Planet Money Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.

Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney

Planet Money

From NPR

Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.

Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney

Most Recent Episodes

Vaselena/Getty Images

If AI is so good, why are there still so many jobs for translators?

If you believe the hype, translators will all soon be out of work. Luis von Ahn, CEO and co-founder of the language learning app Duolingo, doesn't think AI is quite there... yet. In this interview, Greg Rosalsky talks with Luis about AI and how it's reshaping translation jobs and the language learning industry. We also ask him about headlines earlier this year suggesting Duolingo laid off some of its workers and replaced them with AI.

If AI is so good, why are there still so many jobs for translators?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197997573/1264000338" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
matejmo/Getty Images

How useful, really, are the steps you can take after a data breach?

The dreaded data breach notification... It tells you your personal data's been compromised and suggests steps you can take to minimize the potential harm. On today's episode, Kenny Malone pulls out a data breach letter he received and goes over what it recommends with Amanda Aronczyk. Amanda recently did a show about the legal and illegal markets for data and tells us how useful these steps actually are. It's news you can use to protect yourself, whether or not you've been part of a data breach!

How useful, really, are the steps you can take after a data breach?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197997568/1263061198" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A T-shirt with a logo for CEPTIA. Michael Gessel/Stephen Froikin hide caption

toggle caption
Michael Gessel/Stephen Froikin

Why it's so hard to find a public toilet

Why is it so hard to find a bathroom when you need one?

Why it's so hard to find a public toilet

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1248664709/1269247904" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Screenshot of Sarah Gonzalez' Inbox Sarah Gonzalez hide caption

toggle caption
Sarah Gonzalez

Planet Money complains. To learn.

On today's show: we're ... venting.

Planet Money complains. To learn.

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1248091506/1269229788" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

This illustration picture shows a saliva collection kit for DNA testing displayed in Washington DC on December 19, 2018. Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

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 saliva off to be analyzed by the company.

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

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1247139353/1269217727" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell arrives to testify during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing on "The Federal Reserve's Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report," on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, February 12, 2025. ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

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 to oust Powell — which would mark an extraordinary shift away from the independence of the central bank.

A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1246593555/1269203355" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sam Mertens checks on his chickens. Sam Mertens/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Sam Mertens/NPR

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 Planet Money here for if not to get OVERLY involved in this kind of situation?

How much for that egg

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1245530783/1269183733" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Career staff of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs work in the New Executive Office Building. Keith Romer/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Keith Romer/NPR

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.

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

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1245044458/1269157484" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Alix Rodrigues, owner of Nut Hut in Vancouver, packing almonds. Amanda Aronczyk/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Amanda Aronczyk/NPR

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 uncertainty.

Trade war dispatch from Canada

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1244093033/1269095819" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
or search npr.org