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Planet Money

NPR

300 episodes

Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Planet Money.

Episodes page 4 of 6

  1. When Chinese manufacturing met Small Town, USA

    · 31 min

    Over the past decade, politicians from both parties have courted American voters with an enticing economic prospect – the dream of bringing manufacturing and manufacturing jobs back to America. They've pushed for that…

  2. Trump's crypto interests (Two Indicators)

    · 18 min

    Today on the show – our crypto president. Just before President Donald Trump began his second administration in January, he and his business partners launched the $TRUMP coin. It's a memecoin that quickly raked in…

  3. The U.S.-China trade war, according to game theory

    · 28 min

    Over the last few months U.S.-China trade relations have been pretty hard to make sense of – unless you look at what's happening through the lens of game theory. Game theory is all about how decisions are made, based…

  4. Why does the government fund research at universities?

    · 27 min

    American universities are where people go to learn and teach. They're also where research and development happens. Over the past eight decades, universities have received billions in federal dollars to help that…

  5. The secret world behind those scammy text messages

    · 34 min

    You might have seen these texts before. The scam starts innocently enough. Maybe it's a "Long time no see" or "Hello" or "How are you." For investigative reporter Zeke Faux it was – "Hi David, I'm Vicky Ho. Don't you…

  6. How economists (and TikTok) know if a recession is coming

    · 24 min

    Lately we've noticed that something we think about all the time here at Planet Money is having a viral moment: recession indicators! From the more practical (like sales for lipstick going up and men's underwear going…

  7. The 145% tariff already did its damage

    · 27 min

    Even though the 145% tariff on Chinese imports only lasted a month, it already inflicted its scars on the economy. Global trade is just not something you can turn off and on like that. Some companies got really…

  8. What happened to U.S. farmers during the last trade war

    · 26 min

    The U.S. exports billions of dollars worth of agricultural products each year — things like soybeans, corn and pork. And over the last month, these exports have been caught up in a trade war. U.S. farmers have been…

  9. Is the reign of the dollar over?

    · 26 min

    For decades, dollars have been the world's common financial language. Central banks everywhere hold dollars as a way to safely store their wealth. Countries, businesses, and people use it to trade; around 90% of all…

  10. What "Made in China" actually means

    · 27 min

    Virtually every product brought into the United States must have a so-called "country of origin." Think of it as the official place it comes from. And this is the country that counts for calculating tariffs. But what…

  11. Why it's so hard to find a public toilet

    · 24 min

    Why is it so hard to find a bathroom when you need one? In the U.S., we used to have lots of publicly accessible toilets. But many had locks on the doors and you had to put in a coin to use them. Pay toilets created a…

  12. Planet Money complains. To learn.

    · 26 min

    On today's show: we're ... venting. We at Planet Money are an ensemble show – each with different curiosities and styles. But we recently realized many of us have something in common: We're annoyed consumers. So we're…

  13. How 23andMe's bankruptcy led to a run on the gene bank

    · 31 min

    Reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi's Aunt Vovi signed up for 23andMe back in 2017, hoping to learn more about the genetic makeup of her ancestors. Vovi was one of over 15 million 23andMe customers who sent their saliva off…

  14. A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence

    · 20 min

    President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing politics by keeping interest rates high. Trump has also…

  15. How much for that egg

    · 31 min

    Recently, one of our NPR colleagues wrote a message to all of NPR saying he had extra eggs to sell for cheap, but needed a fair way to distribute them during a shortage. What is Planet Money here for if not to get…

  16. OIRA: The tiny office that's about to remake the federal government

    · 27 min

    OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful. For the…

  17. Trade war dispatch from Canada

    · 26 min

    How do you run a business when a trade war is brewing? As President Trump's tariffs kick in - or are paused or are restarted - businesses around the world are trying to navigate the uncertainty. And, while trade is…

  18. Do trade deficits matter?

    · 24 min

    At the heart of President Trump's tariffs is this idea that we should not be buying more from other countries than they are buying from us. Basically, he wants to get rid of the trade deficit. And in the wake of the…

  19. How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries

    · 28 min

    Ever wondered why you can buy fresh Peruvian blueberries in the dead of winter? The answer, surprisingly, is tied to cocaine. Today on the show, we look at how the War on Drugs led to an American trade policy and a…

  20. Tariffs: What are they good for?

    · 23 min

    What are tariffs good for? For years, mainstream economists have basically said: tariffs are not good. They are an import tax paid by consumers, they've said, and they discourage free trade, and we want more! Because…

  21. PM x Radiolab: Can the economy grow forever?

    · 37 min

    Earth can sustain life for another 100 million years, but can we? This episode, we partner with Radiolab to take stock of the essential raw materials that enable us to live as we do here on Earth — everything from sand…

  22. Planet Money buys a mystery diamond

    · 32 min

    The deal seemed too good to be true. There's a website that's been selling top quality diamonds at bizarrely low prices. Prices we couldn't find at any retail outlet. Prices so low, we could buy a diamond on a public…

  23. Can we just change how we measure GDP?

    · 22 min

    There's one statistic that rules them all when it comes to keeping track of the economy: gross domestic product (GDP). It's the sum of all final transactions, so all the goods or services bought and sold, in an…

  24. Escheat show (Update)

    · 23 min

    Note: This original episode ran in 2020. Walter Schramm did everything right as an investor — at least according to the philosophy of Warren Buffett. So how come he lost a small fortune? In this episode, we look into…

  25. How Tupperware took over our homes, with Decoder Ring

    · 28 min

    Tupperware is the stealthy star of our modern homes. These plastic storage containers are ubiquitous in our fridges, pantries, and closets. But the original product was revolutionary. So was its breakthrough sales…

  26. The last time we shrank the federal workforce

    · 27 min

    If you cut every single federal job President Donald Trump wants to cut, how much money would that save? A president has tried to massively shrink the size of the federal government before. It was in the 90s, under a…

  27. How to start a bank

    · 26 min

    In some ways, starting a bank is a lot like starting any other business. Who will you hire? Where will you be located? What color will the couches be? But it's also way more complicated. There are tons of regulations…

  28. The Parable of Peanut the Memecoin

    · 35 min · Explicit

    Memecoins are having a moment. Everyone from Hawk Tuah to President Donald Trump to animal influencers like Moo Deng the pygmy hippo have been turned into cryptocurrency. But what are the costs of all the hype? On…

  29. The Memecoin Casino

    · 28 min · Explicit

    What do Moo Deng the pygmy hippo, social media sensation Hawk Tuah, and the President of the United States all have in common? They've all inspired highly valuable, highly volatile memecoins. The humble memecoin began…

  30. The controversy over Tyson Foods' hiring of asylum seekers

    · 25 min

    Last year, Tyson Foods shuttered a meat processing plant in Perry, Iowa. The company said it made the decision because the plant was old and inefficient. But the closure was devastating for the residents of Perry. The…

  31. The rise and fall of Long Term Capital Management

    · 28 min

    There's this cautionary tale, in the finance world, that nearly any trader can tell you. It's about placing too much confidence in math and models. It's the story of Long Term Capital Management. The story begins back…

  32. Can the president override Congress on spending?

    · 22 min

    So the president can't spend more money than Congress has agreed and voted to spend. But can the president spend less money than Congress wants? It all comes down to something called "impoundment" and the Impoundment…

  33. The Big Government Money Pipe Freeze

    · 26 min

    There has been chaotic uncertainty around billions of dollars allocated by Congress. The Trump administration ordered a pause on — and review of — certain types of federal assistance. A judge blocked that freeze. But…

  34. The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

    · 23 min · Explicit

    The trip that changed Tigran Gambaryan's life forever was supposed to be short — just a few days. When he flew to Nigeria in February of 2024, he didn't even check a bag. Tigran is a former IRS Special Agent. He made…

  35. The fight for a legendary shipwreck's treasure

    · 23 min

    The San Jose was a marvel of 17th century technology. The Spanish galleon weighed more than a thousand tons, was made of wood reinforced with iron, and featured three masts and 64 cannons. In its cargo were gold,…

  36. How the scratch off lottery changed America

    · 30 min

    Americans spend more on scratch lottery tickets per year than on pizza. More than all Coca-Cola products. Yet the scratch ticket as a consumer item has only existed for fifty years. Not so long ago, the idea of an…

  37. How DeepSeek changed the market's mind

    · 27 min

    On Monday, the stock market went into a tizzy over a new AI model from Chinese company DeepSeek. It seemed to be just as powerful as many of its American competitors, but its makers claimed to have made it far more…

  38. Re-imagining the energy grid ... through batteries (Two Indicators)

    · 18 min

    When it comes to solar and wind power, renewable energy has always had a caveat: it can only run when the wind blows or the sun shines. The idea of a battery was floated around to make renewables available 24/7. For…

  39. The "chilling effect" of deportations

    · 23 min

    After being sworn into office, President Trump signed a whole host of executive actions and orders that affirm his campaign promise to crack down on immigration. Trump's border czar has said Chicago is at the top of…

  40. After the fires

    · 25 min

    The fires in Los Angeles are almost out. Residents are starting to trickle back into their burned-out neighborhoods. When they get to their houses, they face a series of almost impossible questions: Do we want to live…

  41. Tariffs, grocery prices and other listener questions

    · 28 min

    Donald Trump is just about to begin his second presidency. And it may be safe to say that every single person in America has at least one question about what's to come in the next four years. So, we thought we'd try to…

  42. The Land of the Duty Free (classic)

    · 20 min

    (Note: This episode originally ran in 2018.) Is it really cheaper to shop at an airport Duty Free store? And why are so many of them alike? In the 1940s, if you were flying from New York City to London or Paris you…

  43. The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes

    · 31 min

    You know Watergate, but do you know Fedgate? The more subtle scandal with more monetary policy and, arguably, much higher stakes. In today's episode, we listen back through the Nixon White House tapes to search for…

  44. ZIP Codes!

    · 28 min

    The ZIP code is less like a cold, clinical, ordered list of numbers, and more like a weird overgrown number garden. It started as a way to organize mail after WWII, but now it pops up all over our daily lives. You type…

  45. The potato-shaped loophole in free trade

    · 28 min

    Ever since free trade opened up between the US and Mexico in the 1990s, trillions of dollars of goods have been going back and forth between the two countries, from cars to strawberries to MRI machines to underwear.…

  46. If AI is so good, why are there still so many jobs for translators?

    · 17 min

    If you believe the hype, translators will all soon be out of work. Luis von Ahn, CEO and co-founder of the language learning app Duolingo, doesn't think AI is quite there... yet. In this interview, Greg Rosalsky talks…

  47. The Rest of the Story, 2024

    · 28 min

    After the gift exchange comes another great holiday tradition: returns season. Once again, we are joining the fun in our own Planet Money way. We are returning to stories from years past to see what's changed since we…

  48. The Indicators of this year and next

    · 22 min

    This year, there was some economic good news to go around. Inflation generally ticked down. Unemployment more or less held around 4-percent. Heck, the Fed even cut interest rates three times. But for a lot of people,…

  49. The habitat banker

    · 33 min

    Our planet is in serious trouble. There are a million species of plants and animals in danger of extinction, and the biggest cause is companies destroying their habitats to farm food, mine minerals, and otherwise get…

  50. How sports gambling blew up

    · 30 min

    Sports gambling isn't exactly a financial market, but it rhymes with financial markets. What happens on Wall Street somehow eventually also happens in sports gambling. So in the 1980s, when computers and deep…

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