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It’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today’s episode: Frozen and canceled federal dollars, America’s intensifying tit-for-tat with China, and a sloppy trend infiltrating the music business. (With a pocket full of shells.)
Related episodes:
China's trade war perspective
Fighting AI with AI
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 Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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There have been many headline-grabbing AI deals recently: Nvidia investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI. OpenAI promising to buy $300 billion worth of computing power from Oracle. Oracle buying tons of chips from Nvidia.
But … where’s the money coming from? Is all this AI overhype … a bubble?
On today's show, how money flows in the AI hyperscaling flood.
Related episodes:
Is AI overrated?
Is AI underrated?
The messy human drama behind OpenAI
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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From drones to body armor to bulletproof whiteboards, companies are offering schools a multitude of products to try to deter or protect against the next school shooting. But does any of this stuff work? On today’s show, a look inside the school shooting industry. What's for sale and the psychology behind the growing industry.
Related episodes:
Why are so many public schools closing?
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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For most of human history, economic growth was, well, pretty bleak. But around the Enlightenment, things started clicking. This year's Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences went to a trio of researchers whose work focuses on how technological progress led to this sustained economic growth. Today we hear from one of them, Joel Mokyr, about his work on European economic history.
Related episodes:
Why are some nations richer? (2024 Economics Nobel)
A conversation with Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin (2023 Economics Nobel)
When Luddites attack (Update) (Featuring Joel Mokyr)
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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As Vice Week wraps up here at The Indicator, we wanted to take a slightly different perspective on the evolving business of crime and take a look at TRUE crime. As in the genre. Because look, people are obsessed with it! Today on the show, our hosts favorite pieces of true crime content.
Darian Woods: The Economist’s Scam Inc.
Wailin Wong: Wednesday Journal’s A tangled mess
Adrian Ma: Philadelphia Inquirer’s Dime Heist story
Related episodes:
Fighting AI with AI
What’s supercharging data breaches?
When cartels start to diversify
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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Market manipulation is an age-old issue. People trying to make money off unsuspecting investors by artificially influencing the price of a stock, say. But what happens when the one manipulating markets isn't human?
This week on The Indicator from Planet Money, we bring you five episodes digging into the evolving business of crime. Today on the show, we hear how AI could spell mischief for the markets, and why the law is already behind in preventing it.
Related episodes:
How much is AI actually affecting the workforce?
Shorters Gonna Short
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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The Sinaloa Cartel made the bulk of its money on cocaine. But cartels are diversifying into new operations including things like wildlife trafficking. Think sharks, jaguars, capybaras. The result is something called “narco-degradation.” On today’s show, we look at what’s driving cartels beyond drugs and how this is wreaking havoc on ecosystems in Central America.
Related episodes:
Can breaking the law be good for business?
Waste Land
Will Economic Growth Destroy the Planet?
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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It may seem like data breaches have gotten a heck of a lot more common. Well, there’s something to that. The bad guys are getting badder faster than the good guys are getting better.
This week, we’re bringing you five episodes on the evolving business of crime. Today on the show, we look at why the evolution of data breaches has been supercharged and why you don’t have to be a hacker to get into the game.
Related episodes:
Are data breaches putting patients at risk?
So your data was stolen in a data breach
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 and Tyler Jones. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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With only several seconds of audio, someone can clone a victim’s voice, call their bank, and potentially get access to … everything. Vocal deepfakes have gotten very good, but so has the technology to fight back.
This week on The Indicator we're gonna bring you a special series on the evolving business of crime. In this episode, we hear from the company helping banks beat deepfakes, and we learn about the efforts to protect us all from AI voice fraud.
Related episodes:
Can you copyright artwork made using AI?
AI creates, transforms and destroys... jobs
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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Crime doesn’t resemble the old days. A deepfake of your voice can be used to convince a relative you need money. AI bots are capable of colluding in financial markets. There are seemingly countless new strategies of making data breaches more common. This week on The Indicator from Planet Money, we bring you five episodes digging into the evolving business of crime.
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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