Kai Ryssdal

Host and Senior Editor

Kai is the host and senior editor of “Marketplace,” the most widely heard program on business and the economy — radio or television, commercial or public broadcasting — in the country. Kai speaks regularly with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, startup entrepreneurs, small-business owners and everyday participants in the American and global economies. Before his career in broadcasting, Kai served in the United States Navy and United States Foreign Service. He’s a graduate of Emory University and Georgetown University. Kai lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.

Latest from Kai Ryssdal

Jan 3, 2008
Pakistani business hit hard by violence
With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and subsequent violence in Pakistan, the Karachi stock exchange has taken a dive and businesses are suffering. Kai Ryssdal speaks with Pakistani-American businessman Dilawar Syed about the situation.
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Jan 3, 2008
When public good needs private cash
Sometimes innovators have to turn to private funding to get things done. Kai Ryssdal talks with Craig Venter about how he funded research into the human genome.
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Jan 1, 2008
A prime year for new business terms
Although the word "subprime" could be found in the dictionary, it wasn't a part of common lexicon until this year. Host Kai Ryssdal talks to Joe Pickett, executive editor of the American Heritage Dictionary, about business terms that came into their own in 2007.
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Dec 22, 2007
Week on Wall Street
Stockbroker and business analyst David Johnson chats with host Kai Ryssdal about what happened on Wall Street this week and what may lie ahead.
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Dec 22, 2007
‘The Squandering of America’
Author Robert Kuttner says lawmakers on both sides of the aisle need to answer for the latest hiccup in our economy. His new book, "The Squandering of America" looks at how the failure of our politics undermines our prosperity. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.
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Dec 21, 2007
Our ‘Rock Band’ needs some practice
The video music game Rock Band has built a Christmas-season buzz among gamers and the less technically inclined. Kai Ryssdal and some Marketplace rockers checked it out with Kevin Pereira from G4 television.
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Dec 20, 2007
No merry gentleman in Denmark
Christmas tree farmers in Denmark have been accused of engaging in price fixing. Kai Ryssdal called one to get his reaction. But there wasn't a whole lot of yuletide spirit in the response.
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Dec 20, 2007
What’s crawling through your PC?
One of the most pernicious viruses to hit computers this year is called Storm Worm. And it's got e-commerce in its DNA. Ed Skoudis, who tracks bugs like these for a living, explains how this pest wreaks havoc.
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Dec 20, 2007
Candidates bring campaigns home
Six months ago the biggest issue in the presidential campaign was Iraq. Now, it's the economy. Kai Ryssdal speaks with Matthew Yglesias, an associate editor at Atlantic Monthly magazine, about the campaigns' shift to pocketbook issues.
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Dec 19, 2007
Letters: You write ’em, we read ’em
Kai Ryssdal reviews your letters about gift cards, plug-in hybrid cars, eco-friendly Christmas tips, and denying "Der Bingle" his due.
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