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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.

Episodes by Kai (5,949)

Make Me Smart | Episode 1163

The price tag on friendship

May 17, 2024
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Marketplace

"The granddaddy of all stock indices"

May 17, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1162

Whaddya wanna know about key inflation measures?

May 16, 2024
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Marketplace

Walmart, Wayfair and . . . wool?

May 16, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1161

The great Bumble fumble

May 15, 2024
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Marketplace

The inflation cooldown we've been waiting for?

May 15, 2024
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Marketplace

Biden hits Chinese goods with new tariffs

May 14, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1160

From "Million Bazillion": What are labor unions?

May 14, 2024
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Marketplace

Is the U.S. ready to be a chipmaking superpower?

May 10, 2024
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Marketplace

Democracy is critical to prosperity, Treasury secretary says 

May 9, 2024
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Latest Stories (5,787)

Breaking Ground

FDR's New Deal transformed the economy. Could Biden do the same?

by Kai Ryssdal , Andie Corban and Maria Hollenhorst
Jan 24, 2024
We look back at a moment in U.S. history when the federal government remade its relationship with the economy.
President Joe Biden sits in the Oval Office in November. Above the fireplace is a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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Google Search may be the most powerful arbiter of internet content

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Jan 22, 2024
Websites are making content "to try to game Google results," says Mia Sato of The Verge. What has that done to human creativity?
"There is this tension between what we all want to do on the internet and what makes sense to," said Mia Sato at The Verge. "Because if Google cannot see our work, there's really no point in making it."
Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images
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Why you'll have a hard time buying the "most American fruit"

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Jan 19, 2024
Pawpaws are native to North America, but you're not going to find them in your local grocery store. Yasmin Tayag of The Atlantic explains why.
Creamy pawpaws grow wild in North America and have a tropical flavor.
Courtesy Yasmin Tayag
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Breaking Ground

The New Deal history in LA's freeways

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Jan 19, 2024
The backbone of Los Angeles' extensive highway system was built with the aid of FDR's historic public works program.
The first potion of the Arroyo Seco Parkway opened in 1940, connecting Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles.
AFP/Getty Images
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Shelf Life

"We've got a lot more progress to go" on fixing racial disparities caused by the tax system

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Jan 18, 2024
Dorothy Brown of Georgetown University has spent her career researching race and the tax code. Now, she advises the Treasury Department.
The Internal Revenue Service does not collect or publish statistics by race, but there is more to the story, says Dorothy Brown of Georgetown University.
J. David Ake/Getty Images
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How expensive fast food can explain rising economic equality

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Jan 17, 2024
Fast food workers' wages are up as much as 30% since 2020. That has had real costs for businesses, but real benefits for society.
In the fast food sector, where many workers in the bottom 10% of the income distribution are employed, wages went up by 5.7% when adjusted for inflation between 2020 and 2022, says Eric Levitz of Vox.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Fewer kids are playing tackle football. Could flag be the future for the NFL?

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Jan 12, 2024
The risk of brain injury weighs on participation. Sports writer Dave Sheinin says there’s logic in an eventual move to a safer game.
With youth participation in tackle football dropping, flag football presents a new opportunity.
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
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Shelf Life

Alan Greenspan's greatest legacy may be the Fed's independence

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Jan 10, 2024
Greenspan ignored political pressure to cut interest rates so that he could bring down inflation, says author Sebastian Mallaby.
Where did Alan Greenspan, above, go wrong? "In thinking that 2% inflation was the be-all and end-all," says Sebastian Mallaby, "because it turns out, of course, that economies can be disrupted by things other than the price of eggs going up too fast."
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
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Women getting their wings as angel investors

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Jan 9, 2024
The practice of personal investment in startup companies is becoming more diverse. That’s influencing which startups get funded.
Tech executives Allison Barr Allen, Deidre Paknad and Adriana Roche speak on a panel at a TechCrunch gathering in 2022.
Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for TechCrunch
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The hefty costs of heavier cars

by Kai Ryssdal , Andie Corban and Sofia Terenzio
Jan 4, 2024
The trend of bigger, weightier vehicles — known as car bloat — has contributed to road fatalities and environmental contamination.
Over 80% of new vehicles these days are SUVs and pickup trucks, said David Zipper of the MIT Mobility Initiative. Bigger vehicles have bigger impacts on safety and the environment.
Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images
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