Category: Series

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The Indicator from Planet Money - What looks like a bond and acts like a bond but isn’t a bond?

The Maldives is a small island nation struggling with a heavy debt load. Its borrowing includes $500 million worth of something called sukuk. These are bond-like investments that don't pay interest, to be in line with Islamic law. Today on the show, we explain how sukuk works, how it fits into the larger world of Islamic finance and what might happen if the Maldives can't pay back its debt.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Is Trump right about violent crime in Venezuela and the US?

On the campaign trail for the US presidency, former president Donald Trump has been saying that the US is becoming a more dangerous than Venezuela.

He also claims that the crime data for the US that the FBI collects is missing the most violent cities.

Is he right? Tim Harford investigates, with the help of Bastian Herre from Our World in Data and Jay Albanese from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Bethan Ashmead Latham Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner Editor: Richard Vadon

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The Indicator from Planet Money - An economist answers your questions on love

We ask economists for their expertise all the time on The Indicator, so why not their tips on love? On our final installment of Love Week, we ask economist Tim Harford to answer listeners' relationship quandaries, from paying for a first date to alternatives to saying, 'I love you.'

Thanks to Grant-Lee Phillps for composing our Love Week theme song and Kaitlin Brito for artwork.

Related episodes:
Trying to fix the dating app backlash (Apple / Spotify)
How American heiresses became Dollar Princesses (Apple / Spotify)
Why the publishing industry is hot (and bothered) for romance (Apple / Spotify)
It's Love Week! How the TV holiday rom-com got so successful (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Trying to fix the dating app backlash

Unanswered messages. Endless swiping. An opaque algorithm. The backlash to online dating feels like it's reached a fever pitch recently. For today's Love Week episode, why people are unhappy with online dating and what Hinge's CEO is trying to do about it. Also, a Nobel Prize economist delivers a little tough love.

Related listening:
How American heiresses became Dollar Princesses (Apple / Spotify)
Why the publishing industry is hot (and bothered) for romance (Apple / Spotify)
It's Love Week! How the TV holiday rom-com got so successful (Apple / Spotify)
Hinge: Justin McLeod (How I Built This)
The dating app paradox
The economics behind sorority rush

Special thanks to Grant-Lee Phillips for our Love Week theme song and Kaitlin Brito for episode artwork.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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

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The Indicator from Planet Money - How American heiresses became Dollar Princesses

In the late 19th century, British aristocrats had a big problem. They were short on cash to fund their lifestyles and maintain their vast country estates. In our third installment of Love Week, we look at the economic forces that drove some British men of the time to marry American heiresses, dubbed "Dollar Princesses," forming a union of money, status and, sometimes, love.

For more on Dollar Princesses, Mark Taylor's research paper is published here. Kristen Richardson's book is called The Season: A Social History of the Debutante.

Related episodes:
Why the publishing industry is hot (and bothered) for romance (Apple / Spotify)
It's Love Week! How the TV holiday rom-com got so successful (Apple / Spotify)

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

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