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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)

Does the sale of fine art need physical spaces?

Jan 27, 2021
Masha Golovina of Masterworks.io talks about the two-tiered economy and says that when physical art fairs are coupled with online sales, "that's the ideal mix."
Two paintings by Fernand Léger that debuted at auction last year before the arrival of the pandemic, which disrupted gallery sales.
Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby's

Boston Consulting CEO on the ties between business and politics

Jan 25, 2021
Rich Lesser said the business world is ready to find common ground with the Biden administration.
The New York Stock Exchange in New York City. "I think business leaders are all struggling with how prominent to be" at a time of stark political division in the United States, Rich Lesser says.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

The drivers of this economy: Long-haul trucking in the pandemic

Jan 25, 2021
Back in the spring, state transportation departments closed highway rest stops. And that put a strain on drivers.
Many independent truck drivers are starting to see lower rates and increased fuel costs, says Lewie Pugh, Executive Vice President of the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A workforce crisis hurting women, especially mothers

Jan 22, 2021
Women left their jobs at a far greater rate than men in 2020. What does this mean for the economy?
Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, says the new administration should press companies to bring back female employees who have left the workforce.
Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company

With business down 95%, Hawaiian entrepreneur hopes her company and town survive

Jan 19, 2021
The pandemic has largely halted tourism, and Manu Powers has had to lay off most of her staff.
Marco Bertorello/Getty Images

As poverty rises, South Florida organization for the homeless starts feeding neighbors, too

Jan 19, 2021
The number of people showing up for free hot meals has more than doubled since the pandemic began, the CEO of HOPE South Florida says.
A rise in poverty and homelessness has become a major concern as the pandemic recession has left millions of people without jobs. Above, a person in Miami sleeps on a sidewalk in 2001.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Why much of Nebraska's economy remains strong despite the pandemic

Jan 19, 2021
Some businesses in Newman Grove, Nebraska, have been booming as fewer people leave town to shop. Also, the region's agriculture economy remains healthy.
Rural Nebraska is benefiting from a resilient farm economy and has avoided the shutdowns suffered by many metropolitan areas.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

"Civil society is much more fragile than I think Americans appreciate," says outgoing FCC Chair Ajit Pai

Jan 15, 2021
Pai says Congress needs to legislate rules so that agency regulations, like net neutrality, don't swing with the leader's political affiliation.
Social media companies "do not operate by the same principles that other companies in the internet economy do," says outgoing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Speech on the internet: The First Amendment and Section 230 are different

Jan 14, 2021
Private parties can decide whose speech they want to distribute. That's a First Amendment right, not a Section 230 right.
Twitter permanently suspended President Trump's account, citing the risk of further incitement of violence.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Trump supporters gather at the U.S. Capitol prior to Wednesday's insurrection. “We have often lost sight of the fact that our biggest and most successful export is not capitalism, but is democracy,” said Kathleen Day, an expert on financial crises.
Oivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images