A new bilingual Shakespeare production offers a refreshing take on a classic, at a time when theater companies are also broadening their casting.
Driving the news: The Public Theater and WNYC Studios recently debuted a bilingual audio adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" — "Romeo y Julieta" — starring Mexican-born Lupita Nyong’o and Colombian-born Juan Castano.
It's a discouraging scene: Bidding wars, soaring prices, and fears that homeownership is becoming out of reach for millions of Americans. We're in a housing frenzy, driven by a massive shortage of inventory — and no one seems to be happy about it.
Why it matters: Not all bubbles burst. Real estate, in particular, tends to rise in value much more easily than it falls. Besides, says National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun, this "is not a bubble. It is simply lack of supply."
Cities far from the coasts have emerged as havens to job seekers and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an estimate from the Wall Street Journal.
How it works: To determine the strongest job market in the U.S., The Journal rated 53 regions with more than 1 million residents on factors that included unemployment rate, wages and change in payroll and size of workforce.
The past year's avalanche of special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, has been an unexpected boon for some investors in the climate tech industry.
Driving the news: According to an analysis by Climate Tech VC from Dec. 11, the 10 climate tech companies that completed mergers in 2020 notably outperformed, posting on average a 131% return, compared with the 50% return of the total SPAC post-merger market (assuming a $10 offer price).
The Chinese government imposed an antitrust fine equivalent to $2.8 billion on tech and e-commerce company Alibaba, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: It's a record penalty in the country and a continuation of Beijing regulators' scrutiny on the business empire of founder Jack Ma, who was ordered in December to transform his Ant Group into a financial holding company overseen by China’s central bank.
Silicon Valley got a black eye a decade ago when its big venture capital foray into expensive and nascent cleantech didn’t pan out—but its recently renewed interest in a wider scope of technologies that can tackle the climate crisis could be different this time around.
Why it matters: Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, and the tech industry’s innovation could be a powerful tool to stem it.
