Category: Series

Animals are going extinct at an alarmingly fast rate, largely due to human activity. Same for plants. This is bad for all kinds of reasons, not least of which is that breakthrough drugs often come from nature. But there isn’t consensus on how to save these species. 

Part of the debate asks the economic question: with limited money going to the work, where will it have the most impact? Today on the show, the cost-effective plan to maximize biodiversity that asks ecologists to approach the question more like economists. 

Related episodes: 
The Habitat Banker 
The echo of the bison 
Savings birds with economics 

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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Behavioral scientist Jon Levy’s new book — Team Intelligence: How Brilliant Leaders Unlock Collective Genius — argues that, in the workplace, leadership is overrated and teamwork is underrated. Today on the show: How super chickens and NBA All-Stars demonstrate the perils of individual performance.

Related episodes:
Why women make great bosses 
The Virtual Office 
The Science of Hoops

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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Hollywood has given sharks a terrible reputation. But in reality, the finned fish should be far more scared of us, than we of them.

Millions of sharks are killed in fishing nets and lines every year.

One statistical claim seems to sum up the scale of this slaughter – that 100 million sharks are killed every year, or roughly 11,000 per day.

But how was this figure calculated, and what exactly does it mean?

We go straight to the source and speak to the researcher who worked it out, Dr Boris Worm, a professor in marine conservation at Dalhousie University in Canada.

Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Nicholas Barrett Series producer: Tom Colls Production coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Annie Gardiner Editor: Richard Vadon

Moms are quitting — or getting pushed out. Workforce participation for mothers in the U.S. has been dropping for most of this year, and the reasons are more complicated than return-to-office mandates. Today on the show, we talk to moms about why they left their jobs and to economist Misty Heggeness, who has studied the phenomenon. 

Find more of Misty’s research here. 

Related episodes:  
How insurance is affecting the cost of childcare 
Women, work and the pandemic  
That time America paid for universal daycare 

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

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What should “public health in a free society” look like, and what limits should courts impose on executive trade powers? This week’s panel covers the shakeup at the CDC, asks whether America really needs asks a Surgeon General—and unpacks a blockbuster ruling from the Federal Circuit declaring most of President Trump’s global tariffs illegal.

Featuring Ryan Bourne, Gene Healy, Jeffrey A. Singer, & Scott Lincicome

Adam Thierer, “Breaking the Government’s Grip on the Medical Debate,” Cato at Liberty (August 28, 2025) 

J.A. Singer, “Unnecessary Relics,” Policy Analysis (July 2025)

Thomas A. Berry, Brent Skorup, and Charles Brandt, “V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump,” Legal Briefs (July 8, 2025)

Brent Skorup, Ilya Somin, and Walter Olson, “Tariffs, Emergencies, and Presidential Power: A Conversation with Ilya Somin and Walter Olson,” Multimedia Event (May 27, 2025)

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