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Kai Ryssdal

Host and Senior Editor

SHORT BIO

Kai is the host and senior editor of “Marketplace,” the most widely heard program on business and the economy — radio or television, commercial or public broadcasting — in the country. Kai speaks regularly with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, startup entrepreneurs, small-business owners and everyday participants in the American and global economies. Before his career in broadcasting, Kai served in the United States Navy and United States Foreign Service. He’s a graduate of Emory University and Georgetown University. Kai lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.

Latest Stories (5,835)

Despite looming tariffs and "the worst harvest I've ever had," Iowa farmer remains optimistic

Nov 8, 2024
Corn and soybean farmer April Hemmes is preparing for new tariffs from a second Trump administration.
April Hemmes says farmers like her are "running scared" because over half of their soybeans are exported to China.
Ben Hethcoat/Marketplace

Energy barge businessman expects fewer mandates, fewer headwinds under new administration

Nov 7, 2024
Austin Golding says the oil and gas industry should meet climate goals via competition and evolution rather than constraints on production and transport.
"We're looking for a world that is competitive and not mandated," says Austin Golding at Golding Barge Line in Mississippi.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Trump inherits a sturdy economy

Nov 6, 2024
Higher tariffs and lower taxes are key to Trump's plan. The WSJ's Greg Ip weighs their potential effect on the economy Biden and the Fed built.
Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal emphasizes that we can't predict what the economy will look like under a second Trump administration.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Surveying the beaches where Navy Seals train

As climate change erodes beaches, how will that impact coastal military bases?
Kai Ryssdal, right, speaks with Jason Golumbfskie-Jones of the U.S. Navy at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, where Navy Seals train.
Sophia Paliza-Carre/Marketplace

How could the return of Trump-era "Schedule F" job appointments reshape the federal workforce?

Oct 31, 2024
Schedule F would expand the role of political appointees in the government. So what would that mean for federal economic data?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Building in Washington, D.C.
Bill Clark/Getty Images)

"The Diplomat" creator wants to demystify the work of diplomacy

Oct 29, 2024
"Somebody recently put it as not realistic, but authentic," said Debora Cahn, creator of "The Diplomat." "And I think that's the right way to describe the goal."
Debora Cahn, speaking in New York in October, 2024.
Bonnie Biess/Getty Images for Netflix

In a 2nd Trump term, Fed independence would go “out the window,” economist says

Oct 28, 2024
Kai Ryssdal explores what would happen to the global economy if the Federal Reserve lost its autonomy.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell says the process for making interest rate decisions “is always the same.” At meetings, FOMC members ask, “What's the right thing to do for the people we serve?' … It's never about anything else."
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Private equity is buying up businesses in the skilled trades

Skilled trades businesses, like HVAC repair and plumbing companies, are seen as stable, future-proof business models. Private equity wants in.
Private equity firms will buy a few skilled-trade businesses, then combine them to make one much larger company. "The idea is you improve the margins and efficiencies," said Te-Ping Chen from the Wall Street Journal.
Craig Hudson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Poker bots have invaded online gambling

These robots are basically unbeatable, and they suck the fun — and the money — out of playing, says Kit Chellel of Bloomberg.
If you've ever played online poker, you've probably played against a bot and not known it, says Bloomberg's Kit Chellel.
Bruno Vincent/Getty Images

Chicago Fed president explains “the hardest thing that a central bank has to do”

Oct 10, 2024
Austan Goolsbee talks about the Fed's timing in moments of transition, if COVID is still affecting the economy, and why he's a "data dog."
"I'm in the data dogs. And the thing about the data dogs [is that they] don't respond to one month," says Austan Goolsbee about the importance of taking the long view before making decisions.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images