The spotlight will be on the most talented canines in the country when the AKC National Championship Dog Show airs on New Year's Day. Megan Leavey, U.S. Marine Corporal Veteran, who completed two tours in Iraq in 2005 and 2006 along with her military working dog Rex, joined us to chat about her life experiences that influenced her to get involved in the event.
The competition celebrates five dogs that have significantly improved the lives of their owners and communities. Leavey explains how the organization selects the dogs for the show and shares the most extraordinary thing she has seen a dog do. She says the bomb-sniffing dogs make the top of the list.
Leavey was discharged from the military after suffering an injury in the line of duty and receiving the Purple Heart. That didn't stop her from working with some of the most talented dogs. The veteran continued to work as a K9 handler in NYC with another explosion detection dog.
Guitarist Ian Neville and Martin Shore, director of 'Take Me to the River: New Orleans,' join Cheddar News to discuss their new film and the importance of New Orleans music.
Fresh off of ringing the opening bell on the Nasdaq on the marijuana holiday, 4/20, Yoko Miyashita, CEO of cannabis website Leafly, joined Cheddar News to discuss the future of cannabis in the U.S. and the growth of her company going forward. "I think this is a new a new high, pardon the pun, but really elevating 4/20 from what used to be sort of an insider cultural moment to something that we're recognizing across the industry, really memorials the impact that this industry has," she said.
Model, actor, and deaf activist Nyle DiMarco, along with interpreter Greyson Van Pelt, joined Cheddar News to talk about his new book "Deaf Utopia" and deaf representation in Hollywood. DiMarco gave a glimpse into what his book focuses on. "I've always felt like audiences think that they know me well, but there are so many other stories that really make me who I am. And I'm excited to share those," he said. DiMarco also hoped he was able to capture in its pages the centuries of oppression that have been faced by the deaf community.
Marijuana legalization has spread across the country in recent years, and the number of Americans in support of legalization is at an all-time high. Andrew Bowden, CEO of the premium cannabis brand Item 9 Labs, joined Cheddar to break down the inner workings of the industry and how the industry can grow from here.
Home builder confidence has fallen to a seven-month low as surging mortgage rates and supply chain issues boost housing costs. At the same time, demand for homes is strong, with homebuilding unexpectedly rising in March, despite rising mortgage rates. But, as the Fed raises interest rates, some analysts are pointing to signs of cooling in the housing market. Tim Rood, Managing Director of SitusAMC, breaks down the latest data and what it signals about the housing market.
While rising wages might be positively impacting workers, inflation continues to rear its ugly head. Will pay increases be able to keep up with the costs of living? Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, joined Cheddar News to talk about how the American worker is contending with inflation. "I'm a little skeptical whether wages are going to keep that pace that some are fearful about," he said. "We don't have a historical record that makes that case, and we think about how through the last economic recovery that we had before the pandemic really began to take hold in March and April of 2020 wage growth was really sort of the last part of that chapter."
