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Emma Peaslee
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Emma Peaslee

Emma Peaslee

Associate Producer, Planet Money

Story Archive

Friday

Rooftop solar's dark side
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Planet Money

Rooftop solar's dark side

4.5 million households in the U.S. have solar panels on their homes. Most of those customers are happy with it - their electricity bills have just about disappeared, and it's great for the planet. But thousands and thousands of people are really disappointed with what they've been sold. Their panels are more expensive than they should be, and they say it is hard to get someone to come fix them when they break.

Rooftop solar's dark side

Listen · 27:22
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Friday

How flying got so bad (or did it?)
Fox Photos/Getty Images

Planet Money

How flying got so bad (or did it?)

We often hear that air travel is worse than it's ever been. Gone are the days when airplanes touted piano bars and meat carving stations — or even free meals. Instead we're crammed into tiny seats and fighting for overhead space.

How flying got so bad (or did it?)

Listen · 25:15
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Friday

The Vapes of Wrath
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Planet Money

The Vapes of Wrath

When the vape brand Juul first hit the market back in 2015, e-cigarettes were in a kind of regulatory limbo. At the time, the rules that governed tobacco cigarettes did not explicitly apply to e-cigarettes. Then Juul blew up, fueled a public health crisis over teen vaping, and inspired a regulatory crackdown. But when the government finally stepped in to solve the problem of youth vaping, it may have actually made things worse.

The Vapes of Wrath

Listen · 27:24
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Wednesday

Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight

Graphite samples at Westwater Resources in Coosa County, Alabama. Sally Helm/NPR hide caption

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Sally Helm/NPR

Planet Money

Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight

Graphite is sort of the one-hit wonder of minerals. And that hit? Pencils. Everyone loves to talk about pencils when it comes to graphite. If graphite were to perform a concert, they'd close out the show with "pencils," and everyone would clap and cheer. But true fans of graphite would be shouting out "batteries!" Because graphite is a key ingredient in another important thing that we all use in our everyday lives: lithium ion batteries.

Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight

Listen · 25:38
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Friday

How the FBI's fake cell phone company put criminals into real jail cells
Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images

Planet Money

How the FBI's fake cell phone company put criminals into real jail cells

There is a constant arms race between law enforcement and criminals, especially when it comes to technology. For years, law enforcement has been frustrated with encrypted messaging apps, like Signal and Telegram. And law enforcement has been even more frustrated by encrypted phones, specifically designed to thwart authorities from snooping.

How the FBI's fake cell phone company put criminals into real jail cells

Listen · 23:59
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Friday

The hack that almost broke the internet
Getty Images

Planet Money

The hack that almost broke the internet

Last month, the world narrowly avoided a cyberattack of stunning ambition. The targets were some of the most important computers on the planet. Computers that power the internet. Computers used by banks and airlines and even the military.

The hack that almost broke the internet

Listen · 25:12
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Friday

The birth of the modern consumer movement
Keystone/Getty Images

Planet Money

The birth of the modern consumer movement

Today on the show, the story of the modern consumer movement in the U.S. and the person who inspired it: Ralph Nader. How Ralph Nader's battle in the 1960s set the stage for decades of regulation and sparked a debate in the U.S. about how much regulation is the right amount and how much is too much.

The birth of the modern consumer movement

Listen · 20:40
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Friday

TikTok is filled with tax advice. Is any of it worth listening to?

COVINGTON, KY - APRIL 8: Kathleen Malone works on tax returns at the Cincinnati Internal Revenue Service Center April 8, 2005 in Covington, Kentucky. The tax filing deadline is a week away. Mike Simons/Getty hide caption

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Mike Simons/Getty

Planet Money

TikTok is filled with tax advice. Is any of it worth listening to?

TikTok, and other apps like it, are filled with financial advice. Some of it is reliable, some... less so.

TikTok is filled with tax advice. Is any of it worth listening to?

Listen · 20:19
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Friday

Japan had a vibrant economy. Then it fell into a slump for 30 years.
RYOSUKE KAGIWADA/Getty Images

Planet Money

Japan had a vibrant economy. Then it fell into a slump for 30 years.

Last month, Japan's central bank raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years. That is a really big deal, because it means that one of the spookiest stories in modern economics might finally have an ending.

Japan had a vibrant economy. Then it fell into a slump for 30 years.

Listen · 22:50
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Friday

What is Temu?
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Planet Money

What is Temu?

It is rare that a new e-commerce company has such a meteoric rise as Temu. The company, which launched in the fall of 2022, has been flooding the American advertising market, buying much of the inventory of Facebook, Snapchat, and beyond. According to the market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Temu is one of the most downloaded iPhone apps in the country, with around 50 million monthly active users.

What is Temu?

Listen · 25:20
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Friday

On the Oscars campaign trail
Dean Treml/AFP via Getty Images

Planet Money

On the Oscars campaign trail

When you sit down to watch the Oscars, what you are really watching is the final battle in a months-long war of financial engineering and campaign strategy. Because in Hollywood, every year is an election year. A small army of Oscars campaign strategists help studios and streamers deploy tens of millions of dollars to sway Academy voters. And the signs of these campaigns are everywhere — from the endless celebrity appearances on late night TV to the billboards along your daily commute.

On the Oscars campaign trail

Listen · 25:54
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Wednesday

Friday

A lawsuit for your broken heart

As states began outlawing heart balm lawsuits, newspaper articles in the 1930's chronicled the strong feelings and uproar over Heart Balm lawsuits. The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii), Sunday, Apr 14, 1935/Smithsonian Magazine hide caption

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The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii), Sunday, Apr 14, 1935/Smithsonian Magazine

Planet Money

A lawsuit for your broken heart

Keith King was upset when his marriage ended. His wife had cheated, and his family broke apart. And that's when he learned about a very old type of lawsuit, called a heart balm tort. A lawsuit that would let him sue the man his now ex-wife had gotten involved with during their marriage.

A lawsuit for your broken heart

Listen · 22:28
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Friday

Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune
Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

Planet Money

Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune

At around 1 a.m. on the morning of November 15, 1994, Captain Prentice "Skip" Strong III woke to a distress call. Skip was the new captain of an oil tanker called the Cherry Valley. He and his crew had been making their way up the coast of Florida that evening when a tropical storm had descended. It had been a rough night of 15 foot waves and 50 mile per hour winds.

Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune

Listen · 26:15
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Wednesday

Hear us out: We ban left turns and other big ideas
Simon McGill/Malachite Photography/Getty Images

Planet Money

Hear us out: We ban left turns and other big ideas

On today's episode, we have three big economic ideas for your consideration – ideas that could potentially improve the economy and make us more efficient.

Hear us out: We ban left turns and other big ideas

Listen · 23:25
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Wednesday

The Universal Basic Income experiment in Kenya
PM Images/Getty Images

Planet Money

The Universal Basic Income experiment in Kenya

There's this fundamental question in economics that has proven really hard to answer: What's a good way to help people out of poverty? The old-school way was to fund programs that would support very particular things, like buying cows for a village, giving people business training, or building schools.

The Universal Basic Income experiment in Kenya

Listen · 24:06
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Friday

Friday

Why are we so bummed about the economy?

A customer shops in a Kroger grocery store on July 15, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption

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Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Planet Money

Why are we so bummed about the economy?

Would you say that you and your family are better off or worse off, financially, than you were a year ago? Do you think in 12 months we'll have good times, financially, or bad? Generally speaking, do you think now is a good time or a bad time to buy a house?

Why are we so bummed about the economy?

Listen · 23:54
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Wednesday

China's real estate crisis, explained

A worker prepares to weld a steel structure at a construction site in Beijing on May 8, 2021. Greg Baker/AFP hide caption

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Greg Baker/AFP

Planet Money

China's real estate crisis, explained

China's economic growth for the past few decades has been extraordinary. And much of that growth was fueled by real estate – it was like this miraculous economic engine for the country. But recently, that engine seems to have stopped working. And that has raised all kinds of questions not just for China but also for the global economy.

China's real estate crisis, explained

Listen · 20:17
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Wednesday

We dare researchers to leave the ivory tower

Left: Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi helped author Brian Merchant commune with the Luddites by smashing machines. Right: Economist Kevin Lang visited an 1830s historical village to ride in a horse-drawn trolley. Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR hide caption

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Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR

Planet Money

We dare researchers to leave the ivory tower

The world of economics has these two different sides. One one side, there are the economists in their cozy armchairs and dusty libraries, high up in their ivory towers. On the other, there's the messy world we're all living in, where those economics are actually playing out.

We dare researchers to leave the ivory tower

Listen · 28:51
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Friday

Friday

Planet Money

Banks are taking their time adopting FedNow, a faster way to send money

Sending money from one bank to another just down the street can take longer than sending a package across the country. The Federal Reserve is trying to change that with a faster way to send money.

Banks are taking their time adopting FedNow, a faster way to send money

Listen · 2:58
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Friday

A trucker hat mystery, the curse of September and other listener questions
William Thomas Cain/Nati Harnik/Getty Images/AP

Planet Money

A trucker hat mystery, the curse of September and other listener questions

Ba-dee-yah! Say do you remember? Ba-dee-yah! Questions in September!

A trucker hat mystery, the curse of September and other listener questions

Listen · 26:35
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Wednesday

The natural disaster economist
Tatyana Deryugina/Gies College of Business

Planet Money

The natural disaster economist

There seems to be headlines about floods, wildfires, or hurricanes every week. Scientists say this might be the new normal — that climate change is making natural disasters more and more common.

The natural disaster economist

Listen · 23:41
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