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Kai Ryssdal

Host and Senior Editor

SHORT BIO

Kai is the host and senior editor of “Marketplace,” the most widely heard program on business and the economy — radio or television, commercial or public broadcasting — in the country. Kai speaks regularly with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, startup entrepreneurs, small-business owners and everyday participants in the American and global economies. Before his career in broadcasting, Kai served in the United States Navy and United States Foreign Service. He’s a graduate of Emory University and Georgetown University. Kai lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.

Episodes by Kai (5,973)

Make Me Smart | Episode 1177

Less is not always more in economic data

Jun 7, 2024
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Marketplace

Better-than-expected job growth

Jun 7, 2024
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Marketplace

What do interest rate cuts in Europe mean for the U.S.?

Jun 6, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1176

Why the Fed won't hop on the rate-cutting bandwagon just yet

Jun 6, 2024
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Marketplace

Lone Star stock exchange

Jun 5, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1175

What summer heat waves mean for prisons

Jun 5, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1174

The good, the bad and the ugly of election polling

Jun 4, 2024
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Marketplace

The "great stay"?

Jun 4, 2024
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Marketplace

Who benefits from mortgage interest tax breaks?

Jun 3, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1173

A shadow looms over the Fed

Jun 3, 2024
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Latest Stories (5,794)

What's all the buzz about decaf coffee?

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Jun 7, 2024
With advances in the decaffeination process and the use of better beans, coffee lovers are giving decaf another shot.
A coffee maker from Houston won the U.S. Brewers Cup, "but he won it with decaf, which is kind of like winning the Tour de France on a unicycle," says reporter Matt Kronsberg.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images
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Coworking spaces are trying to put a new lease on the WeWork business model

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Jun 5, 2024
A former church. A motorcycle repair garage. Some coworking space companies are eschewing the WeWork business model and are opting for a more local approach.
Forming positive connections with coworkers is important, but can be much harder to do in the era of remote work.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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E-cargo bikes could be coming to a bike lane near you

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Jun 4, 2024
Will these smaller, lower-emissions vehicles compete with trucks in making last-mile deliveries in urban areas?
E-cargo bikes are electric "micromobility" vehicles that can deliver goods to homes.
John Keeble/Getty Images
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From school cafeterias to professional athletes, Uncrustables sandwiches are everywhere

by Kai Ryssdal , Aleezeh Hasan and Sarah Leeson
Jun 3, 2024
The iconic Uncrustables sandwich is about to become a billion-dollar business after garnering attention from a range of new audiences.
Smucker's purchased the Uncrustables brand from two dads in the Midwest in 1998.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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What’s that smell? A teenage boy wearing luxury cologne.

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
May 31, 2024
Inspired by social media influencers, adolescents are splurging on high-end fragrances, journalist Callie Holtermann reports.
Adolescent boys are building collections of high-end fragrances, Callie Holtermann of The New York Times reports. Some parents say it keeps them away from doing riskier things.
Getty Images
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Breaking Ground

The Golden Triangle: How the CHIPS Act is changing one Arizona neighborhood

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
May 29, 2024
The investment and growth spurred by government dollars are heightening competition among residents, business owners and local officials.
In the Phoenix area, development accelerated by CHIPS Act investment may disrupt rural lifestyles and transform parts of the desert. Above, developer Charles Eckert.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace
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Farming is "not easy and it's a lot of risk," says Iowa soybean producer

by Kai Ryssdal , Andie Corban and Sarah Leeson
May 28, 2024
"Soybeans are down 18 cents today and then they could go up 50 tomorrow. Who knows?" said April Hemmes, a soybean farmer in Iowa.
Heavy rains have meant some farmers have had to replant hundreds of acres, says farmer April Hemmes.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
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Honeybee populations are hitting record numbers. Weren't they dying off before?

by Kai Ryssdal , Sarah Leeson and Sofia Terenzio
May 16, 2024
Scientists were ringing alarm bells about colony collapse disorder a decade ago. Brian Walsh of Vox explains what happened.
Honeybees were too valuable to fail.
Barbara Gindl/APA/AFP via Getty Images
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The problem of sticky inflation resides with housing, Fed's Goolsbee says

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
May 15, 2024
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee talks the latest CPI release and what it means for the Fed's continued fight against inflation.
Austan Goolsbee, the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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211 call centers show financial strain above the poverty line  

by Kai Ryssdal , Andie Corban and Aleezeh Hasan
May 14, 2024
Many callers hoping to get referrals have moderate incomes but still struggle, explains Rachel Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal.
211 call centers are "a really great window into the state of the American consumer," says The Wall Street Journal's Rachel Wolfe.
Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images
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