The wait is over for Taylor Swift fans. Tickets for T-Swift's "Reputation" stadium tour are officially on sale, and Ticketmaster is helping her fight the fraud bots. Together, the pair created an exclusive program called "Taylor Swift Tix". Amy Howe, COO at Ticketmaster joined us to discuss how it not only helps the company and the artist, but also the fans.
One problem plaguing the ticket industry is scalpers and fraudulent bots. The goal of the exclusive program is to ensure tickets get directly into the hands of fans. Ticketmaster issued a warning about unofficial sellers who offer to sell tickets before they even have them.
Howe also touched on Ticketmaster's collaboration with the NFL. With the NFL playoffs around the corner, Ticketmaster is working to make sure fans get access to tickets using its 100% Verified Tickets platform, which ensures the ticket is real. The deal also marks a transition to the first fully digital ticketing system in sports.
Bitcoin's rise to the mainstream has been a wild ride this year. The cryptocurrency is trading a little under $49,000 Wednesday morning and is set to finish the year sharply higher than where it began earlier this year. Ether prices also soared this year, rising from $730 per coin to nearly $4,000. Ben Armstrong, founder of Bitboy Crypto, joins us to discuss what's in store for crypto in 2022.
The NHTSA is investigating Tesla over the potential for crashes and distracted driving due to its front touch screen "Passenger Play" game option. The probe covers 580,000 vehicles for all four models from 2017 to 2022.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed staff about workplace culture concerns after they expressed issues with what they perceived as a lack of honesty, candor, and humility from their executives. Pichai attributed some of the challenges to remote communication during the ongoing pandemic.
The boys discuss President Biden's plans to send out free rapid tests as the testing supply chain starts to buckle ahead of the holidays. Also, why aren't Americans having more babies, and The Matrix returns.
NASA is launching its new generation of space telescopes just before Christmas. The James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch on December 24th, will succeed the Hubble space telescope as the world's most powerful complex space observatory. The project has been 30 years in the making and is one of the most highly anticipated space science missions of the 21st century. Klaus Pontoppidan, astronomer and JWST Project Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Electric vehicle companies took a tumble Monday after Senator Joe Manchin killed Biden's 'Build Back Better' plan. Shares of Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian all fell rapidly as the plan had included significant incentives for the growing EV sector. Rich Steinberg, former executive at Nissan, BMW and Electrify America joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
