It's come to this: Human certification in the age of AI slop

Obsession, the most fun job in China, and a new green card policy

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: China’s baaaaad job market has led to an interest in becoming a shepherd [https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/job-ad-shepherds-goes-viral-china-exposing-labour-market-strains-2026-05-27/], a young YouTuber strikes Hollywood gold, and the Trump administration's new green card policy is telling immigrants to 'go home.' Fact checking by Vito Emanuel.  Your Next Listen  — We're about to lose a lot of foreign STEM workers [https://lnk.to/e6JDrOWE] Connect with The Indicator — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter [https://npr.org/indicatornewsletter]  — Find our socials, YouTube and more [https://linktr.ee/indicator_npr]! — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ [https://plus.npr.org/]  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. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Saudi’s LIV golf exit is just the start

Is Saudi Arabia no longer a golf state? The Saudi sovereign wealth fund poured billions into culture and sports in the last decade, none more high profile than LIV Golf, a rival to the PGA. So why is it reversing course now? Fact checking by Vito Emanuel.  Your Next Listen  — Why Saudi Arabia is building a new city in the desert [http://lnk.to/IRHXVU]  Connect with The Indicator  — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter [https://npr.org/indicatornewsletter]  — Find our socials, YouTube and more [https://linktr.ee/indicator_npr]!  — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ [https://plus.npr.org/]  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. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

What the movies teach us about recessions, memestocks and gold

The Indicator hosts Adrian Ma and Wailin Wong discuss their favorite econ and business movies. Fact checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez]. Your Next Listen  —Before La La Land, there was Fort Lee, New Jersey [https://lnk.to/jwrwWkWE] Connect with The Indicator — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter [https://npr.org/indicatornewsletter] — Find our socials, YouTube and more [https://linktr.ee/indicator_npr]! — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ [https://plus.npr.org/] 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. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Who’s behind that shell company? We may never know

Why is a law to reign in shell companies getting shelved by the Trump administration? The Corporate Transparency Act had bipartisan support, until it didn’t. We explain what the law was designed to do and why it’s on life support. Fact checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez].  Your Next Listen  — We set up a shell company [https://lnk.to/e6tjLVWE]  Connect with The Indicator  — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter [https://npr.org/indicatornewsletter]  — Find our socials, YouTube and more [https://linktr.ee/indicator_npr]!  — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ [https://plus.npr.org/] 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. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Game of 'roids, trader Trump, and searching for Shakira's tax residence

Diving deep into President Trump’s many stock trades [https://popular.info/p/the-smoking-guns-in-trumps-new-financial], a peptide business posing as a sporting event and a new breakthrough in Shakira’s ongoing tax drama. Fact checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez].  Your Next Listen  — Trump crypto, Trump ballroom and Trump drones [http://lnk.to/3a4COl] Connect with The Indicator — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter [https://npr.org/indicatornewsletter]  — Find our socials, YouTube and more [https://linktr.ee/indicator_npr]! — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ [https://plus.npr.org/] 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. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]