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
October 31, 2025 • 29 mins
This week’s SNAP crisis is just a preview. Tucked inside the giant tax-cut and spending bill signed by President Donald Trump this summer are enormous cuts to SNAP: Who qualifies, how much they get, and who foots the bill for the program. That last part is a huge change.
For the entire history of the food stamp program, the federal government has paid for all the benefits that go out. States pay part of the cost of adminis...
For the entire history of the food stamp program, the federal government has paid for all the benefits that go out. States pay part of the cost of adminis...
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October 29, 2025 • 28 mins
For decades, the U.S. has been the single biggest source of remittances worldwide. A remittance is a transfer of money, typically from an immigrant to their family in their country of origin. But we are in the middle of a big, loud and very public immigration crackdown on those who are here without legal status. And that crackdown is disrupting the global remittance market.
People who have come to the U.S. from a handful ...
People who have come to the U.S. from a handful ...
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October 24, 2025 • 25 mins
The U.S. Constitution famously outlaws “cruel and unusual punishments.” But there's another, far more obscure part of the Constitution called the Excessive Fines Clause, which basically says that the fine has to fit the crime. So far, the Supreme Court has been pretty mysterious about what that means. But for Ken Jouppi, the fate of his $95,000 plane hinges on it.
Ken is a bush pilot. He used to run an air taxi service in ...
Ken is a bush pilot. He used to run an air taxi service in ...
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October 22, 2025 • 25 mins
When TikTok videos started to go viral on Instagram and Reddit, TikTok turned to professional sound designers to protect their content.
More and more companies are paying to develop a “sonic identity” – a series of sounds, songs, and micro-jingles to help maintain a unified brand.
In this episode, in conjunction with the sound design podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz, we hear the backstory to possibly the most success...
More and more companies are paying to develop a “sonic identity” – a series of sounds, songs, and micro-jingles to help maintain a unified brand.
In this episode, in conjunction with the sound design podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz, we hear the backstory to possibly the most success...
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October 17, 2025 • 31 mins
Bjarne Caesar Skinnerup works as a maritime pilot in the straits of Denmark. That means he’s used to seeing oil tankers. But after the start of the war in Ukraine, the tankers started getting weird. They were flying flags he’d never seen before. They were old, very old, though many had taken on new names. Something was off.
He’d stumbled on a shadow fleet of hundreds of tankers ferrying sanctioned oil out of Russia … ...
He’d stumbled on a shadow fleet of hundreds of tankers ferrying sanctioned oil out of Russia … ...
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October 15, 2025 • 31 mins
In 1975, New York City ran out of money. For a decade it had managed to pay for its hundreds of thousands of city employees and robust social services by taking on billions of dollars in debt. But eventually investors were no longer willing to lend the city any more money. New York teetered on the edge of bankruptcy — the city shuttered more than a dozen firehouses, teachers went on strike and garbage piled up in the streets.
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October 10, 2025 • 28 mins
The U.S. government spends a ton of money, on everything from Medicare to roads to defense. In fact, it spends way more than it takes in. So…it borrows money, in the bond market. By selling U.S. Treasurys, basically IOUs with periodic interest payments. And for decades, people have loved to invest in Treasurys, for their safety and security.
But lately, Treasurys have started to look riskier.
In part because, in...
But lately, Treasurys have started to look riskier.
In part because, in...
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October 8, 2025 • 19 mins
Pre-order the Planet Money book here for your free gift.
Our sister show, The Indicator, is chronicling the evolving business of crime for its Vice Week series. Today, we bring to you two cases of crime in the age of AI.
First, cybercriminals are using our own voices against us. Audio deepfake scams are picking up against individuals but also against businesses. We hear from a bank on how they...
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October 3, 2025 • 35 mins
It’s here! It’s free to download and playtest! It’s the Planet Money game! (Download here.)
- Download and playtest the game go here
- Sign up for the 11/1 virtual AMA event and get updates about the game
- Submit your feedback on the game
- Watch the how-to video with Kenny and Elan for playtest instructions
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October 1, 2025 • 32 mins
We want to make a board game. It must, of course, teach the world about economics. It must be fun. It’d be nice if it sold lots of copies! How hard could that be!? (Monopoly and Catan are hugely popular and basically little economy simulators, after all.)
Well, turns out, it’s quite hard!
We’re in a golden age of tabletop games. Thirty years ago there were around 800 new games each year. Now it is more like 5,000....
Well, turns out, it’s quite hard!
We’re in a golden age of tabletop games. Thirty years ago there were around 800 new games each year. Now it is more like 5,000....
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September 26, 2025 • 23 mins
The next time you open your fridge, take a second to behold the miracles inside of it: Raspberries from California, butter from New Zealand, steak from Nebraska. None of that would have been remotely possible before the creation of the cold chain.
The cold chain is the name for the end-to-end refrigeration of our food from farm to truck to warehouse to grocery store and ultimately to our fridges at home. And it’s one of t...
The cold chain is the name for the end-to-end refrigeration of our food from farm to truck to warehouse to grocery store and ultimately to our fridges at home. And it’s one of t...
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September 24, 2025 • 28 mins
On Wall Street, fortunes are often won and lost with the tiniest advantages. And for the past few years, one trading firm has stood out from the rest for both huge profits and careful secrecy — Jane Street Group.
But last year, one of Jane Street’s biggest and most lucrative trading strategies was unexpectedly revealed in a Manhattan courtroom. The news ricocheted around the world. It drew the attention of competitors and ...
But last year, one of Jane Street’s biggest and most lucrative trading strategies was unexpectedly revealed in a Manhattan courtroom. The news ricocheted around the world. It drew the attention of competitors and ...
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September 20, 2025 • 35 mins
Israel has been blocking the flow of physical money into Gaza since the start of the war. So whatever paper cash was in Gaza before the war, that’s all that’s been circulating. It's falling apart from overuse.
Two best friends, one in Gaza and one in Belgium, are now trying to get money in.
But how do you get money into a bank account in Gaza? And how do you get that money out, in Gaza, when there are no function...
Two best friends, one in Gaza and one in Belgium, are now trying to get money in.
But how do you get money into a bank account in Gaza? And how do you get that money out, in Gaza, when there are no function...
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September 17, 2025 • 22 mins
(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2016.)
It’s no secret that CEOs get paid a ton – and a ton more than the average worker. More than a hundred times than what their average employee makes.
But it wasn’t always this way. So, how did this gap get so vast? And why?
On today’s episode … we go back to a specific moment when the way CEOs were paid got changed. It involves Bill Clinton's campa...
It’s no secret that CEOs get paid a ton – and a ton more than the average worker. More than a hundred times than what their average employee makes.
But it wasn’t always this way. So, how did this gap get so vast? And why?
On today’s episode … we go back to a specific moment when the way CEOs were paid got changed. It involves Bill Clinton's campa...
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September 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Last month, President Donald Trump announced an unusual deal. Intel, the biggest microchip maker in America, had agreed to give the United States a 10 percent stake in its business. That means the U.S. government is now Intel's largest shareholder — and a major American company is now a partially state-owned enterprise.
This deal has raised a lot of eyebrows. The U.S. government almost never gets tangled up with businesse...
This deal has raised a lot of eyebrows. The U.S. government almost never gets tangled up with businesse...
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September 10, 2025 • 28 mins
There’s one question we seem to be hearing everywhere: “Is my job safe from AI?”
Dozens of you, our listeners, have written to us about this. Saying things like, “Maybe my yoga teacher side gig is actually my safest bet now,” and “My parents were in real estate, and I never thought I’d say it ... but maybe that’s what I should do?”
If only there were a list that could tell you which jobs are safe from AI. We go...
Dozens of you, our listeners, have written to us about this. Saying things like, “Maybe my yoga teacher side gig is actually my safest bet now,” and “My parents were in real estate, and I never thought I’d say it ... but maybe that’s what I should do?”
If only there were a list that could tell you which jobs are safe from AI. We go...
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September 5, 2025 • 25 mins
President Donald Trump has been pressuring the Federal Reserve from a few angles. So we wanted to look at other examples of political pressure on central banks, to see what it might mean for us and for the economy.
Enter the watchers. The people who’ve had their eyes trained on central banks all over the world, for years, notebooks out, scribbling down their observations. They’ve been trying to gauge just how independent ...
Enter the watchers. The people who’ve had their eyes trained on central banks all over the world, for years, notebooks out, scribbling down their observations. They’ve been trying to gauge just how independent ...
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September 3, 2025 • 20 mins
When we stumbled upon Milk.com, we were mystified. It appears to be someone’s personal website. But memorable domain names can be worth a million dollars or more. So, why is someone using this valuable internet real estate to post their resume and favorite recipes?
Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto asset...
Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto asset...
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August 29, 2025 • 22 mins
The Federal Reserve has been under intense pressure from President Donald Trump as he pushes for more control over the historically independent agency. The Fed is tasked with keeping inflation and unemployment under control, and it’s supposed to be insulated from politics so it can do whatever is necessary for the economy. But Trump has been openly saying he wants interest rates to be lower. A lot lower.
And on Monday, Tru...
And on Monday, Tru...
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August 27, 2025 • 30 mins
Get your own personalized summer school diploma here.
Today on our final episode of Summer School 2025, we will test your knowledge. We will salute the unsung heroes of government service. And we will pick our valedictorian from among you of the class of 2025.
Editorial Note:
President Trump attempted to fire Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee to the Federal Reserve Board. Our daily podcast, The Indicator, has...
Today on our final episode of Summer School 2025, we will test your knowledge. We will salute the unsung heroes of government service. And we will pick our valedictorian from among you of the class of 2025.
Editorial Note:
President Trump attempted to fire Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee to the Federal Reserve Board. Our daily podcast, The Indicator, has...
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