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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Chocolate is increasingly popular and under assault from diseases that infect cocoa plants. Scientists are working to find varieties that will resist diseases and keep the world's sweet tooth happy.
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The world is running out of chocolate. A scientist in Ecuador has come up with a solution. But if you love chocolate, you might not like it.
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Valentines Day is this one day when one product — a red rose — is worth two or three times more than it is at any other time of the year. If a florist catches that window, he's golden. But the process of getting the roses to is fraught with risk, middlemen, crazy expense and bad weather.
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Cattle theft has been making a major comeback. A drought in the West has meant higher beef prices, making cattle an attractive target for thieves.
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A Civil War-era law that encourages whistleblowers to turn in their employers has been successful at exposing corporate fraud.
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In most stores, you can see how much everything costs. Why do jewelry stores hide the price tags?