Tagged: Planet Money Podcast

We recently received an email from a listener about our show, An FBI Hostage Negotiator Buys A Car.

In that show, Cathy Tinsley of Georgetown University told a story about negotiating to buy pumpkins in a market in Africa.

The listener wrote:

Subject: Credibility issue w/ French pumpkin story

And here's a letter from a listener who heard our recent show, A Billion-Dollar Bet Against Weight-Loss Shakes.

Hi Planet Money,

Today on the podcast, the story of one of the most destructive and mysterious food shortages in recent memory. Colbert described it on his Threatdown segment:

The global food shortage is finally becoming an important story, because now it is affecting me. Costco and Sam's Club are now both rationing rice. You can't buy more than 80 pounds in a single visit. How am I supposed to make my famous kiddie pool paella?!?

Herbalife, a company that sells weight loss shakes, vitamins and other similar products, is worth billions of dollars. The company has been around for more than 30 years, and it's traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bill Ackman thinks the whole thing is a pyramid scheme.Not surprisingly, Herbalife disagrees.