Robert Smith and Jacob Goldstein were making podcasts before it was cool, and they’re still making podcasts now that it’s not cool anymore.
They spent years hosting Planet Money together. Then Robert left to get an MBA and teach at Columbia, and Jacob went off to make business podcasts at Pushkin Industries. They stayed friends, meeting up bi-quarterly to walk around New York City, eat Chinese food, and talk about monetary policy.
They just started a new podcast together. It’s called Business History. It’s a show about the history of (wait for it) business. Every week, Robert and Jacob tell each other stories about the best and worst people, ideas, and companies in history.
Early episodes include: How Southwest airlines used whisky and cheap seats to fight its way into the airline business; Thomas Edison’s most underrated invention; and How Warren Buffett became Uncle Warren.
Planet Money
Where we started making podcasts. Still a great place to hear surprising, well-told stories about the economy.
Odd Lots
Want an hour on how the lumber market works? An interview with a guy who’s building a market where GPUs will trade like oil? This is your show. Hosted by a pair of smart, charming market nerds at Bloomberg News.
Money Stuff
Matt Levine’s Money Stuff newsletter is the best finance newsletter, and maybe the best newsletter. Matt is a former lawyer and banker who has said he wants to write about finance the way art critics write about art. This is the podcast version, with Matt and a co-host.
60 Songs That Explain the ’90s
The host, Rob Harvila, is a brilliant writer who understands that music is life. What I’m saying is this is a great show even if you don’t care about songs, or about the ‘90s. The first half of each episode is a monologue from Rob. This is the main attraction – funny, poignant, surprising. The second half is an interview, which is fine but also fine to skip.
Conversations With Tyler
Tyler Cowen is an economist by training but a public intellectual by vocation. He is absurdly erudite, and he delights in learning. He talks to whoever he wants to about whatever he wants to. One week, it’s Emily Wilson discussing Homer’s Odyssey; another it’s Lazarus Lake, who created a 100-mile wilderness race that only 17 people have ever finished.
What’s Your Problem?
Jacob’s other show! Interviews with engineers and entrepreneurs trying to solve hard, important problems at scale. How do you turn solar energy into clean fuel? What does it take to use sound waves to destroy tumors? Is it possible to have clean public toilets?
The Rest is History
Two historians telling compelling stories at great length. Ten episodes on the Norman Conquest of 1066 never sounded so good.
Acquired
Deep, deep dives into businesses that are household names. Check out the Costco episode. It’s two hours and 59 minutes long and the climax is explaining how Costco manages its cashflow. It will forever change the way you look at a 30-pack of toilet paper.
The Indicator from Planet Money
Smart, funny stories about economics in less than ten minutes everyday. This podcast does a great job of answering the questions you have about the news of the day, plus questions you never thought of. Robert has a regular gig on this show giving out prizes for the best economic anecdote in the Fed’s Beige Book. Jacob was the original creator of the program.
Bloomberg Surveillance
Robert’s secret pleasure is to listen to this show every morning on the AM radio. If that’s too retro for you, the podcast version works just as well. Tom Keene and pals ask smart questions about how economics is shaping the world and the latest on how businesses are reacting. It’s how you can get your daily news without all the doom and anxiety.
About the curators:
Jacob Goldstein spent more than a decade as co-host of the Planet Money podcast. He’s also the author of the book Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing, which the New York Times called “a history of currency full of astonishing tales you might tell a friend in the pub.” Jacob’s interest in technology and the changing nature of work has led him to stories on UPS, the Luddites and the history of light. His aversion to paying retail has led him to stories on Costco, Spirit Airlines, and index funds. Before discovering podcasts, Jacob worked as a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. He has done stories for the New York Times Magazine, This American Life, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has a bachelor’s degree in English from Stanford and a master’s in journalism from Columbia.
Robert Smith is a Professor of Journalism at Columbia University and contributing host of NPR’s Planet Money where he tells stories about how the global economy is affecting our lives. His work on Planet Money has been recognized with most of the major honors in audio journalism including the Peabody, duPont-Columbia, Loeb, and Edward R. Murrow awards. Smith helps train the next generation of reporters as Director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economic and Business Journalism. Before joining Planet Money, Smith was the New York Correspondent for NPR. He was responsible for covering all the mayhem and beauty that makes it the greatest city on Earth. Smith reported on the rebuilding of Ground Zero, the stunning landing of US Air flight 1549 in the Hudson River and the dysfunctional world of New York politics.
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