Planet Money

<a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" >LIVE SHOW TOUR INFO HERE. New stories, live tapings, special guests, book signings and more. </a><br/><br/>What would you build on a piece of land when all the normal rules go out the window?<br/><br/>On today’s show, how the Squamish Nation reclaimed a sliver of prime urban real estate and were liberated from zoning restrictions, to the consternation of their wealthy NIMBY neighbors.<br/><br/>We trace the 100 year saga of what might be the most interesting real estate development in North America right now: There’s a violent eviction, a tense legal battle, and a giant, tough decision for the Squamish Nation that culminates in the daring project that they’re building today.<br/><br/>It’s a story with lessons for every city trying to lower housing costs and build more.<br/><br/><em>This episode is adapted from</em> <a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" >Planet Money: A Guide To The Economic Forces That Shape Your Life</a><em>. Pre-order before April 7 and you can get a poster. </em><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Details here</em></a><em>. </em><br/><br/><a href="https://evansoltas.com/papers/Permitting_SoltasGruber2026.pdf"target="_blank" ><em>The working paper we mentioned on “ready-to-issue” permits in Los Angeles.</em></a><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with an assist from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is </em>Planet Money<em>’s executive producer. </em><br/><br/>To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:<br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Robby the chef has lots of endearing qualities. He can make over 5000 dishes, he’s a consistent cook, and he’s never late for work. But he’s not a human. It is a 750 lb. stainless steel robot. With a rotating wok at its center. It’s a wok-bot. <br/><br/>Automation has changed many industries. But automation only started entering restaurant kitchens in the past couple decades. Which raises the question – what will robots mean for the restaurant industry? How will automation change jobs and how will it change the very food we eat?<br/><br/>Today on the show, we talk with a Nobel prize-winning economist, <a href="https://economics.mit.edu/people/faculty/daron-acemoglu"target="_blank" >Daron Acemoglu</a>, about when automation is complementing or displacing workers. And we decide to put this wok-bot to the test. We pit a human chef against Robby the wok-bot in a head-to-metalhead smackdown. <br/><br/>Further Listening/Reading:<br><ul class="rte2-style-ul"><li><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1176516094/artificial-intelligence-david-autor-chatgpt-labor"target="_blank" >How AI could help rebuild the middle class</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/07/29/427467598/episode-642-the-big-red-button"target="_blank" >The Big Red Button</a> </li><li>Check out our AI series: <a href="https://www.npr.org/series/1178395718/planet-money-makes-an-episode-using-ai"target="_blank" >Planet Money makes an episode using AI</a></li><li><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/01/19/957240511/why-nations-fail-america-edition"target="_blank" >Why Nations Fail, America Edition</a> (newsletter)</li><li><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/06/22/1008354992/a-new-way-to-understand-automation"target="_blank" >A New Way To Understand Automation</a> (newsletter)</li></ul><a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" ><em>Get your book tour tickets here.</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Justin Kramon. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez with help from Cena Loffredo. Interpretation help from Huo Jingnan. Alex Goldmark is </em>Planet Money<em>’s executive producer.</em><br/><br/>To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:<br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

<a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" >Live event info and tickets here.</a><br/><br/>If something is going wrong in your workplace, there's probably a law that explains why. Meetings always seem long, and never end early? There’s Parkinson’s Law, which says work expands to the time allotted, or, restated: meetings will always take up all the time blocked on Outlook calendars. Is your boss bad at managing? Check the Peter Principle, which says people are promoted to their level of incompetence. A good worker does not a good manager make. And yet … here we are. Once you hear these laws, and a few others, you start to spot them everywhere. <br/><br/>Today on the show, we picked a few of the most famous and powerful ‘laws of the office’ and tested them out on each other. <br/><br/><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>. / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone, Sarah Gonzalez, and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. Bryant Urstadt edited this show. </em>Planet Money<em>’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark.</em><br/><br/>To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:<br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

What do we want from sports? The very best athletes competing as hard as they know how, putting all their effort and training and natural ability to the test against their opponents. But this time of year, that’s not the product the NBA is putting on the court. Instead, teams at the bottom of the league are competing … to lose, because it could help them get a top pick in next year’s draft. It’s called tanking — it’s bad for fans, and it’s bad for the league.<br/><br/>Tanking has gotten especially egregious this year. Even NBA Adam Silver has <a href="https://www.nba.com/watch/video/adam-silver-press-conference-v2"target="_blank" >called out teams for tanking</a>. He recently announced that league bigwigs are considering “every possible remedy” to “align incentives.”<br/><br/>Today on the show — Planet Money fixes the NBA’s tanking problem by … fixing the NBA draft. We get solutions from Hockey Hall of Famer <a href="https://www.hhof.com/induction_archives/ind18Hefford.shtml"target="_blank" >Jayna Hefford</a>, World Cup Champion <a href="https://www.meninblazers.com/the-women-s-game"target="_blank" >Sam Mewis</a>, and long-time NBA analyst <a href="https://www.theringer.com/podcasts/the-zach-lowe-show"target="_blank" >Zach Lowe</a>. <br/><br/>Handles for the NBA fans in the episode: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thevoiceofevan/video/7604256573078113566?_r=1&_t=ZT-93mTp0nKiZq"target="_blank" >thevoiceofevan</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@fullcourtblitz/video/7604210050353188109"target="_blank" >fullcourtblitz</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleynevel/video/7604556955096599821?q=nba%20tank%20ashley%20nevel&t=1772636454584"target="_blank" >ashleynevel</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@igotnxtpodcast/video/7605276905276820767"target="_blank" >igotnxtpodcast</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@finesse.wes/video/7609457324943527181"target="_blank" >finesse.wes</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@basketballsavant/video/7595383074884504863"target="_blank" >basketballsavant</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUe22nhjl4A/"target="_blank" >mikedaddino__</a>.<br/><br/><a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" >Live event info and tickets here</a> / <a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>. / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, or </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><br/><br/><em>This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed with an assist from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.</em><br/><br/>To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:<br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

<a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" >Live event info and tickets here.</a><br/><br/>The Supreme Court has spoken. Those big, sweeping tariffs that President Trump imposed early last year? They’re illegal. <br/><br/>On today’s show: Why were those tariffs struck down? Will anyone get refunds? And …what about this new 10 percent tariff the President just announced today? <br/><br/>Plus — a growing market for tariff refunds.<br/><br/>Further Listening:<br/><br/> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/11/1218506684/worst-tariffs-ever-update"target="_blank" >Worst. Tariffs. Ever. </a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/02/1242229719/planet-money-the-case-for-tariffs"target="_blank" >Tariffs: What are they good for?</a> <br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/1249592921/tariff-customs-made-in-america-china-france"target="_blank" >What "Made in China" actually means</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/1251782092/tariff-us-china-pause-trade-war"target="_blank" >The 145% tariff already did its damage </a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/06/11/1253992700/tariffs-ieepa-trump-legal-emergencies-law"target="_blank" >Are Trump's tariffs legal?</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/19/nx-s1-5608384/tariffs-consumers-shipping-shopping-prices"target="_blank" >Days of our Tariffs</a> <br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/12/nx-s1-5605545/trumps-backup-options-for-tariffs"target="_blank" >Trump's backup options for tariffs</a> <br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/12/02/nx-s1-5627159/what-would-it-mean-to-actually-refund-the-tariffs"target="_blank" >What would it mean to actually refund the tariffs?</a> <br/><br/><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>. / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo, Mary Childs, and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is </em>Planet Money<em>’s executive producer. </em><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

<a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" ><em>Book tour and ticket info here.</em></a><br/><br/><br>Greenland has said it is not for sale. Denmark has said it can’t even legally sell Greenland. And at a security conference in Munich over the weekend, U.S. lawmakers spent a lot of time trying to walk back some of President Trump’s recent threats to try to buy, or even take over, the territory. <br/><br/>But whether Trump can or will or should try to control or purchase a territory that doesn’t want to be sold is not the interesting question. What is interesting is how we got to this moment. And, how we might gracefully get out of it. <br/><br/>Greenland is valuable for its minerals and because of its physical location in the world. (It’s easy to keep an eye on other countries from Greenland).<br/><br/>Our latest: How the U.S. dropped the ball on the rare earths race. And one way the U.S. gets strategic locations without threatening to buy or take over an entire territory.<br/><br/><br><em>Further listening: </em><br/><br/><em>- </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5683139/is-greenland-really-an-untapped-land-of-riches"target="_blank" ><em>Is Greenland really an untapped land of riches?</em></a><br/><br/><em>- </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/01/21/1225890655/add-to-cart-greenland"target="_blank" ><em>Add to cart: Greenland</em></a><br/><br/><br><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>. / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune. Fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.</em><br/><br/><em>Music: Universal Music Production - "The Attraction,” “Carnivore,” and “Walls Come Out.” </em><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

<a href="https://tix.to/pm-book-tour"target="_blank" >Book tour event details and ticket info here</a>.<br/><br/>An iconic cartoon character liberated from copyright, journalism from the world of competitive spreadsheeting, a controversial piece of US currency. Each year the Planet Money team dedicates an episode to the things we simply love and think you, our audience, will also love.<br/><br/>In this year’s Valentine’s Day episode:<br/><br/><ul class="rte2-style-ul" style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;"><li><a href="https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2026/"target="_blank" >The Public Domain Day list</a> from Jennifer Jenkins’ of Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain and her colleagues. </li><li>Jesse Dougherty’s article “Between the sheets at the college Excel Championship” which is behind a paywall. <a href="https://collegesportsmoney.substack.com/"target="_blank" >Here is Jesse’s substack</a>. </li><li><a href="https://www.404media.co/elite-the-palantir-app-ice-uses-to-find-neighborhoods-to-raid/"target="_blank" >404 Media’s excellent journalism</a> on the tech that ICE is using</li><li>An ode to the language of the penny, including songs like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnz_gbDJnhI"target="_blank" >Pennies from Heaven</a>. </li><li>The only self-check out that doesn’t waste your time. </li><li>And we made public domain Valentine’s cards. </li></ul><br>Download THE OFFICIAL Planet Money valentine <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/w5jcio1w98okftefdxk3z/Official-Planet-Money-Valentine-2026.pdf?rlkey=8vbbras56o6jigkvmftfvia1b&st=jte9em3s&dl=0"target="_blank" >here</a>.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>. / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><em> </em><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, engineered by Cena Loffredo & Kwesi Lee, and edited by our executive producer Alex Goldmark.</em><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

<a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Book tour dates and ticket info here</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/>Housing is too expensive. Everyone knows this. Democrats know that talking about it plays well with voters. And now – in a midterm election year – President Donald Trump seems to be focused on it, too. <br/><br/>His administration has recently started talking more about affordability. And they’re taking action with two new initiatives that aim to make buying a house easier. <br/><br/>Today on the show, we’re gonna take a close look at these two moves. And ask: Will they work?<br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.</em><br/><br/><em>Music: NPR Source Audio - "No Problem,”  “Fruit Salad,” “Checking In” and “Day Dreamer.”</em><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

<a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" >Book tour dates and ticket info here</a>.<br/><br/>Just as every market has its first movers, every religion has its martyrs — the people willing to risk everything for what they believe. Pastor Dave Hodges just might be a little bit of both. He’s the spiritual leader of the Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants, in Oakland, California which places psilocybin mushrooms at the center of their religious practice.<br/><br/>Today on the show, like its 130,000+ members, we’re going to take a trip through the psychedelic mushroom megachurch. We’ll meet one of the lawyers trying to keep psychedelic religious leaders like Pastor Dave from running afoul of the law, and get a peek into how the government decides whether a belief system counts as sincere religion.<br/><br/><em>This episode was reported with support from the Ferris-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship. </em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Eric Mennel. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee with help from Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is </em>Planet Money<em>’s executive producer. </em><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Planet Money has teamed up with the company Exploding Kittens to make a board game inspired by the legendary economics paper The Market for Lemons. We’ve decided we want a mass-appeal party game that quietly sneaks in the economics, so that we can report from inside a world that no other Planet Money project has entered: the real shelves at real big box retail stores. <br/><br/>We have a great game mechanic and a set of rules. Now all we need is a good name and theme. <br/><br/>Turns out, that is way harder and way higher stakes than any of us could have imagined. <br/><br/>In the third episode of our series, we learn the importance of a good game name and theme and try to come up with one for our game. <br/><br/>Find our previous episodes in the <a href="https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-89455/planet-money-makes-a-boardgame"target="_blank" >board game series</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/01/nx-s1-5558425/planet-money-board-game-episode-1"target="_blank" >here</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/03/nx-s1-5561924/planet-money-board-game-episode-2"target="_blank" >here</a>.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>. / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed and edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Willa Rubin, and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.</em><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Venezuela and Chevron have perhaps one of the strangest partnerships … ever? Chevron, one of the world’s most famous and profitable oil corporations, has for decades, been plugging away in Venezuela, one of the world’s most famous and infamous socialist countries. <br/><br/>Today on the show, the story of their intertwined histories. Before Saudi Arabia, before Iran… there was Venezuela, the first petrostate. The first country whose entire economy became dependent on oil. With the blessing of oil, an entire economic textbook of complications opened up: from the Dutch Disease, to the resource curse, to mono-economic vulnerability.<br/><br/>And, oddly, along for that ride…Chevron. <br/><br/><br><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com/"target="_blank" ><em>Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift</em></a><em>. /  </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><br><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><br><em>This episode of </em>Planet Money<em> was hosted by Erika Beras and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Luis Gallo with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.</em><br><br/><br/>Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>