This week’s indicators: Is The U.S. Treasury Department futzing with financial markets?; Is Patagonia’s pretty picturesque setting … for data centers?; Was the summer box office actually swell? 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— A Treasury showdown with the bond market

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Our favorite entry on the regional economy from the latest Beige Book reveals a troubling development in higher education. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Community colleges are kind of underrated

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Why do so many fintech companies — like Square and Mercury — want to be banks? And what does it take to get there? Find out today when we play our fake game show … Who Wants To Be A Bank!

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
—Is this a bank?

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The era of friendly diplomacy has fallen to the wayside once again as the U.S. - Canada trade war enters a new phase. This time, Canada is countering the latest round of tariffs with their own, targeting American dairy, steel and electronics. Today on the show, we hear from the host of CBC’s Cost of Living podcast Paul Haavardsrud on Canada’s trade war strategy.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Why there's no referee for the trade war
— Why a trade war makes wigs (and bones) cost more + LeBond James

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With AI disrupting the workplace, is your job going to exist in ten years? The Bureau of Labor Statistics has just the handbook for that. 

Today on the show, we flip through the Occupational Outlook Handbook and answer your questions about the future of work.

This episode originally aired on May 8th, 2026

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

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— How AI is shrinking the job market for teens

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People with jobs are not always eager to leave them … but there are exceptions. Call them job hoppers. While many employers look down on this sort of professional promiscuity, new research suggests there are benefits to switching jobs frequently.  

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— I'm just here for the health benefits

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We go undercover at a big box store for an inside look at the secret shelf test the makers of Exploding Kittens use for their hit games.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

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— Who decides what big box sells? Our GAME got us answers

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Why are more than half of Gen Zers using investment dollars for sports gambling? It’s been eight years since sports betting became widely legal. Today we look at its impact on a new generation of sports bettors and efforts to curb gambling’s more harmful effects. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Prediction markets are threatening national security. Who's gonna fix it?

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Why is the U.S. Treasury planning to buyback at least double the number of long-dated government bonds it usually does? And will Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s buyback plan pit him against both the bond markets and the Federal Reserve? Today we explain what the Treasury’s up to and what it means for you. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
—Bond vigilantes. Who they are, what they want, and how you'll know they're coming

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 50,000 people in July, marking the biggest month for ICE arrests of President Trump’s second term. We talk to a researcher who thinks this increased ICE activity is creating an “economy of fear” in cities around the country — and has the data to prove it.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

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— How ending TPS is squeezing workers, businesses and (soon) consumers

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This week’s indicators: The teacher pay penalty; Meta’s massive settlement; Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods are struggling.  

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that comparable college graduates in other professions make around 25% more than teachers. Those workers make about 33% more.

Your Next Listen 
— Why infinite scroll's inventor wants to kill his creation

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Coyote vs. Acme will finally get its theatrical release on Friday after a years-long saga involving supposed tax write-downs, negotiations and multibillion-dollar studio deals. It's a drama almost straight out of a Hollywood screenplay. Today we have the story from the inside. This episode is an update of an episode from December 2023.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Why Paramount went looney tunes for Warner Bros.

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Medicare for All could save the U.S. trillions… or maybe way less than that? In our second episode on Medicare for All, we look at the convoluted figures behind the hot political topic. We hear directly from billionaire and healthcare voice Mark Cuban on what works about Medicare for All, and why its actual cost is so complicated. 

Fact checking by Vito Emanuel.

Your Next Listen 
— Why do hospitals keep running out of generic drugs?

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As midterms near, Medicare for All is back in the spotlight and Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has become the newest face for it. Today, we dig into what Medicare for All would actually do and hear directly from El-Sayed on why he thinks it’s critical to figure out.

Tomorrow, billionaire Mark Cuban joins the show as we continue our discussion on Medicare for All.

Fact checking by Vito Emanuel.

Your Next Listen 
— I’m just here for the health benefits
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The Trump administration recently admitted to pulling grants over politics. This practice could become more common. How do cities use grant money, and how will they adapt?

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— How far can philanthropy go to fill government gaps?

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This week’s indicators: EV sales sputter in North America but flutter internationally; U.S. Treasury Yields … RISE!; a low-budget movie so terrible, it became a box office hit in China. 

Fact checking by Julia Ritchey

Your Next Listen 
— The story of China and Hollywood's big-screen romance

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Bankruptcy has a negative stigma surrounding it. But what if we told you it’s not as bad as you may think? In fact, economists think we should actually see more of it! 

Based on the radio story: More Americans are going bankrupt. What does that mean?

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— We're in a renter's market (believe it or not)

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The best manager isn’t necessarily the best employee. Turns out it isn't so easy to predict what DOES make a good manager. Today on the show, we turn to science to help answer that very question.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Productivity and workforce whiplash

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The Trump Organization has sued Capital One for closing its bank accounts. The organization says it did so out of political reasons. But banks can close accounts for a zillion reasons. They don’t have to say why. Capital One cited money laundering as a concern. 

On today’s show, how banks decide to close accounts, how much politics plays a role and what the bank might have seen in its crime-stopping crystal ball.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— What is a 'freedom economy'?

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Fenwick Island, Del. has only around 900 people on its voting rolls, but some of those registered voters are not human. Many are family trusts and a few are companies. The town says its system works for its tiny beach community. So why are some lawmakers trying to stop it?

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Who’s behind that shell company? 

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It’s Indicators of the Week!

On today’s episode: Retirees get a bump in benefits; credit card debt delinquency at a historically high level; and the dating app Bumble on a serious decline — Men first! IRL events! What will work! 

Fact checking by Cooper Katz McKim and Vito Emanuel.

Your Next Listen 
— Trying to fix the dating app backlash

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Which letter best describes how the U.S. economy is shaped: C or K? We examine the arguments for both and why there’s so much disagreement over who’s faring best in today’s economy. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— We resolve to watch these 2026 indicators  

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Rage. That’s what consumers are feeling right now. A new survey found consumer complaints hit a record high this year. Another from last year found a huge share of consumers felt ‘rage’ with a product or service problem. Just think about the modern consumer experience: hidden fees, ballooning customer support wait times (perpetually experiencing higher call volumes than usual) … shrinkflation! Argh!! What’s going on? 

On today’s show, unpacking consumer rage. And Heather Timmons, who covers consumer rights for The Guardian, talks about what we might do about it.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Petty! Econ! Grievances!
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The total amount of investors using margin aka borrowing money to help pay for a trade  is at an all time high of over $1.5 trillion. Is this something we should worry about? We spoke to Jurrien Tinner at Fidelity Investments. 

Note: Jurrien Timmer's views are his own and not representative of Fidelity. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— How AI might mess with financial markets


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President Trump is no fan of wind farms. And his administration is putting taxpayer money where his mouth is, paying companies billions of dollars to NOT build them. 

On today’s show, Trump’s plan to squelch wind farms with the public purse. 

Fact checking by Tyler Jones. 

Your Next Listen 
— Wind boom, wind bust (Two Windicators)

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Dependable health insurance is keeping more people in their jobs. Rising health costs don't help. Today we look at the repercussions this kind of job lock has on the wider economy. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— The ghosts of Obamacare past, present and future 

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Taco Bell and Taylor Farms are taking hits to their reputation due to the cyclosporiasis outbreak across the country. They could learn a thing or two from Chipotle, which went through its own public relations battle during a similar outbreak about a decade ago.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Big Lettuce meets Small Intestine

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What happens when roughly a million people working legally in the U.S. suddenly lose that right to stay here? We’re starting to find out in places like Miami, Florida, home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the country. There, we talk to people on what the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) means for their businesses and the wider economy.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Your American Dream is pending review

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Shortages are in the news again! Here’s why the supply of blood, water and helium are at concerningly low levels.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— How Colorado towns are trying to get some water certainty

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Musicians from the Rolling Stones to up-and-coming pop star Bella Kay have one thing in common: Influencers are being paid to promote their songs. 

On today's show: Who is an industry plant and why does it matter?

Fact checking by Tyler Jones. 

Your Next Listen 
— Two Indicators: the influencer industry

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It’s Indicators of the Week! 

On today’s episode: The inner workings of Mamdani’s marts; how much Americans gamble; and Gen-Z aren’t the sober generation we’ve been led to believe! 

Fact checking by Corey Bridges. 

Your Next Listen 
— Is gambling the reason we have pro sports?

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President Trump’s social media company, Truth Social, wants to sell investors early access to its posts. When Trump announces tariffs or new strikes on Iran, those milliseconds matter in the market. Is this corruption? Is this legal? And what does corruption mean for the U.S. economy? 

Ray Fisman’s book with Miriam A. Golden is Corruption: What Everyone Needs to Know.

Fact checking by Tyler Jones.

Your Next Listen 
— Did Trump enable insider trading?
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For decades, consumer tech like laptops and gaming systems got better AND cheaper. Memory shortages caused by the AI boom are making those lower prices a thing of the past.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— SK Hynix to the moon, Gen-Z to their rooms, and Connecticut tax reform looms

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The U.S. housing market is pretty weird right now. Whether you’re a buyer, seller or a renter, it leads to all kinds of questions, like: How did we end up with a housing shortage? Is housing still a good investment? What policies might unlock the housing inventory held by baby boomers? So we called up someone with answers: Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather. 

On today’s show, your housing questions, answered. This is an excerpt of a live virtual event we held last week for our NPR+ and other qualifying supporters.

To hear the entire event, make sure you’re signed up for NPR+. We’ll be publishing it as a bonus episode in the Planet Money feed next week!    

Fact checking by Vito Emanuel.

Your Next Listen 
— Two Cities. Two chip plants. One affordability crisis.

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We have some grievances. Economic ones. And we’re airing them out. 

On today’s show: Redeeming fast food rewards points in airports, not knowing the full price of your meal upfront, and the pen-and-paper restaurant bill slowdown. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.  

Your Next Listen 

— Three beefs: U.S. and Brazil, Taco Bell and liability, Waymo and trial lawyers

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It’s Indicators of the Week! 

Today on the show: Brazil’s fast payments system that’s got the Trump administration huffy, why Taco Bell might be liable for their role in cyclospora infections and why some lawyers are lobbying against driverless cars. 

Fact checking by Emma Ferrara and Corey Bridges. 

Your Next Listen 
— Can I get my tariff money back now?

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Paramount’s $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery has a few hurdles ahead of it. One of them is an FCC approval. But a recent investigation shows that Paramount and the FCC have a dubious relationship, one with potential conflicts of interest.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Why Paramount went looney tunes for Warner Bros.

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Biz-friendly Texas is opening a stock exchange, built and based in the state. Can it become—or best—Wall Street? And how has politics influenced the birth of Y’all Street?

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— ESG bans cost Texas

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The formerly sleepy economies of suburban Austin, Texas and Syracuse, NY are getting two new semiconductor chip plants. They’re bringing thousands of jobs and dollars to the area but while Austin’s housing market seems to be handling the change well, Syracuse is in the midst of an affordability crisis. On today’s show, why?

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez. 

Your Next Listen 
— A solution to the housing shortage?

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Why has the Food and Drug Administration taken so long to approve new sunscreens? Unlike the rest of the world, the FDA only just approved its first new ingredient in nearly three decades. We learn about a proposal to speed up drug and sunscreen innovation, and a skincare influencer who lobbied for change. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.  

Your Next Listen 
— The sneaky way companies get new chemicals into our food

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In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation in the wake of George Floyd's killing. Antonio arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.

In this eight-part series, hosts Sydney Brownstone of The Seattle Times and Will James of KUOW team up with NPR's Embedded to investigate Antonio's death. They track down key eyewitnesses and surface crucial evidence that's never been made public.

Find "We Keep Us Safe" in the Embedded podcast feed.

Listen to Embedded wherever you get your podcasts, including the NPR App, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and via RSS.


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It’s Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube!). 

On today’s episode: What happened to Trump’s proposed Strait of Hormuz fee?; China’s pollution takes a dip … and maybe solves a mystery?; IMAX is expensive. But BIG. (For our eyes and theater owners.) 

Fact checking by Julia Ritchey and Cooper Katz McKim. 


Your Next Listen 
—The curious rise of novelty popcorn buckets

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Over 100 years ago, Pope Leo XIII wrote a seminal letter encouraging workers to unionize in the face of industrialization. The current Pope Leo XIV in his seminal letter warned of an economic disruption from today that threatens workers - Artificial Intelligence.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Jobs numbers, immigrants in healthcare, and ... Jesus Christ?

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Many Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates are diversifying away from oil, but how do you actually measure that? After China resumed buying American soybeans, what are farmers doing now? And is your neighbor paying less for their car than you? Today on the show, we explore YOUR listener questions.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez & Emma Ferrara. 

Your Next Listen 
— What do farmers do in a trade war?

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AI summaries are gaining traction and making the potential for a “zero click web” increasingly real. What does that mean for the internet as we know it today?

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— AI is pumping out books. Are they any good?

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About one in 20 car loans made to young people are in serious delinquency. That’s the highest rate since the global financial crisis. Today on the show, former FDIC chair Sheila Bair answers young listeners' car buying questions. 

Sheila Bair’s book is How Not to Lose a Million Dollars: A Young Person's Guide to Avoiding the Tricks and Traps of Our Financial System 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez. 

Your Next Listen 
— Why this former banking regulator is writing kids books 

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It’s Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube!). 

On today’s episode: You could’ve septupled your money if you invested in this scalding-hot South Korean memory chip stock; nearly half of all adults under 30 are moving back in with the ‘rents; and a new democracy is born … in Connecticut.  

Fact checking by Julia Ritchey and Corey Bridges. 

Your Next Listen 
— Why Americans don't want to move for jobs anymore (Encore)

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When it comes to AI, Google’s Gemini does not have the same household recognition that Claude and ChatGPT do. One big explanation: the innovator’s dilemma. We explain how Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is trying to fight a lumbering company’s constraints to build AI superintelligence. 

Sebastian Mallaby’s book is The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez. 

Your Next Listen 
— The inventor’s dilemma 

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Too much news, there’s just too much news. Today on the show, we tackle three big stories we’re following: Venezuela’s ever-increasing debt problem, the real story behind high egg prices, and how gaming companies are paying the pied piper.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez. 

Your Next Listen 
— What the cluck is happening with egg prices?

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Depends on where you live, but renters have a lot of power right now in the United States. What’s behind this trend and how might you be able to take advantage of the renters’ market at your next lease renewal.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Corporate landlords aren't the real villain

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