NPR: Planet Money

We test two competing theories, from a food writer and an economist. Are customers being forced to walk through the store or is it just practical to keep the milk at the back?

Prices of new textbooks have been going up like crazy — faster than food, cars, even healthcare. On today's show: Why textbooks have gotten so expensive.

The internet was supposed to get rid of middlemen--but instead they are taking over the global economy.

If you're a zoo or aquarium and you want a new animal, you don't use money to get it. You have to find another way. In this episode, we investigate: How many mackerel is a flock of puffins worth?

There is a mystery in many poor countries. Why don't farmers specialize and grow more food? Two economists with very different theories go head to head to find out.

For decades, most websites ended in either .com, .net, or .org. But a few years ago, everything changed.

For decades, most websites ended in either .com, .net, or .org. But a few years ago, everything changed.

One telenovela actress-turned-executive decided to create a new kind of drama. Her work changed the landscape of Spanish language TV--and of all TV.

Why is it so hard to knock down 17 vacant houses in a shrinking city?

We bought 100 barrels of oil from a Kansas preacher. We followed it out of the ground, through a refinery, and into someone's gas tank.

Last of five episodes. We follow the Planet Money oil to a gas station. And we ask: What would our world look like if there were no fossil fuels?

Fourth of five episodes. Oil is in our sneakers, our clothes, and the computer or phone you're using right now. On today's show: The story of the man who made it happen.

Third of five episodes. The Planet Money oil faces a test, we sell it, and we meet the man who set off the fracking boom in America.

Second of five episodes. Oil is priced down to the penny, and the price changes every day. Who sets that price?

We're getting into the oil business. We go to Kansas, and negotiate with a preacher to buy 100 barrels of crude.

There's an obscure law that governs just about anything that travels by ship in the U.S. — bananas, hairdryers, gasoline, even people. Economists do not like it. But it just won't go away.

Building a robot that can sew even simple clothes is surprisingly hard. A retired professor in Atlanta thinks he's solved the problem. It could bring clothing manufacturing back to America.

The computer or phone that you use knows a lot about you. It knows your secrets — and it might be giving them away.

Crafting a TV game show is a balancing act. Producers have to carefully calibrate the rules, the drama and the prizes just right. Sometimes they get it way wrong.

A lot of computing pioneers were women. For decades, the number of women in computer science was growing. But in 1984, something changed.

A tale of violence, payback, and how to make things right.

Three stories of people getting their money back — or trying to. From a hospital, a scammer, and the ever-exciting global bond market.

Scoring a fix is cheap and today's heroin is strong. But that's just part of the reason why America got hooked. Today on the show, we trace the roots of America's heroin epidemic.

Brexit is like a breakup. So today a divorce story in two acts. We hear from both sides: The people who voted to leave, and the Europeans being left.

When you think of cartels, maybe you think of drugs, maybe you think of oil. But what probably doesn't come to mind? Swiss cheese.

Where is the line between being inspired by somebody's creative work and stealing it?

Bitcoin was supposed to revolutionize the way money works. But the thing people love about it may be destroying it.

What just happened in the UK? And what's coming next?

What just happened in the UK? And what's coming next?

How much of a brand is real? How much is in our heads?

Our reporter wanted to write a prequel to Goodnight Moon. He ended up on the phone with lawyers.

There is a crime wave in the West right now. Cattle rustling — stealing cattle — is on the rise. The crime is as old as America, and it's making a big comeback.

Two bodybuilders go at it over a Stanford University patent. And we dive in to make sense of it.

This episode is for everyone who's ever had to ask their coworkers to quiet down or walk laps of the office to make a private phone call. Today on the show: We meet the man who stole your office door.

It's something you can see on every day and on every block in most major cities. But in Myanmar, a country that was cut off from the rest of the world for decades, an ATM is a small miracle.

How do you secretly stash away a million dollars? One way is to hide the money in plain sight, right in the heart of New York City. Today's show: the case of who owns Apartment 5B.

Meet a single mother who makes $16,000 a year and managed to fund a vacation at a Caribbean resort with an interest-free loan from one of the world's largest banks.

One night, Lariat Alhassan heard an ad on the radio. It said the Nigerian government was offering millions of dollars to people with business ideas, practically no strings attached. She gave it a go.

In New York City, more than 5,000 food trucks and carts compete for the business of hungry office workers. And finding the right spot to set up shop can mean the difference between fortune and ruin.

To serve Muslim customers, a bank in Michigan tried to comply with both U.S. regulations and Islamic law. One problem: Islamic law prohibits charging interest.

You won't have to get coffee. But you might have to ride a hoverboard. Apply by May 29.

On today's show, we open up some of those annoying pharmaceutical spam emails and find out who's clicking to buy herbal viagra? Also, what happens when they do?

Beer. Water. Pretzels. It takes effort, strategy, and some serious lungs to sell expensive junk food at a baseball game. Meet the hot dog vending legend of Fenway Park.

To get to the other side...where there are millions of dollars in tax breaks.

Housing subsidies are often given out through a lottery. But why do we let random chance decide who gets help with the rent? We don't do that for food stamps or health care, so why housing?

In this episode, we consider a world where everybody cheats, and where you can't win unless you game the regulators: Professional cycling.

When you're an employer looking at a giant stack of resumes, you have to find some way to quickly narrow the field. How do you do that fairly? And what happens when your good intentions backfire?

We talk to Kid Rock about how he tried to cut scalpers out of the business — and still sell cheap tickets to his shows.