Episode 839: The Indicator Goes To California

By Stacey Vanek Smith,

Cardiff Garcia

Published May 4, 2018 at 5:46 PM EDT

California is the largest U.S. state economy, and it's also one of the largest economies in the world. It's home to tons of agricultural production and to the country's biggest ports.

Last month, Planet Money's Indicator team went to California to take a look at the state's money-making and not-so-money-making industries. Today on the show: We visit a celery farm facing a labor drought, a metro station at the heart of the state's housing crisis, and the Port of Long Beach, where we may or may not hear a ship horn. (Spoiler: We do.)

Music: "Psyche Peacock" and "Big Shot." Additional music by Drop Electric.

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Stacey Vanek Smith

Stacey Vanek Smith is the co-host of NPR's The Indicator from Planet Money. She's also a correspondent for Planet Money, where she covers business and economics. In this role, Smith has followed economic stories down the muddy back roads of Oklahoma to buy 100 barrels of oil; she's traveled to Pune, India, to track down the man who pitched the country's dramatic currency devaluation to the prime minister; and she's spoken with a North Korean woman who made a small fortune smuggling artificial sweetener in from China.

See stories by Stacey Vanek Smith

Cardiff Garcia

Cardiff Garcia is a co-host of NPR's The Indicator from Planet Money podcast, along with Stacey Vanek Smith. He joined NPR in November 2017.

See stories by Cardiff Garcia