We used to think some jobs were safe from automation. Though machines have transformed industries like agriculture and manufacturing, the conventional wisdom was that they could never perform what's called "knowledge work." That the robots could never replace lawyers or accountants — or journalists, like us.

Well, ever since the release of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, it feels like no job is safe. AI can now write essays, generate computer code, and even pass the bar exam. Will work ever be the same again?

Here at Planet Money, we are launching a new three-part series to understand what this new AI-powered future looks like. Our goal: to get the machines to make an entire Planet Money show.

In this first episode, we try to teach the AI how to write a script for us from scratch. Can the AI do research for us, interview our sources, and then stitch everything together in a creative, entertaining way? We're going to find out just how much of our own jobs we can automate — and what work might soon look like for us all.

(And, in case you're wondering... this text was not written by an AI.)

This episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Keith Romer. Maggie Luthar engineered this episode. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Jess Jiang is Planet Money's acting executive producer.

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Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School is back! It's the free economics class you can take from anywhere... for everyone! For Season 4 of Summer School, we are taking you to business school. It's time to get your MBA, the easy way!

In this first class: Everyone has a million dollar business idea (e.g., "Shazam but for movies"), but not everyone has what it takes to be an entrepreneur. We have two stories about founders who learned the hard way what goes into starting a small business, and getting it up and running.

First, a story about Frederick Hutson, who learned about pain points and unique value propositions when he founded a company to help inmates and their families share photos. Then, we take a trip to Columbia, Maryland with chefs RaeShawn and LaShone Middleton. Their steamed crab delivery service taught them the challenges of "bootstrapping" to grow their business. And throughout the episode, Columbia Business School professor Angela Lee explains why entrepreneurship can be really difficult, but also incredibly rewarding, if you have the stomach for it.

(And, we should say, we are open to investors for "Shazam but for movies." Just sayin'.)

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Dan Ariely and Francesca Gino are two of the biggest stars in behavioral science. Both have conducted blockbuster research into how to make people more honest, research we've highlighted on Planet Money. The two worked together on a paper about how to "nudge" people to be more honest on things like forms or tax returns. Their trick: move the location where people attest that they have filled in a form honestly from the bottom of the form to the top.

But recently, questions have arisen about whether the data Ariely and Gino relied on in their famous paper about honesty were fabricated — whether their research into honesty was itself built on lies. The blog Data Colada went looking for clues in the cells of the studies' Excel spreadsheets, the shapes of their data distributions, and even the fonts that were used.

The Hartford, an insurance company that collaborated with Ariely on one implicated study, told NPR this week in a statement that it could confirm that the data it had provided for that study had been altered had been altered after they gave it to Ariely, but prior to the research's publication: "It is clear the data was manipulated inappropriately and supplemented by synthesized or fabricated data."

Ariely denies that he was responsible for the falsified data. "Getting the data file was the extent of my involvement with the data," he told NPR.

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Across Hollywood right now, writers and actors are picketing in front of studio lots. They're walking back and forth, holding up signs demanding concessions on things like pay, how many writers work on projects, and the use of AI in TV and movies.

But, on some of these lots, there are these strange alternate entrances where there are no picketers. Here drivers can come and go as they please without ever encountering any sign of a strike.

Behold the neutral gate. An entrance intended for people who work at these lots but don't work for production companies that are involved with these particular strikes. (Usually that means things like game shows or TV commercials.)

But, as one group of picketers recently experienced, it's hard to know if these entrances are, in fact, only being used by neutral parties or if the entrances might be being abused.

On today's episode, the question of whether one Hollywood production was taking advantage of the neutral gate, and what the fight over a driveway can teach us about the broader labor battles in Hollywood and across the country.

This episode was hosted by Dave Blanchard and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, with reporting from Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed and engineered by James Willetts. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Keith Romer. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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In the state of Oregon, there is a glut of grass. A wealth of weed. A crisis of chronic.

And, jokes aside, it's a real problem for people who work in the cannabis industry like Matt Ochoa. Ochoa runs the Jefferson Packing House in Medford, Oregon, which provides marijuana growers with services like drying, trimming and packing their product. He has seen literal tons of usable weed being left in marijuana fields all over the state of Oregon. Because, Ochoa says, there aren't enough buyers.

There are just over four million people in Oregon, and so far this year, farmers have grown 8.8 million pounds of weed. Which means there's nearly a pound of dried, smokable weed for every single person in the state of Oregon. As a result, the sales price for legal marijuana in the last couple of years has plummeted.

Economics has a straightforward solution for Oregon's overabundance problem: trade! But, Oregon's marijuana can only be sold in Oregon. No one in any state can legally sell weed across state lines, because marijuana is still illegal under federal law. On today's episode, how a product that is simultaneously legal and illegal can create some... sticky business problems.

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L, is for the way you Listen to Planet Money
O, is for the Only podcast I hear
V, is Very, very, fiduciary
E, is for... ECONOMICS!

Every February, we dedicate a show to the things in our lives that have been giving us butterflies. Whether it's an obscure online marketplace or a piece of stunt journalism that made us green with envy. And then we go out into the world to proclaim our love...in the form of a Valentine. And we have a great roster this Valentine's Day:

- A grocery store in Los Angeles with the very best produce
- A woodworking supply company with an innovative approach to... innovation!
- A basketball player that makes a strong case for taking risky shots
- A book that catalogues the raw materials that shape our world
- A play that connects the 2008 financial crisis to the sale of the island of Manhattan in the 1600s
- And, a podcast that turns corporate intrigue into watercooler chit-chat

So cozy up with a special someone and hand them the second earbud as we take you through our 2024 Valentines!

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Take the 2024 Planet Money Summer School Quiz here to earn your personalized diploma!

Find all the episodes from this season of Summer School here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School.

We are assembled here on the lawn of Planet Money University for the greatest graduation in history – because it features the greatest economic minds in history. We'll hear from Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and some surprising guests as they teach us a little bit more economics, and offer a lot of life advice.

But first, we have to wrap up our (somewhat) complete economic history of the world. We'll catch up on the last fifty years or so of human achievement and ask ourselves, has economics made life better for us all?

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

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People often say that money can't buy you happiness. Sometimes, if you ask them to tell you more about it, they'll mention a famous 2010 study by Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton. That study found that higher household income correlates with greater emotional well-being, but only up to around $75,000 a year. After that, more money didn't seem to matter.

This was a famous study by two famous academics. The result stood for over a decade. And it feels good, right? Maybe the rich aren't so much happier than anyone else. But researchers have recently done a complete 180 on this idea. In 2021, psychologist Matt Killingsworth found nearly the opposite: That more money does correlate with more happiness. And that the relationship continues well beyond $75,000 per year.

Today on the show: Does more money mean fewer problems? Two researchers with totally different takes come together to hammer out a better understanding of the relationship between money and happiness.

This episode was hosted by Sally Helm and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Sean Saldana, Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Meg Cramer and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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We're hard at work on new episodes of the TED Radio Hour, which will start rolling out in March. In the meantime, new host Manoush Zomorodi shares some of her favorite episodes of the show. This episode originally aired on February 1, 2019.

The Me Too movement has changed the way we think and talk about gender discrimination. This hour, TED speakers explore how the conversation has moved beyond a hashtag, and where we go from here. Guests include Me Too movement founder Tarana Burke, actor and activist Ashley Judd, writer Laura Bates, and anti-sexism educator Jackson Katz.

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We're a social species now living in isolation. But loneliness was a problem well before this era of social distancing. This hour, TED speakers explore how we can live and make peace with loneliness. Guests on the show include author and illustrator Jonny Sun, psychologist Susan Pinker, architect Grace Kim, and writer Suleika Jaouad.

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Original broadcast date: April 24, 2020. We're a social species now living in isolation. But loneliness was a problem well before this era of social distancing. This hour, TED speakers explore how we can live and make peace with loneliness. Guests on the show include author and illustrator Jonny Sun, psychologist Susan Pinker, architect Grace Kim, and writer Suleika Jaouad.

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Jason Reynolds is an award-winning author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. This hour, Jason speaks with Manoush about reaching kids through stories that let them feel understood. This conversation is part of a collaboration between NPR and the Library of Congress National Book Festival. For more information about the festival visit loc.gov/bookfest

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Original broadcast date: September 17, 2021. Jason Reynolds is an award-winning author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. This hour, Jason speaks with Manoush about reaching kids through stories that let them feel understood.

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The executive and philanthropist’s gift, which will support the Japan Past & Present initiative, is the largest in the history of the Humanities Division.

La donación es más grande jamás otorgada a UCLA Division of Humanities.

Discovery that confirms theory of relativity makes headlines around the world “We see today that black holes exist in the universe and they do collide!” Associate Professor Harald Pfeiffer says (image courtesy NASA) For the first time, scientists have observed gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of spacetime from a cataclysmic event in the […]

The following is a list of University of Toronto experts who can comment on a variety of issues related to the Three Amigos Summit. Robert Bothwell, Professor of International Relations at U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs Expertise: What the three North American leaders will discuss, What are the pros and cons of free […]

The Chinese New Year began February 1, 2022! Every year, all Meadow Brook artists collaboratively create a Chinese Dragon to celebrate the new Lunar year. Each student created a part of this great dragon in art class. Zoom in to see each individually drawn dragon scale design! This year’s dragon is led by Principal Shaw […]

The post Student Artwork for the Chinese New Year appeared first on Forest Hills Public Schools.

TORONTO, ON — A moral story that praises a character’s honesty is more effective at getting young children to tell the truth than a story that emphasizes the negative repercussions of lying, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings suggest that stories such as “The […]

Toronto, ON – Professor Glen Jones, interim dean of the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, has been appointed dean of OISE for a five-year term effective July 1, 2016. Professor Cheryl Regehr, vice-president and provost of U of T, announced the appointment on May 19, following an extensive international search for […]

TORONTO, ON — Media are invited to take photos on Tuesday, November 18, of Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, as Christina Cameron, President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, presents to her the University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library’s Discovery of Insulin Collections. Last year the Library’s collections—only one of four in Canada […]

Toronto, ON — Today, researchers announce the release of a new report describing major security and privacy issues in several leading wearable fitness tracking devices and accompanying mobile applications. The research examined offerings by Apple, Basis, Fitbit, Garmin, Jawbone, Mio, Withings, and Xiaomi. The report, Every Step You Fake: A Comparative Analysis of Fitness Tracker […]

Toronto, ON — Public health researchers created a first-of-its-kind peer education project targeting black women to improve breast and cervical cancer awareness and screening for black women living in Toronto’s Malvern community. “There is a lot of silence in the black community. People think that cancer is not a black issue and many survivors are […]

From our partners at School News Network: Cell phones: so convenient, so helpful, but for schools and students they can be such a big headache. A recent survey by Pew Research Center found 72 percent of K-12 teachers say students being distracted by cell phones in their classroom is a major problem. Some states such as […]

The post No cell phones in class? It’s a good thing, student and principal say appeared first on Forest Hills Public Schools.

Toronto, ON – Family businesses, arguably the most important contributors to Canada’s economy, recognize the need for strong governance, but approach board oversight in a variety of ways depending on their size and stage of maturity. A survey conducted by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and the Clarkson Centre for Board Effectiveness (CCBE) at […]

Toronto, ON – A team of MBA students from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management have won the Kellogg Business Design Challenge hosted by the Kellogg School of Management’s Innovation and Design Association. The long-running competition, which invites students to apply design thinking to a real-world business challenge, was opened up to teams […]

Toronto, ON — On Thursday, May 21, the Supreme Court of Canada will render its decision in Kokopenace v. HMTQ. The key issue in the case is the scope of the right to a representative jury under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and whether Ontario’s procedure for creating jury rolls does enough to […]

In this hour, the people we've loved and lost, their memories preserved in these stories. Mothers, partners, and the colorful residents of a nursing home, with special excerpts from the Moth's new audio book. This episode is hosted by Moth Artistic Director, Catherine Burns. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Hosted by: Catherine Burns

Storytellers:

Sharon D'Orsie goes on adventures with her aging mother. 

Adrienne Lotson worries she's not cut out to be a chaplain.

Writer Elizabeth Gilbert shares her struggle in dealing with her partner’s terminal illness and what it taught her about living.

In this hour, six stories about finding kindness from an unexpected source. This episode is hosted by Moth’s Artistic Director Catherine Burns. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Hosted by: Catherine Burns

Storytellers:

Laura Zimmermann loses herself . . . and her stuff in Portugal.

David Cole does all that he can to return to sender.

Niccolo Aeed faces scrutiny at the airport.

Denise Scheuermann shares a ritual of good hope.

Caroline Abilat struggles to show herself kindness after the birth of her first child.

Ed Gavagan is called upon to show grace to the boys who stabbed him.

This week, we bear witness. From a Soviet labor camp, to a school desegregation, to a fight over books. This episode is hosted by Meg Bowles. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Hosted by: Meg Bowles

Storytellers:

Toby Price

Sybil Jordan Hampton

Victor Levenstein

In this hour, stories about seeing and witnessing. This episode is hosted by Meg Bowles. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Hosted by: Meg Bowles

Storytellers:

Alice Schaffer, a preacher's daughter, grows up in fear of the lessons learned in Sunday school.

Dawn Ross tries to adjust to life in rural Arkansas.

D. Parvaz, a journalist covering the uprising in Syria, is arrested and imprisoned.

Leland Melvin suffers a devastating injury that cuts short his dream of flying in space.

We’ve got two SLIGTHLY spicy stories. Don’t worry nothing untowards happens, but if you’re listening with kids, you might want to wait on this one. This episode is hosted by Michelle Jalowski.

Storytellers:

Whitney Connolly shares a photo without realizing what else is in the background.

A trip to Brazil provides a great teaching moment for both Caroline Woodward and her 3 year daughter.

In this hour, kismet encounters, nosy-but-nice neighbors, and unexpectedly helpful contacts—at home and abroad. This episode is hosted by Moth Artistic Director, Catherine Burns. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Storytellers:

Nathan Englander's lifetime of stress catches up to him.

Elana Duffy attempts to reclaim her teddy bear from a strict customs office.

While renovating his house, Alistair Bane unearths a child's toy and his own memories.

In this hour, stories from the double helix -- genetic makeup, inherited disease, and family secrets. It's all in the DNA. This hour is hosted by Moth Artistic Director Catherine Burns. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Storytellers: 

Mike Birbiglia works to get healthy and mitigate his bad genes.

Carmen Rita Wong uncovers the complicated layers of her family's past.

Beth Bucher makes a hard decision to protect her health.

When applying for a green card, Paul Nurse discovers a family secret.

Podcast: 649

On this episode, stories about kindness, care, and what we owe each other. The episode was hosted by Michelle Jalowski. 

Storytellers:

Matthew Dicks finds a friend at McDonalds.

Heidi Munson’s boss goes the extra mile.

Laurie Bushbaum tries to find a way to give away her mom’s hats.

Podcast # 891

Here’s how to figure out if it’s time to move on to the next phase of your career--and if it is, how to do it right.

Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and one of only two Black female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, says inclusion and equity are about making employees feel seen and heard.

Should you always be looking for another job, never make a lateral move, or be sure to stay at a job for two years? There's a lot of conflicting advice out there. HBR's Amy Gallo helps you sort the myths from the facts.

They’re not being a jerk on purpose, and if you can understand what motivates them you’ll find a better way to co-exist, and maybe even thrive.

Of all the bad bosses out there, one of the most common–and most painful to work for–is the one who’s plagued by doubt. Here’s how to deal with them.

Sure, you could just argue with them. But if you have to work together, here are more productive ways for everyone to win.

I'm happy to be hosting and moderating this webinar that will be presented by Brent Loescher, a fellow instructor with me at TKMG Academy. A Lean practitioner at heart, Brent received his formal Toyota Production System training while working for Toyota Motor Sales in their North American Parts Operations. He helped develop a Lean program for the landscape maintenance industry, implementing and evolving continuous improvement programs across the country since 2009. This included co-leading a […]

The post Creating Leader Standard Work (LSW) Across a Distributed Business Model — Webinar Preview by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

I'm thrilled to be back in Japan for the first time in five years. Today is the start of Katie Anderson's Japan Study Trip (learn more about joining her in May 2025). It's great to be here for another week of learning and great experiences. Little did I know, I'd kick off the trip by nearly losing my iPhone on the streets of Tokyo–a mistake that ended up teaching me a valuable lesson about Japan's […]

The post Lost My iPhone in Tokyo: A Lesson in Japanese Kindness and Culture on My Japan Study Trip by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

“From alarms and task chunking to time-estimation exercises, the strategies below can help you develop a more ‘ACCURATE’ sense of time.”

Business leaders with ADHD do best when they surround themselves with teammates who offset their executive functioning weaknesses.

In today's business environment, where millions of open positions remain unfilled and labor shortages abound, hiring right is more critical than ever. Yet, many organizations are woefully shortsighted in their hiring decisions, ignoring the very business strategies that ...

Article by Christopher Cook As we begin to emerge from an unprecedentedly challenging time in global history, one of the best personal growth practices we should all pursue is cultivating a healthy amount of self-awareness in our everyday lives and our personal and professional pursuits. Put simply, without self-awareness, we are tricking ourselves into living out life through the perception of reality instead of reality itself. On the ...

For someone not in the education industry (word used on purpose), I spend a lot of time thinking about education. Just like work issues, the constant and daily reality of school tends to hit you over the head until you just have to pay attention. The thing on my mind today is how much we force kids to record about their lives. Our schools today encourage and often require kids to monitor and measure ...

Article by Anne Grady Do you often feel like you have spent your whole day chipping away at your to-do list without accomplishing any of the things that are most important to you? You are not alone. As a CEO, mom, wife, volunteer, friend, daughter, and overachiever, I know how that feels. It's like you're on a hamster wheel, never making any progress. You go through the week looking forward to Friday, and then you spend the weekend catching ...

AI-based vision system ensures that relays and other components are installed correctly.