Darian Woods
Darian Woods is a reporter and producer for The Indicator from Planet Money. He blends economics, journalism, and an ear for audio to tell stories that explain the global economy. He's reported on the time the world got together and solved a climate crisis, vaccine intellectual property explained through cake baking, and how Kit Kat bars reveal hidden economic forces.
Before NPR, Woods worked as an adviser to the Secretary of the New Zealand Treasury. He has an honors degree in economics from the University of Canterbury and a Master of Public Policy from UC Berkeley.
-
Ah, college — the classes, the parties, the debt. Is it still worth it? While most schools have seen enrollment declines during the pandemic, there's been a jump in applications at "elite" schools.
-
20 million tons of grain are trapped in Ukraine because of a Russian blockade of its ports. Getting the grain out by rail or truck is proving to be a huge logistical challenge.
-
China has enforced strict regulations on its tech platforms over the past year. But this crackdown has sparked such instability in financial markets that the government may be having second thoughts.
-
Green energy, like wind or solar power, is one solution to fighting climate change. But sometimes it's environmental laws that get in the way of building the infrastructure to produce it.
-
Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick grew the company fast, but a venture capitalist wanted him out due to scandals. What ensued was a story about the tug-of-war between venture capital and founders in tech.
-
As Russia places troops on the Ukrainian border, there's a financial nuclear weapon that Europe and the U.S. can use: ban Russia from the system most banks use to transfer money internationally.
-
The shortest route to get a ship from Asia to the U.S. is through America's West Coast ports. But given the pileup there, some ships are going the long way through eastern Canada into the Great Lakes.
-
There's been a storm of debate about an old anti-inflation policy: price controls. So we dust off the history books to see what happened in World War II.
-
The vinyl record supply chain has always been a little fragile. But can it withstand the economic force that is Adele? She reportedly pressed over 500,000 vinyl records for her new album, 30.
-
In the Netflix hit series Squid Game, cash-strapped players compete in deadly children's games for money. NPR's podcast, The Indicator, looks at what the show reveals about debt and decision making.