Episodes

  • Chicken meat, Gulf of Mexico lawsuit and Social Security beyond the grave

    Chicken meat, Gulf of Mexico lawsuit and Social Security beyond the grave
    Feb 21 2025
    Surprisingly stable chicken meat prices, a lawsuit threat against the Gulf of Mexico's name change, and the Trump administration's false claims about Social Security beyond the grave are all under the microscope on this edition of Indicators of the Week.

    Related episodes:
    What the cluck is happening with egg prices?
    What does the next era of Social Security look like?
    The fight for a legendary shipwreck's treasure

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • What happens when billions of dollars in research funding goes away

    What happens when billions of dollars in research funding goes away
    Feb 20 2025
    Federal funding from the National Institutes of Health has driven the biomedical research industry in cities across America including Birmingham, Alabama. It's helped support research into life-saving treatments for cancers, strokes and Parkinson's. But, the Trump Administration says the NIH is getting ripped off in how those grants are calculated. We take a look.

    Related episodes:
    The gutting of USAID (Apple / Spotify)
    A 'Fork in the Road' for federal employees (Apple / Spotify)

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • How USAID cuts hurt American farmers

    How USAID cuts hurt American farmers
    Feb 19 2025
    The ties between U.S. foreign aid and American agriculture run deep — or at least used to. The U.S. International Agency for Development, or USAID, is the largest provider of humanitarian food aid in the world. Much of that aid comes from U.S. farmers, whose corn, wheat and rice is sold in bulk to the government for USAID's programs. What happens now if those programs end?

    Link to Jordan Schermerhorn's research of USAID ties by state.

    Related episodes:
    The gutting of USAID (Apple / Spotify)
    A 'Fork in the Road' for federal employees (Apple / Spotify)
    Trump threatens the grim trigger (Apple / Spotify)

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    8 mins
  • What the cluck is happening with egg prices?

    What the cluck is happening with egg prices?
    Feb 18 2025
    We visit a local egg farm and talk to an industry analyst to get to the bottom of why the prices of eggs are soaring so quickly and when they might come back to earth.

    Related episodes:
    Egg Prices: States Cry Foul
    Indicators of the Week: tips, eggs and whisky
    Go ask ALICE about grocery prices

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • WWE, a very expensive banana, and a quiz contestant

    WWE, a very expensive banana, and a quiz contestant
    Feb 17 2025
    It's time for The Indicator Quiz! We test you, dear listener, on your knowledge of topics that we've covered on The Indicator.

    Today's quiz is an economic smorgasbord, ranging from the WWE to the silver tsunami.

    Play along with us and see how you do!

    Are you interested in being a contestant on our next Indicator Quiz? Email us your name and phone number at indicator@npr.org and put "Indicator Quiz" in the subject line.

    Related episodes:
    AI Tupac, sin taxes, and a soon-to-be college sophomore (Apple / Spotify)

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

    CORRECTION: In this episode we referred to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and PCE (Personal consumption expenditures) as acronyms, which is incorrect; they are initialisms, a type of abbreviation that uses the first letters of words in a phrase but, unlike acronyms, is spoken with the individual letters.

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    9 mins
  • Bailing out the FAIR plan, broligarchs beef, and CFPB RIP?

    Bailing out the FAIR plan, broligarchs beef, and CFPB RIP?
    Feb 14 2025
    What's going on with the FAIR plan in a post-Eaton and Palisades fires California? What's the backstory to the frozen Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? And why are the two tech bros very publicly going at it?

    Indicators of the Week explains!

    Related episodes:
    How a consumer watchdog's power became a liability

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • The gutting of USAID

    The gutting of USAID
    Feb 13 2025
    The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, has funneled humanitarian aid to countries around the globe for over six decades. Today on the show, people familiar with USAID's work describe the fall-out from the Trump administration's sudden dismantling of the agency, and what that means for the country's longstanding use of foreign aid to advance American national security and economic goals.

    Related episodes:
    A 'Fork in the Road' for federal employees (Apple / Spotify)
    Trump threatens the grim trigger (Apple / Spotify)
    Why are some nations richer?

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.


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    9 mins
  • Exposing Charles Ponzi

    Exposing Charles Ponzi
    Feb 12 2025
    The name Charles Ponzi immediately recalls the financial scheme that bears his name. But what of the man who helped expose Ponzi's scheme? Today on the show, the incredible, little known story of Simon Swig, who upended Boston's financial and banking world in the early 20th century before crossing paths with the notorious scammer.

    Related episodes:
    Charles Ponzi's scheme

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    10 mins