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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)

Struggling venue operators can finally seize the federal government’s lifeline

Apr 28, 2021
Applications for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant reopened on Monday after a failed launch earlier this month.
Comedian Janee Harvey performs at xBk in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 23. Proprietor Tobi Parks is one of many small business owners applying for a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.
Photo by Maggie Littel, courtesy of xBk

For an Iowa farmer, corn and soybean prices are "double what we could sell months ago"

Apr 27, 2021
Farmer April Hemmes says exports are strong and a supply shortage is pushing up prices.
April Hemmes' commodities are fetching high prices, due in part to poor growing conditions in Brazil and strong demand from China.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images

Pent-up demand is helping The RealReal grow

Apr 26, 2021
Julie Wainwright, CEO of the luxury consignment store, says in-person shopping "makes sense for our business."
"We believe we're going to be a pandemic recovery story," says Julie Wainwright, founder and CEO of The RealReal. Above, she speaks at Vanity Fair's 2017 Founders Fair.
Photo by Andrew Toth/Getty Images for Vanity Fair

U.S. trade representative: "The global economy needs to evolve"

Apr 22, 2021
Trade Representative Katherine Tai speaks about new priorities in global trade and the need to address challenges collectively.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai discusses new priorities in global trade under the Biden administration. "We don't exist in a vacuum," she says.
Tasos Katopodis/pool/AFP via Getty Image

Chipotle's CEO on eating, hiring and corporate responsibility

Apr 21, 2021
“I think companies need to be accountable,” says Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol.
Brian Niccol, the restaurant chain’s CEO, says hiring and retaining workers will be among the biggest challenges as the company expands.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

How a food business tied to the hotel industry is recovering from COVID-19

Apr 20, 2021
“We're not there yet,” said Kurt Loudenback, CEO of Grand Prairie Foods. “But we feel pretty optimistic about 2021.”
As travel demand bounces back, Kurt Loudenback, CEO of a company that makes hotel breakfast food, is optimistic that his business will return to pre-pandemic levels.
Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

Are we headed for a Roaring '20s economy?

Apr 16, 2021
We check in with three economic historians on what to expect in the post-pandemic era.
The economy is fundamentally different today than it was 100 years ago, but there are some parallels.
Puttnam /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Boat builders struggle to meet soaring demand, solve supply chain woes

Apr 14, 2021
Boat sales leaped to a 13-year high in 2020, and the boom is expected to continue through 2021.
Back Cove Yachts builds recreational power boats. The company has an order backlog partly due to disruptions in the global manufacturing environment.
Courtesy of Jason Constantine

After a year on the PPP front lines, a community banker is seeing confidence return

Apr 13, 2021
PPP loans have produced great results, says Seattle banker Laurie Stewart. She's optimistic about demand rising without inflation.
The interior of the Woolly Mammoth shoe store in Seattle, where Laurie Stewart's Sound Community Bank is based.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images

How surging anti-Asian violence is taking its toll on Asian-owned businesses

Apr 12, 2021
Reported hate crimes against Asian Americans in 2020 rose almost 150% in 16 of America’s biggest cities, according to an analysis of police data.
Finnie Phung and her husband, who run Green FIsh Seafood Market in Oakland, California, have a few dozen tanks with live seafood for sale.
Photo by TIffany Luong for Save Our Chinatowns, courtesy of Finnie Phung