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Reema Khrais

Host and Reporter

SHORT BIO

Reema Khrais is the host of the Marketplace podcast, “This is Uncomfortable,” a narrative show about life and how money messes with it.

Reema first joined Marketplace in 2016 as a general assignment reporter where she covered everything from immigration and education to retail and employment. In the summer of 2018, she was selected as an ICFJ Bringing the World Home Fellow and traveled to Turkey to report on the economic lives of Syrian refugees for Marketplace. Prior to that, she covered education policy for North Carolina Public Radio as the station’s Fletcher Fellow. Reema got her start in audio as an NPR Kroc Fellow, which included a reporting stint at WNYC. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is fluent in Arabic.

She currently lives in Portland, Oregon, where she spends her free time hiking, making ceramics and spoiling her orange cat.

Episodes by Reema (194)

This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

Join our Uncomfortable book club!

Jun 7, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1159

The value of "third places"

May 13, 2024
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This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

The promise of a miracle cure

Apr 18, 2024
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This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

No more panic shopping

Apr 4, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1130

How much does the stuff we buy actually cost?

Apr 1, 2024
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This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

The bias we don't talk about

Mar 28, 2024
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This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

"How do I stop overspending?"

Mar 21, 2024
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This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

So, who’s gonna pay for this?

Mar 14, 2024
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This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

You used to be so pretty

Mar 7, 2024
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This Is Uncomfortable | Season 9

Are rich people bad? From "Classy"

Feb 29, 2024
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Latest Stories (217)

Then and now: Syrian refugees reflect on their lives

by Reema Khrais
Sep 5, 2018
They found new homes in Turkey, along with frustration, resignation and hope.
Reema Khrais/Marketplace
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Young Syrians rethink their future as refugees in Turkey

by Reema Khrais
Aug 31, 2018
Before the Syrian war in 2011, nearly 25 percent of young people went to college, which is almost completely subsidized by the government.
Othman Nahhas spends a good chunk of his paycheck paying for half of his family's rent in Istanbul.
Courtesy of Musab Yousef
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Government aid is coming to U.S. farmers hit by tariff losses, but it probably won’t be enough

by Reema Khrais
Aug 27, 2018
U.S. farmers who are caught up in the wider U.S., China and Mexico trade disputes are expected to get details today on a $12 billion aid package to help offset the effects of retaliatory tariffs. Farmers have been watching prices drop for milk, wheat, soybeans and more, and they don’t even know how to calculate […]
A farmer collects stray ears of corn while harvesting the crop in 2014 in Polk, Nebraska.
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
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What it's like for a Syrian refugee to become the sole breadwinner

by Reema Khrais
Aug 24, 2018
Amna Hafez is like thousands of other Syrian women in Turkey who've been forced to create a new life for themselves and their families.
Amna Hafez never expected to work, but she didn’t want her daughters to feel the financial impact of their father’s death.
Courtesy of Sumaya Alkhooly
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Do "superstar" companies hold down wages?

by Reema Khrais
Aug 24, 2018
This week, central bankers, finance ministers and economists from the around the world flew to the mountain resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They’re there for an annual economic symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. One focus of this year’s event is on so-called “superstar” firms like Amazon, which is a half-million […]
An Amazon logo is seen inside the Amazon corporate headquarters on June 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington.  
David Ryder/Getty Images
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One Syrian refugee’s story: From civil engineer to daycare owner

by Reema Khrais
Aug 16, 2018
As a Syrian living in Turkey, Dania Abdulbaqi struggled to find formal work as an engineer.
After struggling to find work as an engineer, Dania Abdulbaqi opened a daycare in Gaziantep, Turkey.
Courtesy of Mahmoud Al Basha
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As Turkey’s currency tumbles, contagion fears rise

by Reema Khrais
Aug 10, 2018
Turkey’s currency, the lira, is in free fall. It’s been declining for months and today it reached a record low, down by as much as 18 percent. Part of the reason is Turkey’s bad relations with the United States. The two countries have been at odds lately over the detention of an American pastor. And […]
Turkish Lira currency is seen on November 21, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
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U.S. sanctions on Iran present foreign companies with dilemma

by Reema Khrais
Aug 6, 2018
U.S. sanctions on Iran go into effect today. Back in 2015 when Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program, many U.S. sanctions were lifted. But President Donald Trump pulled out of the multinational agreement in May, and now the measures are back. What’s at stake for foreign companies? Click the audio player above to hear […]
A man takes a glance at a newspaper with a picture of US president Donald Trump on the front page, in the capital Tehran on July 31, 2018. - Iran's currency traded at a fresh record-low of 119,000 to the dollar today, a loss of nearly two-thirds of its value since the start of the year as US sanctions loom. 
ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images
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Brookstone saves airport-based stores from the chopping block. Here’s why.

by Reema Khrais
Aug 2, 2018
Brookstone, the specialty retailer that sells eye masks, massage chairs and other gadgets, filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time Thursday. The company says it’s going to shut down its roughly 100 mall-based stores. They’ve become less of an attraction as more shopping moves online. The company’s 35 airport-based stores are doing much better. […]
A Brookstone store is seen at Rockefeller Center October 29, 2003 in New York City. 
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Labor Department says U.S. workers are making more and getting better benefits

by Reema Khrais
Jul 31, 2018
But are you feeling it? We took it to the streets to find out.
Passengers board Metro Rail subway trains during rush hour in Los Angeles, California.
David McNew/Getty Images
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