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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 (6,109)

Marketplace

Most seniors who qualify for food benefit aren't getting it

Oct 16, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1264

The rise of the podcaster's political capital

Oct 16, 2024
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How We Survive | Season 6 | Episode 6

The Uncertain Future 

Oct 16, 2024
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Marketplace

What's up with drugstores?

Oct 15, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1263

Mining and the clean energy paradox

Oct 15, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1262

FEMA's job is getting even harder

Oct 14, 2024
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Marketplace

Bad debt prep

Oct 14, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 1261

What TikTok knew of the app's toll on teens

Oct 11, 2024
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Marketplace

How the 2024 presidential candidates compare on national debt

Oct 11, 2024
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Marketplace

The data dogs

Oct 10, 2024
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Latest Stories (5,827)

What to expect when you’re expecting a Fed framework review

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Sep 24, 2024
A lot has happened in monetary policy since the last time the Federal Reserve updated its long-term strategy goals.
After a busy few years in monetary policy, it’s once again time for the Federal Reserve to conduct a review of its long-term strategy.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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Calling customer service? Good luck speaking to a human.

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Sep 23, 2024
To reach a human representative, some companies have started charging a premium. Those unwilling to pay will have to stick with the bots.
One reason companies have replaced human customer service representatives? Bots are cheaper, says Emily Stewart at Business Insider.
Shaun Heasley/Getty Images
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Streets used to be full of kids playing. Can those spaces be reclaimed?

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Sep 17, 2024
As neighborhoods experiment with play streets, grownups can reconsider modern parenting, Stephanie Murray wrote in The Atlantic.
Children playing safely on city streets may be a thing of the past.
Douwe Bijlsma/BSR Agency/Getty Images
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The connection between flight delays and cabin crews' pay

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Sep 16, 2024
Delayed flights aren't just a hassle for flyers but also for flight attendants, explains Whizy Kim of Vox.
In the warmer months this year, about 25% of flights were delayed.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Why investment in public pools took a dive

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Aug 30, 2024
As summer temperatures rise, some see the public pool as climate adaptation infrastructure, says journalist Eve Adams.
"[Public pools] offer this really important and reprieve from extreme heat that, as anyone who's lived through the past summer can tell you, is getting to be a real problem in cities," said journalist Eve Andrews.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
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Inside China's "superchip" black market

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Aug 29, 2024
Powerful computer chips are sold in Shenzhen markets despite U.S. restrictions on exports, says Ana Swanson of the New York Times.
An electronics store in a Shenzhen tech market, where vendors are selling some restricted NVIDIA superchips.
Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images
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Breaking Ground

How a small Kentucky town was 10 years ahead of the government

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Aug 28, 2024
As the federal government tries to connect every home to high-speed internet by 2030, Kai Ryssdal visits a Kentucky town that already did that — 10 years ago.
An early transition toward high-speed fiber internet has transformed some American communities.
Andie Corban/Marketplace
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Breaking Ground

In national broadband rollout, rural landscapes pose a challenge

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Aug 27, 2024
The government is spending billions to expand internet access. But distance, low housing density and other factors complicate the plan.
Chip Spann of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration gave Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal a tour of sites related to Kentucky's broadband expansion.
Sarah Leeson/Marketplace
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Breaking Ground

The U.S. is investing billions of dollars in fiber internet. Here's what makes it run.

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Aug 26, 2024
We tour a North Carolina plant where melted glass is pulled into the hair-like strands that power fiber-optic cable.
Manufacturers like Prysmian supply fiber-optic cables to internet service providers.
Andie Corban/Marketplace
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Breaking Ground

Libraries are essential for internet access, even as national broadband projects ramp up

by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson
Aug 23, 2024
The federal government wants to bring fiber connections to every home. In the meantime, some areas will still rely on the library.
Debra Lawson, director of the Spencer County Public Library, says she doesn't know what some patrons would do without the library's internet access. "The way they use our computers, they're participating in society," she says.
Andie Corban/Marketplace
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