The Indicator from Planet Money - Who’s on the hook for California’s uninsurable homes?

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

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

Consider This from NPR - America’s place in the world during a second Trump term

Confirmation hearings for Trump's cabinet picks are in full swing on Capitol Hill with a number of them appearing before the Senate this week.

Nominees including Pam Bondi, Trump's pick to run the Justice Department, John Ratcliffe, his pick to run the CIA, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio Trump's nominee for Secretary of State have all answered questions about what they'll do and what they won't do if confirmed.

Rubio and Ratcliffe will play key foreign policy roles under the 47th president.

Those are the people, but what do they tell us about the policy?

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


Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - America’s place in the world during a second Trump term

Confirmation hearings for Trump's cabinet picks are in full swing on Capitol Hill with a number of them appearing before the Senate this week.

Nominees including Pam Bondi, Trump's pick to run the Justice Department, John Ratcliffe, his pick to run the CIA, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio Trump's nominee for Secretary of State have all answered questions about what they'll do and what they won't do if confirmed.

Rubio and Ratcliffe will play key foreign policy roles under the 47th president.

Those are the people, but what do they tell us about the policy?

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


Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - America’s place in the world during a second Trump term

Confirmation hearings for Trump's cabinet picks are in full swing on Capitol Hill with a number of them appearing before the Senate this week.

Nominees including Pam Bondi, Trump's pick to run the Justice Department, John Ratcliffe, his pick to run the CIA, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio Trump's nominee for Secretary of State have all answered questions about what they'll do and what they won't do if confirmed.

Rubio and Ratcliffe will play key foreign policy roles under the 47th president.

Those are the people, but what do they tell us about the policy?

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


Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

State of the World from NPR - Israel and Hamas Reach A Deal to End the War in Gaza

A ceasefire deal has been announced that would end more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. We learn about the details, how the agreement was reached and hear reaction from Israelis and Palestinians. We also look at what the war has meant for both sides and for the Middle East region.

For more coverage of this conflict and the latest developments, please come back to this feed. You can also go to npr.org/mideastupdates

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

1A - (dot) Gov: The Department Of Agriculture And The Environmental Protection Agency

It's safe to say most Americans hear the most about the U.S. Department of Agriculture when things go wrong — namely when something has to be recalled.

But the department is responsible for so much more than just delivering bad news. It consists of 29 agencies that employ some 100,000 employees across 4,500 locations both domestic and abroad.

Another agency whose name shows up when things go wrong is the Environmental Protection Agency. As its name implies, it's tasked with creating and upholding standards that protect the health of Americans and our environment, including our natural resources and ecosystems. It's an important, if sometimes thankless, responsibility.

We discuss what the agencies and their responsibilities.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. 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

Up First from NPR - Smooth Sailing For Trump’s Nominees?, LA Fire Outlook, South Korea President Arrested

Senate Republicans are promising no drama for Trump's cabinet nominees in hearings this week. Do Democrats have anything to say about that? Plus, L.A. neighborhoods remain on lockdown after wildfires, and anti-corruption officials arrest South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

For more comprehensive 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 Ryland Barton, Jason Breslow, Gigi Douban, Ally Schweitzer and Lisa Thomson. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, Iman Ma'ani and Lilly Quiroz. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent and our technical director is Stacey Abbott.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

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.

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

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)

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

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?

Help support
Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy