Planet Money Podcast

Episode 458: Bangladesh's T-Shirt Economy

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:52:00 +0000

H&M, Zara, Wal-Mart and JC Penney all buy t-shirts from Bangladesh. Soon, Planet Money will too.

As you may have heard, we're making a t-shirt and telling the story of how it's made. We decided a few months ago to work with Jockey to make our t-shirts. Our women's shirt will be made in Colombia. Our men's shirt will be made, in part, in Bangladesh.

But horrifying news has been coming out of Bangladesh's apparel industry recently.

Episode 455: The Planet Money T-Shirt Is Finally (Almost) Here

Wed, 01 May 2013 18:53:00 +0000

We're making a T-shirt that tells the story of its own creation.

Episode 453: What Causes What?

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:51:00 +0000

What causes what? The human brain is programmed to answer this question constantly. This how we survive. What made that noise? Bear made that noise. What caused my hand to hurt? Fire caused my hand to hurt.

We are so eager to figure what causes what — that we often get it wrong. I wore my lucky hat to the game. My team won.

Episode 356: The Surprisingly Entertaining History Of The Income Tax

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:08:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00u6qUelp6c

Episode 450: Bitcoin Goes To The Moon

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:31:00 +0000

Since the start of the year, the Japanese yen has risen by about 12 percent against the dollar. The euro has fallen by about 1 percent.

Then there's bitcoin, a virtual currency that doesn't even exist in the physical world.