Episodes (Page 5)
✨
Cybercriminals use AI-generated audio deepfakes impersonating voices to scam individuals and businesses, prompting banks to deploy AI-based defenses in an arms race
✨
Planet Money is releasing a free downloadable and playable board game prototype
✨
Planet Money is creating an economics-themed board game to compete in a booming tabletop game market with 5,000 new games released annually
✨
The cold chain
✨
Jane Street Group's secret billion-dollar trading strategy involving Indian stock options was unexpectedly revealed in a Manhattan courtroom lawsuit
✨
Israel's blockade of physical currency into Gaza has left only pre-war cash in circulation, which is deteriorating from overuse
✨
CEO-to-worker pay gap has grown from reasonable levels to over 100-to-1 ratios
✨
President Trump announced a deal giving the U.S. government a 10% stake in Intel, making it the largest shareholder in a major American company
✨
Listeners ask repeatedly whether their jobs are safe from AI, with some considering yoga teaching or real estate as AI-proof careers
✨
President Trump is pressuring the Federal Reserve from multiple angles, prompting examination of political pressure on central banks worldwide
✨
Milk.com, a valuable domain name worth potentially millions, is being used as a personal website with a resume and recipes instead of being monetized
✨
President Trump removed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook 'for cause' and she is now suing to remain in office
✨
Final Summer School 2025 episode tests listener knowledge with a graduation and valedictorian selection
✨
Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro have exploded in demand as weight-loss drugs, with government-granted monopolies protecting the big pharma companies that make them
✨
Beyond tariffs, governments use numerous trade barriers that are sometimes overlooked despite long-standing impacts on commerce
✨
Food prices are nearly 30% higher than five years ago, and TikTok videos document how little groceries now cost, reflecting real inflation pain
✨
Markets naturally connect buyers and sellers, but sometimes they fail due to greed or dysfunction, requiring government intervention to work properly
✨
Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics head raised concerns about potential government manipulation of economic data
✨
Traditional economics assumes markets guide themselves through supply and demand, but governments actively shape industries through tax breaks and incentives
✨
Trust in experts including economists is declining across institutions, with President Trump firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics director over disputed jobs data