Episode 666: The Hoverboard Life : Planet Money The hottest toy this holiday season has no identifiable logo, no main distributor, and no widely agreed upon name. Today, we seek out the origin of the hands-free, two wheeled, self-balancing scooter.

Episode 666: The Hoverboard Life

Episode 666: The Hoverboard Life

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Planet Money's very own hoverboard. Kristen Clark/NPR hide caption

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Kristen Clark/NPR

Planet Money's very own hoverboard.

Kristen Clark/NPR

The hottest toy this holiday season has no identifiable logo, no main distributor, and no widely agreed upon name.

So, today on the show, we set out to find who invented them. The process involves late night phone calls to Shenzhen, a high tech deconstruction project, and the purchase of a Planet Money hoverboard all our own. What we find might change the way you think about invention.


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