The Indicator from Planet Money

They explore why far fewer Americans now work overnight shifts. Researchers trace a fifty-year shift from night to day work and who tends to take graveyard hours. Personal stories highlight pay premiums, tough schedules, and changing job opportunities as industries and education levels evolve.

They explain how buyers can take over someone else’s low-rate mortgage and why that option is rare. They walk through the slow paperwork, credit checks, and the big cash gap buyers face. They discuss how millions of homes might have assumable loans and why policy changes could make more loans transferable. They debate tradeoffs between liquidity and affordability.

Jennifer Pak, NPR China correspondent covering economics and policy, walks through China’s slow consumption, falling property prices, and youth job anxiety. She explains why GDP targets matter, the push for manufacturing and tech self-reliance, and the tension between export strength and weak domestic demand. Short, sharp takes on what policymakers are prioritizing next.

Dave Folkenflake, an NPR media reporter who covers big-studio maneuvers, profiles David Ellison and the $110 billion Paramount Skydance takeover attempt. He breaks down why Warner Bros. is so attractive. He explains the Ellisons’ financing, political links, and worries about newsroom and studio shakeups. He also outlines the unusual antitrust moves aimed at speeding regulatory approval.

Alex Chan, a Harvard economist who helped design a plan to compensate donor families, and Kurt Sweat, an economist who proposes reimbursing funeral and travel costs, debate paying families to boost organ donation. They discuss the scale of the shortage, legal barriers from the 1984 law, estimated impacts and savings, ethical concerns about money and altruism, and practical safeguards for grieving families.

A look at lost wages tied to a federal crackdown and how researchers measured payroll impacts. A deep dive into why coffee prices jumped sharply, linking climate and trade pressures. A fictional AI scenario that briefly spooked markets and the pushback from firms skeptical of doom-laden forecasts.

Nate Hedgie, podcast host and journalist who covers fisheries, explains how Russian seafood slips past import bans. Short segments cover pollock and North Pacific fisheries. The show digs into how processing in China, mixed supplies, and labeling rules let Russian fish re-enter markets. It also looks at enforcement gaps and recent policy moves.

Matilda Bombardini, UC Berkeley economics professor who studies political economy and lobbying, analyzes an Epstein–Barak recording. She discusses how connections trump expertise. Short scenes explore advising former leaders to list favors, turning access into paid roles, evidence that tied lobbyists earn more, and when elite ties become liabilities.

Ricky Mulvey, co-host of This Time Is Different and frequent Planet Money contributor, joins to talk options whales. They explain what options are and why short-term contracts exploded. Listeners hear how institutions hedge, how algorithmic traders move markets, and how unusually large bets can signal insider timing or spectacular losses.

They answer listener questions about whether voice-only AI interviews cut visual bias and where they might still go wrong. They explain what M2 money supply is and how Fed bond buying changes reserves and interest rates. They investigate why rotisserie chickens spark frenzied in-store crowds, touching on demand, value pricing, and supply hiccups.