Crypto News: Weekend Edition: ‘Undoing years, decades, of work’

Welcome to the weekend!

Five years ago, the pandemic brought New York City to such a standstill that a full recovery seemed far from inevitable. Since then, rat sightings are up 49%, but the time it takes to resolve rat complaints has fallen precipitously. Progress!

What lets you keep your eyes peeled for rats while enjoying Bloomberg's Weekend Edition? Our audio playlist, available in the Bloomberg app (Menu → Weekend Edition). We've got seven great stories, read by professional voice actors, to make you smarter in 80 minutes.

Don't miss Sunday's Forecast email, in which we look at BYD's path to EV domination. For unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, please subscribe.

Solutions Fit for Purpose

Just a few years after corporate America embraced commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI is in a death spiral. Ideological backlash is a major factor, Simone Foxman writes, but diversity advocates are also quietly questioning whether some wounds were self-inflicted. In the fervor to capitalize on interest in racial justice, few business leaders paused to scrutinize which initiatives were actually working.

Weekend Essay

'Undoing Years, Decades, of Work'

What went wrong for DEI? It wasn't just Donald Trump.

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The gap between intention and outcome is tricky. In Australia, a ban on social media for under-16s reflects rising concerns over children's screen time and safety online — past media panics only had to focus on exposure to content, not how kids interact with it. But while blanket bans are tempting, they often fail, Catherine Page Jeffery writes. Instead, experts suggest digital literacy education.

Weekend Essay

Social Media Bans Ignore Reality

Parents should stop trying to recreate their own childhoods.

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Meeting the moment is so often complex, whether the moment is a call for racial justice, a new technology, or a politician who defies caricature. Christine Wenc's Funny Because It's True chronicles the legacy of satirical newspaper The Onion (see: "Reagan Proclaims 'Late-Afternoon in America,' Takes Nap") and holds lessons for comedians taking on Trump.

Review

The Satire-Proof Presidency

How comedy can rise to the occasion of Trump's second term.

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Dispatch

China
It's been over a year since Jason Huang entertained clients at Shanghai's karaoke bars, talking shop between songs and drinking late into the night. "With business poor and little profit," Huang says, "entertainment now usually ends with a modest dinner." The pullback in corporate hospitality is a sign of China's consumption slump — and a hurdle for brewers. After years of pushing premium beers, they're now adjusting to consumers who are spending less and staying home more.

Illustration: Isabella Cotier for Bloomberg

Auto Zones

"The moment I got into the car I thought: It's in line with BMWs, Audis, with top-notch car finishing. It has everything I want."

Luiz Palladino

Engineer who drives a Chinese EV

As the US and Europe impose tariffs to protect domestic automakers, countries from South Africa to Brazil are embracing affordable, feature-rich cars out of China. Rising adoption of EVs is accelerating the trend, helping companies like BYD and Great Wall challenge industry giants and reshape the global auto landscape.

Weekend Plans

What we're watching: Severance Season Two. The Apple TV+ drama heralds a rise in workplace fiction that explores mistrust between employers and employees.

What we're asking ChatGPT: Monopolies, good or bad? AI may get its market-upending "iPhone moment," but the current boom is enriching a few big players.

What we're accepting: uncertainty. In Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty, Adam Kucharski examines how to make decisions without definitive answers.

What we're yelling: Pivot! That's what BP did when it shifted to renewable energy, losing a ton of money in the process. Now the company is refocusing on oil.

What we're listening to: Levittown, a new series from the Big Take podcast. Young women in a model suburb are drawn into a global battle over AI-fueled porn.