine Is Yours (For A Price) In The Sharing Economy

A lot of companies prefer the term, "on demand" economy, Stein tells NPR's Robert Siegel. What's really happening, Stein says, is "people wanting things as soon as they can get them by pressing a button on their phone."

Part of what's transforming our consumption habits is that we have a different relationship to property because "things" are more accessible and less valuable, Stein says. So we're spending more money on experiences. According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, 43 percent of consumers say that "owning today feels like a burden."

Stein lost money when it came to running his own restaurant, but was profitable driving others and charging $35 a day to rent out his car.

The Human Element

Stein used RelayRides — an Avis or Hertz of car-sharing — to rent out his Mini Cooper. He found that rentees picked up his car from his house and often went the extra step to fill up the gas tank.

Still, there are downsides of becoming your own small business. One Sicilian customer asked what the R, D and N meant on his stick shift — a clue that he would later get a call from her telling him she'd had an accident. But RelayRides's insurance handled it "amazingly," Stein says, and covered the damage.

A large part of what makes this collaborative consumption work is getting strangers to trust strangers. Sites like eBay were testing grounds when it came to building a level of trust in online peer-to-peer transactions. Several people who used to work for eBay now work in the sharing economy, Stein says, which adopted the model of getting the user and the provider to rate each other. It reduces the number of bad actors and promotes trust amongst strangers, otherwise built by the reputation of a brand name of a big business.

"If you want a more personal experience, or in most cases, a cheaper experience, you take a little more risk with an Airbnb, but you get a less generic experience than you do at a big name hotel," Stein says.

And these companies are on the market value scale of large corporations, like Delta Airlines and Hilton Worldwide. PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that by 2025, global revenues from sharing economy companies will soar to an estimated $335 billion, from about $15 billion today.

A Sharing Economy Horror Story

It may be a more personal experience, but it's still a business transaction. So, what happens when something goes wrong in the peer-to-peer setting? In a darker story of Airbnb experiences, the host passed away while the guest was staying in her apartment.

Jordan Ruttenberg, a student at Wesleyan University, relocated to Brooklyn for a summer job with his friend Connor. They booked a place through Airbnb. His host, who they met once via Skype, was in California at the time. Mid-stay, Connor noticed messages on their host's Facebook wall in the tone of: "You have to pull out of this" or "We need you."

After reaching out to a friend of the host, he learned she had overdosed and been pulled off life support. His arrangement turned eerie, as he continued to stay in this woman's apartment, with all her personal belongings and photographs.

Ultimately, the host's brother contacted Ruttenberg, asking when his checkout date was, assuming the procedural manner of a business arrangement.

"I recognize the tragedy in it," Ruttenberg says, "but our relationship with her was a logistical one. And so, her death for us was largely of a logistical nature."

Ruttenberg says he would still use Airbnb for short-term stays.

sharing economy

airbnb

Whenever someone from the edges of the country comes to visit me in the Midwest, I don't let them leave until they've tried deep-fried cheese curds.

If you're not familiar, "cheese curds" are a byproduct of the cheddar cheese-making process, and "deep frying" is a method by which anything is made into a better version of itself.

You can find deep-fried cheese curds all over the states surrounding Wisconsin. But today we're eating the exceptional beer-battered ones from Farmhouse in Chicago.

Peter: Some say that the sweet potato is nature's perfect food, because it's packed with vitamins. Well, $&*&% you, Nature, this is mine.

Eva: Whoever invented these should win an Oscar. I don't care if it doesn't fit. The Academy should make an exception.

i

Robert is transfixed. NPR hide caption

itoggle caption NPR

Robert is transfixed.

NPR

Miles: No one let the cheese curds know that I brought a salad for lunch — I don't want to look like a nerd in front of them.

Jeanette: I appreciate any food item that oils my cuticles as I eat. It's my ideal spa experience.

Ian: I like how non-fried cheese can now be considered a Healthy Alternative.

Miles: In the Midwestern version of the Bible, the serpent tempts Eve with cheese curds. It's called Wiscon-Original-Sin.

i

Sistine Chapel close-up. NPR hide caption

itoggle caption NPR

Sistine Chapel close-up.

NPR

Peter: No just God would punish her for giving in.

Eva: Little Miss Muffet can no longer sit on her tuffet. What is a tuffet?

i

Miles attacks. NPR hide caption

itoggle caption NPR

Miles attacks.

NPR

Peter: I don't know, but if you batter and deep-fry it, I'll fight you for it.

Ian: These are so delicious that when you think about them shortening your life, you only worry about it because it means less time to eat cheese curds.

Peter: I had deep-fried cheese curds on an early date with my ex-wife. I realize now what I really fell in love with.

i

Cheese, improved. NPR hide caption

itoggle caption NPR

Cheese, improved.

NPR

Eva: The last cheese curd is the No. 1 cause of murder among dear friends.

[The verdict: a perfect food.]

Sandwich Monday is a satirical feature from the humorists at Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!

cheese

Wisconsin

Midwest

sandwich monday

Six writers have withdrawn from the PEN American Center's annual gala on May 5 in protest against the free-speech organization's decision to give the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo its annual Freedom of Expression Courage Award.

The writers who have withdrawn from the event are Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner and Taiye Selasi, The New York Times reports.

In its decision to honor Charlie Hebdo, PEN America cited the satirical publication's "dauntlessness in the face of one of the most noxious assaults on expression in recent memory." An attack on Jan. 7 by Islamist militants on the magazine and its staff killed 12 people, including some of its top cartoonists and editors. In a statement, PEN added:

"The day after the attack, the surviving staff of Charlie Hebdo magazine vowed to continue publication, releasing their next edition on time with a print run expanded from 40,000 to over eight million under the mantra 'All is Forgiven,' donating all proceeds to the families of the victims. The Charlie Hebdo attacks dealt a blow to the bedrock principle that no act of expression, no matter how provocative or offensive, can justify violence."

Charlie Hebdo had long pilloried political and religious figures, but it was its depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad that had drawn much scrutiny – as well as death threats from militant groups. Many Muslims consider any depiction of their prophet — even positive ones — to be offensive. Critics of the magazine say Charlie Hebdo was being deliberately provocative.

Kushner, in an email to The Times, said she was withdrawing from the May 5 PEN gala because she was uncomfortable with Charlie Hebdo's "cultural intolerance" and promotion of "a kind of forced secular view." Those views, The Times added, were echoed by the other writers who pulled out of the event.

Carey told The Times that PEN, in its decision, was going beyond its role of protecting freedom of expression.

"A hideous crime was committed, but was it a freedom-of-speech issue for PEN America to be self-righteous about?" he said in an email to the newspaper.

Novelist Salman Rushdie, a past president of PEN who spent years in hiding because of a fatwa over his novel The Satanic Verses, criticized the writers for pulling out, saying while Carey and Ondaatje were old friends of his, they are "horribly wrong."

PEN, in a statement on Sunday, said: "We do not believe that any of us must endorse the content of Charlie Hebdo's cartoons in order to affirm the importance of the medium of satire, or to applaud the staff's bravery in holding fast to those values in the face of life and death threats."

It added:

"We recognize that these issues are complex, and that there are good faith differences of opinion within our community. At PEN, we never shy away from controversy nor demand uniformity of opinion across our ranks. We will be sorry not to see those who have opted out of the gala, but we respect them for their convictions."

The award for Charlie Hebdo will be accepted by the publication's film critic and essayist Jean-Baptiste Thoret, who had arrived to work late on the day of the attack.

PEN America

Charlie Hebdo

Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is in the U.S. all this week for a tightly-packed visit that will focus largely on the strong ties between the U.S. and its closest Asian ally.

There was a time not so long ago that the prime minister's office in Toyko appeared to have a revolving door. Japan went through four prime ministers during President Obama's first three years in office alone.

Abe was first elected as prime minister in 2006, but that tenure lasted just one year, in large part because of health problems. When he swept to power again in late 2012, he was determined to rebuild Japan's battered economy and elevate the country's role on the world stage. This visit should help with the latter goal as Abe will have a summit with Obama and a state dinner at the White House with 300 guests.

Image is important to the Abe administration, and it'll be on display during this U.S. visit, says Shihoko Goto, an Asia specialist with the Woodrow Wilson Center.

"He's very charismatic ... he has a very charming wife and so she will be a great asset to him at the public events. ... The White House is really going out full force to roll out the red carpet for him," she says.

One of the first things the two allies will do is sign updated defense cooperation guidelines. The revised guidelines call for a more active role for Japan's military. That's important given concerns over North Korea's nuclear capability, and China's rising military prowess.

Since World War 2, Japan has had a pacifist constitution, which has constrained its military. Abe has been seeking to ease restrictions on the armed forces, says Goto.

"The neighborhood is becoming increasingly dangerous. And also the fact that the United States is overstretched and that Japan really does need to step up to the plate to ensure not only its own stability and security, but also the region's stability and security as well," she says.

The role of Japan's military could cast a shadow during Abe's visit. Korean groups and others are calling on him to apologize for Japan's aggression during World War 2 when he addresses Congress.

It is the first time ever a Japanese prime minister will address a joint meeting of Congress, and there will be two key audiences: U.S. lawmakers and the Asian community.

Gerald Curtis, a political professor at Columbia University says Abe will have to tread carefully in his speech — address the war, then move on.

"It's an opportunity to celebrate the success of Japanese post-war democracy and diplomacy, and the U.S.-Japan alliance. But he has to deal with this history issue so that it doesn't completely ... drive attention away from really what's most important, which is where we go from now on," he says.

One of the things the U.S. is looking for is to reinforce its commitment to Asia, which includes solidifying economic ties. Central to that is an enormous Asia-Pacific trade deal, called the Trans Pacific Partnership.

Japan and the U.S. have been locked in the final, toughest stages of negotiations over things like imports of rice and American cars. Alison Evans, an Asian specialist at IHS Country Risk, believes that the differences could be worked out by the time the two leaders meet.

"These negotiations have gone on for a couple of years ... however with Abe's visit to Washington, DC ... there's been a lot of momentum that have brought negotiations on the Japanese and U.S. side together," she says.

Evans says that could give both Obama and Abe a chance to say there's been progress when the two leaders meet this week.

trade negotiations

Asia

United States

Military

Japan

security