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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)

AI lessons from the telephone operators of the 1920s

Aug 17, 2023
In the early 20th century, thousands of young women worked as telephone switchboard operators. Automation changed that.
If you were a working woman in the early 20th century, there's a good chance you were a telephone operator — until mechanical switching took over the job.
-/AFP via Getty Images

Beer? Pour me a grey one

Aug 15, 2023
A brewery in drought-plagued California experiments with making beer using purified grey water. The CEO says he’d serve it at a party.
Chris Garrett at Devil's Canyon Brewing hopes his beer can change perceptions about drinking recycled wastewater.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Cars: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em

Aug 15, 2023
Affordability has broken down, but the costs of not having your own vehicle are even higher for many. Marin Cogan of Vox explains.
The average new car costs a record $48,000 — up 25% between May 2020 and May 2023. During the same time, used car prices soared 50%.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

By 2050, demographic shifts could mean a very different global economy

Aug 10, 2023
Today, nearly a third of Japan's population is over the age of 65. Compared to how much wealthy nations' populations will age in the coming decades though, Japan "is only the tip of the iceberg" says New York Times journalist Lauren Leatherby.
Wealthy economies like those in Europe and East Asia are going to be facing a much smaller working-age population within the next few decades.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

China's economy is slowing. Is the political economy to blame?

Aug 9, 2023
Adam Posen of the Peterson Institute says that implementation of the zero-COVID policies made people feel "very insecure."
According to Adam Posen, it's been difficult for China's leaders to re-establish trust after the implementation of zero-COVID. "We've already seen leaders from the Communist Party around President Xi Jingping say, 'Oh, no, we want a vibrant private sector in China, said Posen. "But it's hard to be credible once you get to that point."
Ken Ishii-Pool/Getty Images

Debunking the myth of the male hunter

Aug 8, 2023
An anthropologist found evidence of women hunting in nearly 80% of societies studied.
"Being flexible is your evolved purpose in life. That is what humans do," said anthropologist Cara Wall-Scheffler. Above, cave drawings of a hunting scene in what is now Libya.
Taha Jawashi/AFP via Getty Images

Regaining Black farmers’ trust is “challenging," says advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture

After the loan repayment assistance program was scrapped, the USDA is having trouble regaining the trust of Black farmers.
"I've heard it said that when other farmers get a cold, Black farmers get pneumonia," said Dewayne Goldmon, senior advisor for racial equity to the Secretary of Agriculture.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Mohamed El-Erian on Fed's inflation target: "There's nothing scientific about 2%"

Aug 3, 2023
The investor and college president calls the Fed's stance backward-looking and worries that more rate hikes may lead to a recession.
El-Erian has criticized the Fed's actions through the country's struggle with inflation but says the central bank's final grade is yet to be determined.
Rob Kim/Getty Images

Are we finally exiting the "vibecession"?

Aug 2, 2023
We asked content creator and independent economics educator Kyla Scanlon if consumer sentiment is finally matching up with economic data.
"I think things are trending upward for most people," says economics educator Kyla Scanlon. "But still, it can feel like there's sometimes maybe something missing or something a little bit off."
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Why "grandternity" leave might become the newest form of parental leave

Aug 1, 2023
Are you a working grandparent who wants time off to spend with the grandkids? That benefit could be coming to a company near you.
"For employees who are going to be grandparents, whether it's their first grandchild or their 10th grandchild, they get paid time off," said Tara Weiss of The Wall Street Journal.
Jamie Sabau/Getty Images