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Kai Ryssdal

Host and Senior Editor

SHORT BIO

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 Stories (5,782)

Planning a city from scratch

Mar 16, 2007
About 60 miles north of Los Angeles is one of the last big open spaces left in this country that's near a major urban area. But it might not stay wild much longer. Kai Ryssdal talks about Tejon Ranch with writer Jon Gertner.

Pieces of your minds

Mar 15, 2007
Kai Ryssdal combs through some of the letters you've sent recently, with comments on stories about working late and working in pollution, and on Ben Stein's commentary about oil companies.

The tip-off to a productivity drop

Mar 15, 2007
March Madness kicked off today, and distractions abound in the workplace. There's the office pool, the live games streaming on the computer . . . It does some damage to the bottom line.

Big players make a subprime choice

Mar 14, 2007
Nervousness over the subprime mortgage market is causing some wild swings in the stock market. Kai Ryssdal talks with the Wall Street Journal's Kate Kelly about the big names who are entering the fray.

Mr. Black, about that missing $84 million . . .

Mar 14, 2007
Canadian media mogul Conrad Black went on trial for fraud in Chicago today. Kai Ryssdal talks about the case against Black with reporter James Langton of The Daily Telegraph in London.

Volatility on Wall Street

Mar 13, 2007
Several factors came together today, sending the Dow down 242.66. Kai Ryssdal checks in with economist Diane Swonk to get her view on the market's drop.

Could the economy become subprime?

Mar 13, 2007
Subprime lenders are in trouble. Foreclosures are up. Marketplace's Tess Vigeland talks with Kai Ryssdal about why that matters for the larger housing market and the whole economy.
A foreclosure sign hangs in front of a home in Miami.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Moving to Dubai

Mar 12, 2007
Halliburton's CEO says he's going to set up his offices in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Some analysts say the move makes good business sense.

A hundred years of smokes

Mar 12, 2007
Allan Brandt, professor of the history of medicine at Harvard University, talks about his new book, "The Cigarette Century," with Kai Ryssdal.

Bush makes a quick stop in Colombia

Mar 9, 2007
President Bush will be in Colombia this weekend to show support for America's strongest ally in the region. Kai Ryssdal talks to foreign-policy analyst Adam Isaacson about the U.S.-Colombia relationship.