Make Me Smart
Episodes
Another day, another tariff switch-up
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The world woke up to a very different economy today. Then, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on some of his tariffs. The news was announ...
Move over taco Tuesday! Tariff Tuesday is here
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You may be wondering whether the prices of your go-to products, from avocados to smartphones, will be raised by tariffs in the coming weeks. We hear y...
Is the tide turning against Trump’s tariffs?
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Global markets are reeling after President Trump’s latest tariff announcement last week, prompting business executives like JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimo...
Can you tariff-proof a cocktail?
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this edition of “Economics on Tap,” Kimberly and Sabri discuss how it’s nearly impossible to tariff-proof your shopping list (or cocktail) be...
Our post-tariff takeaways
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on American imports, with the levies coming in higher than expected. Do we need to be stockpiling our...
Trump’s tariff test. Will it work?
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keyed to President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement today, Kimberly and Sabri unpack some of the messaging about the impact tariffs had during the...
The problem with running the government like a business
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The idea that the government should be run more like a business isn’t new. But with two businessmen, Donald Trump and Elon Musk, now taking a prover...
The tariff countdown
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump has promised that a fresh wave of tariffs on April 2 will usher in an era of growth in American manufacturing. But does history...
CoreWeave’s IPO tests money magic of AI
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The artificial intelligence cloud computing provider CoreWeave sold shares to the public today with so-so results. Because it’s the first major IPO ...
The chilling effect of ICE arrests
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, Kai and Reema discuss the disturbing arrest of a Turkish national with a valid student visa at Tufts University and the effects ...
Beyond the “Signalgate” headlines
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In all the talk about senior White House officials discussing military attack plans over the messaging app Signal (and accidentally invited a journali...
Trump’s race for the world’s rare earth minerals
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The United States and Ukraine are weighing a deal that would give the U.S. a cut of revenues from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. But Gracelin Baskar...
The Trump administration’s big group chat fail
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most of us can only wonder what goes on in U.S. national security leaders’ group chats, but The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg doesn’...
Our tribute to cherry blossom season
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s almost peak bloom in Washington, D.C., which means it’s time for our annual cherry blossom celebration! But first, some federal funding news:...
We answer more of your questions about tariffs
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Not totally sure how tariffs work, who pays for them and how they’re collected? Look no further. In today’s episode, Kai and Nova answer these que...
U.S. trade tensions with the EU just got tenser
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump’s tariff fight with the European Union just got a little more heated after the EU accused U.S. tech giants Google and Apple o...
What we can learn from a past tariff tiff (rerun)
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hey Smarties! Today we’re revisiting an episode from earlier this year that might help you make sense of all the tit for tat tariff fight from the p...
We have a constitutional crisis. Now what?
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, Kai Ryssdal and Kimberly Adams discuss the Donald Trump administration’s disregard for the courts. The White House has ignored...
Shutdown averted. How it all went down.
15 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Republican-written spending bill is being backed by some Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to avoid a government shu...
“Tariff on the brain”
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Kai and Kimberly divide into the back and forth over tariffs. The on-again, off-again levies are making it tough for industries to pl...
Let’s talk about Newsom the Govcaster
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new contender has entered the podcast landscape: wait, is that California Governor Gavin Newsom? His show features a surprisingly conservative guest...
Unpacking our collective COVID-19 trauma, five years on
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Five years ago, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Since then, there have been lockdowns, a recession, two presidential elect...
Will climate tax credits stay or go?
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, Kai and Kimberly discuss the future of Biden-era clean energy tax credits under Trump 2.0. A group of GOP lawmakers want them to...
Oh, the irony!
08 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump’s family business is suing Capital One for closing its bank accounts in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, ar...
Your questions about government economic data answered
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump administration officials disbanded two expert committees on economic data this week and suggested altering the way the U.S. calculates gr...
What is even happening with the politics of this economy?!
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, we’re discussing a pair of recent rulings about the Trump administration’s efforts to cut foreign aid and fire federal worke...
Angel City FC and the rise of women’s pro soccer
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The National Women’s Soccer League’s regular season kicks off next week. And thanks in part to a record-breaking media rights agreement and the gr...
What is an economy of caution?
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re talking about one of Kai’s favorite topics: bonds! The yield on the 10-year Treasury note (the benchmark for mortgages and car loans)...
What the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting says about the world economic order
01 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump today dissolved into a heated argument in the Oval Office, f...
Whaddya wanna know about federal layoffs and this economy?
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, we make you smarter by answering your pressing questions about this economy: Will cuts to the federal workforce make any differe...
An asteroid miss and the WaPo opinion shift
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kai has been tracking news about a giant asteroid heading toward Earth. NASA says we’re safe, for now! But first, the hosts discuss troubling trends...
“Unlocking the Gates” on housing and economic opportunity
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re sharing the first episode of “Unlocking the Gates,” a series from Marketplace and APM Studios hosted by special correspondent Lee H...
Is Apple actually going “America First”?
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A week after Apple CEO Tim Cook met with President Donald Trump, the company said today that it plans to invest $500 billion in the U.S. over the next...
A brewing legal battle and the future of the Fed
22 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court on Friday chose not to intervene in a case involving President Donald Trump’s firing of an independent agency head. As the case is...
DOGE’s next target: IRS
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Things are getting tense at the Internal Revenue Service. Layoffs are looming smack in the middle of tax season as part of DOGE’s mission to cut the...
Is recession risk rising?
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A growing number of young American consumers say they’re opting out of the economy entirely or pulling back from spending at certain stores over the...
Should we be worried about bird flu?
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about bird flu. It’s infecting flocks of chickens, causing egg prices to rise across the country, plus herds of dairy cattle a...
A gulf between the White House and the press
15 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Associated Press journalists have been blocked from accessing spaces like the Oval Office after the organization opted not to use the term “Gulf of ...
How to actually tackle government waste
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk and his DOGE team have been inside the pipes of the federal government on a mission to cut government spending and root out waste. We know g...
Is there a better way to measure the economy?
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the 2024 election campaign, voters kept saying the economy felt bad, even though it looked good on paper. A new report blames that disconne...
What we can learn from a past tariff tiff
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If President Donald Trump goes through with his plan to levy sweeping tariffs on foreign imports, it wouldn’t be the first time the U.S. has done su...
Trump’s purge of federal workers and its historical parallels
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump’s recent steps to remove federal employees is drawing comparisons to government purges during the Red Scare of the 1950s. Wha...
Are Trump’s firings legal?
08 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump has fired dozens of government officials since he took office. The latest is the chair of the Federal Election Commission. But ...
Chaos is not an economic strategy
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk and the rest of the DOGE gang have been inside the guts of the federal government attempting to shut down agencies and gain access to the Tr...
Is this a coup?
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is Elon Musk’s control of government offices as an unelected official a coup? Lots of people seem to think so. We’ll explain why. Plus, another po...
The migrant workforce under Trump
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s hard to overstate the role immigrant workers play in the U.S. economy. Key industries rely on them — nearly half of meat-processing jobs, for...
The strategy behind Trump’s executive orders
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kimberly’s back from Cuba just in time to discuss the onslaught of President Donald Trump’s executive actions, from tariffs to his federal funding...
Silicon Valley’s quiet rebellion
01 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta sent out a memo warning employees against leaking confidential company information … only for that memo to be le...
The Cuban dispatch II
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the show today, we check in with Kimberly to hear more about her adventures in Cuba, a country that’s back in the news thanks to President Donald...
What you need to know about DeepSeek and the AI race
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re diving into a listener’s question about the new artificial intelligence chatbot on the scene. Chinese start-up DeepSeek’s AI model ...
From Burning Questions: Is the future insurable?
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re handing the mic over to the team behind “Burning Questions” from Marketplace’s climate solutions podcast “How We Survive” as t...
The Cuban dispatch
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s episode, Kimberly takes us along her trip to Cuba, a country that remains under strict U.S. economic sanctions. She’ll explains some un...
Finally, a resolution to the Purdue Pharma case?
25 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Purdue Pharma’s owners in the Sackler family have agreed to a new $6.5 billion settlement to lawsuits over their role in the U.S. opioid crisis. Thi...
How Trump’s executive orders are impacting migrant workers
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
During his first week back in office, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders targeting immigrant communities. We’ll hear how migrant...
The mainstreaming of meme coins
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump drew scrutiny after he and First Lady Melania Trump launched namesake meme coins ahead of his inauguration, triggering a specul...
The American diet under Trump
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said he wanted to end chronic illnesses. The promise is part of the Make America Healthy Again campai...
The tax cut zealots vs. the budget hawks
18 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans in Congress want to extend several provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, t...
TikTok’s eleventh hour
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Many TikTok users are joining apps such as RedNote and Lemon8 in anticipation of a TikTok ban in the United States. The problem? They’re also Chines...
What Biden is leaving Trump
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden today announced a hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza. This comes as Biden is making a...
How to live with wildfires
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Los Angeles fires are a warning to all of us. Over the past week, lives, homes, businesses and entire communities have been lost in what’s expec...
The rise of private firefighting
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As wildfires continue to burn in Los Angeles, some wealthy residents are shelling out thousands each day to hire private firefighters to protect their...
Why anime is everywhere all at once (rerun)
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hey smarties! We’re on a break for the holidays and revisiting some of our top episodes from 2024. We can’t do this show without you and we still ...
Wheelchair rugby’s Chuck Aoki makes us smart about the Paralympics (rerun)
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey smarties! We’re on a break for the holidays and revisiting some of our top episodes from 2024. We can’t do this show without you and we still ...
How Big Food changed the way we eat (rerun)
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey smarties! We’re on a break for the holidays and revisiting some of our top episodes from 2024. We can’t do this show without you and we still ...
Want to protect our democracy? Start here! (rerun)
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey Smarties! We’re on a break for the holidays and revisiting some of our top episodes from 2024. We can’t do this show without you and we still ...
“Make Me Smart’s” annual holiday episode
14 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For our final episode of 2024, we’re throwing a holiday party with music, festive hats, drinks and a game. But we can’t forget about the news. The...
The drug price blame game
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A group of lawmakers have introduced legislation that would break up health care conglomerates, aiming to rein in the power of pharmacy benefit manage...
The great HQ migration
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some states are trying to lure companies seeking to move their headquarters by offering a slew of financial perks. We’ll explain how these big reloc...
Trump’s contradictory economic agenda
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Before this year’s election, Heather Cox Richardson, a historian at Boston College, joined “Make Me Smart” live in Boston to unpack the high sta...
CEO killing and our for-profit health care system
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A person of interest in the killing of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson was arrested today. We’ll get into the public’s reaction to...
For NASA, the moon just got farther away
07 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
NASA is pushing back its highly anticipated Artemis 2 mission from September 2025 to April 2026. It will be the first crewed mission to the moon since...
The AI in your Spotify Wrapped
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This year, Spotify’s popular Wrapped feature includes a podcast generated by artificial intelligence that tells users all about their individual lis...
A developing relationship with Africa
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden today announced an additional $600 million investment in a rail project that will connect multiple African countries. It will expa...
How billionaires took over U.S. elections
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Billionaire families contributed roughly 18% of all money raised during the 2024 election cycle. And many of those mega donors are being tapped for hi...
Should the Fed open more regional reserve banks?
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nine of the Federal Reserve’s 12 reserve banks are on the Mississippi River or east of it. One former Fed official says it’s caused the central ba...
How small acts can create global change
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As many Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with their friends and families, gratitude is top of mind. We’ll break down research that shows ...
The history behind Black Friday
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Black Friday kicks off the traditional holiday shopping season. But have you ever wondered about the origins of the shopping frenzy on the ...
COP29’s contentious climate change deal
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Negotiators at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, agreed on wealthy nations providing up to $300 billion a year to help poor...
The growing empire of women’s sports
23 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The National Women’s Soccer League is in the final stages of adding its 16th team. We’ll explain what it can tell us about the rise of the women’...
The new face of Trump’s tariffs plan
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
President-elect Donald Trump tapped Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as his choice for Secretary of Commerce this week. We’ll get into why the r...
A harbinger of change in Medialand
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Comcast said it plans to turn its cable networks, including CNBC and MSNBC, into a new, separate company. We’ll get into why it could be a sign of w...
The myth America exported to the world
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about American exceptionalism: the idea that the United States is a uniquely virtuous nation and a “shining city on a hill.”...
Trump’s revenge agenda
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some critics of President-elect Donald Trump are preparing for the possibility of being prosecuted when he takes office. We’ll discuss Trump’s “...
How Intel missed the AI boat
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The United States is on a mission to revitalize its chip manufacturing industry by giving billions in grants and loans to companies including Intel. B...
Whaddya wanna know about a second Trump term?
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the course of his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump made a lot of promises. What does that mean for the years ahead? Today we’re answering...
Can Trump claw back climate money?
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
President Biden’s hallmark Inflation Reduction Act set aside nearly $150 billion for various climate projects. But not all of that money has been sp...
Trump, COP29 and the future of climate finance
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
COP29, the United Nations’ annual climate summit, is underway in Azerbaijan. This year’s conference is all about how the world will pay to deal wi...
A crisis without a solution
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A new report estimates global damages from extreme weather events between 2014 and 2023 at about $2 trillion, roughly in line with the 2008 financial ...
Elon Musk is now in the room where it happens
09 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The richest man in the world just became even more influential after pouring millions into former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Tesl...
Your post-election thoughts and feelings
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re handing the microphone over to our listeners to tell us how they’re reacting to the outcome of this week’s presidential election. We...
How Trump won working class voters
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Democratic Party has traditionally been pro-union and relied on the support of the working class. But the results of yesterday’s election show t...
The rise of election betting
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about a breakout story of this election cycle: the rise of prediction markets and betting on elections. For the first time in a ...
The blue vs. red economy
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Live near a yoga studio? What about a golf course? Americans may experience the economy differently based on the politics of the neighborhoods they li...
Election Day and costly courtroom showdowns
02 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Campaigns for both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are trying to get ahead of the curve on election legal battles. Acco...
Some not-so-scary news for the Fed
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This Halloween, we’re looking at some new inflation data that’s got the Federal Reserve in good spirits. Its preferred inflation measure shows inf...
Is Big Tech’s investment in AI paying off?
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tech companies like Google and Meta have been pouring billions into artificial intelligence. But investors have been waiting for those investments to ...
Live from Boston, Part 2: Heather Cox Richardson
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re sharing an excerpt from our live show at WBUR CitySpace in Boston featuring our special guest, historian Heather Cox Richardson. (Check ...
Keeping calm in the eye of the election storm
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
News outlets aren’t mincing words about the offensive and racist remarks featured at former President Donald Trump’s rally in New York’s Madison...
Make Me Smart: Live in Boston
26 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kai and Kimberly host our weekly happy hour episode, “Economics on Tap,” live from the stage of WBUR CitySpace in Boston. We’ll dive into the bi...
How We Survive: The Last Frontier
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey Smarties! We’re on the road to Boston for a live taping of “Make Me Smart” with special guest, historian Heather Cox Richardson. So today we...