Nick Fountain
Nick Fountain produces and reports for Planet Money. Since he joined the team in 2015, he's reported stories on pears, black pepper, ice cream, chicken, and hot dogs (twice). Come to think of it, he reports on food a whole lot. But he's also driven the world's longest yard sale, uncovered the secretive group that controls international mail, and told the story of a crazy patent scheme that involved an acting Attorney General.
Before this job, he worked at NPR's Morning Edition as a producer and director. The hours were terrible, but the work was fun: He produced interviews with world leaders, witnesses to history, musicians, authors, and directors. He also chose the music that went between stories and directed the live show. He's reported from Haiti, Mexico, and the U.K. Before NPR, he worked at WBUR Boston, KQED San Francisco, KUSP Santa Cruz, a farmers market, a fancy cabinet shop, and a baseball stadium. He's the reigning world champion of Belt Sander Racing. He's glad you asked.
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President Trump recently signed an executive order targeting large institutional investors that buy up homes. But in some circumstances, those large investors have led to more housing affordability.
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In 2008, Chicago's mayor decided to lease out the city's metered parking system — to privatize all 36,000 of its parking meters.
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Even after the shutdown ends, SNAP will be at risk as states start to pay for a portion of the program for the first time. Their share will depend on an obscure stat -- the payment error rate.
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Before people who lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires can rebuild, they need money. But how does an insurance company figure what a house is worth when there's nothing left standing?
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Table saws are dangerous. An inventor came up with a device that could make them much, much safer, but it sparked a decades long fight over the tradeoff of costs and safety. How to balance the two?
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The Planet Money team explains economic terms that are likely to come up in the Harris-Trump presidential debate, and they invites listeners to play debate bingo at npr.org/bingo.
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Not too long ago, the FBI tried running a smartphone company. Their phones were specifically for criminals, and to snoop on them. It was the largest sting operation ever.
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There's a bipartisan effort to close a loophole that allows cross-border e-commerce companies like Temu to avoid paying import taxes.
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When unwanted gifts are returned, they often don't go back to the original seller. We get a behind-the-scenes look at two women who make a living off of returned merchandise.
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The United Auto Workers union is showing the power of surprise as they threaten future strikes. That tactic was pioneered by a different union. Flight attendants.