Author: Marketplace

You had lots of travel related money questions! So, Bridget and Ryan are on a money mission. While racing through the airport on their way to the San Fran Fin Lit Pod Con, they get to the bottom of why stuff costs more at airports than at regular stores, how currency exchange works and where our money actually comes from. How does it travel from the U.S. Mint to our wallets? Cue the spy music!

If your family is interested in learning even more about today’s question, check out our website. We’ve got conversation starters and a tip sheet!

This episode is sponsored by Greenlight. Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com/million.

Colleges and universities are dealing with a growing problem of college admission essays being written by artificial intelligence. Rather than try to figure out which essays are AI-generated, some schools are turning to an alternative approach: Have students submit a video instead.

Marketplace’s Nova Safo spoke with Anne Kim, senior editor at Washington Monthly magazine who recently wrote about this new strategy that's gaining steam in higher education.

Pending home sales rose in August, boosted by a slight drop in mortgage rates. Overall, though, the market remains sluggish — owners don't want to give up their locked-in low rates and buyers are waiting to see if rates and other costs will cool. Also in this episode: Banks respond to the Fed rate cut, retailers prepare for holiday hiring, and tech companies hope nuclear is the answer to data center energy demand.

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Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Hey Smarties! Today we’re sharing a special bonus episode from “How We Survive.” It’s a conversation between host Amy Scott, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal and Pulitzer Prize winning science writer Elizabeth Kolbert. Together, they dig into how the climate crisis is triggering economic disruption. Plus, some solutions to be hopeful about.

And, we get a peek into Kolbert’s forthcoming book, ”Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World.” In this collection of her most influential essays, Kolbert takes readers around the globe, telling stories about caterpillars, whale conversations and the people trying to preserve our planet.

This conversation was recorded live, over Zoom, in front of an audience. You can watch the webinar here. The event is presented by Odoo with additional underwriting support from The Economist. 

We’re dropping into your feeds today to share this special bonus episode.

It’s a conversation between host Amy Scott, Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal and Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Elizabeth Kolbert. 

We talk about how the accelerating climate crisis is creating economic disruption. And we get into some of the solutions that are giving us hope right now.  

This conversation was recorded live, over Zoom, in front of an audience. It’s presented by Odoo with additional underwriting support from The Economist. 

President Trump and congressional leaders are meeting at the White House on Monday to try and avoid a government shutdown. But both sides are digging their heels in. This brinksmanship is happening the same week we are set to get some pretty important government data. Julia Coronado, founder and president of MacroPolicy Perspectives, and a professor at the University of Texas-Austin, joins us to talk about it. Plus, has Canada lost its trade dispute with the U.S.?

Texas oil and gas firms are feeling pessimistic about the upcoming year. In the latest Dallas Fed survey, energy firms reported lower production, increased costs and heightened uncertainty. Oil is a good chunk of the Texas economy, and the Texas economy is a good chunk of the U.S. economy — around 9%. Also on the show: auto parts manufacturer First Brands files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the USDA revives its farm-to-school grant program.

From the BBC World Service: The decision at Toyota in Brazil comes after intense storms halted production at its factories in the state of Sao Paulo, and many of the workers will be paid in full during the closed period. Hackers have attempted to recruit the BBC's cyber correspondent into helping them infiltrate the broadcaster's systems. And has Canada lost in the trade war with the U.S.? Over the past month, it’s removed billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs on American goods.

Researchers at several universities tested how successful artificial intelligence can be at political persuasion, and found some AI chatbots were 40-50% more successful than a static message at getting people to change their views. And those views often stayed changed weeks later.

Marketplace’s Nova Safo spoke with David Rand, one of the researchers involved in the study who’s also a professor of information science and marketing management at Cornell University.

On today’s show, Alaska Public Media reporter Ava White joins Kimberly to make us smarter about Fat Bear Week and the issues that are top of mind for Alaskans right now. Alaska residents receive an annual check funded by the state’s oil royalties. But its purchasing power is lower than ever. We’ll get into it. Plus, we’ll weigh in on AI live translations and a rise in Hamburger Helper sales during a round of Half Full/Half Empty!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• "Meet the superfans going wild for Alaska’s fattest bears" from Alaska Public Media
• "Alaska ignored warning signs of a budget crisis. Now it doesn’t have money to fix crumbling schools" from KYUK
• ”The 2025 Alaska Permanent Fund dividend will be $1,000” from Alaska Public Media
• "North Slope leaders applaud tax breaks for whalers in the GOP megabill” from KNBA
• "Why are restaurant chains opening beverage-focused spinoffs?" from Marketplace
• "AI is taking on live translations. But jobs and meaning are getting lost." from The Washington Post
• "Touchscreens in cars are finally on their way out. Good riddance" from Fast Company
• "Hamburger Helper Sales Rise as Americans Try to Stretch Their Food Dollars" from The New York Times

It’s Half-Priced Hoodie Weekend! Give $10 a month to support our journalism today, and we’ll thank you with a cozy Marketplace zip-up hoodie: https://support.marketplace.org/smart-sn