David Kestenbaum
David Kestenbaum is a correspondent for NPR, covering science, energy issues and, most recently, the global economy for NPR's multimedia project Planet Money. David has been a science correspondent for NPR since 1999. He came to journalism the usual way — by getting a Ph.D. in physics first.
In his years at NPR, David has covered science's discoveries and its darker side, including the Northeast blackout, the anthrax attacks and the collapse of the New Orleans levees. He has also reported on energy issues, particularly nuclear and climate change.
David has won awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
David worked briefly on the show This American Life, and set up a radio journalism program in Cambodia on a Fulbright fellowship. He also teaches a journalism class at Johns Hopkins University.
David holds a bachelor's of science degree in physics from Yale University and a doctorate in physics from Harvard University.
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The government is getting $100 billion this year, essentially from nowhere. It is the profit made by the Federal Reserve. The Fed is in charge of managing how many dollars are in the economy. It turns out to be a very profitable business, especially since the financial crisis, when the Fed threw an extra $3 trillion into the economy.
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Two years ago, in January 2013, oil was about $100 dollars a barrel. At that time, towns near new oil fields expanded rapidly, filling up with workers and overflowing revenue. But how are those towns doing now that oil is worth about half what it was then? The Planet Money team checks in with oil workers and residents in Williston, N.D.
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A group of cancer doctors is trying to create a database on cancer drugs. It would give a score for each drug, reflecting how well the drug works. It would also list how much the drug costs.
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Greece is on the verge of an economic nightmare scenario of the modern world. The financial plumbing in Greece is starting to shut down, and the Planet Money podcast finds out the widespread and weird effects.
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Some casinos are trying to attract players by switching out games based on luck for games relying on skill. This story originally aired on All Things Considered on April 29, 2015.
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Some casinos are trying a new strategy to attract players. They're switching out games based on luck for games of skill. NPR's Planet Money goes to Atlantic City to try one of these experiments.
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NPR's Planet Money profiles a Hungarian immigrant who pioneered computerized trading. Thomas Peterffy struggled for years and experimented with many techniques, including a typing robot.
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Economics jokes can be hard enough to understand, let alone laugh at. NPR's Planet Money team recently tried some of its own jokes out on a live audience at a small comedy club in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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For most of U.S. history, there was no minimum wage. Politicians passed laws tiptoeing toward one. But the Supreme Court struck those laws down. We look at how the U.S. finally got a minimum wage.
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David Kestenbaum of NPR's Planet Money tells the story of the first stock ever shorted. It's a tale of intrigue, lies, sabotage and a life of exile.