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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)

Amid wave of sanctions, Russia's energy sector is getting off pretty light so far

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Feb 28, 2022
Oil and gas are key to the Russian economy, yet penalties are focused elsewhere. Could that stance change?
The construction site of a Russian platform that will hold liquified natural gas.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Russia’s economic isolation has a long history

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Feb 24, 2022
Once again, a professor of Russian history says, ordinary Russians will be "the ones who shoulder the daily burden."
“Russia, of course, has a very long history of being excluded from the world economy,” said Kristy Ironside, an assistant professor of Russian history at McGill University. Above, Soviet citizens pass by homeless and hunger strikers in Moscow in 1990.
VITALY ARMAND/AFP via Getty Images
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How will Biden's additional sanctions affect the Russian economy?

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Feb 24, 2022
"So long as Putin continues to be president of Russia, Russia will not be able to benefit from the global economy," said the Atlantic Council's Eddie Fishman.
President Joe Biden announced additional sanctions against Russia on Thursday following its invasion of Ukraine. This follows a tranche of sanctions earlier this week.
Drew Angerer/Getty IMages
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For this flower company CEO, it’s not just about growth

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Feb 23, 2022
After laying off more than 200 people, Christina Stembel hopes to cultivate a healthy company — not just a growing one.
Christina Stembel, CEO of the direct-to-consumer company Farmgirl Flowers, said inflation and Apple’s new privacy policy are forcing her to pass higher costs on to customers.
Courtesy Farmgirl Flowers/Anna-Alexia Basille
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What is the current state of Afghanistan's economy?

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Feb 23, 2022
Afghanistan was on the precipice of a humanitarian disaster, and it fell off that precipice, said Madiha Afzal at the Brookings Institution.
People shop at a vegetable market in Kabul in January. Since the Taliban takeover, an estimated 22.8 million Afghans are facing life-threatening food insecurity.
Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images
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Kai Explains

What’s the best way to measure corporate performance?

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Feb 18, 2022
“There isn’t one,” said Patrick Badolato, a professor of accounting. But investors and analysts use “net income” and “EBITDA” in their attempts.
Obscure financial metrics "seem to tell a nice and neat and tidy story, and the reality is messy and nuanced,” said Patrick Badolato, an associate professor of accounting at the University of Texas.
George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images
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"There will always be a need for donor milk,” says leader of a milk bank

by Kai Ryssdal and Anais Amin
Feb 17, 2022
Donated breast milk helps nonlactating mothers provide nutrition to their babies. But the supply is down, and the need is urgent.
The distribution of breast milk, which is perishable, has been disrupted by supply chain problems. Milk banks have called for more women to donate, especially to help vulnerable infants.
Natalie Behring/AFP via Getty Images
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Iowa concert venue operator persisted through pandemic with help of SBA and other allies

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Feb 16, 2022
Tobi Parks' xBk was open only six months before the pandemic hit. A federal grant helped it weather COVID.
"I never considered shutting it down," said Tobi Parks of xBk. "And, you know, I was always confident and had the support of .... the team of allies."
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
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Workers are hanging up business casual for business comfort, Stitch Fix CEO says

by Kai Ryssdal and Daisy Palacios
Feb 16, 2022
"We hear about two-thirds of our consumers saying they're ready to swap out clothes," Elizabeth Spaulding says.
"I definitely was wearing sweatpants and leggings," Elizabeth Spaulding says of working from home. She stepped into the role of Stitch Fix CEO in August.
Courtesy Stitch Fix
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1 executive chef, 2 restaurants, not enough staff and crisis after crisis in Puerto Rico

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Feb 15, 2022
Like employers on the mainland, María Mercedes Grubb can't find enough help to keep her businesses open full time.
"You don’t get a lot of sleep, first of all. Second of all, you cut back hours," says María Mercedes Grubb of the labor shortage's affect on her restaurants.
Courtesy Grubb/Ash Calo
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