Episódios

  • BOOKstore Economics

    BOOKstore Economics
    Apr 10 2026
    How do bookstores choose the books they stock, and how does that affect what customers read? It may not seem like it, but every shelf in a bookstore is a highly valuable and contested piece of commercial real estate. And for every new book that a bookstore decides to stock, there are thousands of others that did not make the cut. So how do bookstores make those decisions? And how will the Planet Money book fare under the discerning eyes of the booksellers, the final gatekeepers in the long gauntlet of the publishing industry?

    Today on the show: the third episode in our series. Planet Money sets out to actually sell a book. We burrow behind the bookstore shelves to learn the secret codes that publishers use to try to convince booksellers to carry the book, from little mom and pops to airport juggernauts. There will be corporate intelligence networks, bargain bin shenanigans, and a giant industrial saw chewing up books by the thousands. Call it Pulp Non-fiction.

    Related:

    - Fisher Nash’s Substack
    - Episode 1: Inside a BOOK auction
    - Episode 2: Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain
    - Series: Planet Money makes a book

    Live show tour and book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

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

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    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Music: NPR Source Audio - “A Peculiar Investigation,” “Round Round,” and “Neighbourhood Watcher.”

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    41 minutos
  • Reese’s heir vs. chocolate skimpflation

    Reese’s heir vs. chocolate skimpflation
    Apr 4 2026
    Live event info and tickets here.

    When ingredient costs skyrocket, companies have three basic options: They can raise their prices (a sort of product-specific inflation), shrink the size of the products (often called “shrinkflation”), or, sometimes, find more creative ways to reduce costs by degrading the quality of their products - which our very own Greg Rosalsky has dubbed as “skimpflation.” The latest alleged culprit? Hershey’s.

    The Hershey Company is using ingredients in some of their Reese’s candies that — legally — they cannot call milk chocolate or peanut butter. This has infuriated Brad Reese, a grandson of H.B. Reese, the inventor of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

    On today’s show, why chocolate makers might be skimping on chocolate and peanut butter, what else might explain these ingredients, and how Brad Reese has launched a skimp-shaming campaign to get Hershey’s to go back to using classic Reese’s ingredients.

    And – EXCLUSIVE – you’ll hear Planet Money break some big news to third-generation peanut butter cup scion Brad Reese.

    Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

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    This episode was hosted by Greg Rosalsky and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Kenny Malone, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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    34 minutos
  • A pro-worker experiment in private equity

    A pro-worker experiment in private equity
    Apr 8 2026
    Live event info and tickets here.

    If your company got bought by a private equity firm, how would you feel? Maybe a little nervous? You might find yourself wondering if there will be layoffs.

    And you’d be right to worry about that. Research shows that while private equity ownership can boost a company’s productivity, it does generally result in job cuts.

    But one private equity executive is trying to do things a different way – giving workers equity, little cuts of ownership in their own companies. To see if doing so can improve outcomes overall.

    On today’s show, private equity is not widely beloved for its societal costs – job losses, product degradation, worsening inequality. And this one guy at this one firm can’t solve all of his industry’s ills. But for the past 15 years, he’s been running a large-scale, real-world experiment to see if giving workers ownership can fit into the big bad world of PE. And maybe lead to more … equity.

    Recommended Listening/Reading:

    What Do Private Equity Firms Actually Do?
    The risk of private equity in your 401(k)
    Here's what happens when private equity buys homes in your neighborhood (newsletter)
    JScrewed

    Find the Planet Money book. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

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    This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Wailin Wong. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang with an assist from Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, engineered by Cena Loffredo with help from Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

    Music: Universal Production Music - "Make Me Want You," "Baby I Surrender," and "Bye Bye Bye"

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    26 minutos
  • Dark times for Cuba’s economic experiment

    Dark times for Cuba’s economic experiment
    Apr 2 2026
    Live event info and tickets here.

    For more than 60 years, Cuba has survived on two seemingly contradictory economic strategies: leaning on friendly communist and socialist countries, and flirting with capitalism. And right now it seems the US is making both strategies impossible.

    Since January, the U.S. has been preventing almost all oil from reaching the island. Doctors can’t get to the hospitals where they work, many buses aren’t running, trucks can’t deliver food and medicine where they’re needed. And there have been frequent blackouts. On more than one occasion over the last few weeks, the entire country has lacked power.

    It’s hard for people to even talk on the phone because they can’t always charge them or get cell service. So we asked them to send us voice notes describing this moment in Cuba’s history.

    We also wanted to know: How did Cuba get here? On today’s episode: a brief history of Cuba’s communist-capitalist experiment.

    Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

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    This show was hosted by Erika Beras and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.


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    28 minutos
  • Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain

    Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain
    Mar 26 2026
    When you come across a book at a yard sale or a bookstore, you might pay more attention to the words between the covers than the physical form of the book itself. But content and the form are both crucial to a book’s success. Each book you pull off the shelf, is the product of thousands of decisions, big and small, tying together vast supply chains and armies of workers from around the world.

    On today’s episode, the second episode in our series: Planet Money sets out to actually write, design, and manufacture a book. We go spelunking deep inside the bowels of the publishing industrial complex. There will be trade wars, sunken cargo containers filled with lost cookbooks, deforestation regulations, and just a whiff of scratch and sniff.

    Related:
    - Watch our book being printed: TikTok, Instagram, Spotify
    - Episode 1: Inside a BOOK auction
    - The laws of the office revisited
    - Series: Planet Money makes a book

    Live event info and tickets here.

    Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

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

    Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Music: NPR Source Audio - “Motivation Or Mayhem,” “Missing A Deadline,” and “No Limits After All.”

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    47 minutos
  • The skyscrapers that NIMBYs and zoning couldn't stop

    The skyscrapers that NIMBYs and zoning couldn't stop
    Mar 28 2026
    LIVE SHOW TOUR INFO HERE. New stories, live tapings, special guests, book signings and more.

    What would you build on a piece of land when all the normal rules go out the window?

    On today’s show, how the Squamish Nation reclaimed a sliver of prime urban real estate and were liberated from zoning restrictions, to the consternation of their wealthy NIMBY neighbors.

    We trace the 100 year saga of what might be the most interesting real estate development in North America right now: There’s a violent eviction, a tense legal battle, and a giant, tough decision for the Squamish Nation that culminates in the daring project that they’re building today.

    It’s a story with lessons for every city trying to lower housing costs and build more.

    This episode is adapted from Planet Money: A Guide To The Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. Pre-order before April 7 and you can get a poster. Details here.

    The working paper we mentioned on “ready-to-issue” permits in Los Angeles.

    Subscribe to Planet Money+

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

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    This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with an assist from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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    22 minutos
  • The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon

    The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon
    Mar 18 2026
    The cardinal tetra is one of the most popular pet fish in the world. They look like little red and blue sequins. You've almost certainly seen them at the pet store or the fish tank at your dentist's office. They're everywhere.

    Not so long ago, most of the world's supply of cardinals came from just one place. It's a little town deep in the rainforests of Brazil, where locals still catch these fish by hand. But the business that this town has relied on for decades has come under threat.

    Recently, we hopped on a plane to see this unusual economy for ourselves — and, two different visions for how to save it.

    For more information about these fish, check out Project Piaba.

    Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

    Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
    Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
    This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was co-reported and produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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    33 minutos
  • Inside a BOOK auction

    Inside a BOOK auction
    Mar 21 2026
    In the age of TikTok and Polymarket, it can be easy to overlook the humble book. But books are one of the most influential technologies ever invented. From “The Wealth of Nations” to “Das Kapital,” books have the power to shape whole economic systems… and everything else in our world. The market for books can determine which ideas make it to the masses.

    So when Planet Money was approached to make its own book, not only did it present an opportunity to spread the gospel of whimsical economic infotainment to new audiences everywhere, but it also presented an opportunity to get a rare peek behind the curtain of the notoriously opaque world of publishing.

    On today’s episode, the first chapter in our series on the making of a book: Planet Money sets out to land a book deal. We enter the high stakes, high school drama of the publishing industry, where literary agents try to woo powerful book editors. And we learn what happens when lofty artistic ideals meet the cold logic of the market. It’s a courtship dance with millions of dollars potentially on the line. There will be whale fights, corporate speed dating, and a literary shotgun wedding.

    Related:

    - Episode 2: Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain
    - Series: Planet Money makes a book

    Live event info and tickets here.

    Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

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

    Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Music: NPR Source Audio - “Run Baby Run,” “Lay It Down,” and “Lazy Ringer.”

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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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    43 minutos