Planet Money

  • Why it’s so hard to find a public toilet

    Why is it so hard to find a bathroom when you need one? In the U.S., we used to have lots of publicly accessible toilets. But many had locks on the doors and you had…


  • Planet Money complains. To learn.

    On today’s show: we’re … venting. We at Planet Money are an ensemble show – each with different curiosities and styles. But we recently realized many of us have something in common: We’re annoyed consumers.…


  • How 23andMe’s bankruptcy led to a run on the gene bank

    Reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi’s Aunt Vovi signed up for 23andMe back in 2017, hoping to learn more about the genetic makeup of her ancestors. Vovi was one of over 15 million 23andMe customers who sent their…


  • A primer on the Federal Reserve’s independence

    President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing politics by keeping interest rates high. Trump has also threatened…


  • How much for that egg

    Recently, one of our NPR colleagues wrote a message to all of NPR saying he had extra eggs to sell for cheap, but needed a fair way to distribute them during a shortage. What is…


  • OIRA: The tiny office that’s about to remake the federal government

    OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful.…


  • Trade war dispatch from Canada

    How do you run a business when a trade war is brewing? As President Trump’s tariffs kick in – or are paused or are restarted – businesses around the world are trying to navigate the…


  • Do trade deficits matter?

    At the heart of President Trump’s tariffs is this idea that we should not be buying more from other countries than they are buying from us. Basically, he wants to get rid of the trade…


  • How the War on Drugs got us… blueberries

    Ever wondered why you can buy fresh Peruvian blueberries in the dead of winter? The answer, surprisingly, is tied to cocaine. Today on the show, we look at how the War on Drugs led to…


  • Tariffs: What are they good for?

    What are tariffs good for? For years, mainstream economists have basically said: tariffs are not good. They are an import tax paid by consumers, they’ve said, and they discourage free trade, and we want more!…