Alex Blumberg : NPR

Alex Blumberg Alex Blumberg is a contributing editor for NPR's Planet Money. He is also a producer for the public radio program This American Life, and an adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University.

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Episode 189: Why A Dead Shark Costs $12 Million

The famous work "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" by British artist Damien Hirst. REGINA KUEHNE/ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

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Planet Money

Episode 189: Why A Dead Shark Costs $12 Million

March 20, 2019 • Today's show is about the fickle market for art. What makes a dead shark cost $12 million, and a photo of steel wool that looks like a tornado cost only $1,265?

Episode 472: The One-Page Plan To Fix Global Warming ... Revisited

Camille Seaman/Barcroft Media/Landov

Planet Money

Episode 472: The One-Page Plan To Fix Global Warming ... Revisited

July 18, 2018 • Tax carbon emissions. That's basically the whole plan. What's the hold up?

Episode 427: LeBron James Is Still Underpaid

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Planet Money

Episode 427: LeBron James Is Still Underpaid

July 11, 2018 • LeBron James is getting hosed. The NBA team owners, the players, the fans and even LeBron James himself want to keep it that way.

Episode 489: The Invisible Plumbing Of Our Economy

Oyvind Solsatd/Flickr

Planet Money

Episode 489: The Invisible Plumbing Of Our Economy

January 10, 2018 • Why does it take days to send money electronically?

Planet Money T-Shirt Exposes Issues Of Work, Trade And Clothes

Josh Davis/Planet Money

Planet Money's T-Shirt Project

Planet Money T-Shirt Exposes Issues Of Work, Trade And Clothes

December 6, 2013 • All this week, All Things Considered and Morning Edition has aired stories about the global journey a T-shirt makes from seed to finished product. Over the months NPR's Planet Money team spent reporting the series, they tackled questions about trade, work and clothes play in the global economy.

Planet Money T-Shirt Exposes Issues Of Work, Trade And Clothes

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NPR Extra

Host ProFile: 'I Love Figuring Stuff Out And Explaining It To People'

May 1, 2013 • As co-host of Planet Money, Alex Blumberg is making a t-shirt (well, about 1,000 of them) – and bringing listeners on the complicated global odyssey behind the production of the basic cotton tee.

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Planet Money

The Fiscal Cliff: A Love Story

December 31, 2012 • Wonks from across the political spectrum look at the upside of the cliff.

The Fiscal Cliff: A Love Story

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Why The Falling Birthrate Is Bad News For My 2-Year-Old Son

Please don't make me pay for your retirement. Alex Blumberg/NPR hide caption

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Planet Money

Why The Falling Birthrate Is Bad News For My 2-Year-Old Son

December 7, 2012 • By the time our children get to be our age, there will be fewer working people for each retiree. So they'll have to pay a bigger share of our retirement costs.

Why The Falling Birthrate Is Bad News For My 2-Year-Old Son

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Planet Money

Does Medicaid Make People Healthier?

July 3, 2012 • The question is more contentious than it sounds. A new study may finally provide an answer.

Does Medicaid Make People Healthier?

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Why Does The Mortgage-Interest Tax Deduction Still Exist?

Alex Brandon/AP

Planet Money

Why Does The Mortgage-Interest Tax Deduction Still Exist?

June 6, 2012 • If you own a home in the U.S., if you have a mortgage, you can deduct the interest you pay on that mortgage from your taxes. It's a popular, well-entrenched policy. But according to one policy adviser in Washington, "the mortgage-interest deduction ... makes no sense."

Why Does The Mortgage-Interest Tax Deduction Still Exist?

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When Lobbyists Pay To Meet With Congressmen

Charles Dharapak/AP

Planet Money

When Lobbyists Pay To Meet With Congressmen

April 20, 2012 • "...the fundraiser has 35,000 bucks in checks sitting in her pocket right now. And we're going to talk about public policy while we take the checks."

When Lobbyists Pay To Meet With Congressmen

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Planet Money

Why Lobbyists Dodge Calls From Congressmen

April 19, 2012 • We imagine the lobbyist stalking the halls of Congress trying to use cash to influence important people. But often, the Congressman is stalking the lobbyist, asking for money.

Why Lobbyists Dodge Calls From Congressmen

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Planet Money

The Most (And Least) Lucrative Committees In Congress

April 6, 2012 • See which committees do the most (and which do the least) to help lawmakers raise money for re-election.

The Most (And Least) Lucrative Committees In Congress

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Planet Money

Take The Money And Run For Office

March 30, 2012 • We imagine lobbyists stalking the halls of Congress, trying to influence lawmakers with cash. But often, it's the other way around: Members of Congress stalk lobbyists, looking for contributions.