Pushkin.

It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here?

Fiasco is a history podcast for the co-creators of Slow Burn.

In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examined an unmistakable turning point in American

politics, the 2000 election, which resulted in a high-stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most

controversial rulings in Supreme Court history.

So if you're trying to make sense at the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore.

Listen on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

From Pushkin Industries, this is Deep Background, the show where we explore the stories behind the stories in the news.

I'm Noah Feldman. According to a report released by the Commerce Department this week,

U.S. consumer spending

in September sunk to its lowest rate in seven months.

This is just the latest data point of many that seemed to suggest we may be headed for a recession.

Prakash Longani is an advisor at the International Monetary Fund.

Before that, he was an analyst at the Federal Reserve

Board's International Finance Division. He has spent a lot of time thinking about recessions

and how economists predict them or don't. Prakash, thank you so much for joining me.

I want to start with, as it were, recessions 101. You know, the other day my 14-year-old son

said to me, Dad, actually, what's the definition of recession? And I got up to my two quarters in a row of

negative growth of GDP, and then I had to pause. So tell us, first of all, you know,

what is the definition of recession that economists use?

And also, how did they come up with this definition? Because, you know, two quarters in a row

...