Planet Money
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
Episodes
Mentioned books
92 snips
Mar 28, 2026 • 22min
The skyscrapers that NIMBYs and zoning couldn't stop
A reclaimed slice of Vancouver becomes the stage for a high-stakes real estate saga. There’s a violent eviction, a legal fight, and a bold choice to trade a modest plan for 11 towers and thousands of apartments. Wealthy neighbors push back. Big questions about housing, permits, and who gets to shape a city drive the drama.
121 snips
Mar 26, 2026 • 47min
Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain
Tom Mayer, a W.W. Norton editor, takes listeners inside the making of a book. They trace how edits, design choices, pricing, and deadlines shape the final object. Then the story jumps to trade wars, cargo risks, deforestation rules, and the surprise logic behind printing in Indiana instead of overseas. Even a one-inch trim change causes chaos.
225 snips
Mar 21, 2026 • 43min
Inside a BOOK auction
Tom Mayer, executive editor at W.W. Norton, steps inside publishing’s secretive dealmaking. He walks through how editors price ideas, weigh risk, and chase breakout books. Then the drama kicks in: agents stir competition, bids pile up, and a tense beauty contest decides who wins the rights.
75 snips
Mar 18, 2026 • 33min
The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon
A tiny red-and-blue aquarium fish becomes the center of a surprising Amazon economy. The story follows hand-caught ornamental fish, a rainforest town built around them, and the global fish farms that shattered its monopoly. It also explores conservation branding, old rubber-trade echoes, and a dramatic shift toward sport-fishing tourism.
165 snips
Mar 13, 2026 • 26min
Chef vs. Robot
A 750 lb stainless-steel wok-bot takes on a seasoned Cantonese chef in a head-to-metalhead cooking showdown. Discussion of how automation is changing restaurant kitchens and which tasks robots can actually replace. A Nobel-winning economist weighs in on when machines displace workers versus when they complement them. Judges taste, score, and consider tradeoffs of speed, cost, and culinary technique.
75 snips
Mar 11, 2026 • 30min
The laws of the office revisited
They test classic workplace laws like Parkinson’s Law and the Peter Principle in real office experiments. They explore Goodhart’s Law and how measuring performance can warp behavior. They investigate social contagion and run a practical experiment to change office dishwashing norms. The segment also revisits earlier tests to see long-term effects.
123 snips
Mar 6, 2026 • 30min
Planet Money vs. the NBA’s tanking problem
Zach Lowe, longtime NBA reporter and analyst known for sharp, in-depth coverage, joins to tackle tanking in the NBA. He explains the draft origins, the draft wheel idea, and why lottery tweaks failed. Short takes cover the Gold Plan from hockey, abolishing the draft, and which fixes are politically plausible. The conversation focuses on concrete draft reforms to realign incentives.
76 snips
Mar 4, 2026 • 28min
The Business of Heated Rivalry
Jacob Tierney, director and actor who led the show’s creative vision, and Brendan Brady, TV executive producer focused on financing and IP, break down Heated Rivalry’s creation. They discuss the low-cost Canadian production model, fast humane shooting practices, ownership and merchandising strategies, and streaming’s effects on storytelling. Conversations touch on AI’s role and plans for future projects.
123 snips
Feb 27, 2026 • 36min
Don't hate the replicator, hate the game
A scientist created an international, crowdsourced contest to re-run social science studies and test whether published results hold up. Teams race to execute original code, probe robustness, and spot missing variables or duplicated data. The story explores publication incentives, p-hacking, and how community scrutiny could change research norms.
86 snips
Feb 25, 2026 • 18min
The ICE hiring boom
Sergio Martinez Beltran, an NPR immigration reporter who covers enforcement and detention policy, explains ICE’s rapid hiring surge and shortened training. He describes plans for massive detention warehouses and the economic pitch to towns like Folkston, Georgia. Short scenes explore recruitment tactics, reduced field and language training, and local debates over jobs versus moral cost.
