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Gambling with Memes
Atsuko Sato

Up First from NPR

Gambling with Memes

What do Moo Deng the pygmy hippo, social media sensation Hawk Tuah, and the President of the United States all have in common? They've all inspired highly valuable, highly volatile memecoins. The memecoin began as a sort of joke cryptocurrency, but it soon became very real.

Gambling with Memes

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Demonstrators rally against Tesla CEO Elon Musk during a "Tesla Takedown" protest outside a Tesla Store in New York City on Saturday.

Demonstrators rally against Tesla CEO Elon Musk during a "Tesla Takedown" protest outside a Tesla store in New York City on Saturday. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

National

From Seattle to Miami, anti-Musk protesters gather at hundreds of Tesla locations

At a rally in Los Angeles, 65-year-old Phil Ansell said he wanted to participate because "I want to do everything possible to protect democracy in this country."

As a special adviser to President Trump, Kari Lake is overseeing the dismantling of federally funded networks that broadcast overseas. Federal judges have issued restraining orders blocking her from further actions against Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

As a special adviser to President Trump, Kari Lake is overseeing the dismantling of federally funded networks that broadcast overseas. Federal judges have issued restraining orders blocking her from further actions against Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Media

Judicial rulings block Kari Lake's drive to shutter Voice of America

Trump senior adviser Kari Lake is regrouping after U.S. judges blocked her from taking further actions against the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Demonstrators raise signs at a rally to protest the closing of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the work-from-home order issued by CFPB Director Russell Vought outside its headquarters last month in Washington, D.C.

Demonstrators raise signs at a rally to protest the closing of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last month in Washington, D.C. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn/Getty Images North America

Your Money

Federal judge prevents Trump administration from dismantling CFPB

The temporary injunction issued by Judge Berman Jackson seeks to preserve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a lawsuit filed by the agency's union proceeds.

PM x Radiolab: Can the economy grow forever?
Jared Bartman/Radiolab

Planet Money

PM x Radiolab: Can the economy grow forever?

Earth can sustain life for another 100 million years, but can we? This episode, we partner with Radiolab to take stock of the essential raw materials that enable us to live as we do here on Earth — everything from sand to copper to oil — and tally up how much we have left. Are we living with reckless abandon? And if so, is there even a way to stop? A simultaneously terrifying and delightful conversation about bird poop, daredevil drivers, and some staggering back-of-the-envelope math.

PM x Radiolab: Can the economy grow forever?

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Protesters hold signs in solidarity with the American Federation of Government Employees at a March 4 rally in support of federal workers at the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C.

Protesters hold signs in solidarity with the American Federation of Government Employees at a March 4 rally in support of federal workers at the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C. Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

Politics

Trump signs order ending union bargaining rights for wide swaths of federal employees

President Trump's new executive order ends collective bargaining for wide swaths of federal employees, as part of his broader campaign to reshape the government's workforce. Unions are vowing to sue.

Trump ends federal employee union rights

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A sign on a refrigerated display case of eggs in a grocery store in Hailey, Idaho, advertises the price of $3.98 for 1.5 dozen cage-free medium eggs, compared to $13.39 elsewhere.

Signs in a grocery store in Hailey, Idaho, tout the price of eggs compared to competitors. Egg prices have risen during the fight against bird flu — and U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its agents are intercepting more eggs at the border, as people try to bring them in without authorization. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

National

U.S. sees large rise in border seizures of eggs, while fentanyl rate falls

President Trump cites risks from fentanyl to justify tariffs on Canada and Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says interceptions of eggs are way up, compared to 63 fentanyl cases last month.

Missing taxes, spiking copper and Napster's re-re-rebirth
Thomas Lohnes/DDP/AFP via Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Missing taxes, spiking copper and Napster's re-re-rebirth

On Indicators of the Week, we look at a huge projected tax shortfall, the price of copper and the afterlife of Napster, the peer-to-peer file-sharing service that refuses to die.

Missing taxes, spiking copper and Napster's re-re-rebirth

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President Trump, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, listen to a question from a reporter during a meeting in the Oval Office on March 13, 2025. Waltz, Vance, Hegseth and other top Trump officials were on a text thread together on the messaging app Signal discussing military plans to strike Yemen when Waltz inadvertently added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the

President Trump, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, listen to a question from a reporter during a meeting in the Oval Office on March 13, 2025. Waltz, Vance, Hegseth and other top Trump officials were on a text thread together on the messaging app Signal discussing military plans to strike Yemen when Waltz inadvertently added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the group. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption

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Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Politics

How pro-Trump media is covering the Signal leak

Some prominent conservative media figures suggested that adding a prominent journalist to the group chat was evidence of the "deep state" though others said it was a security breach.

How right-wing media is covering the Signal group chat controversy

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The U.S. Department of Labor building on March 26, 2020, in Washington, D,C. A federal contracting watchdog within the Department of Labor will now be headed by a lawyer who previously represented SpaceX.

The U.S. Department of Labor building on March 26, 2020, in Washington, D,C. A federal contracting watchdog within the Department of Labor will now be headed by a lawyer who previously represented SpaceX. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images

News

A lawyer who represented SpaceX looks to downsize federal contracting watchdog

The appointment of Catherine Eschbach could raise conflict-of-interest concerns. She will also lead the downsizing of an agency that holds contractors accountable to federal civil rights laws.

OFCCP Dismanting

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A crab makes its way across a densely packed field of ferromanganese nodules blanketing the seafloor.

Negotiators are hammering out rules to govern mining on the ocean floor, where critical metals are found in deposits called polymetallic nodules. Here, ferromanganese nodules in the North Atlantic. NOAA Ocean Exploration hide caption

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NOAA Ocean Exploration

Climate

The world has no rulebook for deep-sea mining. One company is pushing forward anyway

Countries have debated for decades whether to allow mining on the ocean floor, a potential trove of critical minerals. Now, a Canadian startup says it will move ahead, whether or not rules are in place.

There’s no rulebook for deep-sea mining. Companies want to push forward anyway

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How nonprofits get cash from your clunker
Sean Saldana

The Indicator from Planet Money

How nonprofits get cash from your clunker

Many nonprofits accept your used cars as a way to donate. This happens from Make-A-Wish America to Habitat for Humanity to ... public radio stations!

How nonprofits get cash from your clunker

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Jeep Wrangler 4Xe plug-in hybrids displayed on the sales lot at Hilltop Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Richmond, California.

Jeep Wrangler 4Xe plug-in hybrids displayed on the sales lot at Hilltop Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Richmond, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

EV buyers who missed out on their tax credits now have a fix from the IRS

Some car owners couldn't claim the EV tax credit for vehicles purchased in 2024 because dealers skipped a key sales reporting step. The IRS is now offering a fix.

Planet Money buys a mystery diamond

The Planet Money mystery diamond Sarah Gonzalez/Sarah Gonzalez hide caption

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Sarah Gonzalez/Sarah Gonzalez

Planet Money

Planet Money buys a mystery diamond

The deal seemed too good to be true. There's a website that's been selling top quality diamonds at bizarrely low prices. Prices we couldn't find at any retail outlet. Prices so low, we could buy a diamond on a public radio budget. So we did. What we got in the mail was a tiny ziploc bag containing a scintillating mystery.

Planet Money buys a mystery diamond

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