The Day of Two Noons (Classic)(Note: this episode originally ran in 2019.) In the 1800s, catching your train on time was no easy feat. Every town had its own […]

How to fight a squatting goatBack 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: […]

Two Indicators: the influencer industryWhen you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut, a doctor or maybe a famous athlete? Today one […]

Financial advising while BlackAfter 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 zoo economy (classic)Note: This episode originally aired in September, 2014. Zoos follow a fundamental principle: You can’t sell or buy the animals. It’s une […]

The quest for the factory-built houseImagine if we built cars the same way we build houses. First, a typical buyer would meet with the car designer, and tell […]

Tax Code SwitchThis past January, researchers uncovered that Black taxpayers are three to five times as likely to be audited as everyone else. One likely reason […]

The life and possible death of low interest ratesRight now, the economy is running hot. Inflation is high, and central banks are pushing up interest rates to […]

Two innovation market indicatorsRight now, the economy is all over the place. And when things get confusing, we look to basic economic indicators to help explain […]

Your banking questions, answeredIt’s been a month since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank touched off the worst episode of banking turmoil since 2008. While t […]

The battle for Puerto Rico’s beachesPuerto 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 pub […]

The safety net for banksIn the first half of March, three banks – Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate – all had relatively classic bank runs and […]

A Great Recession bank takeoverEarlier this month, we saw the largest bank collapse since the 2008 financial crisis. For many of us, seeing Silicon Valley […]

The battle over Osage headrightsRichard 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 […]

Inside a bank runSometimes you hear these stories about an airplane that suddenly nosedives. Everyone onboard thinks this is it, and then the plane levels out and […]

Planet Money Records Vol. 3: Making a hitSince we started Planet Money Records and released the 47-year-old song “Inflation,” the song has taken off. It rec […]

How Silicon Valley Bank failedSilicon Valley Bank was the 16th largest bank in America, the bank of choice for tech startups and big-name venture capitalists. […]

Dude, where’s my streaming TV show?Over the past year, dozens of shows have been disappearing from streaming platforms like HBO Max and Showtime. Shows like Minx, […]

The value of good teethAs a kid, Ryanne Jones’ friend accidentally hit her in the mouth with a hammer, knocking out her two front teeth. Her parents never had e […]

Seinfeld-onomicsThe 90s sit-com Seinfeld is often called “a show about nothing.” Lauded for its observational humor, this quick-witted show focussed on four hap […]