TED Radio Hour

After today's show, you'll be ready to design a tax on marijuana, pick a law school, and explain centuries of inequality — and the hottest book in economics — without having to read a page. For more on these stories, see: * What's The Best Way To Tax Marijuana? It Depends On What You Want * Comparing Law School Rankings? Read The Fine Print * Mystery Of Mounting Inequality Might Find Answer In Brand-New Tome

People love to complain about their internet service, but the thing that seems to make people the craziest is they can't switch. No matter how slow. No matter how bad the customer service. There isn't much choice. But, this isn't true for people in lots of other countries. In Europe, in parts of Asia, there is a real choice of who brings your internet to you. Today on the show: Why do Americans have so few options when buying internet service? Where's my internet jetpack?

Note: Today's show is a re-run. It originally ran in February, 2013. For the first time in a while, there's political momentum building to change the U.S. immigration system...

On today's show: Three Planet Money stories that aired on the radio but haven't yet made it into the show. For more on these stories check out: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays? and Does Raising The Minimum Wage Kill Jobs?

For the past few years, life in Greece has been like that movie Groundhog Day. Every year, it's been the same thing over and over. The official statistics come out, and the news is bad. The economy shrank this year, the economy shrank this year, the economy shrank this year.  But this year, things might be different.* The official forecasts are that the amazing shrinking economy will finally stop shrinking...

There are reportedly tens of thousands of Russian troops on the Eastern Ukrainian border. The Russians have already taken control of the Crimean Peninsula; what was once Ukraine is now Russia. But, the United States and the rest of Europe refuse to recognize this. There might be an actual war soon, but not this week. For now, the battle is financial. On today's episode: how to use money as a weapon. Can you stop one of the biggest militaries in the world with sanctions?

We all know how lousy a recession feels. And we know how much long-term damage a recession can cause.   But there's still a lot we don't know about recessions — like, if you're in a recession, what's the best way to get out?   Today, we tackle the question of how to escape a recession, by going small. Economist Tim Harford walks us through two tiny self-contained economies, a babysitting co-op and a prisoner of war camp, facing what he calls "toy recessions."

Note: Today's show is a re-run. It originally ran in February, 2013.   In survey after survey, people rank buying a car as one of their least favorite experiences...

If you want to send a bunch of oranges by truck from Florida to Baltimore, no one cares who made the truck. Or if you want to fly computer chips across the country, it's fine if the plane is made in France. But if you want send cargo by ship, there's a law that the ship has to be American made. Here's why: a 90-year-old law, called the Jones Act...

On today's show, how a policy that made natural gas very cheap for every household in Ukraine almost bankrupted the nation. And how that led, in part, to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.