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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 (5,820)

Conversations From the Corner Office: Howard Schultz

Dec 14, 2006
Starbucks' chairman of the board talks with Kai Ryssdal about the life experiences that shaped his corporate philosophy.

Mergers in midair

Dec 13, 2006
Conventional wisdom for industries in a downturn has been that bigger's the way to go. And several airlines are now considering mergers. Economist Allen Michel talks with Kai Ryssdal about whether those would be wise moves.

Who really cares?

Dec 12, 2006
Individual donors are the primary supporters of U.S. charities. But who's doing the giving might surprise you. Prof. Arthur Brooks, author of a new book called "Who Really Cares," talks with Kai Ryssdal.

Staying open to cardiac stents

Dec 8, 2006
Do cardiac stents help keep clogged arteries open in the long run? Kai Ryssdal talks with Heather Won Tesoreiro of the Wall Street Journal about today's recommendation by an FDA panel.

Time to sideline coaches' salaries?

Dec 7, 2006
Host Kai Ryssdal talks to sports analyst Diana Nyad about why colleges are signing football coaches to lengthy multimillion-dollar contracts only to buy them out after a mediocre season.

$11 billion hole in Fannie Mae's accounting

Dec 6, 2006
Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae has issued a long-awaited earnings restatement today, its first since an accounting scandal surfaced two years ago. Host Kai Ryssdal talks to Marketplace's Amy Scott.

Lessons in online ticket scalping

Dec 5, 2006
Reporter Steve Knopper spent 38 days trying to turn a profit from scalping concert tickets for WIRED Magazine. He tells host Kai Ryssdal about his discoveries.

GM finally plugs into hybrid fever

Dec 4, 2006
Host Kai Ryssdal and LA Times auto critic Dan Neil surveyed the scene at last week's Los Angeles Auto Show, where GM unveiled its newest challenger in the hybrid vehicle category.

Congress punts budget . . . again

Dec 4, 2006
The lame duck Congress has decided to leave the unfinished budget for next year. Host Kai Ryssdal speaks with Congressional Quarterly's Jill Barshay about what else will — and will not — get done this week.

Abe Lincoln, early adopter

Dec 1, 2006
Historian Tom Wheeler talks with host Kai Ryssdal about how President Lincoln adapted to the telegraph to speed communications, and quickly came to understand the medium's limitations.