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

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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Aug 22, 2007
Dear Kai, Countrywide needs your cash
Kai Ryssdal got an invitation from Countrywide in his mail, urging him to apply for a 40-year mortgage. This piqued his interest, since Countrywide's reported to be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. He got mortgage broker Seth Asher to explain.
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Aug 22, 2007
An out-of-this-world-business plan
Wealthy entrepreneurs are spending millions of dollars to develop spaceships and a space hotel for what they see as the next big thing: commercial space travel. Author Michael Belfiore has a new book about it. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.
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Aug 21, 2007
So where do things go from here?
Now that the Federal Reserve has stepped in to calm credit-crunch fears, we figured it was time to assess where the markets and the economy might be headed. Kai Ryssdal talked with Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James.
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Aug 18, 2007
Week on Wall Street
Stockbroker and business analyst David Johnson talks with host Kai Ryssdal about the markets' nervous reactions to the liquidity shortage.
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Aug 17, 2007
Hip-hop’s cash kings
You probably won't find Shawn Carter or Curtis Jackson on any list of Who's Who in American Business. But they're on top of the new Forbes magazine list of hip-hop's cash kings. Forbes' Lea Goldman is on the beat.
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