Skip to content
Melo Podcasts Home
CategoriesLanguagesFollowing

Episode notes

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 mandarin orange. They stand out. They cost more. They have branding and sometimes trademarks and patent-ish kinds of protections. And now – it’s happening in the tomato bin too! Where once there were just plain old cherry or grape tomatoes, now there are Sugar Bombs, and Flavor Bombs, and Lolli Bombs and Sprinkles. Today, we are partnering up with Dan Pashman – host of The Sporkful food podcast – and heading to New Jersey…

Planet Money

by NPR · English · Business

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. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org .

More from Planet Money

  1. 5 Sep 2026 · 25 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 American Taxpayer.” The exact nature of this deal has been … obscure, to say the least. But today, we wanted to know, from someone who’s been through this before, what does this mean for Venezuela? José Ángel Pereira Ruimwyk is both optimistic … and wary. He’s a longtime Venezuelan oil insider. When Venezuela invited in foreigners, decades ago, he was there to greet them. And when Venezuela wanted them out? Well, that’s how he…

  2. 2 Sep 2026 · 26 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 mystery and take you to a singles event to see if Big Data is good for Big Dating. That event, deep in the heart of Manhattan, is called: “Singles Dating Matching Using Palantir Data.” The evening promised: “Data analysis!” and “Pattern matching!” We decided that we needed to know more. Read: - Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life - Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter - Our weekly…

  3. 30 Aug 2026 · 23 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 the lyrics, you're like, Wait, this is messed up. This is real. This is a problem we need to fix. Like, why does it have to be this way? That is the spirit of the song, why it became an anthem, and the heart of the movie 9 to 5 . There’s so much to say about Dolly Parton, about her music, acting career, her business savvy, not to mention Dollywood. Today though, we wanted to bring you the audacious true story of 9 to 5 ,…

  4. 26 Aug 2026 · 41 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. Pack your parka, we’re headed to Antarctica. First, we’ll travel back in time to the late 1970s when NPR was a scrappy young network, with a synth soundtrack , and tons of heart. Science reporter Ira Flatow took a trip to the South Pole that put NPR on the news industry map. We’ll hear an excerpt where he brings us along through what life is like on the ice, including a memorable interview with the wildlife. Then we look inside…

  5. 21 Aug 2026 · 38 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 where decisions are made – until now! Today on the show, we pitch the Planet Money game, Sell Me a Sasquatch, to big box retailers. We go behind the scenes to learn about how products end up on big box store shelves, what’s going on inside the minds of the deciders, and find out our board game’s fate. Learn more about the story of Pantone: The company that owns colors Support: Planet Money+ Read: Our book: Planet Money: A…

  6. 19 Aug 2026 · 40 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 the world’s favorite exports – from Samsung TV’s to BTS. But 75 years ago it was a much different story. How the textile industry and a partnership with Bangladesh lifted the country out of poverty and paved the way for rapid economic growth. Then later in this episode – how entrepreneurial endeavors look different on the other side of the 38th parallel. We’ll follow a woman who started her own small business selling goods in…

  7. 9 Oct 2026 · 30 minNew

    Should we all be getting tariff refunds right now?

    Companies are getting billions of dollars back. How about us? It seems simple, right? We paid higher prices for imported goods because of tariffs. Then the tariffs were ruled illegal. Courts said the money paid to the U.S. government had to be refunded. Companies are getting that money now. It would seem like we, the customers, should get paid back, too. But … it’s not so simple. Once again, we’re dipping back into the drama of import tax law. We’re engrossed in the ups, downs, betrayal, and romance of … the Days of our Tariffs. In this edition: “Refunds and Regrets.” How and why some…

  8. 7 Oct 2026 · 26 min

    Charles Ponzi's scheme (plus a new scam)

    Charles Ponzi was down on his luck. In 1919, the Italian immigrant had spent a decade and a half in the U.S. He was looking for a way to get rich and tried his hand at everything — including bookkeeping, sign painting, grocery clerk, dishwasher, and librarian. He caught a lucky break in August, when he received a letter from Europe. In the envelope was an International Reply Coupon, a clever way to prepay for international postage. Ponzi realized he might be able to use these coupons to make his fortune. All he needed was investors. What happened next made him a household name. This is the…

  9. 2 Oct 2026 · 30 min

    Where all those weird new drinks are coming from

    It's getting pretty wild in the beverage aisle these days — from the rainbow wall of seltzers, to the increasingly strange flavors of Pepsi, to the new "functional" sodas with added fiber or supplements that supposedly offer health benefits. Where are all these new drinks coming from? And why does it seem like the options are multiplying faster than ever? Today on the show, we go behind the scenes at one of the nation’s top-secret beverage laboratories. The food scientists in this lab have quietly helped companies design many of the new drinks on the shelves these days. We taste things we…

  10. 30 Sep 2026 · 29 min

    Who’s gonna pay for your Social Security?

    Very soon, Social Security may not have enough money to make full payments to retirees. Very soon. Like by 2032, just six years from now. So what are we gonna do about it? Today on the show, we look at some of the most talked about possible solutions; and exactly whose wallets we’ll have to rifle through to find the money to pay for each. Then we’ll run the options by the Social Security Administration's former Chief Actuary. The guy Congress used to call to crunch numbers and give them the bottom line. Read: - Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life - Our…

Every episode of Planet Money →

Take it with you

The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.

Get it on Google Play