Episódios

  • So are we in an AI bubble? Here are clues to look for.

    So are we in an AI bubble? Here are clues to look for.
    Jan 10 2026
    Are we in an AI bubble? That’s the $35 trillion dollar question right now as the stock market soars higher and higher. The problem is that bubbles are famously hard to spot. But some economists say they may have found some telltale clues.


    On our latest: How do economists detect a bubble? And, how much should society be worried about bubbles in the first place?


    Related shows:


    - How to make $35 trillion ... disappear

    -What is a bubble? (featuring Nobel prize winning economics Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller)

    -What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill


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    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.


    Music: NPR Source Audio - “The best is yet to come,” “Marsh mellow,” and “Sunshine beat”

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    25 minutos
  • How Black hair care grew Black power

    How Black hair care grew Black power
    Jan 7 2026
    The Afro is one of the most iconic hairstyles of the last century. And one of its main ingredients was a hair product – Afro Sheen. But Afro Sheen did so much more than make Black afros shine. It was the money behind the television show Soul Train, it helped fuel the civil rights movement – all because of an entrepreneur named George Johnson.

    For decades, Joan and George Johnson owned and ran Johnson Products Company, a Black hair care company out of Chicago. Their intimate understanding of what Black people wanted and needed – for their hair and for their lives – helped grow the Black middle class and became an engine for Black culture and power. They helped turn the Black haircare industry into what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. But although they helped create this industry, they no longer have a part in it.

    Today on the show – the story of the rise and fall of Johnson Products. We’re gonna tell you this story in three hairstyles. The conk, the afro… and the jheri curl.

    Related episodes:

    This Ad’s For You

    'Soul Train' and the business of Black joy

    Fashion Fair's makeover


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    This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Sonari Glinton and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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    29 minutos
  • Venezuela’s recent economic history (Update)

    Venezuela’s recent economic history (Update)
    Jan 4 2026
    We’ve been checking in on the economic conditions in Venezuela for about a decade now. In response to the U.S. strike and the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro this weekend, we’re re-surfacing this episode with an update.


    The original version ran in 2016, with an update in 2024.


    Back in 2016, things were pretty bad in Venezuela. Grocery stores didn’t have enough food. Hospitals didn’t have basic supplies, like gauze. Child mortality was spiking. Businesses were shuttering. It was one of the epic economic collapses of our time. And it was totally avoidable.


    Venezuela used to be a relatively rich country. It has just about all the economic advantages a country could ask for: Beautiful beaches and mountains ready for tourism, fertile land good for farming, an educated population, and oil, lots and lots of oil.


    But during the boom years, the Venezuelan government made some choices that add up to an economic time bomb.


    Today on the show, we run through the decisions that foreshadowed the collapse, and we hear from people in Venezuela in 2016 at a particularly low point for the economy, then again and in 2024 after a bounce back and a stabilization, in part due to the unlikely impact of the U.S. dollar.


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    This original episode is hosted by Robert Smith and Noel King. It was produced by Nick Fountain and Sally Helm. Today’s update was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk, produced by Sean Saldana, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Neal Rauch. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer.

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator and Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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    22 minutos
  • Indicators of the Year, Past and Future

    Indicators of the Year, Past and Future
    Dec 31 2025
    2025 is finally over. It was a wild year for the U.S. economy. Tariffs transformed global trading, consumer sentiment hit near-historic lows, and stocks hit dramatic new heights! So … which of these economic stories defined the year?

    We will square off in a family feud to make our case, debate, and decide it.

    Also, as we enter 2026, we are watching the trends and planning out what next years stories are likely to be. So we’re picking which indicators will become next years most telling.

    On today’s episode, our indicators of this past year AND our top indicator predictions for 2026.


    Related episodes:

    The Indicators of this year and next (2024)

    This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble

    What would it mean to actually refund the tariffs?

    What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill

    What indicators will 2025 bring?


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

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    This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed. The episodes of The Indicator were produced by Angel Carreras, edited by Julia Ritchey, engineered by Robert Rodrigez and Kwesi Lee, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is the editor of the Indicator. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator and Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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    18 minutos
  • Why economists got free trade with China so wrong

    Why economists got free trade with China so wrong
    Dec 30 2025
    With the year coming to a close, we're sharing our most popular Planet Money bonus episode of 2025!

    As U.S. trade with China exploded in the early 2000's, American manufacturing began to shrivel. Those workers struggled to adapt and find new jobs. It ran counter to how mainstream economics at the time viewed free trade ... that it would be a clear win for the U.S. Greg Rosalsky talks with David Autor about why economists got free trade with China so wrong.

    Autor, an MIT economics professor, and his colleagues published a series of eye-opening studies over the last 15 years or so that brought to light the costs of U.S. trade with China. We also hear Autor's thoughts on the role of tariffs and get an update on his research. With better, more precise data, Autor says we have a more nuanced and "bleaker" picture of what happened to these manufacturing workers.

    You can read about Autor's research and sign up for The Planet Money Newsletter here.

    To hear more bonus content like this and support NPR and public media, sign up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Regular episodes remain free to listen!

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    26 minutos
  • The Rest of the Story, 2025

    The Rest of the Story, 2025
    Dec 26 2025
    Most stories keep going even after we set down our microphones and the music fades up. That's why, at the end of each year, we look back and we take stock.

    We call this tradition "The Rest of the Story." And we bring you updates on the stories we've reported, and from the people we've met along the way.

    Today, we check in on an engineer and patent attorney who made a safer saw; we get an update on the Planet Money game; an update on money in Gaza; and we have updates on a diamond that may or may not have had a second life.

    Listen to the original stories:

    The Subscription Trap

    Planet Money buys a mystery diamond

    In Gaza, money is falling apart

    BOARD GAMES 1: We're making a game

    How to save 10,000 fingers


    This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, edited by Alex Goldmark, fact-checked by Vito Emanuel, and engineered by Debbie Daughtry.

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

    Play the new version of our game here. Version 4.

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    28 minutos
  • The summer I turned binge-y

    The summer I turned binge-y
    Dec 24 2025
    On the eve of Netflix shoveling a fourish-hour chunk of Stranger Things onto Christmas Day, we visit the past, present, and future of binge-dropped television shows.


    The strategy of releasing an entire season at the same time has been key to taking Netflix from a little startup that used to lend us DVDs in the mail … to a company so big and powerful, it is maybe going to buy Warner Brothers and own Bugs Bunny and Tony Soprano and the Harry Potter movies.


    But even Netflix may be flirting with some slightly less binge-y models of content release. Are we entering … the end of the binge drop?


    On our latest: what data tells us about binge watching. Was it the greatest business decision, and who does binge watching really benefit?


    Here’s some of the research.


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    This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Dania Suleman and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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    31 minutos
  • What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill

    What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill
    Dec 20 2025
    As a country, we are spending more to get data centers up and running than we spent to build the entire interstate highway system. (Yes, that’s inflation-adjusted.) With tech companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI, data centers have kind of become the thing in the US economy.

    But along with that growth have come a lot of questions. Like where is all the electricity to run these data centers supposed to come from? And how much are residential customers’ electric bills increasing as a result?

    On today’s episode, we go to Ohio to trace one electric bill back to its source, to see what exactly is causing the big price increases people are seeing. We take a tour of a data center hot spot, and get to the bottom of how prices are set from inside the power company.

    Related episodes:
    - Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI?
    - No AI data centers in my backyard!
    - What $10 billion in data centers actually gets you
    - Is AI overrated or underrated?
    - Green energy gridlock

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

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    Today's show was hosted by Keith Romer and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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    32 minutos