Robert Smith

speaker

2,515 appearances 7 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 26 Aug

Robert Smith’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 7 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 4.

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Planet Money · The continent nobody owns & everyone benefits from (Summer School) · 26 Aug 2026 podcast

Thanks so much for having me.

I read a paper that you published a couple of years ago that crunched the numbers on the economic value of Antarctica.

And the ocean around it, the southern ocean.

The economic value of Antarctica to the entire world.

Before we get to that number, we'll

Why put a dollar figure on something like this?

It it makes me a little sad that uh we have to put a number on on what this beautiful place is worth.

Well, let's break down how you put a a value on an entire continent.

We'll start with the most obvious one, which is tourism.

I see people on Instagram who are on ships off the coast of Antarctica.

So it definitely happens.

It used to be in the thousands and now probably more than a hundred thousand people.

Is that right?

Indeed.

I am Googling this so that I can go there someday.

It seems like you mostly stay on a cruise ship and you look at Antarctica, maybe some day trips to the shore to see the penguins and take selfies, that kind of thing.

I think they tightly control access to the interior and the station.

Even this just glimpsing of Antarctica is big business.

In your research paper, you say the value of the tourism industry is worth around $820.

twenty million dollars.

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