The Indicator from Planet Money

Tracing the tax that's supposed to fund TSA

Every time you buy a ticket that leaves a U.S. airport, you pay a fee that’s supposed to help fund the TSA. So why have TSA workers been working without pay? Today on the show, we explore the history behind an earmarked tax and its very personal impacts. Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour [https://tix.to/pm-book-tour].  Related episodes: Your next flight doesn't have to be so expensive. Here's why [https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5759714/your-next-flight-doesnt-have-to-be-so-expensive-heres-why]  How flying got so bad (or did it?) [https://www.npr.org/2024/07/05/1197960905/flying-airlines-deregulation-competition-unbundling]  For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org [http://plus.npr.org/]. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez]. Music by Drop Electric [https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/]. Find us: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney], Newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money].   To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Your next flight doesn't have to be so expensive. Here's why

Why are flight tickets so expensive right now? Increased oil prices seems like it’d be the obvious answer. That’s mostly right. Airlines used to do some financial magic to help keep airfare down as oil prices increased, a strategy called “fuel hedging.” But they stopped. And now fliers are on the hook for a lot of the difference.  On today’s show, the lost art of fuel hedging. How it worked, plus why airlines stopped doing it. Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour [https://tix.to/pm-book-tour].  Related episodes:  A lot of gas trapped, oil reserves tapped, and Live Nation gets a (tiny) cap [https://www.npr.org/2026/03/13/nx-s1-5746095/a-lot-of-gas-trapped-oil-reserves-tapped-and-live-nation-gets-a-tiny-cap] Will Trump’s shipping insurance plan work? [https://www.npr.org/2026/03/10/nx-s1-5742757/will-trumps-shipping-insurance-plan-work] Listener Questions: Airline tickets, grocery pricing and the Fed [https://www.npr.org/2023/01/03/1146826911/listener-questions-airline-tickets-grocery-pricing-and-the-fed] For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org [http://plus.npr.org/]. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez]. Music by Drop Electric [https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/]. Find us: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney], Newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Why hasn't the Russian economy collapsed?

How has Russia’s economy not completely collapsed after four years of war, sanctions and billions in debt? One economist says it is the war that has been propping up Russia's economy, not the other way around. He calls it smertonomika or death economics. On today’s show, six reasons why Russia’s economy is still chugging along despite burning money by the billions waging war on Ukraine. Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour [https://tix.to/pm-book-tour].  Related episodes:  How your favorite fish sticks might be funding Russia's war [https://www.npr.org/2026/02/26/nx-s1-5726855/how-your-favorite-fish-sticks-might-be-funding-russias-war] Who’s propping up Russian oil? [https://www.npr.org/2025/11/05/nx-s1-5596398/whos-propping-up-russian-oil] The economic war against Russia, a year later [https://www.npr.org/2023/02/24/1159453563/the-economic-war-against-russia-a-year-later] For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org [http://plus.npr.org/]. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez]. Music by Drop Electric [https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/]. Find us: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney], Newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

The multimillion dollar Saturday Night Live UK gamble

Live from London, it’s Saturday Night? Saturday Night Live made its UK debut over the weekend after a well-hyped promotional campaign. Will this all-American sketch show translate to British audiences? We examine SNL’s multi-million dollar gamble.  Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour [https://tix.to/pm-book-tour].  Related episodes:  Why Paramount went looney tunes for Warner Bros. [https://www.npr.org/2026/03/03/nx-s1-5732850/why-paramount-went-looney-tunes-for-warner-bros]   For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org [http://plus.npr.org/]. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez]. Music by Drop Electric [https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/]. Find us: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney], Newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money].   To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Trump and truckers, Poland prospers, and a booming ant biz

It’s Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@planetmoney]!). It’s our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.  On today’s episode: The Trump administration cracks down on immigrant truck drivers, Poland becomes a top-twenty economy, and the booming business of … ant smuggling?  Related episodes:  A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock [https://www.npr.org/2026/03/17/nx-s1-5749289/a-trucker-a-farmer-and-an-entrepreneur-walk-into-a-global-supply-shock]  You Could Always Go To Poland [https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2009/07/poland.html]  The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon [https://www.npr.org/2026/03/18/nx-s1-5751251/amazon-brazil-forest-fish-aquarium-trade]  For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org [http://plus.npr.org/]. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Vito Emanuel. Music by Drop Electric [https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/]. Find us: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney], Newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]