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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.

Episodes by Kai (6,146)

Make Me Smart | Episode 1293

The history behind Black Friday

Nov 26, 2024
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Marketplace

The DOJ has a plan for Google

Nov 21, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1290

The new face of Trump's tariffs plan

Nov 21, 2024
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Marketplace

What happened to sweater weather?

Nov 20, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1289

A harbinger of change in Medialand 

Nov 20, 2024
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Marketplace

Private equity's appetite for restaurants

Nov 19, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1288

The myth America exported to the world

Nov 19, 2024
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Marketplace

A more equal nation?

Nov 18, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1287

Trump's revenge agenda

Nov 18, 2024
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Marketplace

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... online

Nov 15, 2024
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Latest Stories (5,837)

The mortgage business has "come to a screeching halt"

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Apr 26, 2022
Vivian Gueler of Pacific Trust Group said rising rates are slowing the housing market, but it could be months before prices fall.
"The market was just too crazy," said mortgage broker Vivian Gueler. "The low rates drove up too much business, too much demand — and the prices, ultimately."
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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This manufacturer sees little improvement in snarled global supply chains

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Apr 26, 2022
“It’s the kind of stuff that keeps you awake at night,” said Teresa Asbury, a senior executive at the Legacy Cos.
Pandemic lockdowns in China are stacking more challenges onto overloaded shipping networks.
Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images
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Elon Musk is buying Twitter for $44 billion. Is it just about free speech?

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Apr 25, 2022
Social media giant OKs "unbelievably fast" deal with world's richest person. Many observers remain uncertain of what drove his decision.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk intends to add the global communications platform Twitter to his portfolio, which includes Tesla and SpaceX.
Maja Hitij/Getty Images
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Why inflation hits harder, depending on who you are

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Apr 25, 2022
People who spend a bigger chunk of their budget on gas and groceries are disproportionately impacted by rising prices.
We all have our own personal inflation rate, depending on what we buy. Above, a shopper at a grocery store in Los Angeles.
David McNew/Getty Images
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Remember the trade war with China? U.S. businesses are still feeling it.

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Apr 19, 2022
Kevin Feig's Florida auto parts company is paying the U.S. government up to $600,000 a month in import duties.
"You have to deal with what you're given. And right now, we've accepted the fact that the tariffs aren't going away," says Kevin Feig, president of Foreign Parts Distributors in Miami. Above, a worker assembles car door unit in Chicago.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images
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Microbusinesses and the pandemic

How global economic disruption sifts down to one small flour mill in Pasadena, California

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Mar 31, 2022
Nan Kohler of Grist & Toll says she's thinking outside the box to deal with challenges from the pandemic and rising inflation.
"I stay in business because people are looking for a healthier product, and it is a radically different product than what we have available ... on the grocery store shelves," says Nan Kohler, above at Grist & Toll in Pasadena, California.
Courtesy Kohler
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Why OPEC Plus isn't likely to increase oil supply

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Mar 30, 2022
Spare capacity has been overstated, says oil analyst Abhi Rajendran. Then there's the matter of isolating Russia.
OPEC Plus nations are together responsible for 40% of the world's oil supply.
Jakub Sukup/AFP via Getty Images
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What does it mean when the Federal Reserve uses its “tools”?

by Kai Ryssdal and Daisy Palacios
Mar 29, 2022
The Fed’s tools can only go so far. “All of this activity relies on the other institution at the end of the transaction,” said economics professor Nina Eichacker.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaking last week at the NABE Economic Policy Conference. "We aim to use our tools to moderate demand growth, thereby facilitating continued, sustainable increases in employment and wages," he said.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
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Fewer people are watching the Oscars. Here's why that might not matter to the academy.

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Mar 24, 2022
The organization that puts on the awards show has transformed itself from a production company to an "institution with a billion dollar endowment," says data journalist Walt Hickey.
The Academy Museum in Los Angeles in February 2020, before it opened.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
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How Russian sanctions could speed up the corrosion of globalization

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Mar 23, 2022
Adam Posen of the Peterson Institute says that could lead to less varied, costlier goods and a more divided and politically uncertain world.
As globalization corrodes, Adam Posen argues, American consumers could see a smaller variety of goods at higher prices.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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