More or Less - Numbers of the year 2025

We look back at some stand out numbers of 2025. How significant were Trump’s import tariffs? China sets the pace for solar power installation across the globe. We also look upwards to a particularly speedy comet - 3i Atlas.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Katie Solleveld Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Mix: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon

Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova - The Big Short Companion from Against the Rules: How the Financial Crisis Broke Wall Street

We’re sharing another podcast we think you’ll enjoy, The Big Short Companion from Against the Rules, hosted by fellow Pushkin podcast host Michael Lewis. The Big Short is now 15 years old and to mark the occasion, Lewis narrated a new audiobook version of The Big Short and is looking back on how the 2008 financial crisis still affects the world today. To make sense of Wall Street’s hangover from the crash described in The Big Short, Lewis calls up Matt Levine, author of the Money Stuff newsletter for Bloomberg Opinion. He’s also a former investment banker who was working at Goldman Sachs during the market crisis of 2008. He and Lewis talk about Bitcoin, bank regulation, and new forms of risk-taking—all ways Wall Street has changed since the crisis.

Find The Big Short Companion from Against the Rules (00:45) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your Podcasts.

Find The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (00:10) on Apple Books or wherever you get your audiobooks.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Consider This from NPR - U.S. foreign aid changed in 2025 – and it was felt around the world

On the night of his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order that froze almost all international assistance.


What followed was the termination of billions of dollars in aid programs — and the dismantling of the U-S Agency for International Development. Now, the future of U.S. foreign assistance looks very different.

NPR global health correspondents Fatma Tanis and Gabrielle Emanuel have been following this all year and break down the impact of this move both on the ground and for the U.S.

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 Mallory Yu, with additional reporting by Jonathan Lambert. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and Rebecca Davis. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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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.  

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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.




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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.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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More or Less - Were there really Three Wise Men?

The surprising things we learn when we count everyone - a tour of the UK census through time.

We also figure out just how many parking officers there are versus soldiers in the British army.

Who really does all the housework? Plus - 20 years of ‘Freakonomics’ with Stephen Dubner.

And finally - were there really three wise men who visited baby Jesus? And were they kings as the Christmas hymn would lead us to believe?

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Lizzy McNeil Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Nathan Gower and Katie Solleveld Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon