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Moms are quitting — or getting pushed out. Workforce participation for mothers in the U.S. has been dropping for most of this year, and the reasons are more complicated than return-to-office mandates. Today on the show, we talk to moms about why they left their jobs and to economist Misty Heggeness, who has studied the phenomenon.
Find more of Misty’s research here.
Related episodes:
How insurance is affecting the cost of childcare
Women, work and the pandemic
That time America paid for universal daycare
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.
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There’s been a lot of big talk about how artificial intelligence is going to replace white collar workers. But what data do we actually have around AI’s impact on the workforce? Today on the show, we speak to an expert who has measured one aspect of these changes. She tells us how this moment in AI compares to the Industrial Revolution.
Related episodes:
AI creates, transforms, and destroys… jobs
The golden ages of labor and looms
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.
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In late July, President Trump signed an executive order to get rid of de minimis, a kind of a loophole where packages valued less than $800 could come into the US without tariffs.
Last week, post offices from India to Austria to France suspended some types of packages to the US. We speak to an Australian jewelry maker, a logistics expert and an economist to learn how this is changing shopping in America.
Related episodes:
Three ways companies are getting around tariffs
What olive oil tells us about Trump's tariffs
What is Temu?
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 Cooper Katz McKim. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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A booming underground vape market is thriving. It’s unapproved, unregulated, and risky. Today on the show, we hear from The Atlantic’s Nick Florko to dig into why illegal vapes have flooded the U.S., and what’s at stake.
Related episodes:
The vapes of wrath
How sports gambling blew up
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’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today’s episode: AI shuts out youth from the grind, China leaves U.S. soybeans behind, Gap has the then-and-now in marketing mind.
Related episodes:
AI creates, transforms and destroys... jobs
What do farmers do in a trade war?
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 Julia Ritchey. 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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Trump's tariffs are making business harder for international olive oil producers and it turns out those tariffs are even complicating other parts of the Trump administration's agenda, too.
Today on the show: Olive oil and the unintended consequences of Trump's tariffs.
Related episodes:
Three ways companies are getting around tariffs
The legal case for — and against — Trump's tariffs
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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Last night, President Donald Trump posted a letter firing Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook. The reason? She was accused of listing two properties as her primary residences, which potentially gave her more favorable lending terms. This marks another escalation in the president’s battle for control of America’s central bank.
We’re publishing our conversation early about whether this is legal, what the Fed might do, and how the Fed’s independence is more fragile than we may think.
Related episodes:
Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?
Can the Federal Reserve stay independent?
It's hard out there for a Fed chair
Patent Racism
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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Businesses are scrambling for ways to minimize the impact of the Trump administration’s global tariff policy. Today on the show, we go over some of the tricks and legal loopholes that companies are employing to get around these sudden import taxes.
Related episodes:
The legal case for — and against — Trump's tariffs
The secret tariff-free zone
You told us how tariffs are affecting you
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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Copyright is the legal system used to reward and protect creations made by humans. But with growing adoption of artificial intelligence, does copyright extend to artwork that’s made using AI? Today on the show, how a test case over a Vincent Van Gogh mashup is testing the boundaries of copyright law.
Related episodes:
‘Let’s Get it On’ … in court
Copyright small claims court
The alleged theft at th heart of ChatGPT
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’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today’s episode: Job retraining boosts mental health (with more mixed results for romance); the complex picture behind why dinner reservations are down in DC; and the trading platform Robinhood gets into the sports definitely-not-betting game.
Related episodes:
The cautionary tale of a recovering day trading addict
The nepo baby premium, frothing markets, and Apple vs. Apples
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 Cooper Katz McKim and Corey Bridges. 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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