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

Dec 15, 2006
Conversations From the Corner Office: Howard Schultz
Starbucks' chairman of the board talks with Kai Ryssdal about the life experiences that shaped his corporate philosophy.
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Dec 14, 2006
Mergers in midair
Conventional wisdom for industries in a downturn has been that bigger's the way to go. And several airlines are now considering mergers. Economist Allen Michel talks with Kai Ryssdal about whether those would be wise moves.
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Dec 13, 2006
Who really cares?
Individual donors are the primary supporters of U.S. charities. But who's doing the giving might surprise you. Prof. Arthur Brooks, author of a new book called "Who Really Cares," talks with Kai Ryssdal.
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Dec 9, 2006
Staying open to cardiac stents
Do cardiac stents help keep clogged arteries open in the long run? Kai Ryssdal talks with Heather Won Tesoreiro of the Wall Street Journal about today's recommendation by an FDA panel.
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Dec 8, 2006
Time to sideline coaches’ salaries?
Host Kai Ryssdal talks to sports analyst Diana Nyad about why colleges are signing football coaches to lengthy multimillion-dollar contracts only to buy them out after a mediocre season.
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Dec 7, 2006
$11 billion hole in Fannie Mae’s accounting
Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae has issued a long-awaited earnings restatement today, its first since an accounting scandal surfaced two years ago. Host Kai Ryssdal talks to Marketplace's Amy Scott.
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Dec 6, 2006
Lessons in online ticket scalping
Reporter Steve Knopper spent 38 days trying to turn a profit from scalping concert tickets for WIRED Magazine. He tells host Kai Ryssdal about his discoveries.
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Dec 5, 2006
GM finally plugs into hybrid fever
Host Kai Ryssdal and LA Times auto critic Dan Neil surveyed the scene at last week's Los Angeles Auto Show, where GM unveiled its newest challenger in the hybrid vehicle category.
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Dec 5, 2006
Congress punts budget . . . again
The lame duck Congress has decided to leave the unfinished budget for next year. Host Kai Ryssdal speaks with Congressional Quarterly's Jill Barshay about what else will — and will not — get done this week.
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Dec 2, 2006
Abe Lincoln, early adopter
Historian Tom Wheeler talks with host Kai Ryssdal about how President Lincoln adapted to the telegraph to speed communications, and quickly came to understand the medium's limitations.
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