Senior reporter at Marketplace, based in Baltimore. Focus on education (but also into other big economic stories). Let me know what we should be reporting on: shughes@marketplace.orghttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mtu2wx6hbs2t"There is something that happens to you mentally after a year where you're like, there's no job for me.” Really moving words from Catherine Maddux, in this fantastic story about unemployment from my colleague @samfields.bsky.social https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/21/what-longterm-unemployment-looks-like-in-a-lowhire-economy24 Aug 2026 19:45 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtu2wx6hbs2thttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3ms6prs6iu22yIt should be a crime to require more than one click to unsubscribe from something03 Aug 2026 14:34 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms6prs6iu22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mrpo2xqmds2wI always feel like there should be more than one e in the word "deficit"28 Jul 2026 14:53 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrpo2xqmds2whttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mrb2x7ajms2lIn a move of desperation, I just had one of my kid's Clif Z Bars as an afternoon snack, and woooo-e do I feel the sugar in it.22 Jul 2026 19:34 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrb2x7ajms2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mr6fbuiuo22rSometimes writing a radio script feels like putting puzzle pieces together21 Jul 2026 18:01 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr6fbuiuo22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mqpcdbpeqk2bWhat is your home page? News? Something fun? I've had MSN as my default since I switched to the Edge browser a while back, and have been trying to figure out what's best. I feel like I want something like .... onenicefactaday.com https://onenicefactaday.com15 Jul 2026 17:58 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqpcdbpeqk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mpjs6bfyvk2bFor a story for Marketplace, I'd love to talk to someone who is behind on their student loan payments. I want to know what's hard about paying the debt, what kind of obstacles they've faced. Any chance you know someone? My deadline is Thursday at 5 pm ET. 267-388-1450 / shughes@marketplace.org30 Jun 2026 20:00 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpjs6bfyvk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mpjbbrq6lc2qDoes anyone else ever do something, then write it on their to-do list, and cross it out? It's both to remember I've done it, also for the satisfaction of crossing it out. Just me?30 Jun 2026 14:58 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpjbbrq6lc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mofwjo3yck2bThis is kind of the best: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/culture-japan-fans-clean-world-023219048.html16 Jun 2026 13:43 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mofwjo3yck2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mncp2y63322lDid you guys know that back in the 70s, everyone from aerospace companies to potato brands were trying to figure out how to make energy? I loved talking with historians @ccmmody.bsky.social and Dante LaRiccia about this period of elevated oil prices. [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Jun 2026 13:26 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mncp2y63322lhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mmzcjre7wc26I'm going to be on all three @marketplace.org broadcast shows on Monday. I feel like there should be some sort of name for this, like a treble, or batting for the cycle.29 May 2026 19:48 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmzcjre7wc26https://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mmrybj7gic2eGuys, I was this week-years old when I learned plug-in solar was a thing. I just talked about it with @paulosanalysis.com for @marketplace.org -- it's essentially a solar panel that you can plug into your wall like a toaster, but instead of taking power, it feeds power to your house!26 May 2026 21:55 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmrybj7gic2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mmeickh3ks2aWatching the Google I/O keynote from this week, and so many of their search example questions are about optimizing health and exercise. I wonder what percentage of Google searches are actually about these things. It feels very...Bay Area.21 May 2026 13:05 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmeickh3ks2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mmac2s62r22cIt's always a nice moment when you've been rolling around in a mud of information and reporting, and then a story actually starts to take shape.19 May 2026 21:03 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmac2s62r22chttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mlw6l4iqu225"There are videos of Waymos stopping at puddles in traffic, and snarling traffic because they wouldn't cross a puddle." @willoremus.com on @marketplace.org Tech Bytes this week, on self-driving cars dealing with new situations Our whole chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms84j82xXbI15 May 2026 20:34 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlw6l4iqu225https://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mlw4t5hclc2rDoing a short turn piece on Cerebras's IPO, and it seems I can never spell "initial" correctly the first time I type it.15 May 2026 20:02 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlw4t5hclc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mltdp77jhs2q"If there's one thing I could tell people to do, it would be to use a password manager. Do not reuse old passwords." @racheltobac.bsky.social, on how to protect yourselves from hacks14 May 2026 17:27 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mltdp77jhs2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3ml6tfia5o226"Buckley got an alert about a “ninja cat.” The video was a big letdown: 'It was just a normal, non-ninja, black cat.'" https://www.wsj.com/tech/are-those-brake-lights-or-a-house-on-fire-your-security-camera-cant-tell-c40b1cce?st=JXpdvF&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink06 May 2026 13:42 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6tfia5o226https://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mkan3kgwmc23Sometimes I'll continue to see targeted ads for something I've already bought, and I wish I could tell the internet "look, I already bought that thingy; don't bother me anymore about it."24 Apr 2026 13:30 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkan3kgwmc23https://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mjpetjahhk24Learned a new word while talking to Tony Pipa of @brookings.edu -- "peri-urban," which means the edge of a town17 Apr 2026 16:47 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjpetjahhk24https://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mjozy764w22iDon't put anything in writing you wouldn't want an AI to read: https://www.forbes.com/sites/annatong/2026/04/16/ais-new-training-data-your-old-work-slacks-and-emails/17 Apr 2026 13:32 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjozy764w22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mjk7w75k4s26"What do my miraculous sunglasses tell me? Many things. They inform me, in the voice of Princess Anna from “Frozen,” that my dog is a golden retriever mix (he is not) and that a tree I am looking at is probably an oak (it is not)." https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/magazine/ai-sunglasses-meta-zuckerberg.html15 Apr 2026 15:35 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjk7w75k4s26https://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mjk5idaxv22lI wonder why we refer to $1,000 as a grand, but we don't refer to a thousand other things as a grand. I almost just wrote "a grand of people" in a pitch, and then I had to think "Stephanie, that isn't a thing."15 Apr 2026 14:52 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjk5idaxv22lhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mhir3dhs322mAmong the things I talked about with @anitar.bsky.social how Amazon's speedy delivery affects how I think about my pant shopping needs. https://www.marketplace.org/episode/2026/03/20/geckos-71m-contract-with-us-navy-buzzfeed-business-viability-amazon-faster-delivery20 Mar 2026 14:47 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhir3dhs322mhttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mheieufc722tI know there is a LOT going on, but I just saw a bumper sticker that said "What would Blair Waldorf do?" and I am all about this.18 Mar 2026 22:00 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mheieufc722thttps://bsky.app/profile/hughesstephanie.bsky.social/post/3mg6qagad722nMy colleague shared this happiness map, and man, at this moment in time, AM I HERE FOR THIS. https://pudding.cool/2026/02/happy-map/03 Mar 2026 21:40 +0000at://did:plc:ac6f2rt6ffmmpfbsozoowtjx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg6qagad722n