Nate Hegyi

It's ... Indicators of the Week! It's that time of week where we look at the most intriguing indicators from this last week of economic and business news. On today's episode: NHPR's Nate Hegyi, host of the podcast Outside/In, joins us to talk natural disaster loans, election prediction markets and ... potato chips? Related Episodes: What's with all the tiny soda cans? And other grocery store mysteries, solved. A market to bet on the future For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

A recent survey found that nearly half of all Americans say they could not live without GPS in their car. The American economy couldn't live without GPS, either! Clocks on Wall Street, commercial fishermen, and of course, your Lyft driver, all rely on satellite navigation services. An outage in those services, however, would cripple the U.S. economy. A study found that an outage could cost at least $1 billion a day ... and we don't have a backup. Today on the show, we explain who owns GPS and why we don't have a Plan B if it fails. Related Episodes:The Military Industry ... It's Complex Why the FTC is cracking down on location data brokers For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

A temporary boost in pay for wildland firefighters is set to expire in October. Some say they'll quit if Congress doesn't act to make it permanent.

As the movie Oppenheimer plays in theaters across the country, families affected by fallout from atomic testing in New Mexico are pushing Congress for compensation.

As the movie "Oppenheimer" plays in theaters across the country, families affected by fallout from atomic testing in New Mexico are pushing Congress for compensation.

Last year saw the most deaths and attempted suicides at federal Bureau of Indian Affairs jails since 2016. The Bureau promised reforms after NPR reporting found a pattern of misconduct in its jails.

At least four inmates died and 46 others attempted suicide from July 2021 through June 2022, according to a new report. It is the most yearly deaths and attempted suicides recorded since 2016.

The jails program has come under fire for numerous deaths. NPR and Mountain West found a previous review was managed by a retired official who oversaw the facilities when some of the deaths occurred.

Wildland firefighters will soon see big increases in pay and other benefits from the infrastructure bill. But firefighters are split on whether the changes are enough to keep them on the job.

At least 10 hospitals in the state started rationing care for everyone because they're filled with COVID-19 patients. But there's deep distrust of authority.