Episodes

  • What’s supercharging data breaches?

    What’s supercharging data breaches?
    Oct 7 2025
    It may seem like data breaches have gotten a heck of a lot more common. Well, there’s something to that. The bad guys are getting badder faster than the good guys are getting better.

    This week, we’re bringing you five episodes on the evolving business of crime. Today on the show, we look at why the evolution of data breaches has been supercharged and why you don’t have to be a hacker to get into the game.

    Related episodes:

    Are data breaches putting patients at risk?

    So your data was stolen in a data breach

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez and Tyler Jones. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Fighting AI with AI

    Fighting AI with AI
    Oct 6 2025

    With only several seconds of audio, someone can clone a victim’s voice, call their bank, and potentially get access to … everything. Vocal deepfakes have gotten very good, but so has the technology to fight back.

    This week on The Indicator we're gonna bring you a special series on the evolving business of crime. In this episode, we hear from the company helping banks beat deepfakes, and we learn about the efforts to protect us all from AI voice fraud.

    Related episodes:
    Can you copyright artwork made using AI?
    AI creates, transforms and destroys... jobs

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Vice Series: The evolving business of crime

    Vice Series: The evolving business of crime
    Oct 5 2025

    Crime doesn’t resemble the old days. A deepfake of your voice can be used to convince a relative you need money. AI bots are capable of colluding in financial markets. There are seemingly countless new strategies of making data breaches more common. This week on The Indicator from Planet Money, we bring you five episodes digging into the evolving business of crime
    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    1 min
  • Why Americans don't want to move for jobs anymore

    Why Americans don't want to move for jobs anymore
    Oct 3 2025
    Americans are moving at record lows for work. What’s driving people to, well, not drive cross-country for jobs? On today’s Jobs Friday, we explore the rising homebody economy.

    Related episodes:
    Can … we still trust the monthly jobs report?
    Why moms are leaving their paid jobs?
    How the end of Roe is reshaping the medical workforce?

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • How close is the US to crony capitalism?

    How close is the US to crony capitalism?
    Oct 2 2025

    We have seen a blurring of boundaries between government and business under President Trump. It has some political commentators ringing the alarm bell over something called “crony capitalism" — a corrupt system where political power meets big business. Today on the show, is the Trump administration nudging the U.S. further down the road toward crony capitalism?

    Related episodes:
    China’s trade war perspective

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Why is everyone buying gold?

    Why is everyone buying gold?
    Oct 1 2025
    Gold is on fire right now with some gold ETFs outperforming the major stock indexes over the past 12 months. Gold is supposed to be boring, an inflation hedge. But right now, it's responding to something else. Today on the show, we talk to a finance professor about what’s behind the current gold rush and if gold’s hot streak is built to last.

    Understanding Gold by Claud B. Erb and Campbell R. Harvey

    Related episodes:

    A new-ish gold rush and other indicators

    Gold Rush 2.0

    A secret weapon to fight inflation

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    10 mins
  • We're about to lose a lot of foreign STEM workers

    We're about to lose a lot of foreign STEM workers
    Sep 30 2025
    Earlier this month, President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitioners. Today on the show, we talk to an economist about how much H-1B visa holders have contributed to US growth, their effects on American-born workers, and why the United States’ competitors are taking advantage of this moment.


    Related episodes:

    How much international students matter to the economy

    The precarity of the H-1B work visa

    Could foreign workers unlock America's tight labor market?

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    10 mins
  • What media consolidation means for free speech

    What media consolidation means for free speech
    Sep 29 2025

    Jimmy Kimmel’s brief departure from the airwaves triggered a wave of debate over free speech. Partly triggering his suspension was the government threatening to leverage its power over pending media deals. That’s in part due to a piece of decades-old legislation.

    Today on the show, we look at how the Telecommunications Act of 1996 set the stage for government meddling and corporate capitulation.

    Related episodes:
    Breaking up big business is hard to do
    Mergers, acquisitions and Elon’s “rude” proposal

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    8 mins