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

Sep 7, 2007
Real money in fantasy football
The National Football League season begins tonight, which means millions of fans playing fantasy football leagues are back in action as well. Business-of-sports expert Diana Nyad talks with Kai Ryssdal about the reality involved.
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Sep 6, 2007
Finding big meaning in small trends
In 1996, pollster Mark Penn highlighted what he thought was an important Democratic constituency: soccer moms. Now, he's got a new book out. He tells Kai Ryssdal of a new trend — young people minding their knitting.
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Sep 5, 2007
Small dreams for college-bound students
Low-income students still face a big barrier to college — the cost has more than tripled over the past 25 years. And state and federal aid hasn't kept up. So, as Laura Leslie reports, some students may be learning to dream small.
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Sep 5, 2007
Letters from our listeners
Kai Ryssdal reviews some of the correspondence we've received on Picassos, the Mondavi wine-making family, teaching a man to fish, and Leona Helmsley's dog.
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Aug 25, 2007
Week on Wall Street
Stockbroker and business analyst David Johnson talks with host Kai Ryssdal about how the markets are adjusting to the credit crunch and what may lie ahead.
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Aug 25, 2007
‘I partied and I unlocked the iPhone!’
George Hotz, 17, has posted on his blog the instructions for how to fiddle with an iPhone so it can be used with a wireless carrier other than AT&T. Kai Ryssdal figured that was worth a conversation and called him up.
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Aug 24, 2007
Driving toward larger market share
Earlier this month the Alamo and National rental car brands were sold to the number one company in the industry — Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Enterprise is changing. Kai Ryssdal talked with its man in the driver's seat, Andrew Taylor.
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Aug 24, 2007
Panic is over but not the problem
The markets seem to have calmed down a bit from the initial mortgage meltdown shock, but has the worst passed? Kai Ryssdal talked with financial strategist Richard Bove to get some guidance.
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Aug 23, 2007
Proof of age required for social sites?
States are trying to force sites like Myspace and Facebook to come up with ways to verify their members are a minimum age. Kai Ryssdal talks with Victoria Barret at Forbes magazine to find out what that might do to their bottom lines.
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Aug 23, 2007
The rise and fall of Mondavi
Robert Mondavi gets a lot of the credit for bringing California to prominence in the global wine industry. But his business didn't always see healthy returns. Julia Flynn Siler has written a biography of Mondavi. She talks with Kai Ryssdal.
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