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. Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
Episodes
June 19, 2026 • 32 mins
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. That employer is named Weyland-Yutani, a mega-corporation that dominates workers across the galaxy.
Weyland-Yutani is a sort of extreme example of what economists call a monopsony — when one employer dominates a labor...
Weyland-Yutani is a sort of extreme example of what economists call a monopsony — when one employer dominates a labor...
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June 17, 2026 • 29 mins
The 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, with bombs and blockades, but some of it has been invisible.
Recently some security researchers discovered a cyberweapon likely tied to that invisible conflict. It looks like it was designed to hide on nuclear scie...
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, with bombs and blockades, but some of it has been invisible.
Recently some security researchers discovered a cyberweapon likely tied to that invisible conflict. It looks like it was designed to hide on nuclear scie...
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June 12, 2026 • 25 mins
Can 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 trees. But sometimes, the city won't let you cut down the tree at all, even a tree in your own backyard.
That's because trees are important for air quality, for flood control, and for public health. They help keep neighborhoods co...
That's because trees are important for air quality, for flood control, and for public health. They help keep neighborhoods co...
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June 10, 2026 • 17 mins
One 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 lowered rents in cities, why did they go away? We have the history.
Then, let’s talk about corporate landlords. They’re blamed for driving up rents. Studies show they do the opposite. When corporate landlords come to ...
Then, let’s talk about corporate landlords. They’re blamed for driving up rents. Studies show they do the opposite. When corporate landlords come to ...
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June 5, 2026 • 34 mins
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 … you, the people, blinded by your love of a magic pill.
We’re talking about protein powders, pre-workouts, creatine, stuff for gut health, joint health, vitamin C, turmeric supplements. All that. You might not ...
On today's show, we tell the story of a century-long battle between the U.S. government and … you, the people, blinded by your love of a magic pill.
We’re talking about protein powders, pre-workouts, creatine, stuff for gut health, joint health, vitamin C, turmeric supplements. All that. You might not ...
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June 3, 2026 • 27 mins
Have 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 sometimes be built so close to another? Are they friends or competitors? And how can that possibly be profitable?
Today’s show is one such example. Our pals at Hyperfixed got a knotty question we just had to help ...
Today’s show is one such example. Our pals at Hyperfixed got a knotty question we just had to help ...
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May 29, 2026 • 35 mins
99% of chemicals in our food right now were added without FDA approval. Many were added in secret, through a sneaky loophole built into the 1958 Food Additives Amendment.
It was supposed to require FDA approval for new additives. But food companies and chemical makers found a workaround. And the FDA formally okayed the loophole in the 90s — in the process bringing attention to a loophole to the loophole.
The FDA...
It was supposed to require FDA approval for new additives. But food companies and chemical makers found a workaround. And the FDA formally okayed the loophole in the 90s — in the process bringing attention to a loophole to the loophole.
The FDA...
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May 27, 2026 • 26 mins
Tax avoidance -- that is, legally reducing your tax bill -- is as American as apple pie. But the line between tax avoidance and tax evasion is often a grey one.
On today’s show, a collaboration with Tax Notes, we listen in on the secret tapes that show how the wealthiest Americans avoid taxes.
We trace the lifecycle of a tax loophole: how it was born (in Malta), how it grew, how the Feds cracked down...
On today’s show, a collaboration with Tax Notes, we listen in on the secret tapes that show how the wealthiest Americans avoid taxes.
We trace the lifecycle of a tax loophole: how it was born (in Malta), how it grew, how the Feds cracked down...
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May 22, 2026 • 26 mins
How does a poor country become a rich country? There's a simple blueprint — or at least, that's what many economists used to believe. But over the years, a lot of rapidly developing economies have stalled out. These countries aren't poor anymore, but they're not rich either. They're stuck in the middle. The World Bank calls this problem the "middle income trap."
And if there's a poster child for the middle income trap,...
And if there's a poster child for the middle income trap,...
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May 20, 2026 • 25 mins
Do you work more for more money? Or work less for more time? For some, this is the ultimate economic choice.
Every single worker in the European Union is guaranteed four weeks of paid vacation. No matter how long they’ve been at a company. No matter how low paying the job is. Vacation is a right.
In fact, all but one of the richest countries in the world guarantees paid vacation, except: the U.S.&nbs...
Every single worker in the European Union is guaranteed four weeks of paid vacation. No matter how long they’ve been at a company. No matter how low paying the job is. Vacation is a right.
In fact, all but one of the richest countries in the world guarantees paid vacation, except: the U.S.&nbs...
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May 15, 2026 • 28 mins
If you have a credit card, hope to buy a house, or just want stable grocery prices – let’s talk about the future of Fed independence!
It’s impossibly important for the Federal Reserve to steer monetary policy without political interference – an ideal pushed to its brink during Jerome Powell’s time as Fed Chair.
Powell’s Fed faced a once-in-a-century pandemic, oversaw the economy as ...
It’s impossibly important for the Federal Reserve to steer monetary policy without political interference – an ideal pushed to its brink during Jerome Powell’s time as Fed Chair.
Powell’s Fed faced a once-in-a-century pandemic, oversaw the economy as ...
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May 13, 2026 • 27 mins
Recently, a listener wrote in with a question about OPEC and oil prices. She was prepping for a camping trip… thinking about how much it costs to fill up her diesel-guzzling camper van at the pump.
“It would be so awesome if you guys could do an episode explaining OPEC to us,” she emailed us. She wanted to know: why does OPEC exist? Why does it limit the supply of oil? And now that the United Arab...
“It would be so awesome if you guys could do an episode explaining OPEC to us,” she emailed us. She wanted to know: why does OPEC exist? Why does it limit the supply of oil? And now that the United Arab...
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May 8, 2026 • 29 mins
Today the WNBA season tips off, but Dallas Wings veteran forward Alysha Clark has already won a high-stakes competition. She – and a Nobel Prize winning economist – were on the team that negotiated a ground-breaking contract for the players. And Alysha wrote all about it in her journal.
Alysha is the oldest player in the league – and when she started she was making a yearly salary of about $36,400. The play...
Alysha is the oldest player in the league – and when she started she was making a yearly salary of about $36,400. The play...
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May 6, 2026 • 28 mins
Curt Flood was the best center fielder in baseball and one of the game’s highest paid players. He took the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series three times. Then he got traded to the Phillies. He didn’t want to go. But baseball’s rules said he had no say in the decision. He could either go to Philly or quit the sport. Instead, Flood took Major League Baseball to court.
Flood argued that the league should...
Flood argued that the league should...
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May 1, 2026 • 46 mins
In the world of commercial publishing, there are few crowning achievements more coveted than a place on the New York Times Best Seller List. But how does a book actually end up there? There is, of course, a playbook that publishers and authors use to try to gin up enough sales at the beginning of a new book’s life to launch it onto the list. But there is also a world of more shadowy techniques – a whole history of hacki...
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April 29, 2026 • 25 mins
It’s way more than fuel costs that pushed Spirit Airlines to the brink of liquidation and led President Trump to muse about “buying” them. Many low cost airlines are struggling due to a canny and calculated set of strategies from bigger airlines that we can think of as ‘revenge of the legacy carriers.’
Today on the show, we go back in time to when Spirit was riding high and pressuring the ...
Today on the show, we go back in time to when Spirit was riding high and pressuring the ...
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April 24, 2026 • 34 mins
At one point in history, one U.S. company monopolized the rare earths industry. Then China took over the industry. Can the U.S. bring it back?
Rare earths are critical to making, like, everything. From smart phones to electric vehicles to microwaves. They’ve also become a powerful political weapon for China, which controls the majority of mining and processing of rare earths.
Today, we have the story of th...
Rare earths are critical to making, like, everything. From smart phones to electric vehicles to microwaves. They’ve also become a powerful political weapon for China, which controls the majority of mining and processing of rare earths.
Today, we have the story of th...
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April 22, 2026 • 29 mins
We talk with Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark and Chief Economist at Redfin Daryl Fairweather about two of the biggest issues of our time: AI and housing.
We have been crisscrossing America doing live shows to help promote the new Planet Money book. In each city, we’ve been doing interviews with special guests. And since we won’t be able to make it to every city in America (or most cities) we wanted to bring...
We have been crisscrossing America doing live shows to help promote the new Planet Money book. In each city, we’ve been doing interviews with special guests. And since we won’t be able to make it to every city in America (or most cities) we wanted to bring...
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April 17, 2026 • 32 mins
Have you noticed a lot of young people getting into antenna-maxxing as alpha? Or, maybe searching for any bit of copium after they fat-fingered and got rinsed? Or maybe they farmed during a yes-fest on Mention Markets resulting in some serious printing?
If none of that made sense to you, then we have the perfect episode for you.
Prediction markets have taken off in the past few years, using the same legal ...
If none of that made sense to you, then we have the perfect episode for you.
Prediction markets have taken off in the past few years, using the same legal ...
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April 14, 2026 • 18 mins
The United States has been at war with Iran since February 28th. And for a month and a half, Iran’s main leverage over the U.S. has been their control over the Strait of Hormuz — a key global shipping route. Iran has attacked ships that try to pass without approval. And recently they’ve insinuated that one part of the Strait — the part near Oman — is not safe. Which means that captains had to go right ...
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