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Marketplace has a new podcast for kids, "Million Bazillion!" EPISODE OUT NOW

Kai Ryssdal

Host and senior editor

SHORT BIO

I speak my native tongue into a microphone.

What was your first job?

Lifeguard. (Well, that and mowing lawns.)

What do you think is the hardest part of your job that no one knows?

Staying calm.

What advice do you wish someone had given you before you started this career?

Don't think — just talk.

In your next life, what would your career be?

Helicopter pilot.

Episodes Hosted by Kai (4,851)

Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly | Episode 484

You can't hide from Facebook

Jul 28, 2021
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Marketplace

Millions could face eviction with the moratorium ending

Jul 28, 2021
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Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly | Episode 483

WeWork's whole bananapants story

Jul 27, 2021
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Marketplace

Wall Street's Sallie Krawcheck on the pandemic and the gender wealth gap

Jul 27, 2021
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Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly | Episode 482

We need to think about the unvaccinated differently

Jul 26, 2021
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Marketplace

Why some towns might pay you to move there

Jul 26, 2021
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Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly | Episode 481

Make Me Sports

Jul 23, 2021
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Marketplace

Businesses are reopening across the U.S., especially where vaccine rates are higher

Jul 23, 2021
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Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly | Episode 480

Let's talk about loneliness

Jul 22, 2021
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Marketplace

When fast-fashion becomes real-time fashion

Jul 22, 2021
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Latest Stories (5,345)

What America's hunger crisis may look like after pandemic relief ends

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Jul 28, 2021
Feeding America’s CEO expects a greater need for food assistance, but the pandemic created a "keener understanding" of hunger, she says.
A volunteer prepares donated groceries for food-insecure families. Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, says there may be a "spike in need" for food assistance later this year.
Michael Loccisano via Getty Images
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Sallie Krawcheck on what the pandemic means for women's finances

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Jul 27, 2021
The CEO of Ellevest and former Wall Street executive says the pandemic has widened the gender wealth gap.
"It's exactly someone like me who should be using my privilege ... in order to build this," Sallie Krawcheck says of Ellevest, her digital financial company for women.
Rachel Murray/Getty Images
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Back to Business

How the pandemic altered the art and science of “menu engineering”

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Jul 26, 2021
From QR codes to delivery apps, a menu specialist weighs in on the rise of digital menus.
A QR code menu for a Mexico City restaurant. “Here in 2021 … we can start to build our digital menus a little bit better with what we learned from the pandemic,” says menu engineer Sean Willard.
Photo by Claudio Cruz/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

Is fast fashion catching up to real time?

by Kai Ryssdal and Minju Park
Jul 22, 2021
Shein, a fast-growing, China-based clothing brand, relies on a “real-time fashion” model that slashes the time from design to production.
Expanding Chinese clothing brand Shein prioritizes its web presence. Its "real-time fashion" model enables it to capture opportunities quickly.
Antony Jones/Getty Images for Shein
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COVID-19

"We're in it for the long game": After extended shutdown, Broadway producer plans for reopening

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Jul 21, 2021
Kai Ryssdal speaks with Eva Price outside "Jagged Little Pill's" theater. She hasn't been inside since the pandemic started.
The Broadhurst Theatre in January, after being closed nearly a year. "Jagged Little Pill" is expected to resume performances in the fall.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images
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What does equitable infrastructure look like in communities of color?

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Jul 20, 2021
"Marketplace" host Kai Ryssdal speaks with Christopher Tyson about the history behind urban renewal projects and the role of the public sector in rebuilding America’s infrastructure.
An aerial view overlooking the financial district of downtown Baton Rouge is shown. Christopher Tyson, president and CEO of Build Baton Rouge, is advocating for public investment in infrastructure to promote equity.
graphiknation
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How TikTok is becoming a powerful consumer marketing tool

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Jul 16, 2021
The app can cause certain products to blow up overnight, Vox's internet culture reporter Rebecca Jennings says.
According to Vox senior reporter Rebecca Jennings, viral videos on TikTok are playing an increasingly important role in the stuff people buy.
Photo by Nelson Almeida/AFP via Getty Images
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Lagging care economy "makes us uncompetitive," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Jul 15, 2021
Raimondo discusses the infrastructure packages moving through Congress and the semiconductor chip shortage.
"If we're able to land the plane on these packages, it'll be a great day in America," says Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the Biden administration's infrastructure plan.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune/Time Inc.
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On the intersection of shipping containers, food halls and economic development

by Kai Ryssdal and Daisy Palacios
Jul 14, 2021
Barney Santos, founder of BLVD MRKT in Montebello, California, hopes to help revitalize the local economy with a food hall made out of repurposed shipping containers.
Barney Santos, founder of BVLD MRKT food hall in Montebello, California, wants to help revitalize the local economy.
Daisy Palacios/Marketplace
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Kai Explains

To understand the Fed’s bond-buying dilemma, picture a lake

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Jul 13, 2021
A Columbia Business School professor explains quantitative easing and the Feds' $120 billion per month bond-buying program with an analogy.
If water on a lake is too low, boats can't go from one side to the other smoothly. "The Fed is basically adding some water in that lake to keep the liquidity — or to keep the water — from completely drying out,” says Yiming Ma of Columbia Business School.
Ethan Miller via Getty Images
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