NPR: Planet Money

What if robots did all the work? In today's show, we imagine a world without jobs.

The computer doesn't pay attention to what you say. What matters is how you say it.

Machines are taking on jobs that once seemed robot-proof. But can a machine replace radio reporters? We pit a human against a machine to find out.

If you aren't already worried about being replaced by a robot, maybe you should be. Today on the show, three races pit humans against machines.

Today on the show, the true story of the Luddites.

Poor kids who moved to neighborhoods with less poverty did much better than those who didn't move.

While most technology is getting smaller and cheaper, batteries still suck. Today on the show, we learn exactly why, and meet some of the people trying to make batteries better.

You're not allowed to buy and sell organs. So doctors created a different system. Today on the show: how do you decide who gets lungs?

Casinos are worried that young people aren't interested in playing slots or other games of luck. They're turning to games that require skill, like basketball.

We visit the workshop of a meat inventor, who came up with Steak-Umm and KFC's popcorn chicken. And we try to figure out what meat inventors tell us about patents and innovation.

In the early 1900s, the president of the largest shoe company in the world tried to create a Utopia for his workers. He called his big experiment in welfare capitalism: The Square Deal.

When Magic: The Gathering became a hit, its creators faced a surprising problem.

Today on the show: how a bunch of rational economists try to deal with our feelings. And the story of a man who came up with five simple questions that he hoped would predict the future.

Just a few years ago, solar power was an expensive luxury for the environmentally conscious. Now it's a good deal for lots of people. How did solar power get so cheap, so fast?

How do you make money manufacturing a dry, bland cracker that a tiny percentage of the population eats just one week a year?

In a lot of video games, the default character is a man. If you want to play as a woman, you often have to pay.

A 12-year-old girl discovers it can cost a lot more to play video games as a girl. Today on the show: video game economics and a sixth-grade smackdown.

We go on stage at a comedy show and read a bunch of weird economics jokes. We bombed.

We find out what happened to that teddy bear from our show on trash. Did it end up in a landfill or was it sent out of the country to be recycled?

There's an economic line that separates recyclables from trash. And that line has been moving a lot lately.

Last week Apple was officially added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But just because Apple's in the club now, doesn't mean the Dow is a great measure of the economy.

Look at the numbers today, and things seem promising for the economy. Jobs and home prices are up. But look under the hood, and you see that in a lot of ways the crisis is still with us.

What do families in the middle of the income distribution actually make in cities around the United States?

Only one in three students finish community college—even if money is not the problem.

Today on the show, a businessman goes to prison, and decides he is going to disrupt the biggest captive market in America.

Faced with an asset bubble, the creators of Magic: The Gathering came up with a plan—a plan to once and for all conquer the science of bubbles, and make a collectible toy that could live forever.

We look at the ten most shorted stocks out there, to see what this list tells us about human nature and the economy. Plus, we end our shorting experiment.

We look at the ten most shorted stocks out there, to see what this list tells us about human nature and the economy. Plus, we end our shorting experiment.

This is a story about a man trying to plan for the unimaginable: What would he do if his girlfriend were kidnapped?

This is a story about a man trying to plan for the unimaginable: What would he do if his girlfriend were kidnapped?

Spirit Airlines is one of America's fastest-growing airlines. It's also among the least popular airlines in America. How can one airline be both things at once?

Spirit Airlines is one of America's fastest-growing airlines. It's also among the least popular airlines in America. How can one airline be both things at once?

Kidnapping is big business in Nigeria. One man analyzed the industry, to find its weak points and better protect the people he loved.

Kidnapping is big business in Nigeria. One man analyzed the industry, to find its weak points and better protect the people he loved.

The electronic spreadsheet transformed entire industries. But its effects ran deeper than that.

The electronic spreadsheet transformed entire industries. But its effects ran deeper than that.

Union membership has been on a steady decline nationally since the middle of the last century. Watch as membership declines in states across the country.

Union membership has been on a steady decline nationally since the middle of the last century. Watch as membership declines in states across the country.

In 1929, one man correctly predicted the great stock market crash, for totally the wrong reason.

In 1929, one man correctly predicted the great stock market crash, for totally the wrong reason.

Today, one man at the center of a high stakes negotiation, a group of poker players try to give their money away and that thing everyone loves to hate: airplane baggage fees.

Today, one man at the center of a high stakes negotiation, a group of poker players try to give their money away and that thing everyone loves to hate: airplane baggage fees.

The logistical miracles and wild risks behind getting red roses to your doorstep on Valentine's Day.

The logistical miracles and wild risks behind getting red roses to your doorstep on Valentine's Day.

It's a story of exploding bakeries, a blue eagle, and a guy who may or may not have been drunk.

It's a story of exploding bakeries, a blue eagle, and a guy who may or may not have been drunk.

Since World War II, inequality in the U.S. has gone through two, dramatically different phases.

Since World War II, inequality in the U.S. has gone through two, dramatically different phases.

Pot is now legal in some states, but on the federal level, it's illegal. The legal gray area means many banks in the U.S. won't even give pot businesses checking accounts.