The Indicator from Planet Money
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A little show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money, The Indicator 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.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
- 9 minutes 23 secondsWhy every A-lister also has a side hustle (Encore)
Happy Holidays from The Indicator! For the next week, we're running some of our favorite shows from this year. On today's show, why celebrities are increasingly investing in their own brands.
This piece originally aired August 14, 2025.Related episodes:
The celebrity crypto nexus
The Olympian to influencer pipeline (Apple / Spotify)
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.
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NPR Privacy Policy24 December 2025, 8:00 am - 10 minutes 16 secondsThe worst year of Warren Buffett’s careerAs Warren Buffett aged, he became a different sort of figure. He transformed from short-term investor into long-term builder. He used Berkshire Hathaway to start buying companies and build an empire. Today on the show, how did Buffett’s fame become an investment tool and how did he handle the biggest crisis of his career?
Related episodes:
Planet Money Summer School 2: Index Funds & The Bet
Brilliant vs. Boring
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.
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NPR Privacy Policy23 December 2025, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 3 secondsThe spite acquisition that launched Warren Buffett
With an unprecedented decades-long run of success, Warren Buffett is retiring on December 31, 2025. Buffett’s turning point began with the acquisition of a failing textile mill called Berkshire Hathaway. What began as a “terrible mistake” became the foundation for his empire. Today on the show, how did Buffett become this legendary figure?
Related episodes:
Planet Money Summer School 2: Index Funds & The Bet
Brilliant vs. Boring 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.
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NPR Privacy Policy22 December 2025, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 3 secondsTariffs. Consumer sentiment. Cape Ratio. Pick The Indicator of The Year!2025 was a wild year for the U.S. economy. Tariffs transformed the global economy, consumer sentiment hit near-historic lows, and the stock market hit scary, spooky, blood-curdling new heights! So … which of these economic stories defined the year?
Our hosts from Planet Money and The Indicator duke it out during our annual … Family Feud!
Tell us who you think has THE indicator of the year by emailing us at [email protected]. Put “Family Feud” in the subject line.
Related episodes:
The Indicators of this year and next
This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble
What would it mean to actually refund the tariffs?
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 Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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NPR Privacy Policy19 December 2025, 8:00 am - 10 minutes 25 secondsCatching up with a fired federal worker, a shrimper and a fraudster
After a firehose of economic news in 2025, we wanted to check back on some of the people we’ve heard from on our show. Today, we check in with a former federal employee caught in the Trump administration's wood chipper, a Louisiana shrimper on Trump’s tariffs and an update on a financial aid scam.
Related episodes:
Why do shrimpers like tariffs?
What’s the long-term cost of federal layoffs?
A big bank’s mistake, explained
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.
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NPR Privacy Policy18 December 2025, 8:00 am - 8 minutes 40 secondsThe ghosts of Obamacare past, present and futureAbsent a holiday miracle, premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act are set to expire at the end of this year. This will greatly increase the cost of health insurance for many who rely on the marketplace for their coverage. Today on the show, we are visited by the ghosts of Obamacare past, present and future to learn what’s next for this landmark healthcare legislation.
Related episodes:
Is Obamacare doomed without extended subsidies?
The hidden costs of healthcare churn
How doctors helped tank universal healthcare
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.
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NPR Privacy Policy17 December 2025, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 38 secondsWill new loan limits lower the cost of grad school?The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made a lot of changes to the federal student loan system. One of those changes put a new cap on the amount of loans students in graduate school can take on. Today on the show, we explain the theory behind this change and how it could impact the broader labor market going forward.
Related episodes:
The Market For Student Loans
Here's why Black students are defaulting
Student loans are back, U.S. travel is whack, and AI — please, step back
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.
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NPR Privacy Policy16 December 2025, 3:33 pm - 9 minutes 9 secondsCan American cities grow AND stay affordable?Cities like Austin and Atlanta used to top lists of places people moved to looking for relatively affordable places to live. Until, one day, they weren’t that affordable. On today’s show, how a low cost of living is threatened by growth, and how one sunbelt city in Alabama is planning ahead.
Related episodes:
Why Americans don’t want to move for jobs anymore
How to build abundantly
How big is the US housing shortage?
The highs and lows of US rents
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 Policy15 December 2025, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 6 secondsNvidia chips for China, frozen Russian funds, and a lot of self-checkout stealingIt’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today’s episode: Nvidia chips OK’d for China, a sticky frozen Russian asset situation, and a lot of you seem to be stealing from self-checkout.
Related episodes: The tower of NVIDIA How to get Russia to pay Ukraine Why the U.S. cut China off from advanced chips
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 and Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy12 December 2025, 8:00 am - 10 minutes 35 secondsHow to make $35 trillion ... disappearYou may be familiar with the AI-fueled stock market boom. Well, former International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath warns it could mirror the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. But worse. She calculates a similar crash could erase $35 trillion in global wealth. Today on the show, what would that mean for the US and global economies?
Related episodes:
This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble
Open AI’s deals are looking a little frothy
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 December 2025, 8:00 am - 9 minutes 8 secondsBitcoin miners are betting on AI over crypto
If you want to make Bitcoin, you need powerful computers and a lot of energy. Well, it turns out the same infrastructure needed for Bitcoin mining is pretty valuable in the era of AI. Today on the show, why some miners are starting to throw in the towel on crypto in favor of supporting AI infrastructure.
Related episodes:
Whose financing Meta’s massive AI Data Center?
This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble
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 December 2025, 8:05 am - More Episodes? Get the App