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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 (5,837)

Consumers are finding ways to justify spending, even if it busts their budget

Sep 5, 2023
The rebound from pandemic deprivation continues, says Adriana Samper of Arizona State, and the reasoning can get pretty creative.
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

When it comes to measuring economic welfare, GDP doesn't cut it

Sep 1, 2023
Gross domestic product has been the standard measure for economic growth since 1944, but it doesn't measure the quality of life.
GDP has been a global standard for measuring economic growth since 1944, but it doesn't measure economic welfare.  
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty I ages

Biden economist wants businesses to "step up and make investments” in the U.S.

Aug 31, 2023
Heather Boushey of the Council of Economic Advisers talks about the challenges of implementing the president's economic agenda.
Businesses are "not making the needed investments in the things that matter most," like clean energy infrastructure and chip manufacturing, says Heather Boushey of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Air travel is still melting down, and travel agents are caught in the middle

Aug 30, 2023
Erica Wilkinson of Campbell Travel says travel agents are the ones getting clients "unstuck" in the New Air Travel Normal.
"I've been doing this for a dozen years. I've never quite seen a season of so much upheaval," says travel agent Erica Wilkinson.
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Why aren’t farmers using new tech?

Aug 30, 2023
Farmers haven’t been keen on adopting new agriculture technology despite its potential to revolutionize the industry.
A young farmer uses a tablet before working the fields. Connectivity and broadband access issues remain hurdles for the adoption of agtech in parts of the U.S.
Phillippe Desmazes/AFP via Getty Images

The awkward return of the business meal

Aug 29, 2023
Juggling hors d'oeuvres and handshakes is no easy task.
People are back to making deals over lunch, and that means mastering the art of ordering a meal that won't spray all over your business associates.
Chris J Ratcliffe/AFP via Getty Images

Tradle brings Wordle-style game to global exports

Aug 24, 2023
Can you figure out what country exports, say, both crude oil and leather footwear? Gilberto García-Vazquez of Datawheel explains the game.
A screenshot of Thursday's Tradle. Which country is it?
Tradle/Observatory of Economic Complexity

To narrow the gender gap in boardrooms, Poker Power asks girls to ante up

Aug 23, 2023
"Stereotypically, poker is a boys' club. It's booze, it's betting, it's a smoky basement. It's all the places that women don't feel comfortable. And that's what we're trying to shift," said Erin Lydon, president of Poker Power.
"Half the world is women. So we want half the world playing poker," said Erin Lydon, president of Poker Power.
Photo courtesy of Erin Lydon

Keeping a diary of plastic use can be "a little horrifying"

Aug 22, 2023
What a reporter learned by cataloging all the plastic products around her.
Once plastic products are created, they don't ever decompose — and we keep producing more. "More is getting into our environment, but more doesn't necessarily need to be there," said Susanne Rust, an environment reporter for the LA Times.
Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images

There's more evidence that subsidized jobs boost racial equity, report finds

Aug 17, 2023
"There are just a lot of positive ripple effects for communities," says Kali Grant of Georgetown, who co-wrote the updated report.
At the 1963 March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. called for a massive federal jobs program for all Americans.
AFP via Getty Images