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The Economy Explained
Episode 775: The Pigweed Killer
Marianne McCune/NPR

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Episode 775: The Pigweed Killer

by Marianne McCune

A battle with a weed divides neighbors and leads one farmer to shoot another dead. Today's show: The hunt for a better pesticide gets way out of hand.

Episode 775: The Pigweed Killer

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Episode 774: Unspeakable Trademark

Simon Tam of The Slants. Ariel Zambelich/NPR hide caption

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Ariel Zambelich/NPR

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Episode 774: Unspeakable Trademark

You can name your business whatever you want. But the government won't register it as a trademark if it thinks it's offensive. It gets weird when you try to decide what is too offensive to trademark.

Episode 774: Unspeakable Trademark

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Episode 773: Slot Flaw Scofflaws

Slot Machines at Caesar's Palace Lake Tahoe. Nik Wheeler/Getty Images hide caption

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Episode 773: Slot Flaw Scofflaws

by Keith Romer ,

As long as there have been casinos, people have tried to cheat them. The latest attempt was by a group of hackers who tried to take down slot machines using math, iPhones, and a whole lot of swiping.

Episode 773: Slot Flaw Scofflaws

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Episode 772: Small Change

Technology changes. Giordano Poloni/Getty Images/Ikon Images hide caption

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Giordano Poloni/Getty Images/Ikon Images

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Episode 772: Small Change

by , Sally Helm

How fast is the world really changing? The answer has implications for everything from how the next generation will live to whether robots really will take all our jobs.

Episode 772: Small Change

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Episode 771: When India's Cash Disappeared, Part Two

People line up outside a bank to exchange old currency notes with new ones on November 10, 2016 in New Delhi India. Shams Qari/Barcroft Media via Getty Images hide caption

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Shams Qari/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Currency

Episode 771: When India's Cash Disappeared, Part Two

What happened when India's Prime Minister declared most of the paper money in India worthless? We travel to India to see what happened after the country's demonetization.

Episode 771: When India's Cash Disappeared, Part Two

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Episode 770: When India's Cash Disappeared, Part One

Anil Bokil, a mechanical engineer by training, had a plan for demonetization. He presented it to now Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2013. Chhavi Sachdev /NPR hide caption

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Chhavi Sachdev /NPR

Currency

Episode 770: When India's Cash Disappeared, Part One

Something incredible happened in India about six months ago. The government declared most of the paper money invalid. Demonetization they called it. Today, we meet the man who came up with the plan.

Episode 770: When India's Cash Disappeared, Part One

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Episode 769: Speed Dating For Economists

Economists have a yearly job market that works a little bit like speed dating. Gary Waters/Getty Images/Ikon Images hide caption

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Gary Waters/Getty Images/Ikon Images

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Episode 769: Speed Dating For Economists

by Adrian Ma ,

We visit a job market created by economists, for economists. It's a hyper-efficient, optimized system, tested by game theorists, tweaked by a Nobel Prize winner, but it requires comfortable shoes.

Episode 769: Speed Dating For Economists

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Episode 768: A Chat With Ben Bernanke

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Katie Kramer/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images hide caption

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Katie Kramer/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

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Episode 768: A Chat With Ben Bernanke

Ten years ago, two little-known hedge funds blew up, and the financial crisis was on its way. Today, we ask the person at the center of it all, former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, why it happened.

Episode 768: A Chat With Ben Bernanke

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Episode 553: The Dollar At The Center Of The World

English economist John Maynard Keynes attends the United Nations International Monetary and Financial Conference at the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Episode 553: The Dollar At The Center Of The World

Today on the show, how a New Hampshire hotel filled with boozing economists saved the global economy.

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Episode 767: Georgetown, Louisiana, Part Two
Noel King/NPR

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Episode 767: Georgetown, Louisiana, Part Two

In 1838, the Maryland Jesuits sold 272 people, slaves, to pay the debts of Georgetown University. We talk with the descendants about what - if anything - they're owed.

Episode 767: Georgetown, Louisiana, Part Two

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Episode 766: Georgetown, Louisiana, Part One

Healy Hall, the flagship building of Georgetown University's main campus in Washington, DC. MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Episode 766: Georgetown, Louisiana, Part One

For the residents of a small Louisiana town, there's always been a question about their past: How'd they get there? Solving the mystery only raised more questions.

Episode 766: Georgetown, Louisiana, Part One

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Episode 765: The Holiday Industrial Complex

#NationalCaramelDay AJ Mast/Invision for Werther's Original via AP hide caption

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Episode 765: The Holiday Industrial Complex

by Kenny Malone

Where do holidays like National Potato Chip Day and Argyle Day come from? We trace the roots of one made-up holiday until we find out who is running the global holiday machine.

Episode 765: The Holiday Industrial Complex

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