Planet Money - The Land of the Duty Free (classic)

(Note: This episode originally ran in 2018.)

Is it really cheaper to shop at an airport Duty Free store? And why are so many of them alike?

In the 1940s, if you were flying from New York City to London or Paris you would find yourself making a pit stop for fuel on the western coast of Ireland. The Shannon airport at the time wasn't much to look at, but the passengers arriving there were movie stars and celebrities, basically the super rich. And the people of Shannon realized pretty quickly that they needed to upgrade the local amenities for their wealthy clientele. They hired a man named Brendan O'Regan to make it happen. Being the quick-thinking entrepreneur that he was, O'Regan convinced the Irish government to create a tax loophole. And thus, duty free stores were born.

Today on the show, we follow the surprising origin of duty free, and try to answer the question: Are they really saving you any money?

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The Indicator from Planet Money - The race to produce lithium

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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NPR's Book of the Day - Kate Kennedy’s ‘Cello’ is part memoir, part musical detective story

A new book from writer, BBC broadcaster and cellist Kate Kennedy tackles the stories of four cellists connected by a mutual musical obsession. Cello: A Journey Through Silence to Sound focuses on musicians like Lise Cristiani, the first female professional cello soloist, and Pál Hermann, a Jewish-Hungarian cellist captured by the Gestapo during World War II. In today's episode, Kennedy speaks with NPR's Daniel Estrin – also a cellist – about these musicians' histories and her own complicated relationship with her instrument.

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Ologies with Alie Ward - Ethnocynology (HUMANS & DOGS THROUGH TIME) with David Ian Howe

Ancient dogs! Domestic wolves! Anthropology! Archaeology! It’s all Ethnocynology: when humans and dogs started living and working together. The wonderful and iconic David Ian Howe is an educator and professional archaeologist whose focus is canines and people. So let’s curl up and be cute – like dogs – as we listen about breed histories, what evidence we have for doggies being friends, how wolves tamed themselves, why our relationships with canines make us what we are, talking dogs, if it’s fair it ask your dog to love you back, corn paws, and why your dog is trying to make fetch happen. 

Visit David’s website and his podcasts, The David Ian Howe Show & Ethnocynology with David Ian Howe

Follow David on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Patreon and Bluesky

A donation went to the Native American Humane Society

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Lupinology (WOLVES), Canine Speech Pathology (DOGS WITH BUTTONS), Felinology (CATS), Experimental Archaeology (ATLATLS), Momiology (MUMMIFICATION), Egyptology (ANCIENT EGYPT), Classical Archaeology (ANCIENT ROME), Mythology (STORYTELLING), Indigenous Cuisinology (NATIVE COOKING), Radiology (X-RAY VISION), Delphinology (DOLPHINS), Functional Morphology (ANATOMY), Zymology (BEER & YEAST), Columbidology (PIGEONS)

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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Does Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 Report Matter?

How did an investigation into an effort to violently overturn a US presidential election end up coming out as a whimper, well after it could have carried any weight or legal repercussions? 


Guest: Jay Willis, editor-in-chief at Balls and Strikes


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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Amarica's Constitution - Looking Forward, Looking Back

As Inauguration Day approaches, anxiety and uncertainty, even dread, mixes with the optimism of some in the American polity. Many express a mix of apathy, weariness, or hopelessness, with a sentiment akin to “wake me in four years.” What would they find when awakened?  We begin to take a look ahead, in part by looking behind and evaluating how our own earlier prognostications have turned out.  We start with abortion and the Dobbs case, as it loomed large in recent years and clearly continues to reverberate and feeds resentment on one side, activism on the other.  What lies ahead for the law, the Court, and the people?  CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges at podcast.njsba.com.

It Could Happen Here - From Anti-Satanic Crusaders to Congresswoman: Tracing an Anti-Trans Harassment Campaign

Mia talks with LA trans artist Precious Child about how she was the target of a series of anti-trans harassment campaigns against her art culminating in Congresswoman Nancy Mace censoring her work.

https://preciouschild.com

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Everything Everywhere Daily - Chasing the Impossible: The Enigma of Perpetual Motion (Encore)

Imagine a device that could supply an unlimited amount of energy. It would solve many of the world’s problems in one fell swoop. 

Unfortunately, such a device is impossible to build, but that hasn’t stopped people throughout history from trying. 

In fact, to this very day, people still claim that they have created perpetual motion machines, and they keep getting proven wrong.

Learn more about perpetual motion machines, or the lack thereof, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.


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CBS News Roundup - 01/14/2025 | World News Roundup Late Edition

Los Angeles officials are bracing for more high wind conditions, which could hamper the fight against wildfires. A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be close. The Biden administration to removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror. CBS News Correspondent Jennifer Keiper with tonight's World News Roundup.

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