Most stories keep going even after we set down our microphones and the music fades up. That's why, at the end of each year, we look back and we take stock.
We call this tradition "The Rest of the Story." And we bring you updates on the stories we've reported, and from the people we've met along the way.
Today, we check in on an engineer and patent attorney who made a safer saw; we get an update on the Planet Money game; an update on money in Gaza; and we have updates on a diamond that may or may not have had a second life.
Listen to the original stories:
The Subscription Trap
Planet Money buys a mystery diamond
In Gaza, money is falling apart
BOARD GAMES 1: We're making a game
How to save 10,000 fingers
This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, edited by Alex Goldmark, fact-checked by Vito Emanuel, and engineered by Debbie Daughtry.
Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+
Play the new version of our game here. Version 4.
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Short Wave - Why Drones Are Catching Whale Breaths
Scientists in the Arctic are catching the exhaled breaths of whales to better understand their health. How? Drones. Whales breathe through their blowholes, which are the equivalent of nostrils on their heads. By studying the microbes in exhaled whale breaths, scientists are piecing together how deadly diseases spread in whale populations. Host Emily Kwong and producer Berly McCoy talk to All Things Considered host Juana Summers about what scientists can do with this information, from reducing stress on whales and monitoring ocean health to warning people who could be in close proximity to whales carrying zoonotic diseases.
Interested in more science on charismatic megafauna? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Interested in more science on charismatic megafauna? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
The Indicator from Planet Money - The secret to Nintendo’s success (Encore)
For the next week, we're running some of our favorite shows from this year. On today's show, a brief history of Nintendo and how a small playing card company in Japan became a gaming juggernaut.
This piece originally aired June 16, 2025.
Related episodes:
Inside video game economics
Forever games: the economics of the live service model
The boom and bust of esports
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 Policy
NPR's Book of the Day - Dorie Greenspan and Paul Hollywood discuss their new and nourishing cake cookbooks
If you’re feeling burnt out from your annual holiday cookie-baking marathon, don’t fear. There’s hope on the other side… in the form of cake. In today’s episode, Here and Now's Robin Young speaks with two authors and bakers about their newest cookbooks focused on cake. First, she joins Dorie Greenspan to discuss Dorie’s Anytime Cakes, a beginner-friendly collection of comforting cake recipes. Then, Young talks with The Great British Baking Show’s Paul Hollywood about Celebrate, his volume of cakes meant to inspire joyful, low-stakes baking with the whole family.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Consider This from NPR - Remembering the World War I Christmas truce
In the months after World War I erupted, young men in Europe were killing each other by the tens of thousands. Yet on a frozen Christmas Eve in 1914, the guns briefly fell silent.
On the 100th anniversary of the truce, former All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro set out to reconstruct the events of that day using the accounts of the people who were there. We bring you that story. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Elena Burnett. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
On the 100th anniversary of the truce, former All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro set out to reconstruct the events of that day using the accounts of the people who were there. We bring you that story. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Elena Burnett. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
State of the World from NPR - Looking Back: Canadians Grapple with the Wide Impacts of U.S. Tariffs
As we look back at our international reporters' most memorable stories of the last year, we revisit a report from America’s neighbor to the north last April. Canada has seen wide ranging impacts from the tariffs on goods sent to the U.S.— from Canadian identity to the country’s politics and of course the economy. Even small businesses are feeling the change. We go to the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia to see how tariffs are playing out.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Up First from NPR - Christmas In Bethlehem, Honduras Election Result, Immigration Crackdown
After two years of not celebrating because of the war in nearby Gaza, Christmas festivities have returned to Bethlehem. Election officials in Honduras have named the winner of the country’s presidential election, after more than three weeks of counting the votes. And, in a year of record breaking immigration enforcement, deportations and detentions are separating families and in some cases that means the oldest children become the family breadwinner.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today’s episode of Up First was edited by James Hider, Didi Schanche, Eric Westervelt and Lisa Thomson.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zo van Ginhoven. Our technical director is David Greenburg.
And our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(00:00) Introduction
(03:11) Christmas In Bethlehem
(06:58) Honduras Election Result
(10:40) Immigration Crackdown
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Unabridged’ explores the history of the dictionary – and why it’s in trouble now
Dictionaries were once bestsellers, but between the internet and artificial intelligence, its role in our culture has changed. Stefan Fatsis is out with a new book called Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) The Modern Dictionary, which documents this shift. In today’s episode, he speaks with NPR’s Don Gonyea about embedding with the publisher of Merriam Webster, the history of lexicography, and what he anticipates for the dictionary’s future.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Consider This from NPR - Singer Brenda Lee on her enduring Christmas classic
Singer Brenda Lee reflects on the enduring power of her Christmas classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Connor Donevan and Brianna Scott.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Connor Donevan and Brianna Scott.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
1A - Best Of: The Financial Burden Of Caregiving
In-home elder care costs are rising more than three times faster than inflation.
AARP estimates that caregivers in the U.S. spend an average of $7,242 out of pocket each year.
Cuts to federal spending have gutted programs that support them. And amidst the longest government shutdown in history, what little help was left is quickly drying up.
Why is the cost of care going up? What can be done to combat those costs?
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
AARP estimates that caregivers in the U.S. spend an average of $7,242 out of pocket each year.
Cuts to federal spending have gutted programs that support them. And amidst the longest government shutdown in history, what little help was left is quickly drying up.
Why is the cost of care going up? What can be done to combat those costs?
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy