David Kestenbaum
David Kestenbaum is a correspondent for NPR, covering science, energy issues and, most recently, the global economy for NPR's multimedia project Planet Money. David has been a science correspondent for NPR since 1999. He came to journalism the usual way — by getting a Ph.D. in physics first.
In his years at NPR, David has covered science's discoveries and its darker side, including the Northeast blackout, the anthrax attacks and the collapse of the New Orleans levees. He has also reported on energy issues, particularly nuclear and climate change.
David has won awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
David worked briefly on the show This American Life, and set up a radio journalism program in Cambodia on a Fulbright fellowship. He also teaches a journalism class at Johns Hopkins University.
David holds a bachelor's of science degree in physics from Yale University and a doctorate in physics from Harvard University.
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement has been hashed out line-by-line. All 6,000 pages of it. It will set the rules for roughly one-third of world trade. It has precise requirements for tariffs, quotas and subsidies for all manner of goods. But there's one huge secret tariff that isn't included: currency manipulation.
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The Planet Money team explains how to make $3 trillion disappear, which is what the Federal Reserve will be trying to do. It created the money after the financial crisis to try to help the economy and lower interest rates. But now that the economy is improving the money could eventually create inflation or cause bubbles.
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We shop around when we get a plane ticket or buy a couch. But we spend thousands of dollars on health care without comparing prices. What happens when you pay patients to choose the cheaper option?
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The original chocolate sandwich cookie was discontinued in '99. Ellia Kassoff, who grew up with Hydrox and wanted to bring it back, learned that if someone isn't using a trademark, it's up for grabs.
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Economic news coming out of China often rattles or rallies global markets. But how reliable is that news? It turns out basic measures like Gross National Product may be far from accurate.
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Some people write a squiggle. Others just write an initial. Our Planet Money team takes a look at the history of the signature. (This piece initially aired on Sept. 14, 2014 on All Things Considered).
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You can spend millions on lobbyists or ads to influence the presidential election, but it is mostly illegal to bet on who will win the White House. But centuries ago, people bet on the papal election.
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Planet Money put a picture of a cow on the Internet and asked how much it weighed. The idea was to understand the phenomenon that drives everything from the stock market to orange juice prices.
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The economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that his grandkids would work just 15 hours a week. He imagined by now, we would basically work Monday and Tuesday, and then have a five-day weekend. His family's grandkids help explain why he was so wrong.
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Some casinos are switching out slot machines for games of skill. This story originally aired on April 29, 2015, on All Things Considered.