Épisodes

  • When Chicago pawned its parking meters

    When Chicago pawned its parking meters
    Dec 12 2025

    In 2008, Chicago’s budget was in a bad place. The city needed money. One way to raise money was to increase property taxes, but what politician wants to do that? So instead, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration looked around at the resources the city had, and thought, ‘Any of this worth anything?’ They opted to lease out the city’s metered parking system — to privatize all 36,000 of its parking meters.

    The plan: have private companies bid on operating the meters, modernizing the system, and keeping the profits for a certain number of years. In exchange, they would give Chicago a big lump sum payment. The winning bid was $1.16 billion dollars for a 75-year lease.

    Today’s episode is the story of how that bid got put together, and how it came to be hated. There are kidnapped parking meters, foot chases through City Hall, and trashbags filled with secret documents.

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    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Luis Gallo and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Vito Emmanuel and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Music: NPR Source Audio - “Smoke Rings,” “Reverend,” and “Sniffin Glue.”

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    31 min
  • Strange threadfellows: How the U.S. military shaped what we all wear

    Strange threadfellows: How the U.S. military shaped what we all wear
    Dec 10 2025
    From nuclear fission to GPS to the internet, it’s common knowledge that many of the most resource intensive technologies of the last century got their start as military R&D projects in government-funded labs. But as Avery Trufelman explains in her fashion history podcast, Articles of Interest, the influence of the US military is, in many ways, even more intimate than that, shaping much of the clothing we all wear everyday.

    On today’s show, a tale of Army surplus economics. How military designs trickled down from the soldiers on the front lines to the hippies on the war protest line to the yuppies in line at Banana Republic. And why some of your favorite outdoor brands may just be moonlighting as U.S. military suppliers, while keeping it as under the radar as they can.

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    This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Yasmine Alsayyad, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

    Articles of Interest is produced by Avery Trufelman, edited by Alison Beringer, fact checked by Yasmine Alsayyad, and engineered by Jocelyn Gonzalez.

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    36 min
  • How hurricanes became a hot investment

    How hurricanes became a hot investment
    Dec 5 2025

    A few years ago, the Jamaican government started making an unusual financial bet. It went to investors around the world asking if they'd like to wager on the chances a major hurricane would hit the island in the next couple of years.

    In finance terms, these kinds of wagers are called "catastrophe bonds." They're a way to get investors to share the risk of a major disaster, whether that's a Japanese earthquake, a California wildfire, or a Jamaican hurricane.

    This market for catastrophe has gotten really hot lately. And it’s changing the way that insurance works for all of us.

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    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Kwesi Lee. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Music: Universal Music Production - “Lagos to London,” “Sleazy Does It,” “The Sundown Set.”

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    31 min
  • Is AI slopifying the job market? (Two Indicators)

    Is AI slopifying the job market? (Two Indicators)
    Dec 3 2025
    Vote for us in NPR’s People’s Choice Awards: npr.org/peopleschoice

    AI is already reshaping how people find work. Fewer entry-level jobs, robot recruiters, and ever-changing new skill requirements all add up to a new, daunting landscape for humans trying to find dignified work.

    Today on the show: two stories from the edges of a changing labor market. First we’ll assess claims that AI is causing a white collar job apocalypse. What does the data actually say? We meet an economist who has found one small but fascinating way to measure the impact of AI on workers.

    Then, we go face-to-face, or at least voice-to-voice, with AI. We meet a robot recruiter for a job interview and find cause to ask, ‘When might that actually be preferable to a human recruiter?’

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    The original Indicator episodes were hosted by Wailin Wong, Darian Woods, and Adrian Ma. They were produced by Cooper Katz McKim and engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Debbie Daughtry. They were fact checked by Sierra Juarez. They were edited by Paddy Hirsch and Kate Concannon.

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    19 min
  • Capitalism (Taylor's Version) (25-minute Podcast Version)

    Capitalism (Taylor's Version) (25-minute Podcast Version)
    Nov 28 2025

    Taylor Swift reaches new heights with her latest album, which is both divisive and record-breaking. And it’s fueled by an elaborate series of business choices that propel profits but also chart numbers. Today’s episode comes from our friends at Today Explained, Vox’s lively, smart daily news podcast.

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    This episode was hosted by Noel King. It was produced by Ariana Aspuru, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, and engineered by Adriene Lilly.

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    25 min
  • Saving lives with fewer dollars

    Saving lives with fewer dollars
    Nov 27 2025
    Givewell is a nonprofit organization that gives money to “save or improve the most lives per dollar.” Part of their whole thing is a rigorous research process with copious and specific datapoints. So, in the chaotic wake of USAID’s gutting, they scrambled to figure out if they could fund the kind of projects USAID used to.

    Today on the show: GiveWell let us in on their decision-making process, as they try to reconcile the urgency of the moment with their normal diligence. We get to watch as they decide if they can back one project, to support health facilities in Cameroon.

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    This episode was hosted by Mary Childs. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Vito Emanuel, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley with help from Robert Rodriguez. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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    33 min
  • The Consumer Sentiment vs. Consumer Spending Puzzle

    The Consumer Sentiment vs. Consumer Spending Puzzle
    Nov 21 2025

    Wherever consumer sentiment goes, consumer spending usually goes too. They’re like buddies that do everything together. Consumer sentiment wants a hair cut, its buddy consumer spending does too.

    But lately, these friends are drifting apart.

    While consumer sentiment about the economy is down … spending remains strong.

    And not just that… Interest rates are still high, inflation is growing, tariffs have made the prices of goods go up. And yet, consumer spending looks good. What gives?

    Today - a consumer spending mystery. Is the economy actually healthy? Or is something distorting our view of the economy?

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    This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Meg Cramer and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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    20 min
  • Days of our Tariffs

    Days of our Tariffs
    Nov 19 2025
    Tariffs. They’ve been announced, unannounced, re-announced, raised and lowered. It’s an on-going saga with billions at stake!


    On today’s episode, we run full-on at the twisty, turny drama of life with broad-based tariffs and tackle perhaps our most asked question: Are we, regular U.S. shoppers, feeling the tariffs yet? When we’re at the grocery store or the coffee shop, are we paying more for things because of the tariffs?


    We now have the data to get a very clear answer to that question. Plus, we hear a cautionary tale from our dear colleague James Sneed, who ordered a collectible doll and wound up with a surprise tariff bill at his door.


    Related episodes:

    • Are Trump's tariffs legal?
    • What is Temu?
    • What "Made in China" actually means

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    Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.


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    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez with research help from Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.


    Music: NPR Source Audio - “Mirror,” “Remorse,” “Endless,” “Secrets,” “Schmaltzy,” “Water Mirror.”

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    30 min