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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)

Honeybee populations are hitting record numbers. Weren't they dying off before?

Scientists were ringing alarm bells about colony collapse disorder a decade ago. Brian Walsh of Vox explains what happened.
Honeybees were too valuable to fail.
Barbara Gindl/APA/AFP via Getty Images

The problem of sticky inflation resides with housing, Fed's Goolsbee says

May 15, 2024
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee talks the latest CPI release and what it means for the Fed's continued fight against inflation.
Austan Goolsbee, the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

211 call centers show financial strain above the poverty line  

Many callers hoping to get referrals have moderate incomes but still struggle, explains Rachel Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal.
211 call centers are "a really great window into the state of the American consumer," says The Wall Street Journal's Rachel Wolfe.
Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images

Commerce chief lays out blueprint for chip manufacturing in America

May 10, 2024
The supply chain is being built to reduce U.S. vulnerability and seize opportunities like artificial intelligence, Raimondo says.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed chips, China and jobs with Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal in Washington.
Nancy Farghalli/Marketplace

Inflation is "not yet where it needs to be," Treasury Secretary Yellen says

May 9, 2024
Janet Yellen addresses the state of the U.S. economy and underscores the country's rivalry and collaboration with China in an interview.
"I think it's important for Americans to understand how critical democracy is to economic performance," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says. Above, Yellen testifies at a House Ways and Means committee hearing on April 30.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

If the divestment movement succeeds, will it have an economic impact?

May 3, 2024
Divestment might not move the needle on government or corporate policy, but it could shift "hearts and minds," says Alison Taylor of NYU.
Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Looking for a “fresh start” amid Phoenix’s semiconductor boom

The federal government is spending billions to support semiconductor manufacturing. But trainees seeking chipmaking jobs may have to wait.
Students in the Semiconductor Technician Quick Start training course at Mesa Community College practice while wearing “bunny suits,” the required workwear at fabrication plants.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

In the barge business, this year has been "consistent, predictable and profitable"

May 1, 2024
At Golding Barge Line in Vicksburg, Mississippi, volume and demand are stable, but rising prices continue to pose a challenge.
"Our equipment is more expensive than ever, to repair it is more expensive than ever," says Austin Golding of Golding Barge Line. "The ability for me to grow is really inhibited by that cost structure."
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Chip factory growth boughs to native plants in Phoenix

Here's the story of one business at the intersection of conservation and growth amid Phoenix’s semiconductor boom.
“What we have been able to do with developers is make them understand that not only is there an environmental advantage to saving the trees ... there's also a monetary advantage,” says Rob Kater, owner of Native Resources.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

CHIPS funds are heading to Phoenix, “ground zero for the new economy”

An influx of federal investment in the Arizona metropolis is meant to energize the nation's tech industry and accelerate job creation. Will it work?
President Joe Biden arrives at the TSMC facility in Phoenix to speak in December 2022. TSMC was recently awarded $6.6 billion in CHIPS Act funding.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images