Four years ago the U.S. Supreme Court made a blockbuster decision in the case of Citizens United, which dramatically changed the way political campaigns are funded. With the midterm election season about to get underway, The Takeaway speaks with the founders of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s—Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield—about money and politics in the post-Citizens United era and their campaign to reverse the Citizens United decision.

At the end of last year as the federal government allowed long-term unemployment benefits to expire for 1.3 million Americans, and North Carolina led the way in also reducing benefits. Paul Tine is a North Carolina state representative that voted for the unemployment cuts. Jaslyn Roberts is the career center director for Charlotte Works, a job training organization. Together they explain how things have changed in the state since benefits have been cut.

"A lot of these people are people who had one good year," says Harvard Business Professor Michael Norton on Americans considered "rich."

Our work determines how we spend most of our days, the people we spend our time with, the kind of lifestyle we can afford, and it influences our fundamental sense of who we are. It turns out that what we're paid and how we really feel about our jobs aren't always in sync. Al Gini, a professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University’s School of Business Administration and resident philosopher at WBEZ, has dedicated much of his career to understanding the value of work. He’s also the author of “My Job My Self." 

This week, financial regulatory agencies officially approved the Volcker Rule, passed as the centerpiece of the Dodd-Frank Act in June 2010. Kathryn Wylde, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Federal Reserve of New York, compares the final iteration of the Volcker Rule to what Volcker originally devised, and describes how the Rule might influence the U.S.'s economic future. 

Earlier this month, Boeing machinists in Seattle refused a new contract. Now, Boeing is looking for a new location to build the 777x, a place where unions have less of a foothold. Washington State is still lobbying to keep 777x production at home. But Aviation Industry Analyst Scott Hamilton explains why the state expects a lot of outside competition and what this means for American labor overall.

JPMorgan Chase secretly recruited the daughter of China's former prime minister, Wen Jiabao, as part of a bigger strategy to gain influence with the country's ruling elite and promote the bank's status in China. According to our partner The New York Times, JPMorgan paid a consulting firm run by the prime minister's daughter, Wen Ruchun, who used the fake name "Lily Chang." All of this comes at the same time that U.S. authorities are investigating the bank and its practices. The Takeaway speaks with New York Times reporter Ben Protess.

The September jobs report finally arrived today, delayed nearly three weeks because of the government shutdown. Despite the shutdown, the economy kept bumping along without the federal unemployment numbers. Is the private economy really so dependent on government data? Joining The Takeaway to examine the history and credibility of federal economic data is Heidi Moore, finance and economics editor for The Guardian U.S.

While few economists would argue that automatic spending cuts—through the sequester or the shutdown—are the best way to reduce wasteful spending, the cuts are in effect. Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason TV, and Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, examine what the federal government has learned from the sequester and the shutdown: What spending is wasteful, and which programs are worth it?

The economic consequences of the government shutdown are being felt by small businesses across the country. The closing of parks, national attractions and amenities, plus the ripple of effect of 800,000 national employees staying home from work this week, is hitting a lot of small businesses pretty hard. We've invited some of these small business owners on to talk about the economic impact they're feeling this week.

Just 90 minutes outside Atlanta, the town of Elberton, GA is home to a mysterious monument: The Georgia Guidestones. The stones consist of two massive granite slabs weighing more than 100 tons, engraved with a few words of advice: Guidelines in eight languages for how to rebuild society after a nuclear attack. Mart Clamp helped his father engrave the stones more than three decades ago. He's hoping to use them to revitalize Elberton’s flagging economy.

Drugstore giant Walmart announced this week that it will provide payments to eligible employees to purchase insurance on a private health insurance marketplace. Ezekiel Emanuel is the former Obama administration adviser on health care. He explains how and why more and more companies are transforming their health plans as the Affordable Care Act goes into effect.

Janet Yellen is the new presumptive front-runner for chair of the Federal Reserve. But who is Janet Yellen? And how might she change the Fed if she's put in charge? Susan M. Phillips has some insights to share. She served on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve from 1991 to 1998, overlapping with Janet Yellen during Yellen’s first appointment from 1994-1997.

In the new sharing economy, consumers can easily rent or share everything from bikes to luxury clothing. Arun Sundararajan, professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, says the new investment in renting is fueled by the rise of the internet and urbanization. The millennialtendency to rent caught the eye of Jennifer Hyman, the co-founder and CEO of Rent the Runway, a company that allows its customers to rent luxury clothes for a tenth of the retail price. 

Back in the late 1960s, when the first female traders were allowed on the floor of Wall Street, they were treated more like the butts of jokes than like trailblazers. Today, the finance and business sectors have come a long way, but they still struggle to put women in the ranks, or keep them there. Malli Gero and Rachel Sklar are two people who are trying to change that.

Does a dent in a soda can or a crumpled piece of paper affect people’s recycling habits? As it turns out, yes. According to a recent study by professors at the University of Alberta and Boston University, what our refuse looks like may be a determining factor in whether or not we recycle. Jennifer Argo, co-author of the study, joins the Takeaway to discuss how people perceive waste and how re-branding recycling may help people to recycle more often.