Kai Ryssdal

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.

Episodes by Kai (6,190)

Marketplace

House brands

Jan 24, 2025

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Make Me Smart | Episode 1316

How Trump's executive orders are impacting migrant workers

Jan 23, 2025

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Marketplace

Still looking

Jan 23, 2025

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Make Me Smart | Episode 1315

The mainstreaming of meme coins

Jan 22, 2025

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Marketplace

Buy in bulk and on credit

Jan 22, 2025

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Make Me Smart | Episode 1314

The American diet under Trump

Jan 21, 2025

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Marketplace

That's a headscratcher

Jan 21, 2025

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Marketplace

Sorry, we can't hear you through all the economic noise

Jan 20, 2025

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Make Me Smart | Episode 1313

The tax cut zealots vs. the budget hawks

Jan 17, 2025

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Marketplace

Credit keeps consumers consuming

Jan 17, 2025

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Latest Stories (5,851)

The Age of Work

“Retirement’s a wonderful invention — I just love it”

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst

Jan 24, 2025

As part of our new series, “The Age of Work,” Marketplace is exploring the aging U.S. labor force.

John Conrad, one of Cumberland County’s many retired residents on the Soldier’s Beach Trail, which he helped build.

Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

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This 24-hour diner helps New Yorkers make it through the night

by Kai Ryssdal and Nicholas Guiang

Jan 23, 2025

24-hour diners have been disappearing in New York. Reporter Priya Krishna worked the graveyard shift at one that reopened and found it very lively.

Kellogg's Diner closed during the pandemic and reopened. New York Times reporter Priya Krishna stayed awake to sample the atmosphere and the food.

Victor J. Blue/Getty Images

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Immigration is tied to food security, farmer says, and food security is tied to national security

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio

Jan 22, 2025

Patrick Smith of Loftus Ranches relies on temporary workers to tend his crops. Immigration policy has broad impact, he says.

Patrick Smith grows apples and hops at Loftus Ranches in Yakima, Washington.

Courtesy Loftus Ranches

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Why the history genre is big business right now

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban

Jan 17, 2025

Books, newsletters and podcasts about the past, including "The Rest Is History," are popular and profitable, explains journalist Will Dunn.

The past has become more popular in media like books, podcasts and newsletters.

georgeclerk/Getty Images

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Is hardening a home against fire affordable? It depends.

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry

Jan 16, 2025

The costs can vary widely and using the right building materials is essential, says wildfire policy analyst Kimiko Barrett.

A house with fiber cement siding, a building material that is less flammable than wood.

Public Domain

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Outgoing Commerce chief: "The only way to win is to out-innovate them"

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban

Jan 14, 2025

Kai Ryssdal does an "exit interview" with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo meets with Marketplace to discuss the Biden administration's economic legacy, including the CHIPS Act, the growth of manufacturing and trade relations with China.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

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Los Angeles Wildfires

From satellites to AI, tech has a role to play in battling blazes

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry

Jan 13, 2025

Kate Dargan Marquis of the Moore Foundation discusses spurring research and development to keep up with the growing impact of wildfires.

Firefighters work to contain the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County.

Ali Matin/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

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Almost all of the new cars sold in Norway are electric. Here's how the country did it.

by Kai Ryssdal , Maria Hollenhorst and Andie Corban

Dec 19, 2024

Close to 30% of cars on the road and 96% of car sales in Norway are EVs.

Both right- and left-leaning governments have maintained policies incentivizing EV purchases, said Lundgren. Above, several EVs drive on a road in Oslo, Norway.

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I dreamed of a post-PowerPoint world. Then I woke up.

by Kai Ryssdal and Nicholas Guiang

Dec 18, 2024

Every meeting has a PowerPoint, but not every meeting needs one. Matt Alston explains the program's long corporate tyranny.

Jeff Bezos sidelined PowerPoint as a corporate tool at Amazon. But you can buy the program at the site.

Getty Images

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Has the free medical school experiment failed?

by Kai Ryssdal , Sarah Leeson and Sofia Terenzio

Dec 17, 2024

NYU's experience rebuts the idea that tuition-free programs open doors to low-income students, per reporting by Rose Horowitch at The Atlantic.

At NYU, the percentages of Black students and financially disadvantaged students decreased, according to The Atlantic's Rose Horowitch.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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