Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Make Me Smart

Daily Business News & Culture podcast
Kimberly Adams
Kai Ryssdal
Latest Episode

Welcome to the coronavirus economy

Mar 10, 2020 · Episode 153
People walk through a sparse international departure terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport as concern over the coronavirus grows on March 7, 2020 in New York City.

Episodes 1211 - 1220 of 1381

  • Mar 4, 2020 · Episode 152

    What did the Fed just do?

    Today on the show: What the Fed just did and why.
    Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

    To try and contain the economic fallout of COVID-19, the Federal Reserve just cut rates by a half point. Today, what that means and why it matters.

  • Feb 26, 2020 · Episode 151

    When CDC says “this might be bad”

    Try and take a deep breath. Don't look at your 401(k) but do look to the past with us this week.
    Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

    … it’s bad. This week we’re looking at past pandemics and their economic impacts as the U.S. braces for the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak.

  • Every problem is a housing problem
    Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

    That’s according to New York Times reporter Conor Dougherty. We talk with him about the affordable housing crisis and his new book “Golden Gates.”

  • Feb 12, 2020 · Episode 149

    No more business as usual?

    The scene inside Davos, Switzerland, wasn't quite as climate-focused as the protest outside, but businesses started gesturing toward a new way of working that prioritized social and environmental impact over shareholder value.
    Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    Are Big Business’ gestures toward social and economic responsibility something we should take seriously or a canny bit of “woke-washing”?

  • Do we have to call it the “internet of things”?
    Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    We may not be able to figure that out today, but we can learn a bit more about privacy, security and 5G.

  • We produce enough food to feed everyone, our guest argues, but not in a way that's sustainable or equitable.
    Axel Schmidt/Getty Images

    Food expert and activist Frances Moore Lappé says we just have to change our habits.

  • A vote for the ERA was long overdue, but it might be too late
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    To the surprise of many, the Constitution doesn’t say anything about equal protection for women’s rights. The Equal Rights Amendment is 97 years in the making.

  • Brittany Kaiser, data privacy advocate and former director of program development at Cambridge Analytica, in 2015.
    Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images

    This week, former Cambridge Analytica employee and document leaker Brittany Kaiser talks with us about election interference and Big Data.

  • What’s the big deal about Section 230? (And your 2020 predictions)
    Mark Wilson/Getty Images

    Is it time to revisit Section 230? If we got rid of it, what kind of rules would replace it? And what platforms would even be left?

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About the show

Every weekday, Kai Ryssdal and Kimberly Adams break down the news in tech, the economy and culture. How do companies make money from disinformation? How can we tackle student debt? Why do 401(k)s exist? What will it take to keep working moms from leaving the workforce? Together, we dig into complex topics to help make today make sense. Because none of us is as smart as all of us.

Ryssdal has been a trusted broadcaster for two decades and received an Emmy for investigative journalism for “Big Sky, Big Money,” a PBS Frontline documentary about money in politics.

Before coming to Marketplace, Adams reported on the political, social and economic upheaval in Egypt following the Arab Spring. While reporting in Cairo, she received awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Religion Communicators Council, and the Association for Women in Communication. She was also competitively selected for the International Women’s Media Foundation “Great Lakes” Reporting fellowship to Uganda, where she reported on environmental, economic and LGBT issues.

“Make Me Smart” is “a podcast to keep up with, even in quarantine,” Vanity Fair says.

Make Me Smart