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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)

For "Young Rock" co-creator, even a pandemic won't make comedy go away

Feb 18, 2021
Nahnatchka Khan, co-creator of the NBC series "Young Rock," talks TV production and how a tough year can be translated into amusing entertainment.
Sitcom writer and producer Nahnatchka Khan. "I think we'll be able to laugh at the way that we adapted to our lives being turned upside down," she says.
Annie Tritt

The pandemic as seen by a high-school senior and his older brother

Feb 17, 2021
“It's very easy to just stay in your room all day and not let anybody know what's happening to you,” says student AJ Williams.
CPA Michael Durant, right, and his younger brother, AJ Williams. The brothers lost their mother to COVID, and Williams is missing his freedom because of the quarantine.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

Checking in on America’s “data infrastructure”

Feb 11, 2021
For everything you do, there's a statistic, and behind that number are federal statistical agencies in need of attention.
Whether it’s determining optimal highway width or the size of Social Security benefits, “there’s a stat for that,” says Robert Santos, president of the American Statistical Association.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Carnival and Mardi Gras usually mean $1 billion for the New Orleans economy. What about this year?

Feb 11, 2021
Quentin Messer Jr., head of the New Orleans Business Alliance, says the city's spirit is alive, but there's a sense of loss too.
Due to the cancellation of traditional Mardi Gras activities, New Orleanians are decorating their homes and businesses to resemble festive floats.
Chris Graythen/Getty Images

When it comes to relief, think of the economy as a car tire

Feb 10, 2021
Wendy Edelberg from Brookings evaluates what the Republican and Democratic relief proposals could mean for GDP.
Vladimir Rys/Getty Images

"We need to fundamentally alter the trajectory of the recovery"

Feb 9, 2021
"The risks of going too small with this package far outweigh the risks of going too big," says Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council.
"The issue is that if you do too little, that means that people are going to go hungry," says Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council.
Sarah Silbiger/AFP via Getty Images

"Miss Juneteenth" tells the story of a Black woman trying to build a better economic future

Feb 8, 2021
Writer-director Channing Godfrey Peoples discusses her debut film and the economic realities it draws upon.
Turquoise (Nicole Beharie) with her daughter, Kai (Alexis Chikaeze), in "Miss Juneteenth."  Channing Godfrey Peoples' story was inspired by Black women in her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.
Vertical Entertainment

What does the GameStop story mean for regular investors?

Feb 4, 2021
Neil Irwin of The New York Times discusses the "laziest, simplest approach" to investing and says aspects of populism have long influenced the markets.
A GameStop store in New York. The retailer's stock, which became a populist battleground, has plunged in recent trading sessions.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Why Valentine’s Day shipping delays are this CEO’s “biggest fear”

Feb 3, 2021
“There’s just a lot of it that’s out of our control completely,” says Christina Stembel of Farmgirl Flowers.
Valentine's Day shipping delays have the potential to cost Farmgirl Flowers $12 million in a worst-case scenario, CEO Christina Stembel says. Above, a Farmgirl Flowers bouquet.
Courtesy of Farmgirl Flowers

Despite challenges, this movie theater operator is optimistic about the future

Jan 28, 2021
“While streaming is a reality, it’s not communal,” said Stephanie Silverman of Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre. People “will want to be out in the world again.”
An empty screening room at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, which has been closed for indoor screenings since Jan. 1.
(Courtesy of the Belcourt Theatre)