The Indicator from Planet Money - The spat over VAT

If you've ever passed through airport customs overseas and been refunded a VAT — or value added tax — for souvenirs, you've benefited from the VAT system. But President Trump says VAT is unfair to the U.S. On today's episode, we learn what VAT is and what it isn't.

Related episodes:
What's so bad about a trade deficit? (Apple / Spotify)
Tarrified! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)
Why there's no referee for the trade war (Apple / Spotify)

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Read Me a Poem - “Wild Peaches” by Elinor Wylie

Amanda Holmes reads Elinor Wylie’s “Wild Peaches.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.

  

This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.


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Everything Everywhere Daily - Platinum, Palladium, and Rhodium: The Other Precious Metals

When I say precious metals, most of you probably immediately think of gold and silver. 


Historically, they have indeed been precious metals. However, they are not the only ones. 


There are elemental metals that are rarer and more expensive than gold. They have important industrial uses….and in some cases, they are much more expensive.


Learn more about platinum, palladium, and rhodium, the other precious metals, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.


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NPR's Book of the Day - An obituary writer makes a grave error in John Kenney’s ‘I See You’ve Called in Dead’

John Kenney's I See You've Called in Dead is about an obituary writer named Bud Stanely. One late night after a particularly bad date and too many glasses of Scotch, Bud drunkenly writes his own remembrance – and hits publish. The newspaper where he works wants to fire him, but can't legally terminate a dead person. But the error sets off a change in Bud's life as he begins to attend the funerals of strangers. In today's episode, Kenney joins NPR's Scott Simon for a conversation about the college journalism assignment that sparked the idea for the novel, the author's experience of male friendship, and a nugget of dark humor from Kenney's late brother.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - How much is a weather forecast worth? (Update)

The federal government has been tracking the weather for more than 150 years. But the rise of the Internet and big tech have made weather forecasting a more crowded space. Today on the show, the value of an accurate forecast and how the Trump administration's early moves are clouding the government's future forecasting. This piece originally aired in November 2024.

Related stories:
Hazard maps: The curse of knowledge (Apple / Spotify)
Should we invest more in weather forecasting?
After a year of deadly weather, cities look to private forecasters to save lives

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

Music by
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