Planet Money
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.
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Recent Episodes
Imagine a nation where, for the residents, land is for the claiming. You walk down the street, pick out a nice looking plot of land, and just plop down a marker. No rent, no taxes, no deed – just free...
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This Planet Money Summer School episode explores economic lessons from Caribbean island nations, focusing on two major case studies: the debate over communal versus private property rights in Barbuda, and widespread sand theft across Jamaica and beyond. The episode examines how small, vulnerable economies face unique challenges around resource management, property rights, and protecting public goods.
- Small Island Economies and Vulnerability
- Barbuda's Communal Land System
What makes a toy go viral
Jul 31, 2026Squishy, slimy, fidgety toys are having a moment. But it’s more than just an anxiety-soothing, social-media fueled trend – these toys are reshaping how toys get made. Today on the show, we have the s...
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Planet Money dives into the viral phenomenon of squishy dumplings—rubbery, gel-filled toy dumplings that have sold tens of millions in 2024. Through interviews with a 13-year-old collector, the CEO behind the craze, and industry analysts, the episode reveals the strategic business decisions that turned a simple plastic toy into a must-have sensation, from mystery packaging to artificial scarcity to a revolutionary just-in-time supply chain.
- The Viral Unboxing Experience
- The Squishy Toy Boom
Let’s call it the luxury of restraint. This is what enabled Norway to avoid the fate of so many other countries when they discovered oil and it changed the mix of their economy overnight. Norway! It’...
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Planet Money Summer School explores Norway's remarkable economic success story, focusing on how the country avoided the 'resource curse' after discovering massive oil reserves and cleverly marketed Norwegian salmon to Japan despite cultural resistance. The episode examines Norway's unique approach to managing wealth, including its $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, high taxation policies, and the importance of social trust in creating sustainable prosperity.
- Norway's Economic Success and Challenges
- The Resource Curse Explained
Let’s head to a small town in Kenya that’s become globally famous for helping economists answer some of the biggest questions facing humanity. In Kenya and Nigeria, economics isn’t just theory, it’s ...
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Planet Money Summer School explores innovative economic interventions in Nigeria and Kenya, examining how these developing nations have pioneered approaches to job creation and poverty reduction. Through two case studies, the episode reveals how Nigeria's You Win competition created 7,000 jobs by giving entrepreneurs cash grants, and how Busia, Kenya became the global center for randomized controlled trials that revolutionized development economics.
- The You Win Competition: Nigeria's Entrepreneurial Lottery
- Lariat's Story: From One-Woman Operation to Thriving Business
Big Lettuce meets Small Intestine
Jul 22, 2026The cyclospora outbreak that’s sickening thousands of Americans got us interested in the rise of Big Lettuce, and the challenges of keeping it clean. So on today’s show, we tell you just how much le...
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Planet Money investigates the current cyclospora outbreak linked to contaminated lettuce from Taylor Farms, exploring how the lettuce industry evolved into a multi-billion dollar operation and why foodborne illness outbreaks continue despite major FDA regulatory reforms. The episode reveals two parallel revolutions: the rise of 'big lettuce' through bagged salad technology and the decade-long effort to create comprehensive farm safety standards.
- The Rise of Big Lettuce and Bagged Salad Revolution
- The Multiplier Effect: How Industrial Scale Creates Bigger Outbreaks
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This is a trailer for an upcoming investigative documentary series from NPR's Embedded podcast about the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle during 2020. The series examines the tragic shooting death of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. inside the autonomous zone that protesters created after police abandoned their precinct. Reporters Will James and Sydney Brownstone investigate how a space designed to protect Black lives ended up taking one, exploring the events of that night through new witnesses, evidence, and the perspective of Antonio's grieving father.
- The Creation of CHOP
- Security Concerns and Armed Protesters
Can World Cup mania grow MLS in the U.S.?
Jul 17, 2026As the World Cup comes to a close, so does a massive real-time experiment happening just around the edges. Major League Soccer – the top men’s professional soccer league in the U.S. and Canada – has b...
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This Planet Money episode explores how Major League Soccer (MLS) teams are attempting to capitalize on the 2026 World Cup being hosted in the United States. The episode examines different strategies MLS clubs are deploying to convert World Cup excitement into long-term interest in their domestic league, from hosting watch parties to attracting star players, all while facing the challenge that American soccer still lacks the prestige of European leagues.
- The MLS Problem-tunity: Soccer's Big Moment in America
- The 1994 Legacy: How the Last World Cup Launched MLS
China’s turbocharged growth may have made it rich, but now it has to deal with rich country problems. High-speed trains that connect every town. Gleaming new bridges and skyscrapers. An apartment (o...
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This Planet Money Summer School episode explores China's remarkable economic transformation through the lens of its 'engineering state' model, examining both the spectacular successes and troubling failures of centrally planned growth. The episode features Dan Wong from Stanford's Hoover Institution discussing how China's engineer-led government built its way to prosperity but created massive real estate bubbles, demographic crises, and youth unemployment along the way—offering cautionary lessons about what happens when economic decisions prioritize prestige projects over people's actual needs.
- The Engineering State: China's Builder Mentality
- Malinvestment: Bridges to Nowhere
Seven allegedly fake Chanel bags vs The RealReal
Jul 10, 2026Once upon a time, if you wanted to buy a luxury brand item secondhand (say, a Chanel handbag) you had to have an in. There was no easy way to find one. But over the past decade, the market for secondh...
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Planet Money explores the booming secondhand luxury goods market and a landmark lawsuit between Chanel and The RealReal that threatens to reshape the entire industry. The episode examines how online resellers authenticate luxury items, what it means for brands and consumers, and whether authentication gives resellers the right to use luxury trademarks. Through shopping trips, authentication demonstrations, and legal analysis, the show reveals the tension between protecting brand value and consumers' rights to resell what they own.
- The Luxury Shopping Experience and Secondhand Appeal
- The Authentication Problem and The RealReal's Solution
Come along as we travel the world in search of the best economic ideas to bring home! From the beaches of Barbuda to the fjords of Norway, there's money (and money problems) everywhere. For this summ...
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This Planet Money Summer School episode kicks off an international economics series by exploring how Australia and New Zealand have pioneered innovative market-based solutions to major economic challenges. The episode examines Australia's sophisticated water trading market that emerged from severe drought conditions, and New Zealand's revolutionary inflation targeting system that changed central banking worldwide. Through these case studies, the episode demonstrates how different countries serve as economic laboratories, testing policies that can teach valuable lessons about markets, scarcity, and economic management.
- Introduction to International Economics and Market Solutions
- Australia's Water Trading Market: Creating Efficiency from Scarcity
How to win a penalty shootout (with game theory)
Jul 03, 2026Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer scorer of all time. But when it comes to penalty kicks, Messi is merely average. Why? Maybe the answer involves game theory. According to game theory, the...
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This Planet Money episode explores how game theory has revolutionized penalty kicks in professional soccer. Through the work of economist Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, teams now use data-driven strategies and psychological preparation to gain an edge in penalty shootouts, transforming what was once viewed as pure luck into a science of unpredictability and strategic thinking.
- The Paradox of Messi's Penalty Performance
- The Mixed Strategy: Why Unpredictability Wins
Can the Trump administration make college cheaper?
Jul 01, 2026Will limiting how much students can borrow force schools to lower their prices? The Department of Education thinks so. It has a new plan to bring down tuition costs. Starting today, July 1st, it’s g...
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NPR's Planet Money examines the Trump administration's controversial plan to combat rising student loan debt by capping federal graduate school loans at approximately $21,000 per year. The episode explores whether limiting borrowing will actually reduce tuition costs, diving into the decades-old 'Bennett hypothesis' and presenting mixed research evidence about its effectiveness. While some studies show a correlation between loan availability and price increases, experts warn the caps may simply force students to drop out or seek expensive private loans rather than prompt schools to lower prices.
- The New Graduate Loan Cap Plan
- The Real Problem: Graduate School Costs
In the early 90’s, a company called General Magic began working on a portable device that would allow people to check email, make phone calls, even play games. It was basically a smartphone. But it ne...
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This Planet Money episode explores the spectacular failure of General Magic, a company that created a smartphone-like device in the early 1990s—nearly two decades before the iPhone. Despite having unlimited resources, the most talented engineers in Silicon Valley, and backing from tech giants, the company failed spectacularly. The episode examines how having too much freedom, money, and talent actually hindered innovation, and how the lessons learned from this failure helped shape successful products like the iPod and iPhone.
- The Genesis of General Magic
- Building the Impossible in the Early 1990s
Prediction markets aren’t new. Election betting was common until the 1940s, then mysteriously faded away. There was an entire political era when party bosses were expected to conspicuously gamble on ...
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This episode traces the fascinating history of prediction markets from their 16th-century origins through their golden age in early 20th-century America to their modern resurrection. The story centers on how three University of Iowa economics professors accidentally reinvented election prediction markets in 1988 after being surprised by polling failures, only to later discover that robust political betting markets had thrived for centuries before mysteriously disappearing in the 1940s—possibly overtaken by the more frequent action of horse racing.
- The Birth of Modern Prediction Markets at an Iowa Sports Bar
- Navigating the Legal Gray Area Between Markets and Gambling
Maybe the real monster in the Alien franchise isn’t actually the killer alien. Because behind the acid blood and jump scares is an even more insidious horror: a single employer with unchecked power. T...
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This Planet Money episode uses the 1979 film Alien as a lens to explore modern labor economics, particularly the concept of monopsony power. Hosts Kenny Malone and Greg Rosalski watch the movie with labor economist Aaron Dubé, analyzing how the fictional Weyland-Yutani Corporation's control over space workers mirrors real-world labor market dynamics. The episode reveals how monopsony power—where workers have limited job mobility—is more pervasive than previously thought, affecting wages and working conditions even when multiple employers exist. The hosts also interview Fede Alvarez, director of Alien Romulus, about intentionally incorporating labor themes into modern Alien films.
- Introduction: The Dystopian Earnings Call
- Negative Amenities and Bad Jobs
Can computer hackers get inside your mind?
Jun 17, 2026The cyber weapon that might have prevented nuclear war. The U.S. and Israel have long been in conflict with Iran over their nuclear development program. Some of that conflict has been out in the open...
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This episode dives deep into the discovery and analysis of FAST-16, a sophisticated cyber weapon from the mid-2000s that may have sabotaged Iran's nuclear program by corrupting complex mathematical calculations. Security researcher Jags (Juan Andres Guerrero Saade) spent years reverse-engineering this mysterious malware, ultimately revealing an 'epistemological warfare' operation that drove nuclear scientists to question their own reality by making 2+2=5 in their critical simulations.
- The Discovery of FAST-16: A Cryptic Clue
- Stuxnet: The Mother of Cyber Sabotage
It’s my tree. Why can’t I cut it down?
Jun 12, 2026Can the government stop you from cutting down your own tree? In many towns and cities these days, removing a tree now requires a permit. You might have to pay a fee, or promise to plant replacement tr...
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Planet Money explores the clash between property rights and community interests through tree protection laws. The episode follows Sarah Bond's harrowing experience with a dangerous tree she couldn't legally remove in Portland, Oregon, and examines a landmark legal case from Canton, Michigan that's reshaping how cities can regulate trees on private property. The story illuminates the evolving tension between what homeowners can do on their own land versus their obligations to the broader community.
- Sarah Bond's Dream Home Becomes a Nightmare
- Canton, Michigan's Tree Protection Law
Two indicators for lowering the rent
Jun 10, 2026One specific type of affordable housing used to be popular in American cities, kept rents low, then nearly vanished. Is it time to reconsider boarding houses and single room occupancy units? If they l...
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Planet Money investigates whether banning institutional investors from owning single-family homes would improve housing affordability, and explores how the disappearance of single-room occupancy (SRO) housing contributed to America's homelessness crisis. The episode examines the actual impact of corporate landlords on housing markets and looks at ultra-affordable housing options that have nearly vanished from American cities.
- The Rise of Corporate Landlords After the 2008 Recession
- The Limited Impact of Institutional Investors on Housing Prices
One reason the $70 billion supplement industry is set to double in the next seven years? Lax regulation. On today's show, we tell the story of a century-long battle between the U.S. government and … ...
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Planet Money explores the largely unregulated supplement industry, revealing how easy it is to create and sell supplements in America. Through attempts to create their own supplement and interviews with experts, they uncover the shocking lack of FDA oversight, questionable ingredients, and the powerful consumer backlash that has prevented regulation for decades. Despite risks including liver damage and inaccurate labeling, the $70 billion industry continues to thrive on placebo effects and American belief in wellness products.
- Creating a Supplement Is Surprisingly Easy
- The Lax Regulatory History Behind Supplements
There's no business like dough business
Jun 03, 2026Have you ever walked around a street, mall, or airport and noticed two or three of the same franchise restaurant within walking distance? Why might one Starbucks or McDonald’s or Wetzel’s Pretzels som...
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Planet Money teams up with the podcast Hyperfixed to investigate a peculiar retail mystery: why are there three Wetzel's Pretzels locations clustered within a minute's walk of each other at Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station? The investigation reveals the counterintuitive economics of impulse products, franchise clustering strategies, and how one immigrant entrepreneur built his pretzel empire by bringing pretzels directly to commuters.
- The Pretzel Mystery at Brooklyn's Busiest Station
- The Impulse Product Strategy: Bringing Pretzels to the People