Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, Erica Barris here. We are almost at the end of 2025, and there is no way to sugarcoat it. It has been a tough year for NPR and for local stations. But with your support, NPR will keep reporting the news. And here at Planet Money, we'll keep doing what we do best, explaining the economy in the most entertaining and accessible ways we possibly can. If you're already an NPR Plus supporter...
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We have so many ways to communicate these days. Email, text, WhatsApp, Snap. Recently, some people have been communicating in the Spotify comments of our podcast episodes or working theories that it's teens trying to get around their phone's parental controls. Thanks for juicing the algorithm, kids, I guess.
But lately, and I know this makes me sound like a grandpa, I have just been picking up the phone and calling people. On the phone, there's no subtext. There's no being left on read. There's no little ellipsis while you wait for someone to respond. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's instantaneous. Unlike voice memos, which are an assault on human dignity.
You want to tell me something, but don't want to talk to me about it? Type it out, bro. Anyways, the phone. Try it. It's my 2026 resolution. More phone. Not scrolls. Calls. I bring this up because lately at Planet Money, it has been so satisfying to call up old sources.
It's for a show we do every year around this time, where we recognize that while we write nice endings to our stories, the music doesn't just fade up on the people we talk to or the storylines we're covering. Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Nick Fountain. Today, we check in on an engineer and patent attorney who made a safer saw. On the Planet Money game, we have updates.
And on a diamond that may or may not have had a second life. It's a show we named after the radio great Paul Harvey who had a radio show called The Rest of the Story.
It's Planet Money.
It's our yearly rest of the story show where we check in on people and stories we've reported on throughout the years. Our first update comes from Planet Money's consumer disservice correspondent, Alexei Horitskazy. Hello. Nico de la Fontaine. Alexi, last fall, you reported a story about how the subscription business model has basically taken over the economy.
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Chapter 2: What updates are shared about the safer saw technology?
It was just grown in a lab. And we got it off a Chinese e-commerce website back in January for one hundred thirty seven dollars. So cheap, which of course is game changing for the diamond industry and also why you did the show. Yeah. So what we learned is that $137, it's pretty close to the wholesale price for a decent one carat lab grown diamond. But here's the weird thing.
At the time, the retail price of a lab-grown diamond like this was still around $1,000. And that was the lingering question from your episode. If it is so cheap to make these lab-grown diamonds now, why are prices in stores still so high? Right. So, have they dropped since then? You know, I was looking around online a couple days ago, and the prices are getting cheaper.
So we're down from $1,000 to about $800 now. Interesting. Any updates on the specific diamond? What happened to it? Did you put a ring on it? What's going on with the diamond? Oh, I still have it, Nick. What? Wait, you want to see it? Yes. Wait, hang on, hang on. Where is it? I think it's in here. Oh, I found it. Found it. Here it is. Oh, it's beautiful. This is my first time seeing it.
Look at that. The Planet Money diamond. Look how sparkly it is, Nick. Jeff, you still have that thing. I hear you got some offers for it. Is that correct? Oh, yeah. Someone wrote in asking if he could use it to make an engagement ring for his girlfriend. What'd you say to that? I'm so sorry. I never responded. I was too busy gazing into the sparkliness of this beautiful diamond. Interesting.
Chapter 3: How has the subscription economy evolved since the last report?
I'm not trying to sell people diamonds, right? Hey, Jeff. Yeah. You know that guy who asked you for the diamond?
Yeah.
This is him. This is Adam. Hey, Jeff. Hello. Oh, my gosh. Wait, what? No, Nick.
Hi, it's great to meet you. I'm so sorry I never responded to your email. You know, I've been waiting. I figured that one day you'd finally get around to it, and I guess Nick just took care of it for you. Well, did you ever get around to it? Well, I know that this is a radio program, but do you guys mind if I share my screen? Sure, yes.
Oh, it looks like you got engaged. That's so sweet. On the banks of a river.
So my now fiance and I live in Seattle. There's us at Gasworks Park. It's a picture of her looking at her hand, wondering why she had just said yes to me. When I emailed you, I was sitting in my car, having just heard this podcast about six months into dating and thinking, you know, I really like this girl. You know, then somebody forgot to hit reply. You look very happy.
Did you make it yourself? So in lieu of making my own ring, this is actually my parents' engagement ring. I called my mom, I told her I wanted to propose, and she pulled this thing out for me.
Wow. The family heirloom is way better.
Are we invited?
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Chapter 4: What new insights are provided about the diamond market?
He says he recognizes that this is just one of many anti-regulation steps that the Trump administration is taking. And he's trying to bring a new product to market, a safer bandsaw, in the hopes that people will just pay for safety. A market-based solution. We love it when that works. Yeah. I think Steve doesn't think that that always works.
That's why he was, you know, trying to push for this regulation. But it's another way.
It's a little like Lucy and the football. And, you know, I'm Charlie Brown. It just keeps going around.
Thank you for your time. It was good talking with you again. Happy New Year. You too. Also, Alex, one final update. Throughout the story, we referred to a particular type of sausage like this. The beef brat went the brat. Beef brats, they were cheap. This is what you put in front of the saw inside of a finger? Exactly. And the Midwesterners showed up in the emails. I am so sorry.
I now know it is called a brat. I regret the error. Most thorough update ever. Thank you. We put links in the show notes to all the original episodes we mentioned today and a link to buy the book and get that sweet, sweet presale gift. This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, edited by Alex Goldmark, fact-checked by Vito O'Malley, Manuel, I'm Nick Fountain. This is NPR.
Thank you for listening. Happy New Year. And that is the rest of... Hey, oh, actually, one more thing. As we were putting together this edition of Rest of the Story, another update that is just so juicy. You'll remember that Paul Harvey is the guy behind that old-timey radio show, The Rest of the Story. His estate is suing Paramount over The Rest of the Story.
Apparently, Paramount used an excerpt in their show Landman... And the Paul Harvey estate says it was taken out of context and used without permission. And they're suing Paramount. They're asking them to remove the audio and pay them. Paramount did not respond to our request for comment. And that is the rest of the story. Please don't sue us.
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