Scott Tong

Correspondent

SHORT BIO

Scott Tong is a former correspondent for Marketplace. He reported on sustainability issues (energy, climate, environment, resources) for Marketplace, as well as the U.S.-China technology relationship, frequently described as “fraught.” He is Marketplace’s former China bureau chief.

What was your first job?

English-language audiotape (yes, tape) voice-over work. Sixth grade.Taiwan.

What advice do you wish someone had given you before you started this career?

Show up an hour before the interview.

Fill in the blank: Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you ______.

Gas for kid carpools; Washington Capitals hockey tickets.

What is something that everyone should own, no matter how much it costs?

Smoker (plus wooden slotted spoon).

What’s your most memorable Marketplace moment?

Sneaking into Burma for twenty bucks.

Latest Stories (1,339)

Chesapeake Energy bankruptcy raises new questions about oil and gas failures, abandoned wells

Jun 30, 2020
The company is being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and seeking to reorganize.
A pump jacks draws crude oil in Signal Hill, California, in March.
David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

Major airline CEOs to arrive at White House Friday for meeting on COVID-19 issues

On the agenda: concerns around checking passengers' temperatures and contact tracing.
The numbers show that only about half a million Americans are flying every day. That’s one-fifth the normal amount for the early summer.
Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

Bayer reaches $10 billion settlement in Roundup cancer lawsuits

Bayer, which acquired Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, is trying to settle all claims, present and future.
The herbicide Roundup has been a blockbuster weedkiller, but plaintiffs say it causes a certain cancer and several juries have agreed.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Is this controversial weedkiller helping or hurting our food supply?

Jun 22, 2020
Critics say the herbicide dicamba cannot keep its agricultural social distance.
The label on the herbicide Engenia, containing dicamba. This and two other dicamba herbicides were declared illegal by a federal appeals court June 3.
NIcholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

More people are eligible to tap retirement savings without penalty

The big change: If your spouse's job has been hit by COVID-19 you may be eligible to pull as much as $100,000 from retirement savings — penalty-free.
Pixabay

Which jobs are coming back first? Which may never return?

Jun 17, 2020
A snapshot of who's hiring now, plus a warning about employment predictions in an unknown COVID-19 recovery.
Job postings in the beauty and wellness category rebounded at the job-listing behemoth Indeed.
Jim Watson, Getty Images

Critics say Zoom is exporting Chinese censorship

Jun 11, 2020
The controversy comes at a challenging time for a company whose fortunes have soared during the pandemic yet faces stiff challengers in the video-meeting sector.
Zoom founder Eric Yuan speaks during Zoom's IPO in 2019.
Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Pandemic may be a turning point for oil business, executives and analysts say

Jun 9, 2020
With carbon emissions and air pollution plummeting during the lockdown, experts question whether we'll return to our old driving and flying habits.
Oil storage tanks in Carson, California. The use of fossil fuels dropped during the lockdown, and supplies piled up.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Russian tanker crosses Arctic in early season voyage as ice grows thinner

Jun 8, 2020
The route, which saves more than 10 days of travel, is a test case for a Russian energy company that wants to ship gas to China through the summer.
The ice-breaking Christophe de Margerie, carrying natural gas to China, was able to start its Arctic voyage earlier in the year because of thinning ice.
Total

Chinese semiconductor firm to raise $2.8 billion as it seeks to catch world leaders

Jun 2, 2020
The firm wants to catch up with the leading-edge chips made by U.S., South Korean and Taiwanese companies.
Semiconductors on a circuit board that powers a video camera. Chinese firm SMIC is raising billions to upgrade its manufacturing technology.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images