Planet Money

Piles of cash and a town of solutions in Kenya, Nigeria (Summer School)

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 ...

2026-07-25

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Big Lettuce meets Small Intestine

The 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...

2026-07-23

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New NPR Series: "We Keep Us Safe" from the Embedded podcast

In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation in the wake of George Floyd's killing. Antonio arrived in Seatt...

2026-07-22

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Can World Cup mania grow MLS in the U.S.?

As 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...

2026-07-18

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Building things and breaking things in China (Summer School World Tour)

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...

2026-07-15

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Seven allegedly fake Chanel bags vs The RealReal

Once 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...

2026-07-11

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Our mission: Find the world’s best economic ideas (Summer School World Tour)

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...

2026-07-08

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How to win a penalty shootout (with game theory)

Lionel 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...

2026-07-04

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Can the Trump administration make college cheaper?

Will 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...

2026-07-01

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We almost had a smartphone in the 90s. Why did it fail?

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...

2026-06-27

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Before Kalshi and Polymarket there was the Iowa Electronic Markets

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 ...

2026-06-24

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The real horror of ‘Alien’ and how it explains why we’re not paid enough

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...

2026-06-20

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Can computer hackers get inside your mind?

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...

2026-06-17

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It’s my tree. Why can’t I cut it down?

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 tr...

2026-06-13

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Two indicators for lowering the rent

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 l...

2026-06-10

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Why is there a supplement craze if they don’t even work?

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 … ...

2026-06-06

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There's no business like dough business

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 som...

2026-06-03

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The sneaky way companies get new chemicals into our food

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 F...

2026-05-30

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The leaked tapes that show how the rich avoid taxes

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...

2026-05-27

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The giant factory town that might be a giant mistake

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 sta...

2026-05-23

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