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Episode 565: The Story Of Alibaba

Silvia and Peepers, two of Shawn Hector's chickens, before their untimely demise.
Cassandra Seebaum
Silvia and Peepers, two of Shawn Hector's chickens, before their untimely demise.

A massive Chinese company, Alibaba, is about to have what could be the biggest initial public offering on ever on planet earth.

You can think of Alibaba like Amazon or Ebay, except you can buy way more on Alibaba — you can get a used 747 airplane, or an oil tanker, or 500 million tiny screws.

Today on the show: the company that made it possible for anyone anywhere to build almost anything they want. What that company means for China, for the rest of us and for some chickens in California.

Music: Real Estate's "Talking Backwards." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr. Download the Planet Money iPhone App.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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