The Indicator from Planet Money

by NPR

A little show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money , The Indicator helps you make sense of what's happening today. It's a quick hit of insight into work, business, the economy, and everything else. Listen weekday afternoons.
Try Planet Money+! a new way to support the show you love, get a sponsor-free feed of the podcast, *and* get access to bonus content. You'll also get access to The Indicator and Planet Money Summer School, both without interruptions. sign up at plus.npr.org/planetmoney

Episodes

Taxing the final frontier

8m · Published 29 Apr 19:07

Launches by commercial space companies are becoming more frequent. Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration licensed 117, an all-time high. But these spaceflight companies aren't paying for all of the FAA's services that they use.
Today, we explore why the government is looking to change that and dig into the larger debate over whether human activity in space is a public or private project.
Related episodes:
Economics in space
Planet Money goes to space
Space economics
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org .

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Video Game Industry Week: The Final Level

9m · Published 26 Apr 19:59

We wrap up our series on the economics of the video game industry with a triple roundup. Today, how the new ban on noncompete contracts could affect the gaming industry, whether young men are slacking off work to play games and the ever-controversial world of loot boxes.
Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify)
The boom and bust of esports (Apple / Spotify)
Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees (Apple / Spotify)
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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Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees

9m · Published 25 Apr 19:41

Employees at video game companies are known for working long hours to meet product launch deadlines. This pressure, known in the industry as crunch, has only gotten more intense as games have grown more complex. Mounting layoffs in the growing industry have only made things worse on the labor front, inspiring some workers to take matters into their own hands.
Today, in the next installment of our series on the business of video games, we speak to several workers in the industry about their experiences with crunch and why they feel unionization is the key to preserving their careers.
Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify)
The boom and bust of esports (Apple / Spotify)
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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The boom and bust of esports

9m · Published 24 Apr 22:22

The origins of competitive gaming are rooted in college campuses going back to the early 1970s. Now a globally popular industry, esports is at the center of many questions about long-term financial viability.
Today, we dive deep into the hype surrounding esports and why the luster seems to be rubbing off the industry that was once seen by some as the next NBA.
Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify)
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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Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible

9m · Published 23 Apr 21:19

Gaming provides entertainment and community for billions of people worldwide. However, video games haven't always been accessible to those with disabilities. But this is changing.
Today, in the next installment of our series on the business of video games, we explain how accessibility has become an increasingly important priority for game developers and how advocates pushed them to this point.
Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)
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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Forever games: the economics of the live service model

9m · Published 22 Apr 19:34

People used to pay one standard price for their favorite games in a one-off transaction. But now, many game companies are offering their games for free, supported by in-game purchases. This is called the live service model.
Today, the first episode of a week-long series about the video game industry. We investigate the promise and pains of the live service model and explain how it turned the industry upside down.
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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Ticketmaster's dominance, Caitlin Clark's paycheck, and other indicators

9m · Published 19 Apr 23:47

It's highs and lows in this edition of Indicators of the Week! The surprisingly high amount of electricity needed for artificial intelligence, basketball star Caitlin Clark's surprisingly low base salary, plus a potential crackdown on the ticketing company everyone loves to hate (possibly because of those high fees).
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Inside the epic fight over new banking regulations

9m · Published 18 Apr 23:09

After the financial crisis of 2008, regulators around the world agreed banks should have more of a cushion to weather hard times. Now, U.S. regulators are once again looking to update minimum capital requirements through a set of proposals called Basel III Endgame. Today, on the show, a blow-by-blow account of this battle between bankers and regulators.
Related episodes:
Time to make banks more stressed? (Apple / Spotify)
SVB, now First Republic: How it all started (Apple / Spotify)
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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Profiting off greater risk: the reinsurance game

9m · Published 17 Apr 22:49

When an insurance company can't cover all of its claims, it actually has its own insurance. This is called "reinsurance." How does that work and why do reinsurers look at their risk pool differently than say home or auto insurers?
Related episodes:
Why is insurance so expensive right now? And more listener questions (Apple / Spotify)
When insurers can't get insurance (Apple / Spotify)
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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What is a 'freedom economy'?

9m · Published 16 Apr 23:04

Anti-vaccine activists, far-right groups and some religious conservatives convened in Las Vegas this spring to discuss the creation of a parallel economy. These are groups who believe their speech is threatened by big banks and big tech. On today's show, what is a "freedom economy," and how would it work?
Related episodes:
A Supreme Court case that could reshape social media (Apple / Spotify)
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 .
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Indicator from Planet Money has 630 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 98:10:24. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on February 22nd 2023. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on April 29th, 2024 22:10.