Molly Wood

Host and senior editor

Molly Wood is the former host and senior editor of "Marketplace Tech," a daily broadcast focused on demystifying the digital economy, and former co-host of "Make Me Smart," where she and co-host Kai Ryssdal would try to make sense of big topics in business, tech and culture. What was your first job? Grocery store checker (but I also drove an ice cream truck once). Fill in the blank: Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you ______. Time, the most precious thing of all. What is something that everyone should own, no matter how much it costs? A pet! What’s the favorite item in your workspace and why? My electric fireplace! It is both cute and cozy.

Latest from Molly Wood

Dec 4, 2010
Comcast, Netflix, Level 3, and what it means for your checkbook
This week we heard about a story involving Level 3 Communications complaining that Comcast was charging Level 3 fees because of Netflix traffic. Soon, the story had morphed into fears that Comcast would block Netflix. We wanted to unpack this situation, find out what's really going on, and what it all means to you.
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Dec 3, 2010
Can the FTC protect your privacy? And is privacy even real?
The Federal Trade Commission issued a massive report on consumer privacy on Wednesday, including a list of recommendations on how websites could do more to help people protect themselves. But given how much data people are sharing online, how realistic is the expectation that we can keep our lives hidden from the Internet?
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Dec 1, 2010
Kinect will be more than a video game system
The Kinect video game system is selling like crazy. 2.5 million units have already been sold, according to Microsoft, and five million are expected to sell between now and Christmas. It's going to be very significant to the video game industry but the technology of the controller-less controller could mean a lot to the world outside of gaming as well.
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Nov 30, 2010
Could a Do Not Track list become a reality?
The idea of a Do Not Track list for web users has been kicked around for a while. After the relative success of the Do Not Call telemarketing list, it seems like an easy and practical way for people to choose not to be tracked around the Internet by online advertisers.
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Nov 29, 2010
The brave new world of 3D printing
What if you didn't have to drive to the hardware store and instead you could just print out whatever tool or part or object you might need? What if when the kids were demanding the latest must-have toy, you could just print it instead? In 3D? That may be the world that's just around the corner. A world where you buy blueprints instead of things and the 3D printer is the most important appliance in your house.
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Nov 27, 2010
Technology to make shopping easier and less painful
Even if you're not hitting the malls for those crazy doorbuster sales today, chances are pretty good you'll need to do some holiday shopping between now and the end of the year. Given that technology is supposed to be making our lives easier, we're offering some ways to leverage the digital age to make your shopping fruitful and easier.
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Nov 26, 2010
The unpaid army behind Wikipedia
Wikipedia is one of the top 10 most popular websites in the world. Looking through some of the massive entries and their histories of meticulous editing, one wonders who the people are who create and maintain the site. In large part, they are volunteers, driven to create and improve the site.
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Nov 25, 2010
Algorithm could lead to many more kidney transplants
The process of waiting for a new kidney can be agonizing for patients in need of one. But there's new hope thanks to computer science and math. A team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh thinks they've found an algorithm that can make a huge difference.
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Nov 24, 2010
Is there a way to be both safe AND private at airport security?
It's a busy travel week and many passengers are facing a choice in security screenings between scanners many see as a violation of their privacy or a physical pat down search that could violate their privacy in different ways. Today, we're looking into just how effective the scanners are and whether a better system could be found.
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Nov 22, 2010
Kevin Kelly says technology is alive. And he knows what it wants.
You can think of technology as gadgets, computers, the internet. Kevin Kelly says the most helpful and accurate way to see it is as a living force with a mind of its own. Like any living creature, technology has desires. Understanding those desires is the key to living in harmony with technology. We talk to Kevin Kelly about the ideas in his new book, What Technology Wants.
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Molly Wood

Latest from Molly Wood