Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly
About the Podcast
At this time, Make Me Smart’s episodes are focusing on the topic of COVID-19. Because none of us is as smart as all of us. Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly is a podcast about the economy, technology and culture. Marketplace hosts Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood use their expertise to connect the dots on the topics they know best, and get help from listeners and experts about the ones they want to know better. Listen to new episodes every Tuesday. Join the conversation each week as Kai and Molly take your questions on Facebook Live on Mondays at Noon Pacific.
About the Host
Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood
Kai Ryssdal is the host and senior editor of Marketplace, the most widely heard program on business and the economy — radio or television, commercial or public broadcasting — in the country. Since joining the flagship Marketplace broadcast in 2005, Kai has hosted the program from China, the Middle East, and dozens of cities — big and small — across the United States. Kai speaks regularly with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, startup entrepreneurs, small business owners, and everyday participants in the American and global economies. He’s also interviewed President Obama four times. Kai first came to Marketplace in 2001 as the host of Marketplace Morning Report, where he covered the economic aftermath of the September 11th attacks, the collapse of Enron, and the slow buildup to the housing crash, the financial crisis, and the Great Recession. Kai’s one and only big-time journalism award was, as it happens, for television: a 2012 Emmy for investigative journalism on a PBS FRONTLINE documentary about money in politics, called Big Sky, Big Money. He has appeared often on CNN, CNBC and CBS News. His written work has been featured in The New York Times and The Atlantic. Before his career in broadcasting, Kai spent eight years in the United States Navy, flying from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt and, later, with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. He also served in the United States Foreign Service, with postings to Ottawa, Canada and Beijing, China. Kai is a graduate of Emory University and Georgetown University. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.
Molly Wood is Marketplace's Senior Tech Correspondent and fill-in host. Molly’s experience covering technology spans all media — print, online and broadcast. Before officially joining Marketplace in 2015, she was a tech columnist at The New York Times and a frequent contributor to Marketplace Tech. Previously, she launched the CNET podcast Buzz Out Loud, which was one of the early successes in podcasting and which fans still celebrate today. In the web video space, she created and executive produced a broadcast-quality tech show: Always On with Molly Wood. The ambitious series ultimately shot episodes all over the world. A native Montanan, Molly is now based in the Bay Area so that she can contribute her passion and knowledge of all things tech for Marketplace.
Additional Information
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