It’s our first Hollowed Out Shell of a Thursday of 2022. Let’s dive in. Today we talk about how small business has fared during this wave of the coronavirus omicron variant. We also discuss the Supreme Court’s response to President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for large employers and what it means. Plus, an update on the situation at the Ukraine-Russia border and new charges against some of the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. And some fishy Make Me Smiles. Stay tuned to the end because Kai finally gives us his most played songs of 2021.

Here’s everything we talked about on the show:

• “Omicron Hits U.S. Small Firms, With One-Third Posting Sales Drop” from Bloomberg
• court-ruling-biden-covid-vaccine-mandates.html">“Supreme Court blocks Biden Covid vaccine mandate for businesses, allows health-care worker rule” from CNBC
• court-biden-vaccine-mandate.html">“Supreme Court Blocks Biden’s Virus Mandate for Large Employers” from The New York Times
• Massachusetts wastewater COVID update shows levels dropping from NBC Boston
• us-ukraine-talks.html">“Russia and the U.S. Face Off Over Ukraine” from The New York Times
• “U.S. is ‘fully prepared’ if Russia invades Ukraine, secretary of state says” from NPR
• “Oath Keepers leader, 10 others charged with ‘seditious conspiracy’ in Jan. 6 Capitol attack” from NBC News