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David Brancaccio

Host and Senior Editor, Marketplace Morning Report

SHORT BIO

I’ve anchored and reported for Marketplace since 1989 from bases in London, Los Angeles and New York. Multimedia journalism’s my thing — been doing radio since I was a little boy. I write, love cameras and audio/video editing and have anchored television. I grew up in a small town in Maine but have attended schools in Italy, Madagascar and Ghana.

What was your first job?

DJ and newsman on WTVL AM/FM, Waterville, Maine.

What do you think is the hardest part of your job that no one knows?

Making each and every one fit. “Marketplace Morning Report” has to end at 58 minutes and 58 seconds past each hour; no more, no less.

What advice do you wish someone had given you before you started this career?

Find your own voice in your on-air style and in your writing.

In your next life, what would your career be?

Astronaut. They say a key qualification for the Mars mission are folks who can fix things on the fly. I'm good at MacGyvering.

Fill in the blank: Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you ______.

A McIntosh audiophile-grade stereo amplifier. No, not spelled the same as the computer. They always were too expensive for me, and now they're even more expensive.

What is something that everyone should own, no matter how much it costs?

For those who shave, a shaving brush.  And kitchen scissors. Really. It'll change your life.

What’s something that you thought you knew but later found out you were wrong about?

I thought people work in their own best interests. They don't. They use up resources until they hurt themselves. "Tragedy of the commons," economists call it.

What’s your most memorable Marketplace moment?

Live on the air, I slipped and swapped an "f" for a "p" in some copy and looked up to see an empty control room. They were all on the floor laughing at my expense.

What’s the favorite item in your workspace and why?

Besides the photo of my family, there is a 4" diameter, 4-foot-tall model rocket in the Marketplace Morning Report colors I built. It's flown to 4,000 feet.

Latest Stories (2,730)

The economics of homelessness

In this Marketplace special, we’re taking a look at how the debt ceiling drama further restricts us from addressing big issues like homelessness.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The tight U.S. labor market hasn't benefitted workers equally, Fed study finds

A new Fed study goes beyond the "strong labor market" headlines and finds workers struggling with landing jobs, burnout and more.
Even with all of the talk about ample job openings, some workers aren't taking them. Why? This Federal Reserve survey asked workers just that question.
Courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Yes, you can be employed and homeless

Jun 1, 2023
Fast-food workers, who are often paid low wages and work limited hours, make up 11% of homeless workers in California, a study finds.
An Economic Roundtable study looks at the fast-food industry in California, which has the "highest rate of poverty employment" in the state, according to author Daniel Flaming.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Inside the push to criminalize homelessness

"The proven strategy is ... to use housing as the base," and then add services, says Ann Oliva of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
"There's a variety of reasons why we shouldn't be criminalizing people who are experiencing homelessness, yet it seems to be persisting," says Ann Oliva of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

How the affordable housing crisis drives homelessness

We're going to need a lot of money and cooperation to address homelessness.
Housing expert Gregg Colburn explains how we can best address homelessness on local, state and federal levels.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Inside the biggest municipal fraud scheme in U.S. history

What we can learn about how fraud happens and how can cities guard against it.
The scandal, which unfolded in the sleepy town of Dixon, Illinois, saw the city's comptroller steal $53 million over her 20-year career.
Getty Images

Could artificial intelligence be your next coworker?

May 5, 2023
Workplace AI is coming, and one study of a Fortune 500 company found it can be a productivity boon.
A new study of call center workers at a Fortune 500 company found that AI integration boosted productivity, especially among less skilled and less experienced workers.
Getty Images

By acquiring First Republic, JPMorgan becomes "too big to be too-big-to-fail"

The reverberations of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse have taken down First Republic. What's next for the financial industry?
JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of First Republic further consolidates the industry in the country's largest bank, says the University of Michigan's Erik Gordon.
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Bud Light sales fall amid boycott over collaboration with trans influencer

Other brands are watching how the company deals with becoming part of the debate on transgender rights, says E.J. Schultz of Ad Age.
Bud Light sales fell 17% for the week ending April 15 compared to the same week a year earlier, according to the Associated Press.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Why pessimism about the U.S. economy might overshadow a longer-term success story

Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, explains why the U.S. economy may be stronger than it looks.
Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor of The Economist, said that the U.S. economy has outperformed other rich economies despite economic pessimism among Americans.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images