The prices of gold and silver are on rollercoaster rides; Gold has been rising over the last few years, silver shot up like a skyrocket in January … but then both plunged in price and sputtered around the end of the month.
It raises the question: What is going on?
Today on the show, we talk with some traders about what this volatility of gold and silver is saying about the state of the world.
Related episodes:
Why is everyone buying gold?
A new-ish gold rush and other indicators
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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Opening Arguments - Minnesota NoICE – Matt Went to Minneapolis and Has So Much to Tell Us
VR22 - Matt reports in just a few miles from--and this is true--Epstein Island to provide a recap of his recent visit to Minnesota days after Alex Pretti’s murder for the first major gathering of state legislators joining forces to stop federal overreach since 1814. How are the people of Minneapolis and their elected leaders holding up on the front lines of the Department of Homeland Security’s war on America, and what can we learn from their example?
Finally, in today’s Vapid Response: professional centrist (and amateur constitutional scholar) Lionel Shriver explains how nearly three hours of research has convinced her that sanctuary jurisdictions, the people of Minneapolis, and Antonin Scalia have gotten it all wrong.
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State Futures website
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“There Should Be No Sanctuary From ICE,” Lionel Shriver, The Spectator (Jan 2025)
Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Engines of Our Ingenuity - The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3352: A Taste of Orange
Episode: 3352 A Taste of Orange. Today we are "Tasting Orange".
Global News Podcast - BBC in Iran for first time since protest crackdown
The BBC gains access to Iran for the first time since anti-government protests were brutally crushed. The country is marking the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in the shadow of last month's deadly crackdown and looming threats of US military action. Also: nine people are killed in a school shooting in Canada; Russia limits access to Telegram; England returns some of the bronzes looted from Benin; how to train your brain to reduce the risk of getting dementia; and what to watch at the Berlin Film Festival.
It Could Happen Here - Fighting ICE’s Warehouse Prisons
James is joined by Sam Hamilton to discuss how people in Social Circle, GA are organizing against an 8,000 person detention facility that ICE is planning to build in a warehouse in their community.
Sources:
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/78d30acb-8463-4c40-a5ae-ae2d0145c9ff/image.jpg?t=1751824393&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }The World in Brief from The Economist - Paramount sweetens Warner bid; Carney placates Trump after bridge threat, and more
Paramount, a film and TV giant, sweetened its offer for Warner Bros Discovery as part of its attempt to derail a competing acquisition of Warner by Netflix, which values the former at $83bn.
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Getting Hammered® - America 250: Ben Franklin With a Report of the Committee of Secret Correspondence
While George Washington was doing military work, a small group of leaders including Ben Franklin and John Jay were on the Committee of Secret Correspondence, which did diplomatic and foreign intelligence work in the service of the American cause. In this missive, Ben Franklin recaps the failed Canada campaign Washington referenced to John Hancock and offers an account of a Canadian visitor to Congress, who sounds like an intelligence asset, and his report on political reasons the campaign isn't working in Canada and how it could be helped. Turns out, it never did catch on north of the border.
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1A - Local Spotlight: The Carpet Capital’s Chemical Problem
Northwest Georgia is a picturesque place, with rolling hills and open farmland. Its creeks and rivers have sustained families for generations. On the surface, the environment looks pristine.
But something toxic lurks within the lush landscape that you can’t see, smell, or taste. For many years, locals weren’t aware of its presence.
PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals used to repel water and stains. Many of them don’t break down in nature, which is why they’re often called ‘forever chemicals.’ They can build up in the environment and our bodies over time.
These chemicals were used for years in the production of carpets in northwest Georgia. And the long-term environmental and human cost in the region is high.
In this installment of our Local Spotlight series, we head to the “carpet capital” of the world to examine its chemical problems.
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
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But something toxic lurks within the lush landscape that you can’t see, smell, or taste. For many years, locals weren’t aware of its presence.
PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals used to repel water and stains. Many of them don’t break down in nature, which is why they’re often called ‘forever chemicals.’ They can build up in the environment and our bodies over time.
These chemicals were used for years in the production of carpets in northwest Georgia. And the long-term environmental and human cost in the region is high.
In this installment of our Local Spotlight series, we head to the “carpet capital” of the world to examine its chemical problems.
Find more of our programs online. 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
State of the World from NPR - US oil blockade roils life in Cuba. Venezuelans test new freedoms
Cuba hasn’t received an oil shipment since December. The shortage has grounded air travel, and disrupted food production, hospitals and schools. Venezuelans stage open demonstrations in the streets that only weeks ago could have meant jail time.
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This Machine Kills - Patreon Preview – 444. The Stories We Tell
We chat about our week as Guests of Honor at Capricon, a science fiction convention in Chicago, and all the great panels and chats we had about luddism, science fiction, politics of futures, and the importance of the stories we tell—and are able to tell and believe—about technology-in-society. Then we wrap up with a recent case study of storytelling: the performative puppetry of moltbook.
••• Moltbook was peak AI theater https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/06/1132448/moltbook-was-peak-ai-theater/
••• Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site https://www.404media.co/exposed-moltbook-database-let-anyone-take-control-of-any-ai-agent-on-the-site/
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)