Samantha Fields

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Samantha Fields is a senior reporter at Marketplace.

She’s particularly interested in how the economy affects people’s everyday lives, and a lot of her coverage focuses on economic inequality, housing and climate change.

She’s also reported and produced for WCAI and The GroundTruth Project, the “NPR Politics Podcast,” NPR’s midday show, “Here & Now,” Vermont Public Radio and Maine Public Radio. She got her start in journalism as a reporter for a community paper, The Wellesley Townsman, and her start in radio as an intern and freelance producer at “The Takeaway” at WNYC. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Latest Stories (523)

Protecting yourself from COVID-19 these days is hard. And it comes at a cost.

Mar 20, 2024
Governments and businesses need to invest in ways to prevent transmission, experts say, instead of leaving people on their own.
"We cannot rely on masking forever. We cannot ask people, even immunocompromised people, to mask for the next 100 years," says Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist.  Above, people with long COVID symptoms sit in on a Senate hearing about the condition.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The costs of banning books

Mar 20, 2024
This week, we’re watching “The ABCs of Book Banning” and looking into the economic impact of book bans for schools and blacklisted authors.
Book bans have nearly doubled in recent years.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Single-family home construction is booming, despite higher mortgage rates

Mar 19, 2024
But the boom doesn't seem to be reaching some parts of the country.
Most of the new single-family homes are being built in suburbs, says Ali Wolf at data firm Zonda.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Consumers might wish for prices to drop, but here's why deflation is not a good thing

Mar 12, 2024
Most of the time deflation is a signal of a struggling economy. Disinflation — when prices still increase, just more slowly — is the goal.
Once prices go up, it’s unusual for them to drop.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What does it take to convert office buildings into housing?

Feb 28, 2024
New York, like many cities, wants to provide more housing and soak up empty office space. But the transition can be complex and costly.
The former office building at 160 Water St. in New York City will be home to residential tenants who can afford Financial District rents.
Samantha Fields/Marketplace

How recalls can affect a company's bottom line — and future sales

Feb 28, 2024
A recent Toyota recall affects more than 280,000 vehicles. But not all recalls are created equal in terms of how they color a company's brand and long-term customer loyalty.
More than 280,000 Toyota SUVs and pickup trucks were recalled over a software issue. But care recalls are actually pretty common.

2023 was a big year for the hotel industry. Has its recovery peaked?

Feb 20, 2024
Hotels increased prices per room in 2023. But occupancy was still below pre-pandemic levels.
Last year, IHG's earnings climbed above $1 billion for the first time.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

If your student loans were forgiven last year, what does that mean for your tax bill?

Feb 15, 2024
Due to a temporary change in the law, student loan forgiveness is not considered federally taxable income. State tax laws vary, though.
Anyone who received forgiveness in 2023 or gets it in the next two years doesn’t have to worry about federal taxes.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Why some college athletes want to unionize

Feb 7, 2024
A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Dartmouth's men's basketball players are employees who can form a union.
Players on the Dartmouth Big Green basketball team filed a petition to unionize in the fall. Above, the Dartmouth Big Green basketball team in 2021.
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Why does a bank sell your mortgage?

Feb 6, 2024
Most are sold into the secondary market, which increases liquidity and makes it easier to get a mortgage at a lower interest rate.
Today, upward of 70% of mortgages are sold into the secondary market, typically bundled with others to create a mortgage-back security. It can be annoying, though, when your servicer changes.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images