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Jamilla Yipp

Wailin Wong

Host, The Indicator from Planet Money

Wailin Wong is a long-time business and economics journalist who's reported from a Chilean mountaintop, an embalming fluid factory and lots of places in between. She is a host of The Indicator from Planet Money. Previously, she launched and co-hosted two branded podcasts for a software company and covered tech and startups for the Chicago Tribune. Wailin started her career as a correspondent for Dow Jones Newswires in Buenos Aires. In her spare time, she plays violin in one of the oldest community orchestras in the U.S.

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Friday

Bankruptcy, basketball, and bringing the dollar down
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Bankruptcy, basketball, and bringing the dollar down

It's Indicators of the Week! We cover the numbers in the news that you should know about. This week, we cover climbing corporate bankruptcies, J.D. Vance's potential to bring the dollar down, and the NBA's new super serious salary cap.

Bankruptcy, basketball, and bringing the dollar down

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Thursday

Business

'The Indicator from Planet Money': The young trolls of Wall Street are growing up

Retail traders are still buying stocks as much as they were during the pandemic, subverting expectations that they would go away after people returned to work and their pre-COVID lives.

'The Indicator from Planet Money': The young trolls of Wall Street are growing up

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Friday

Monday

The young trolls of Wall Street are growing up

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The Indicator from Planet Money

The young trolls of Wall Street are growing up

Back in 2021, the meme stock frenzy was at its peak: Roaring Kitty AKA Keith Gill, and young day traders gleefully upended financial markets. Roaring Kitty disappeared for a bit before returning just a couple months ago.

The young trolls of Wall Street are growing up

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Wednesday

The two companies driving the modern economy

A closeup of a silicon wafer on display at Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institution on September 16, 2022 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Annabelle Chih/Getty Images hide caption

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Planet Money

The two companies driving the modern economy

At the core of most of the electronics we use today are some very tiny, very powerful chips. Semiconductor chips. And they are mighty: they help power our phones, laptops, and cars. They enable advances in healthcare, military systems, transportation, and clean energy. And they're also critical for artificial intelligence, providing the hardware needed to train complex machine learning.

The two companies driving the modern economy

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Business

How NVIDIA momentarily became the most valuable company in the world

Twenty years ago, NVIDIA was mainly familiar to avid gamers looking to upgrade their computer. But it turns out their CEO has been steering the ship towards artificial intelligence since then.

How NVIDIA momentarily became the most valuable company in the world

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Monday

How the end of Roe is reshaping the medical workforce
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The Indicator from Planet Money

How the end of Roe is reshaping the medical workforce

It's been two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion, triggering a parade of restrictions and bans in conservative-led states. Today on the show, how the medical labor force is changing post-Roe and why graduating medical students, from OB-GYNs to pediatricians, are avoiding training in states with abortion bans.

How the end of Roe is reshaping the medical workforce

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Thursday

Do polluters pay, or do they get paid?

Activists demonstrate for the Loss and Damage Fund, which provides a flow of money from rich to less rich nations to address the impacts of climate change. Peter Dejong/AP hide caption

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The Indicator from Planet Money

Do polluters pay, or do they get paid?

For years, rich nations have sent money to lower-income countries to help deal with the impacts of climate change. But it turns out, these wealthy nations are finding creative ways to funnel some of that financing back into their own economies. Today, we look at how the climate crisis is reviving a debate over how money should flow from rich to less-rich nations.

Do polluters pay, or do they get paid?

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Wednesday

What's going to happen to the Trump tax cuts?

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The Indicator from Planet Money

What's going to happen to the Trump tax cuts?

The last major overhaul of the tax code was in 2017, when Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Much of that is set to expire next year, and that means a big debate over tax policy is looming.

What's going to happen to the Trump tax cuts?

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Tuesday

Tracking the underground bike theft economy

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The Indicator from Planet Money

Tracking the underground bike theft economy

A few years ago, bike enthusiast Bryan Hance got a tip. A whole bunch of expensive bikes that were stolen in the Bay Area had suddenly turned up ... for sale on a Facebook page in Mexico. The revelation started Bryan down a years-long investigation where he would uncover an intricate, large-scale criminal operation out of Jalisco, Mexico.

Tracking the underground bike theft economy

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Monday

The tower of NVIDIA
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The Indicator from Planet Money

The tower of NVIDIA

For a moment last week, semiconductor chip designer NVIDIA eclipsed Microsoft to become the world's most valuable company. How did it get there?

The tower of NVIDIA

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Friday

Boeing's woes, Bilt jilts, and the Indicator's stock rally
Darian Woods/Darian Woods

The Indicator from Planet Money

Boeing's woes, Bilt jilts, and the Indicator's stock rally

Indicators of the Week are back! We are here, as always, to bring you the most fascinating snapshots from the week of economic news.

Boeing's woes, Bilt jilts, and the Indicator's stock rally

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Thursday

Business

'The Indicator From Planet Money': Is the border crisis really a labor market crisis?

NPR's Planet Money team looks into how expanding legal pathways to work in the U.S. could affect the migration levels at the southern border.

'The Indicator From Planet Money': Is the border crisis really a labor market crisis?

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Tuesday

Invest like a Congress member
Darian Woods/NPR

The Indicator from Planet Money

Invest like a Congress member

There are some new funds that track stock trading by members of Congress and their family. So we thought, why don't we get in on that? Today on the show, we crack open the Planet Money Investment Jar to learn more about how our political leaders play the market, investing in funds tracking Democratic and Republican stock trades.

Invest like a Congress member

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Monday

Spud spat

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The Indicator from Planet Money

Spud spat

The federal government classifies potatoes (whether they be baked, waffled, curly, fried) as a vegetable.

Spud spat

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Friday

Oil gluts, Russian bucks, and Starbucks
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Oil gluts, Russian bucks, and Starbucks

Indicators of the Week is back! This week, we've got indicators about oil gluts, big bucks for Ukraine and fewer bucks at Starbucks. (Apologies for the slurping.)

Oil gluts, Russian bucks, and Starbucks

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Economy

What are "ghost jobs"?

A vexing phenomenon is plaguing the labor market. "Ghost jobs" refer to listings by employers that either aren't real or have already been filled but never lead to an actual hire. This is frustrating not only to job seekers but also to the Federal Reserve, which is trying to steer the economy to a stable place.

What are "Ghost Jobs"?

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Thursday

Is Google search getting worse?
Don Ryan/AP Photo

The Indicator from Planet Money

Is Google search getting worse?

There are many anecdotal complaints about Google search not being what it used to be. A German computer scientist and his colleagues put this theory to the test recently focusing on product reviews. Today on the show, we bring their findings to Google's chief search scientist.

Is Google search getting worse?

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Wednesday

Has the Fed lost the dot plot?
Wailin Wong

The Indicator from Planet Money

Has the Fed lost the dot plot?

The Federal Reserve introduced a visual tool called the "dot plot" in 2012 to communicate where officials think interest rates should be in the coming years. The dot plot is eagerly dissected by Fed watchers looking for insight on future policy, but others think that the dot plot has become a visual example of just how little the Fed can predict where the economy is going.

Has the Fed lost the dot plot?

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Tuesday

Is the 'border crisis' actually a 'labor market crisis?'

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The Indicator from Planet Money

Is the 'border crisis' actually a 'labor market crisis?'

Politicians on both sides of the aisle call the surge at the US Southern Border a "border crisis."

Is the 'border crisis' actually a 'labor market crisis?'

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Economy

What is Dental Therapy and why is the American Dental Association pushing against it?

Dental Therapy could be one solution for improving oral care in underserved rural communities. What new momentum is there for dental therapy, and why is the American Dental Association pushing back?

What is Dental Therapy and why is the American Dental Association pushing against it?

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Monday

Is chicken getting cheap? And other questions

One expert says the Federal Reserve is at its best when it's sending out a signal, light a lighthouse. Mel Evans/AP hide caption

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Mel Evans/AP

The Indicator from Planet Money

Is chicken getting cheap? And other questions

We are back to answer your questions that you, our listeners, have been sending. On today's show, is chicken actually getting cheaper? Why doesn't the Federal Reserve use different interest rates around the country? And: is election spending an indicator of economic health?

Is chicken getting cheap? And other questions

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Sunday

Gaming

Video game creators are working to make games more accessible for disabled people

In an excerpt from NPR's The Sunday Story podcast, we look at how video game companies are adding features to make their products easier to use by people with disabilities.

Video game creators are working to make games more accessible for disabled people

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Friday

Ghost jobs
Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Ghost jobs

Today's jobs report shows a slight rise in unemployment to 4%. And some frustrated job seekers are growing tired of applying for job after job with no replies, sometimes asking whether the listings are even real. And this isn't just vexing for applicants. It's also haunting economists when trying to figure out how much slack there is in the labor market, and whether interest rates should be raised or lowered. Today on the show: the rise of ghost jobs. Where they're happening and why.

Ghost jobs

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