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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)

This Tennessee library can offer more services — when it pays as much as McDonald's

“We don't have enough people to add new things," like social services, says the director of the Marshall County Memorial system.
"We have people who come to the library who need help with housing or help with food," says Jennifer Pearson, director of the Marshall County Memorial Library System.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Napa Valley's vineyards are in "climate crisis," winemaker says

Oct 3, 2022
Between heat waves, droughts and wildfires, the grapes of California's wine region are suffering nature's wrath. Producers are trying to adapt.
The climate crisis, which worsens drought and wildfires, is changing agriculture. That includes vineyards.
Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images

How's the container ship backlog at Southern California's ports?

Sep 29, 2022
There are fewer than 10 ships waiting for a berth. “There still are issues, but it’s much better,” a Marine Exchange executive says.
Kip Louttit, right, of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, shows Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal congestion data at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach while looking at horizon free of container ships.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

Can brands make it on BeReal?

Sep 29, 2022
The unfiltered, spontaneous nature of BeReal runs counter to how brands use social media, says reporter Chris Stokel-Walker.
Chipotle, which Chris Stokel-Walker says is "known for being at the forefront of lots of social media movements," is experimenting on BeReal.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

How one elementary principal is dealing with hiring staff and kids' learning loss

Sep 28, 2022
"We are scrambling as a school, as a district" to catch up kids and address mental health needs, Jessica Gomez of Southern California says.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images

Work is a big part of what's making us unhappy, Gallup CEO says

Sep 27, 2022
Jon Clifton weighs in on workplace engagement, global unhappiness and why it's sometimes a good thing when polls confirm conventional wisdom.
"We spend so much of our lives at work," says Gallup CEO Jon Clifton. "There's one analysis that says it's 115,000 hours — which is 13 years of a person's life."
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

A professor’s "antithesis" to self-aggrandizing personal websites

Sep 22, 2022
“It's meant to illustrate the vanity of human pretensions,” says Karl Aquino of the University of British Columbia.
A screenshot from the homepage of Karl Aquino’s “official, unofficial” website. Aquino teaches organizations and society at the University of British Columbia.
Screenshot courtesy Aquino

How gun dealers are skirting Biden's new ghost gun rule

Sep 21, 2022
Alain Stephens, an investigative reporter for The Trace, breaks down the market for ghost guns.
"When you buy a traditional firearm through a regularly licensed gun dealer, there's a serial number attached to that ... but these homemade guns, they don't have serial numbers," said The Trace's Alain Stephens.
Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images

It costs how much to ship that? How one commission is tackling inflation at the ports

Sep 20, 2022
A new law has given the Federal Maritime Commission the teeth it needs to tackle high shipping fees and congestion at the ports.
President Joe Biden believes taming shipping freight costs is an integral part of bringing inflation back down. He has empowered the Federal Maritime Commission to tackle it at the ports.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Paint is still in short supply in the U.S., and more expensive

Sep 19, 2022
Suppliers are prioritizing core products, says the owner of Ryan Amato Painting, but deep colors and clear coats can be hard to get.
Looking for paint in a deep color? That could be a problem.
Georgijevic via Getty Images