The Indicator from Planet Money

It’s … Indicators of the…Eek! (Indicators of the Week.) Our regular look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.  On today’s episode: How cell phone bans in schools <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w34388"target="_blank" >affect grades</a>, white collar workers <a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2025/aug/is-ai-contributing-unemployment-evidence-occupational-variation"target="_blank" >get the axe</a>, and AHHH! <a href="https://tcf.org/content/commentary/tricks-treats-and-tariffs-how-trump-is-making-halloween-more-expensive/"target="_blank" >Halloween candy inflation</a>!  Related episodes:  <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/29/1050569215/are-you-afraid-of-inflation"target="_blank" >Are you afraid of inflation?</a>  <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/30/1197956399/scary-economics-dark-pools-zombie-companies"target="_blank" >A finance fright fest</a>  For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Corey Bridges. Music by <a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/"target="_blank" >Drop Electric</a>. Find us: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney"target="_blank" >TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/"target="_blank" >Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney"target="_blank" >Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money"target="_blank" >Newsletter</a>.   To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

A school cellphone ban study, white collar jobs wither, and spooky candy prices

When AI is your job interviewer


It’s … Indicators of the…Eek! (Indicators of the Week.) Our regular look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. On today’s episode: How

Companies are starting to use AI to interview potential employees. Sound creepy? Well, a new study suggests it might not be all bad.. Today on the show, we look at why a job interview with AI might be preferable to one with a human. And Adrian gets grilled by an AI job recruiter named “Anna.”  Related episodes:  <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/08/1197958787/ai-jobs-friday"target="_blank" >AI creates, transforms and destroys … jobs </a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/06/nx-s1-5561881/fighting-ai-with-ai"target="_blank" >Fighting AI with AI</a>  For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>. Fact-checking by <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez"target="_blank" >Sierra Juarez</a>. Music by <a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/"target="_blank" >Drop Electric</a>. Find us: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney"target="_blank" >TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/"target="_blank" >Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney"target="_blank" >Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money"target="_blank" >Newsletter</a>.  To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>