The Indicator from Planet Money

Freedom of the Seas. GPS. The Large Hadron Collider. These are all public goods that make our world more prosperous, accurate, and knowledgeable. But we don’t always give them the attention they deserve. 

Today on the show, the Planet Money book’s main author Alex Mayyasi joins us to take an audio world tour of spectacular public goods, one whimsical postcard at a time. 

These postcards are gorgeously illustrated in the Planet Money book. 

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes: 
Lighthouses, Autopsies And The Federal Budget 
The highs and lows of US rents 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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Pokémon cards are scorching hot right now. An index tracking the thousands of rare cards shows that valuations have increased 170% in the last year alone. Growth like that really makes you wish you hadn’t given away all your childhood cards years ago.

Today on the show, we cover three things that are contributing to the rapid growth of shiny cards produced by the world’s highest-grossing media franchise.

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes: 
The secret to Nintendo's success
The curious rise of novelty popcorn buckets

The Curse Of The Black Lotus (Update)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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There is a $3 trillion dollar black box at the center of the economy. It’s called private credit. These are direct loans from private investors to private companies. They’re often riskier, less regulated than traditional bank loans – and far less transparent. Spooked investors are scrambling to cash out, and some funds aren’t letting them. It’s all fueling fears of another financial crisis.

On today’s show, the private credit exodus. 

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes: 
What could break next? 
Who’s financing Meta’s massive AI data center?

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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School lunch has been revamped a ton over the last two decades. Now, the Trump administration wants to rejigger the menu once more to align with its Make America Healthy Again agenda. That means more meat. More dairy. But do schools really need another menu overhaul? And could they even afford it?

On today’s show, we join a school lunch line in South Carolina to find out what kids are actually eating.

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! Twelve cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes: 
A food fight over free school lunch
How beef climbed to the top of the food pyramid

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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It’s Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube!). It’s our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. 

On today’s episode: The US ain’t doing too hot in attracting European tech workers; OpenAI takes its video generator Sora behind the barn; and a rapper, pound cake, and the police. 

Related episodes: 
OpenAI's deals are looking a little frothy 
We're about to lose a lot of foreign STEM workers 
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Vito Emanuel. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy