Planet Money

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Is our national debt finally too much? (update)

(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2024.) $40,000,000,000,000. Four commas. Thirteen zeroes. It’s an eye-popping, almost infinite-sounding pile of money.

Sep 23
29 min

The Domino’s Pizza Tracker Theory of Everything

#19 trending · Business

Did a pizza restaurant’s humble status page change how we wait forever? When you order a Lyft or Uber, you get texts every few minutes about your car approaching and ar

Sep 18
32 min

How investing is getting riskier (Two Indicators)

Margin borrowing and sports gambling “investments” are both on the rise! Today on the show, two stories from Planet Money’s daily podcast The Indicator about the ways inv

Sep 16
18 min

The loan at the heart of a new foreclosure crisis

There is a new type of loan that is sweeping through the country right now. It’s advertised as a super quick and super easy way to get a mortgage to buy a home. In recent

Sep 11
29 min

Cost-cutting, quiet guilt and the inflation generation

In this economy it is boom times and doom times all at once. The statistics aren’t really capturing it. K-shaped only goes so far as a metaphor. So … we asked you to help

Sep 9
24 min

Trump drinks Venezuela’s milkshake

One week ago, President Trump announced a deal that would give the “U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the Am

Sep 5
25 min

Love in the time of Palantir

To a lot of people, Palantir is a mystery — what does the company know, what data do they have, and (if they have it) what do they do with it all? We dig into that myster

Sep 2
25 min

Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” the true story behind the anthem (bonus)

The brilliance of "9 to 5" is that it is catchy even though it’s also kinda depressing. You will be dancing along. You're enjoying it. And, then when you really listen to

Aug 30
22 min

Branded fruit: How produce got “Honeycrisp-ified"

The produce aisle is changing. You’ve noticed this, I’m sure. It is now full of superstar fruits and vegetables: The Honeycrisp apple, The Cotton Candy grape, The Cuties

Aug 28
33 min

The continent nobody owns & everyone benefits from (Summer School)

This episode is packed with your best economic ideas from around the world and a penguin interview. It all comes together in this final session of Summer School 2026. Pa

Aug 26
40 min

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

There’s a room where the fates of retail products are decided. Will they make it onto the shelves of the big box stores? Usually the rest of us can’t get inside the room

Aug 21
37 min

Getting entrepreneurial in Korea (Summer School)

This week’s stop on our world tour - Korea. A country divided into two very different power structures since the end of WWII. Today South Korea is the maker of some of th

Aug 19
40 min

You bet your life insurance

Some of the biggest firms on Wall Street are, at this very moment, waiting for thousands of strangers to die to reap their returns. Because there’s a market for life insu

Aug 14
38 min

Currency Chaos in Argentina (Summer School)

Just about everyone in Argentina is an expert in inflation and whether they like it or not, economic flexibility. Can we learn from them? Over the years, we at Planet M

Aug 12
39 min

Older workers aren’t retiring. Should they be forced to?

When workers past retirement age can’t afford to retire — that’s one thing. When they can, and just don’t want to — that’s trickier. It used to be legal to force people

Aug 7
34 min

Sand heists and property rights in the Caribbean (Summer School)

Imagine a nation where, for the residents, land is for the claiming. You walk down the street, pick out a nice looking plot of land, and just plop down a marker. No rent,

Aug 5
40 min

What makes a toy go viral

Squishy, slimy, fidgety toys are having a moment. But it’s more than just an anxiety-soothing, social-media fueled trend – these toys are reshaping how toys get made. To

Jul 31
25 min

How to beat the resource curse in Norway (Summer School)

Let’s call it the luxury of restraint. This is what enabled Norway to avoid the fate of so many other countries when they discovered oil and it changed the mix of their e

Jul 29
38 min

Piles of cash and a town of solutions in Kenya, Nigeria (Summer School)

Let’s head to a small town in Kenya that’s become globally famous for helping economists answer some of the biggest questions facing humanity. In Kenya and Nigeria, econ

Jul 24
38 min

Big Lettuce meets Small Intestine

The cyclospora outbreak that’s sickening thousands of Americans got us interested in the rise of Big Lettuce, and the challenges of keeping it clean. So on today’s show

Jul 22
25 min

Chart trend

Position in the overall Apple Podcasts chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#100#199JunJulAugSep

#64

all-time peak

days in the top 100 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Planet Money ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 23, 2026).

#193 ▼ 57 All Podcasts US

#33 ▼ 4 Business US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Branded fruit: the cosmic crisp apple was branded/invented at Washington state university NOT the University of Washington as stated in the podcast

BB41498 · Aug 2026

This was an interesting episode. However, you completely ignored the tax consequences of Frank’s decision to sell his policies. If Frank paid in $20K of premiums and sold the policies for $430K a portion of that amount is taxable. The tax consequences can be a combination of capital gain and ordinary income. It may have been possible for Frank to take a direct loan from the policy, thus borrowing from himself with no tax consequences. In addition, had Frank died, the insurance proceeds to his family would be income tax free. While I believe this was an important episode for giving an explanation to people who this is their only option, some caveat’s would have been equally beneficial. Frank was given bad advice, especially if the end result was buying a BMW&trip to Cost Rico. Kevin

K58NY · Aug 2026

This is my favorite podcast to listen to whenever I’m doing something mindless like folding laundry or coloring or doing other relaxing activities, where I can focus on what is being said in the podcast. Listening to the podcast itself is very relaxing and educational for me. It allows me to learn a lot about the economy, how I fit into it, and for me to think outside of my own bubble. Keep up the great work.

Naobutabi · Aug 2026

There’s an amazing range of topics that are covered by the Planet Money podcast. I’ve listened with great interest to such diverse topics as tropical fish gathering in Brazil and how to find your way onto the New York Times best seller list. I look forward to each episode and I’m sure you will too!

The Best Stuff! · May 2026

I love the app and the content, but it is frustrating that something publicly supported like NPR has content stuck behind a paywall. As much as I want to listen to what is labeled as “bonus content”, even though it is just another episode, I am not going to pay for yet another subscription…I feel like the wave of subscriptions required these days is like death by a thousand paper cuts.

George in Michigan · Nov 2024

I wanted to listen to this podcast to learn why things happen. Instead, I heard biased reporting that does not acknowledge many root causes. On the episode pertaining to US housing crisis: the episode totally ignores many aspects to the housing crisis. In this episode, the journalism flattens the issue (resistance to new apartment housing developments) into Boomers and Gen X folks resisting anything “new.” The reporters actually just insult the neighbors’ yard signage and do not cover their perspective at all. It Totally bypasses issues pertaining to landlords (profit-oriented individuals parading as “mom and pops” as well as large companies) who are overcharging for rent, not taking care of their units, and contributing to gentrification and housing insecurity in other ways as well. The episode also totally bypasses the reality of many new developments touting their units as being low income and affordable, but turns out the majority are hardly accessible in price. The podcast indulges in the idea that more-more-more will solve our housing crisis, when in reality it is so much more complex. I learned nothing listening to this podcast — absolute waste of time. Disappointed in this production.

beingbeing · Sep 2024

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.