It's ... Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating numbers from the news.

On today's episode, we examine three measures the Biden administration is squeezing in before the clock runs out. Those include student loan cancellations, a lawsuit against Capital One, and the banishment of a sweet, sweet artificial dye.

Related Episodes:
How a consumer watchdog's power became a liability
Why big banks aren't interested in your savings account

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The Southern California wildfires are devastating large swathes of Los Angeles, destroying homes and businesses and displacing thousands. In the state's strained insurance system, homeowners who can't get fire coverage from traditional insurers are left with just one option—the FAIR Plan.

Today on the show, we explain how the FAIR Plan works and the existential problems it now faces as the wildfires put new pressure on California's insurance market.

Related episodes:
When insurers can't get insurance

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Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Lithium is one of the hot commodities of the 21st century: needed for electric vehicles, semiconductors needed for AI, and grid-scale batteries. While the U.S. was once a pioneer in lithium production, it's fallen off — with others, including China, taking the reins. On our third and final episode of our grid battery series, we look at the race to produce the key ingredient in most of these batteries.

Related episodes:
How batteries are already changing the grid (Apple / Spotify)
How EV batteries tore apart Michigan (Update) (Apple / Spotify)
The surprising leader in EVs (Apple / Spotify)
How China became solar royalty (Apple / Spotify)

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Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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If you want to build a grid-scale battery project in Texas, be prepared to ride the free-market rodeo. On our second episode of this week's battery series, we visit the state that has the second-most battery storage capacity to understand whether large-scale batteries can help prevent blackouts.

Related episodes:
How batteries are already changing the grid (Apple / Spotify)
Texas' new power grid problem (Apple / Spotify)

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Renewable energy, when it comes to solar and wind power, has always had a caveat: it can only run when the wind blows or the sun shines. The idea of a battery was floated around to make renewables available 24/7. For years, it existed as an expensive, little-used technology. And then in 2021, it took off.

In California, there is now enough grid-scale battery storage to power millions of homes, at least for a few hours, and it's growing fast. How did that happen, and what does the newfound success mean for the grid?

This week, we dig into three stories about grid-scale battery storage. Today, we go on-the-ground to California, where batteries first took off in the U.S.

Related episodes:
Rooftop solar's dark side (Apple / Spotify)
How EV batteries tore apart Michigan (Update) (Apple / Spotify)
How China became solar royalty (Apple / Spotify)
Wind boom, wind bust (Two windicators) (Apple / Spotify)

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It's the first Jobs Friday of the new year, and there's good news!

The unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.1%, and the economy added 256,000 jobs. So, for the last month of 2024, the jobs market finished pretty strong.

Today on the show, we look at the indicators from this month's jobs report that give us a snapshot of where our economy's headed. We look at how men are potentially reversing a decades-long trend of declining labor force participation, how people who are unemployed are staying that way for longer and how a lot of Americans saw their wages rise in 2024.

PLUS ... we reveal the winner of our Indicator of 2024!

Related episodes:
Help us pick the indicator of the year!
Getting more men into so-called pink-collar jobs

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The online financial website Investopedia compiles an annual list of the top ten financial terms that drew the most interest from their audience. The 2024 list covers familiar concepts like inflation and tariffs, as well as more niche terms like moneyline bets and stock splits. Today, we visit the highlights of 2024 in economic terms.

The 2024 Investopedia Terms of the Year

Related episodes:
The Indicator's bet on the Super Bowl
How Trump's tariffs plan might work
The tower of NVIDIA

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Last night, after years on cable, WWE's flagship show, Monday Night Raw, made its debut on Netflix. It's another example of live sports programming making the move to streaming as more people abandon cable television.

Today on the show, we talk to a TV analyst about what Netflix's increasing investments in live sports means for the war between streamers and cable companies.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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There's a rural area in Arizona with massive groundwater basins underneath the earth. Water should be plentiful there, but wells are running dry. Today on the show, what's behind the water issues in rural Arizona?

Related episodes:
Why Midwest crop farmers are having a logistics problem (Apple / Spotify)
Why the US government is buying more apples than ever (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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On this edition of Indicators of the Week, we discuss the economic legacy of former President, Jimmy Carter. Today on the show, we detail some of his top accomplishments from empowering the Federal Reserve's aggressive approach to inflation, deregulation of major industries and his push for cost saving energy measures that we still feel to this day.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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People with American stocks in their portfolio are likely very happy right now. U.S. stocks were on a tear in 2024. But to some investors, that's a reason to look a longer look at their portfolio. Today on the show, one investor makes the case for the only free lunch in finance: diversification.

Related episodes:
Invest like a Congress member (Apple / Spotify)
Rethinking what counts in investing (Apple / Spotify)

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