Alex Goldmark is the senior producer of Note to Self, a storytelling show about how technology is changing society. Subscribe here to get Note to Self shows delivered right to your devices. Follow him on Twitter @alexgoldmark.
He covers how technology is changing the way we live and work without getting all obsessed by the gadgets and gizmos. Previously his reporting focused on sustainable transportation from bike lane planning to high-speed rail. He is an occasional contributor on business and social impact stories for Marketplace and NPR News programs as well as magazines like GOOD and Fast Company. He is a visiting assistant professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @alexgoldmark.
Alex Goldmark appears in the following:
Govt 1: Why Are Some Countries Rich and Some Countries Poor? (Institutions)
Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Government. The Big G. We like to imagine the free market and the invisible hand as being independent from political influence. But Nobel laureate, Simon Johnson, says that influence has been there since the birth of economics. Call it political economy. Call it government and business. Call it our big topic each Wednesday through Labor Day.
We're kicking off another semester of Planet Money Summer School asking the biggest question: Why are some nations rich and others poor? With stories from India, New York City and Peru, we look at the ways in which government bureaucracy can help make or break an economy.
Tickets for Planet Money Live at the Bell House available here
Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Go to Plus.npr.org to sign up, if you haven't already, and listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the discount code.
The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford and Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Neal Rausch.
Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
We're kicking off another semester of Planet Money Summer School asking the biggest question: Why are some nations rich and others poor? With stories from India, New York City and Peru, we look at the ways in which government bureaucracy can help make or break an economy.
Tickets for Planet Money Live at the Bell House available here
Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Go to Plus.npr.org to sign up, if you haven't already, and listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the discount code.
The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford and Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Neal Rausch.
Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Malthusian Swerve
Friday, March 28, 2025
Earth can sustain life for another 100 million years, but can we?
Episode 897: New Orleans Vs. Airbnb
Thursday, February 28, 2019
New Orleans has become a battleground for Airbnb. Preservationists want to save the city. Landlords want to open it up. Can either win without destroying the other?
Episode 887: You Asked For It, Yet Again
Friday, January 11, 2019
On today's show we answer questions about silver dollars, Venmo, and Brexit. Why? Because you asked!
Episode 884: The Rest Of The Story, Winter 2018
Friday, December 28, 2018
We check in on some stories we did this year to find all kinds of updates.
Episode 877: The Laws Of The Office
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Parkinson's Law says work expands to fill the time allotted. Goodhart's Law says you get what you measure. Has anyone ever tested these laws of the modern workplace?
The Odds Of Winning The Lottery Are Not Good, But This Man Managed To Flip Them
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Buying a lottery ticket is a bad deal. The odds are against you, even with a giant pot. But there was one time someone figured out how to flip the odds in his favor by buying all the tickets.
Episode 676: The First Lottery & How To Beat The Odds
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
The first lottery was a royal affair with poems, golden flatware and invited criminals. Also, how someone won the lottery over and over.
Episode 870: Trump vs. Red Tape
Friday, October 19, 2018
President Trump promised to slash regulations. How has he done?
Episode 866: Modern Monetary Theory
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
We rethink everything we know about government spending, taxes, the nature of money... All of it.
For Our 10th Anniversary, Episode #1
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
In honor of our 10th anniversary, we revisit our very first episode.
Episode 856: Yes In My Backyard
Friday, July 27, 2018
There's a simple way to solve the housing crisis in U.S. cities. Only problem is, almost everybody hates it.
Episode 851: The Rest Of The Story Summer 2018
Friday, June 29, 2018
A pesticide wreaks havoc. A listener needs a bitcoin detective. And the search for the rarest economic good continues.
Episode 844: Nice Game
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
In game theory, sometimes the best way to win, is to lose.
Episode 835: Tariffied
Friday, April 13, 2018
We're in a full-fledged trade war with China. We dig into the list of Chinese tariffs on American products. It gets weird...and delicious.
Episode 786: Rest of the Story 2017, Vol. 1
Friday, July 28, 2017
News moves fast. Some of our best stories from this year have new chapters. Here, we catch up on three: Dirty trademarks, trading bots, and the war against the bald eagle.
Trading Bot BOTUS Will Buy And Sell Stock Based On Trump's Tweets
Friday, April 14, 2017
Planet Money built a stock trading Twitter bot. The big puzzle is figuring out which company to buy or sell, and how to get a computer to tell the difference between Apple the company and the fruit.
Using 'Sentiment Analysis' To Understand Trump's Tweets
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Planet Money tries to make a program that reads Donald Trump's tweets and then trades stocks. The first step is training the program to interpret the tweets using something called sentiment analysis.
As Computer Programs Choose To Buy Or Sell, Wall Street Looks To Data
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Big investment firms on Wall Street are replacing human stock pickers with computer programs. That has created a big demand for data to feed into the computer programs.
Episode 763: BOTUS
Friday, April 07, 2017
On today's show, we get in on the future of investing. We build an automated stock-trading bot. It analyzes the twitter feed of President Donald Trump, then trades stocks with real money. Our money.
