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 Fed created the money after the financial crisis to try to help the economy, but the money could eventually create inflation or cause bubbles. (This piece initially aired on Oct. 23, 2015 on ATC.)
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement has been hashed out line-by-line. All 6,000 pages of it. It will set the rules for roughly one-third of world trade. It has precise requirements for tariffs, quotas and subsidies for all manner of goods. But there's one huge secret tariff that isn't included: currency manipulation.
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Economic news coming out of China often rattles or rallies global markets. But how reliable is that news? It turns out basic measures like Gross National Product may be far from accurate.
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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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It's been 7 years since the financial crisis nearly took down the global economy. Our Planet Money team wondered what the next big mess might be, so they asked three economists for their thoughts.
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Machines have been taking jobs forever. Computers and software are doing things people were paid to do. They are booking airplane flights. Filing our taxes. And they are getting better all the time.
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When young people go to casinos, they aren't playing slot machines. Our Planet Money team talks to a man who thinks he can make slot machines that younger people will want to play.
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The online furniture company Wayfair is now one of the most shorted stocks. Our Planet Money team talks to its CEO about what it's like to be running a company when investors are betting on your fall.
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Looking at the list of the ten most shorted stocks out there can tell a lot about the economy and human nature. David Kestenbaum from our Planet Money podcast takes us through the list.
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Greece has been renegotiating its bailout deal with the European Union. The man guiding the country is new finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. A few years ago he was working for a video game company.