Planet Money
Summary: Money makes the world go around, faster and faster every day. On NPR's Planet Money, you'll meet high rollers, brainy economists and regular folks -- all trying to make sense of our rapidly changing global economy.
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- Artist: NPR
- Copyright: 2015 National Public Radio
Podcasts:
What if robots did all the work? In today's show, we imagine a world without jobs.
We go out for pizza and meet the latest group of workers getting replaced by machines: servers.
In Greenville, SC, the best job option isn't to compete against the robots, but to make friends with them. Note: Today's show originally aired in January 2012.
If you aren't already worried about being replaced by a robot, maybe you should be. Today on the show, three races pit humans against machines.
Today on the show, the true story of the Luddites.
While most technology is getting smaller and cheaper, batteries still suck. Today on the show, we learn exactly why, and meet some of the people trying to make batteries better.
You're not allowed to buy and sell organs. So doctors created a different system. Today on the show: how do you decide who gets lungs?
Casinos are worried that young people aren't interested in playing slots or other games of luck. They're turning to games that require skill, like basketball.
We visit the workshop of the meat inventor who came up with Steak-Umm and KFC's popcorn chicken. And we try to figure out what meat inventors tell us about patents and innovation. (Today's show originally ran in August 2012.)
In the early 1900s, the president of the largest shoe company in the world tried to create a Utopia for his workers. He called his big experiment in welfare capitalism: The Square Deal.
Today on the show: how a bunch of rational economists try to deal with our feelings. And the story of a man who came up with five simple questions that he hoped would predict the future.
Just a few years ago, solar power was an expensive luxury for the environmentally conscious. Now it's a good deal for lots of people. How did solar power get so cheap, so fast?
How do you make money manufacturing a dry, bland cracker that a tiny percentage of the population eats just one week a year?
Maddie Messer is 12, and she loves a good video game. One of her favorites is called Temple Run. In fact, it's one of the most successful games out there. Temple Run is free to play—if you play as the default character, Guy Dangerous. But playing as a girl character can cost extra. Maddie found out this was true for a lot of games, and she didn't think that was very fair. Today on the show: a 12-year-old girl takes on the entire video game industry.
We got on stage at a comedy club to read a bunch of weird economics jokes. We bombed. Today on the show, we do what you're never supposed to do: explain the joke.