The Indicator from Planet Money
NPR
A little show about big ideas. From the people who make <em>Planet Money</em>, <em>The Indicator</em> helps you make sense of what's happening today. It's a quick hit of insight into work, business, the economy, and everything else. Listen weekday afternoons.<br><br><em>Try Planet Money+! a new way to support the show you love, get a sponsor-free feed of the podcast, *and* get access to bonus content. You'll also get access to The Indicator and Planet Money Summer School, both without interruptions. sign up at plus.npr.org/planetmoney</em>
- 8 minutes 47 secondsWhat is going on with gold and silver?The prices of gold and silver are on rollercoaster rides; Gold has been rising over the last few years, silver shot up like a skyrocket in January … but then both plunged in price and sputtered around the end of the month.
It raises the question: What is going on?
Today on the show, we talk with some traders about what this volatility of gold and silver is saying about the state of the world.
Related episodes:
Why is everyone buying gold?
A new-ish gold rush and other indicators
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy11 February 2026, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 26 secondsThe boxed meal helping Americans stay on budgetFood keeps getting more expensive, so how do shoppers respond? They change what they buy, right? It’s not just that cheaper foods get more popular. Shoppers are more nuanced than that. So, today on the show, we choose one classic meal that is tailor-made for this anxious economic moment. Why Hamburger Helper is poised to win 2026.
Related episodes:
How niche brands got into your local supermarket
Can you trust you're getting the same grocery prices as someone else?
Hits of the Dips: Songs of recessions past
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy10 February 2026, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 21 secondsAre we in an economic 'doom loop'?Trade wars. Financial panics. Inflation. How come it feels like it’s all bad news in the global economy these days? Economist Eswar Prasad’s answer: something he calls the ‘doom loop.’ That’s where massive geopolitical and economic forces feed off each other and send us careening into disorder. Sounds dire. But it’s not hopeless.
On today’s show, are we in a doom loop? And if we are … how do we get out of one?
Eswar Prasad’s new book is called “The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling into Disorder”.
Related episodes:
Is the financial media making us miserable about the economy?
Why are some nations richer?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy9 February 2026, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 25 secondsJust how bad are these job numbers?It’s a weird time for jobs numbers. Another month, another jobs report pushed back by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Averaging two private sources, ADP and Revelio Labs: an estimated 4,500 jobs were added in January. Sounds like … not many.
And, yet, the unemployment rate hasn’t seemed to have risen. This might be, in part, due to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. We’ll explain through the story of one Angeleno.
On today’s show, how bad are these job numbers? Or are they not bad at all? And what does immigration have to do with it?
Related episodes:
Can we still trust the monthly jobs report? (Update)
What you need to know about the jobs report revisions
What really goes on at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Update)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy6 February 2026, 8:05 am - 8 minutes 41 secondsHow college sports juiced Olympic developmentHow did the U.S. become the Olympic powerhouse it is today? Cold War competition. The Soviet Union sponsored their athletes. But America wanted its athletes to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. It birthed an unexpected accelerator of Olympic development: College football. Stay with us now.
On today’s show, how college football became an Olympic development engine. And how that engine might not be running as smoothly as it once did.
Related episodes:
Why the Olympics cost so much
You can't spell Olympics without IP
A huge EU-India deal, Heated Rivalry, and a hefty $200k to Olympians
Why Host The Olympics?
The monetization of college sports
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy5 February 2026, 8:00 am - 8 minutes 26 secondsWarming your house the green way just got more expensive
People wanting to purchase heat pumps might soon face sticker shock. Many consumers have sought out energy credits to find a greener and more affordable alternative to heating oil, but the tax credit to help make them cheaper has expired. Today on the show: how homeowners, the renewables industry, and its critics all feel about it.
Related episodes:
Metals, government debt, and a climate lawsuit
All these data centers are gonna fry my electric bill … right?
Cold-o-nomicsFor sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy4 February 2026, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 3 secondsAll these data centers are gonna fry my electric bill … right?
Data centers are getting a lot of heat right now. There’s neighborhood pushback against them for water usage and environmental concerns, and some politicians on both sides of the aisle aren’t fans for the same reasons. There’s also fear that they could drive up the cost of electricity bills.
But that last bit isn’t set in stone.
Data center electric bill upcharge is not a guarantee. In fact, it is even possible for data centers to cause power bills to go down. Today on the show: the future of your power bill.
Related episodes:
No AI data centers in my backyard!
What AI data centers are doing to your electric billFor sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy3 February 2026, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 12 secondsAmerica's next top Fed ChairKevin Warsh has been tapped as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. We’re sure that he’ll have a lot of questions about how to run the Fed if confirmed. So we put together this briefing.
On today’s show, three Fed watchers give their advice for the next chair. On politics, interest rate cuts and dealing with the Fed’s repeated trading scandals. Oh, and can someone please forward this episode to Kevin Warsh?
Related episodes:
One Fed battle after another
Lisa Cook and the fight for the Fed
A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
It's hard out there for a Fed chair
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy2 February 2026, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 57 secondsA huge EU-India deal, Heated Rivalry, and a hefty $200k to OlympiansIt’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today’s episode: a HUGE trade deal between India and the European Union, all the hot hockey romance New Yorkers could ever want, and a heavy earnings purse for Olympic competitors, win or lose.
Related episodes:
Why the Olympics cost so much
The surprising economics of digital lending
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Vito Emanuel. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Preorder Planet Money's new book here!
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy30 January 2026, 8:00 am - 8 minutes 44 secondsHawaii’s worker shortage goes NUTS
Macadamia nuts. Labor shortages. Volcanoes. All that might sound like econ Mad Libs, but they’re all connected to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s entry into the Beige Book this month: labor shortages are hurting macadamia nut harvests in Hawaii.
On today’s show, we take a vacation and talk to someone on the Big Island who runs a macadamia nut farm. He calls them “mac nuts.”
Related episodes:
Why beef prices are so highFor sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy29 January 2026, 8:00 am - 8 minutes 28 secondsWhy isn’t corporate America standing up to Trump?President Trump has been storming through corporate America — taking a stake in Intel, demanding a cut of Nvidia’s sales, restricting skilled workers, among other big footed policies.
Meanwhile, corporate leaders have mostly just … rolled over.
Today on the show: As Trump rewrites the rules of doing business, why aren’t business leaders doing more to speak up?
Related episodes:
How close is the US to crony capitalism?
Davos drama, credit card caps and tariff truths
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy28 January 2026, 8:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App