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.
Prior to coming to NPR, Smith worked for Marketplace, where she was a correspondent and fill-in host. While there, Smith was part of a collaboration with The New York Times, where she explored the relationship between money and marriage. She was also part of Marketplace's live shows, where she produced a series of pieces on getting her data mined.
Smith is a native of Idaho and grew up working on her parents' cattle ranch. She is a graduate of Princeton University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and creative writing. She also holds a master's in broadcast journalism from Columbia University.
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The average American adult spends four or five hours a day on their phone. Is there a line where that much phone time crosses into addiction? The Indicator from Planet Money asked an economist.
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COVID-19 has brought so much loss and hardship, but there was at least one pleasant surprise for Beijing - less hazy skies and air pollution.
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The U.S. just backed calls by South Africa and India to waive intellectual property protection for COVID-19 vaccines, but that may not be enough to ramp up vaccine production.
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The first doses of COVID-19 vaccines are being administered. Our Planet Money team delves into the dark web to learn more about the counterfeit vaccines that are being sold around the world.
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It seems everyone wants to develop a coronavirus vaccine. But vaccine development usually takes years. The White House is betting money can speed things up.
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The National Hockey League has resumed its season in two "bubbles" in Edmonton and Toronto, Canada. The league says it's administered 7,000 coronavirus tests to players, with zero positive cases. -
Dr. Paul Offit, who serves on the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory board, says he doesn't think an effective vaccine that's undergone adequate testing can be ready this year.
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Hospitals lost millions of dollars preparing for a surge of COVID-19 patients. Some were swamped, but others only saw a handful of coronavirus cases. Now many are struggling to survive.
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U.S. supermarket shelves are empty, and food banks across the country are besieged. So why are farmers dumping, destroying and giving away food?
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Rural hospitals already walk a scalpel's edge between solvency and collapse. The coronavirus outbreak threatens to push many of them over the brink.
