Yes, This Economy Is Confusing

"Obsession" and "Backrooms" are breaking box office records. Audie and Ari dissect both films' YouTube origins, the secrets of their success, and why the whole horror genre is killing it right now. Then, friend of the show Elise Hu helps break down how the "Republic of Wasia" bec ...  Show more

What are the pieces of pop culture — movies, music, TV, books, speeches — that you return to over and over again? Sam Sanders calls them “Modern Scriptures,” and on the latest episode of his podcast, he joins his longtime friends and fellow NPR colleagues Ari Shapiro and Audie Co ...  Show more

The US economy has so far withstood the effects of higher interest rates a lot better than expected. Unemployment is still at historic lows, even while inflation has cooled and the Federal Reserve has hiked rates for about 18 months. That's not how things are supposed to work acc ...  Show more

Why is the economic recovery from the pandemic so uneven? Why are companies finding it hard to hire? And why are the prices of used cars surging?

Recent economic reports have commentators scratching their heads. We dig into the theories behind this strange moment for the ...

Neil Dutta, the top economist over at Renaissance Macro, has generally been sunny and optimistic about the economy over the last four years or so. But now he's warning of a possible mistake by the Federal Reserve. In his view, the central bank is waiting too long to get confirmat ...  Show more

Gas prices are high, unemployment is low and the tools the federal government has to fight inflation could cause a recession. So how should we think about the economy right now? We asked our econ reporters and a personal finance columnist for advice. 

Rea ...