Financially InclinedSkin in the GameI've Always Wondered ...This Is Uncomfortable

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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 by Kai (5,776)

Marketplace

The urban-rural wage gap

Nov 30, 2023
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1057

COP28's big question: who should pay for the climate crisis?

Nov 30, 2023
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1056

Is GM feeling iffy about EVs?

Nov 29, 2023
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Marketplace

An oil exec hosting COP28? Surprise!

Nov 29, 2023
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1055

The circular economy and closing our resource loop

Nov 28, 2023
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Marketplace

Are we there yet? How about now?

Nov 28, 2023
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1054

OpenAI's "breakthrough"

Nov 27, 2023
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Marketplace

Global trade may be back on track

Nov 27, 2023
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1053

Who wants to work in Congress anymore?

Nov 22, 2023
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Marketplace

Grocery prices are a little less stuffed this Thanksgiving

Nov 22, 2023
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Latest Stories (5,727)

“Low Earth orbit is now open for business”

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Nov 29, 2023
This is how Varda Space Industries hopes to commercialize manufacturing in space.
Will Bruey, CEO and co-founder of Varda Space Industries and Wendy Shimata, VP of Autonomous Systems observe Varda’s spacecraft as it orbits Earth.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace
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"Has there ever been a bigger gap" between economic mood and actual numbers? Chicago Fed president asks

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Nov 28, 2023
Chicago Fed's Austan Goolsbee on the consumer sentiment disconnect, and what happens if interest rates stay high for too long.
Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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In the fight against food fraud, producers are getting high-tech

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Nov 22, 2023
Between edible microchips, invisible ink and more, the food supply chain is becoming more transparent than ever.
High end foods such as caviar, regional cheese and wines are trying new methods to thwart dupes.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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There's big business behind those annoying CAPTCHA puzzles

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Nov 22, 2023
As AI becomes more sophisticated, the industry is growing to match it, says journalist Justin Pot, who wrote about CAPTCHA for The Atlantic.
milindri/Getty Images
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Shelf Life

Are we still living in Milton Friedman’s economy?

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Nov 15, 2023
A conversation about the life and legacy of economist Milton Friedman with historian Jennifer Burns.
Milton Friedman, one of the most famous economists of the 20th century, died in 2006. But his ideas remain a presence in economics today.
STAFF/AFP via Getty Images
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Content creator economy is everywhere, but labor data and protections are sparse

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Nov 9, 2023
The government has virtually no data on this mostly unregulated, $250 billion global industry, says Drew Harwell of The Washington Post.
"This is a market of millions of people around the world who work as creators or influencers," said Drew Harwell at The Washington Post.
Phillippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images
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Why isn't there an Amazon for real estate?

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Nov 8, 2023
Despite the world going digital, homebuying is still a highly analog process. James Rodriquez of Insider discusses the quest for a superapp.
While the initial house hunt can be done online, arranging inspections, figuring out escrow and other tasks tend to be done in person, on the phone and on paper.
Shaun Curry/AFP via Getty Images
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His EV trip through the Southeast required a charging station map — and privilege

by Richard Cunningham and Kai Ryssdal
Nov 8, 2023
Adam Mahoney, a reporter for Capital B News, explains how driving an electric vehicle put him in a precarious situation as a Black man.
"I wasn’t necessarily as versed in just the long-distance aspect of EV travel with public charging," says Adam Mahoney, a reporter with Capital B News. "So it ended up taking that initial trip from being a five-hour drive to almost 12 hours."
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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With rising elder care costs, the Great Wealth Transfer won't be so great

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Nov 6, 2023
Older generations are spending down their nest eggs and leaving smaller inheritances to adult children, writer Annie Logue explains.
Many Americans, especially baby boomers, will have to spend much of their savings on health care as they age.
Getty Images
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Small phones are hard to find

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Nov 2, 2023
Makers seem to favor devices with much larger displays. Sean Hollister at The Verge recounts his search for a good small phone.
Customers are being directed toward phones with larger displays, like Apple's latest release, the iPhone 15 Pro.
James D. Morgan/Getty Images
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