(Note: this episode originally ran in 2019.) In the 1800s, catching your train on time was no easy feat. Every town had its own “local time,” based ...
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Back in 2005, Burt Banks inherited a plot of old family land in Delaware. But when it came time to sell it, he ran into a problem: his neighbor had a goat pen, ...
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut, a doctor or maybe a famous athlete? Today one of the most popular responses to ...
After a successful career in advertising, Erika Williams decided it was time for a change. She went back to school to get an MBA at the University of Chicago, ...
Note: This episode originally aired in September, 2014. Zoos follow a fundamental principle: You can’t sell or buy the animals. It’s unethical and ...
Imagine if we built cars the same way we build houses. First, a typical buyer would meet with the car designer, and tell them what kind of car they want. Then ...
This past January, researchers uncovered that Black taxpayers are three to five times as likely to be audited as everyone else. One likely reason for this is ...
Right now, the economy is running hot. Inflation is high, and central banks are pushing up interest rates to fight it. But before the pandemic, economies ...
Right now, the economy is all over the place. And when things get confusing, we look to basic economic indicators to help explain what’s going on. Today, ...
It’s been a month since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank touched off the worst episode of banking turmoil since 2008. While the financial system ...
Puerto Rico’s beaches are an integral part of life on the island, and by law, they’re one of the few places that are truly public. In practice, the ...
In the first half of March, three banks – Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate – all had relatively classic bank runs and collapsed. ...
Earlier this month, we saw the largest bank collapse since the 2008 financial crisis. For many of us, seeing Silicon Valley Bank’s meltdown brought us ...
Richard J. Lonsinger is a member of the Ponca tribe of Oklahoma, who was adopted at a young age into a white family of three. He eventually reconnected with ...
Sometimes you hear these stories about an airplane that suddenly nosedives. Everyone onboard thinks this is it, and then the plane levels out and everything is ...
Since we started Planet Money Records and released the 47-year-old song “Inflation,” the song has taken off. It recently hit 1 million streams on ...
Silicon Valley Bank was the 16th largest bank in America, the bank of choice for tech startups and big-name venture capitalists. Then, in the span of just a ...
Over the past year, dozens of shows have been disappearing from streaming platforms like HBO Max and Showtime. Shows like Minx, Made for Love, FBoy Island, and ...
As a kid, Ryanne Jones’ friend accidentally hit her in the mouth with a hammer, knocking out her two front teeth. Her parents never had enough money for ...
The 90s sit-com Seinfeld is often called “a show about nothing.” Lauded for its observational humor, this quick-witted show focussed on four ...