The White House and carmakers have agreed to higher fuel efficiency standards for cars — and it could still lead to higher gas prices. The average compensation for CEOs rose more than 10 percent last year, according to a report out today. Chesapeake Energy is one of the stars of the North American oil and gas boom, but its stock has dropped 25 percent this month. Unpaid interns increasingly say they’re being exploited. And Politico’s John Bresnahan talks about the high rate of return Rep. Brad Sherman has on invested campaign money.

Online networks like Hulu are trying to compete with traditional networks for advertising. Europe’s austerity economics is plunging the continent into recession, and commentator Robert Reich says the U.S. isn’t far behind. Mastercard reported a 25 percent increase in first quarter profits. Kai Ryssdal talks to Marketo CEO Phil Fernandez about Facebook’s upcoming road show and about to “sell” a company ahead of an IPO. And on the latest installment of Freakonomics radio, the hidden side of flowers as gifts.  

President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan today to sign an agreement to chart future relations with the country. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is in Beijing, prepping for talks of economics and security on Thursday. A British parliamentary committee says Rupert Murdoch is “not fit to run a major company.” Delta Air Lines is buying an oil refinery to make its own fuel. Sound is the latest frontier for brand marketing. And Frontline’s Martin Smith reports on the fall of MF Global.

Microsoft is investing $300 million in Barnes & Noble’s e-book and college textbook business. Spain sank into recession in the first quarter, while Japan’s economy has not grown for the last 20 years. In Oakland, Calif., a handful of ‘popup’ stores decided to open all at one time, and they have no plans to close. “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” once the laughing stock of the theatre world, may pick up a few Tony Award nominations. And Kai Ryssdal talks to Yancey Strickler, co-founder of the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com.

Host Kai Ryssdal talks to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about the country’s economic recovery, the European debt crisis, the legacy of his tenure in the White House and more. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is targeting for-profit schools that falsely market to veterans. Commentator Rex Huppke offers up a few solutions to drive down gas prices. And we meet a rickshaw driver in India and hear how globalization has changed his work.

Twenty years after the L.A. riots, economic mobility is still hard to come by for low-income black and Latinos. Mitchell Hartman reports on how neighborhoods affected by the unrest have recovered. Chrysler had its best quarter since emerging from bankruptcy, while Nintendo posted its first-ever loss. For the first time under the Affordable Care Act, some health insurers are paying back part of consumer premiums. And we have our latest Attitude Check with Gallup.

The Trouble Asset Relief Program, or TARP, is currently running a $60 billion loss, according to a report out today. The USDA has identified one case of Mad Cow disease in a California dairy cow, but the cattle industry is staying relatively calm. A university is offering full scholarships to students who successfully pitch business plans — and are ready to give the school a 10 percent stake. There’s now an SEC inquiry into Hollywood executives paying for movies to play in China. And despite corporate incentives and serving as a setting for HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Northern Ireland hasn’t escaped the economic stagnation borne out of conflict.

A former BP engineer was arrested and charged with intentionally destroying evidence related to how much oil was spilling from the company’s broken well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Walmart stock continues to plunge because of an investigation into a bribery scandal in Mexico, but what impact will this really have on the company? Countries all across Europe are pushing back against austerity and now its rearing its head in the first phases of the French elections. Some doctors are changing the way they do business amid the chaos of the health care industry. And author David Kennedy talks about success and his new novel “Temptation.”

Broadcasting live from New York City, Kai Ryssdal and New York bureau chief Heidi Moore visit three scenes that have played major roles in the post-financial-crisis era: the offices of Lehman Brothers and of Morgan Stanley, and Zuccotti Park, the former home of Occupy Wall Street. Kai also speaks to actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith about her work and about telling the stories of the big, complicated social issues of our time, and David Gura takes a look at pension reform — who it hurts and who it benefits.