Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi is a host and reporter for Planet Money, telling stories that creatively explore and explain the workings of the global economy. He's a sucker for a good supply chain mystery — from toilet paper to foster puppies to specialty pastas. He's drawn to tales of unintended consequences, like the time a well-intentioned chemistry professor unwittingly helped unleash a global market for synthetic drugs, or what happened when the U.S. Patent Office started granting patents on human genes. And he's always on the lookout for economic principles at work in unexpected places, like the tactics comedians use to protect their intellectual property (a.k.a. jokes).
The concepts in the MingKwai typewriter underlie how Chinese, Japanese and Korean are typed today. The typewriter, patented in 1946, was found last year in an upstate New York basement.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he wants the luxury resort on the eastern seacoast to become a "world destination," but the country has been reluctant to allow in foreign tourists.
It's natural to feel some skepticism when a celebrity makes a documentary about their own family. But Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay' tells a story that is both effective and empathetic.
Ukraine said it struck a Russian airbase on Saturday, while Russia continued to pound Ukraine with hundreds of drones overnight, dashing hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the war.
Services that split up payments into installments are increasingly popular, especially among young and low-to-middle income shoppers. But now the FICO credit scoring company will be tracking that debt.