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Planet Money Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.

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Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.

Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney

Most Recent Episodes

Rooftop solar's dark side
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Rooftop solar's dark side

4.5 million households in the U.S. have solar panels on their homes. Most of those customers are happy with it - their electricity bills have just about disappeared, and it's great for the planet. But thousands and thousands of people are really disappointed with what they've been sold. Their panels are more expensive than they should be, and they say it is hard to get someone to come fix them when they break.

Rooftop solar's dark side

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Summer School 1: An Economic History of the World
NPR

Summer School 1: An Economic History of the World

Planet Money Summer School is back for eight weeks. Join as we travel back in time to find the origins of our economic way of life. Today we ask surprisingly hard question: What is money? And where did it come from? We travel to a remote island in the Pacific Ocean for the answer. Then we'll visit France in the year 1714, where a man on the lam tries to revolutionize the country's entire monetary system, and comes impressively close to the modern economy we have today, before it all falls apart. Check out our Summer School video cheat sheet on the origins of money at the Planet Money TikTok.

Summer School 1: An Economic History of the World

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How flying got so bad (or did it?)
Fox Photos/Getty Images

How flying got so bad (or did it?)

We often hear that air travel is worse than it's ever been. Gone are the days when airplanes touted piano bars and meat carving stations — or even free meals. Instead we're crammed into tiny seats and fighting for overhead space.

How flying got so bad (or did it?)

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The two companies driving the modern economy

A closeup of a silicon wafer on display at Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institution on September 16, 2022 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Annabelle Chih/Getty Images hide caption

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Annabelle Chih/Getty Images

The two companies driving the modern economy

At the core of most of the electronics we use today are some very tiny, very powerful chips. Semiconductor chips. And they are mighty: they help power our phones, laptops, and cars. They enable advances in healthcare, military systems, transportation, and clean energy. And they're also critical for artificial intelligence, providing the hardware needed to train complex machine learning.

The two companies driving the modern economy

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Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages?

Friends and relatives of Cuban refugees line the dock in Key West, Fla., in this April 30, 1980, file photo, as another boat heads into the U.S. Customs docking area at the Truman Annex. Associated Press hide caption

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Associated Press

Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages?

We wade into the heated debate over immigrants' impact on the labor market. When the number of workers in a city increases, does that take away jobs from the people who already live and work there? Does a surge of immigration hurt their wages?

Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages?

Listen · 25:43
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The Vapes of Wrath
Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Vapes of Wrath

When the vape brand Juul first hit the market back in 2015, e-cigarettes were in a kind of regulatory limbo. At the time, the rules that governed tobacco cigarettes did not explicitly apply to e-cigarettes. Then Juul blew up, fueled a public health crisis over teen vaping, and inspired a regulatory crackdown. But when the government finally stepped in to solve the problem of youth vaping, it may have actually made things worse.

The Vapes of Wrath

Listen · 27:24
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Why is everyone talking about Musk's money?
Chris Delmas/Getty Images

Why is everyone talking about Musk's money?

We've lived amongst Elon Musk headlines for so long now that it's easy to forget just how much he sounds like a sci-fi character. He runs a space company and wants to colonize mars. He also runs a company that just implanted a computer chip into a human brain. And he believes there's a pretty high probability everything is a simulation and we are living inside of it.

Why is everyone talking about Musk's money?

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What's with all the tiny soda cans? And other grocery store mysteries, solved.
Matt Rourke/Associated Press

What's with all the tiny soda cans? And other grocery store mysteries, solved.

There's a behind the scenes industry that helps big brands decide questions like: How big should a bag of chips be? What's the right size for a bottle of shampoo? And yes, also: When should a company do a little shrinkflation?

What's with all the tiny soda cans? And other grocery store mysteries, solved.

Listen · 24:22
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Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight

Graphite samples at Westwater Resources in Coosa County, Alabama. Sally Helm/NPR hide caption

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Sally Helm/NPR

Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight

Graphite is sort of the one-hit wonder of minerals. And that hit? Pencils. Everyone loves to talk about pencils when it comes to graphite. If graphite were to perform a concert, they'd close out the show with "pencils," and everyone would clap and cheer. But true fans of graphite would be shouting out "batteries!" Because graphite is a key ingredient in another important thing that we all use in our everyday lives: lithium ion batteries.

Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight

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