Mary in America

Mary Childs
  • 4.8 (56)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

Mary in America is a weekly conversation about how the machine of society works. Journalist and author Mary Childs jumps into the minds of the greatest, most interesting people who are shaping the world we live in, to understand the structures we build, the stories we tell, the games we play, and the choices we make. Why is it like that? Who made it that way? Should we change it? Can we?

  1. 2d ago

    They're Spying on You to Charge You More

    When we go to buy something – online, on our phones, in person, doesn't matter – there’s an entire invisible infrastructure behind whatever price we see. Companies have dedicated data scientists who use our zip codes, computer type, browsing history, cursor movements, SO much information, to determine how much they can charge us, how much we are willing to pay. On the consumer side, basically nobody likes it. So how did it get to this, and what can we do about it? In part it’s because our technological capabilities have advanced at a faster rate than our social structures, rules and laws. Stephanie Nguyen was Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission from 2021 to 2025, where she worked on cases against companies who were surveillance-pricing us unfairly. She unpacks how companies are spying on us, when that crosses a line, and what changes we’re starting to see as consumers fight back.   Further Reading: Surveillance Prices. Hidden Fees. Shifting Costs. This Madness Must Stop. - The New York Times "The Loyalty Trap: How Loyalty Programs Hook Us with Deals, Hack our Brains, and Hike Our Prices" by Samuel A.A. Levine and Stephanie T. Nguyen  “The Degradation of Prices: Platform Power, the Erosion of Price Comparison, and Rebuilding Comparison Shopping in the Digital Economy” by Stephanie T. Nguyen & Shaoul Sussman FTC’s complaint in its case against Amazon Maybe There Was an Egg Cartel After All - Politico (on price collusion)  Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

  2. Oct 15

    What's So Critical About These Minerals?

    Critical minerals and rare earths – special rocks – do everything from make our cars go to treat cancer. But the vast majority of production, processing, and manufacturing largely happens in or is controlled by China. For decades, we didn't think that was a problem. Plus, mines were dirty and dangerous and we preferred that they be located elsewhere. But in recent years, as global trade has turned from a tool of diplomacy to a weapon, we and every other country realized that it’s probably suboptimal to cede these literally-critical elements. Mining economist Gracelin Baskaran loves these rocks, and tells us what makes them so important, why the US was so lackadaisical about them, and what we’re doing about it now.   Further Reading & Listening: Planet Money - How to get what Greenland has, with permission Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

  3. Oct 8

    The Millionaires Hiding in Plain Sight

    Over a decade ago, Eric Zwick got assigned an unusual project at the U.S. Treasury: Find out how much tax businesses were paying. But the data was a mess, so Eric and two friends helped comb through it and, in doing so, got to build a topographic map of business activity and profitability in America. And it suddenly revealed a class of people who had been hard to see before: the “everywhere millionaires,” or the “stealthy wealthy.”  People who built an amazing amount of wealth selling things like cars, $5 electric toothbrushes, and seamless gutters. He tells us about these everywhere millionaires, the policies that helped them get so rich, and how this revelation helped reshape his understanding of the U.S.  Further Reading/Listening Owen Zidar & Eric Zwick - The Everywhere Millionaire Planet Money - My Favorite Tax Loophole Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

  4. Oct 1

    Min Jin Lee on Education, Grudges, and Her Current and Future Novels

    When novelist Min Jin Lee writes a book, she goes deep. She spends years researching, interviewing relevant people whose experiences and jobs will comprise her characters and plot. In her new book American Hagwon, she threw herself into the intense schooling and education systems, and extracted lessons that are sincerely useful, which she unpacks in this episode, including: a focus on achievement obscures the point of learning; community is how to survive; karma is real, just be patient; and how – unprompted! – it all goes back to bond markets.  Further reading/listening:Min Jin Lee: American Hagwon Min Jin Lee: Pachinko Planet Money: Economic fact in literary fiction   Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

  5. Sep 24

    Why Being Unpopular is Expensive for Countries

    Being a country’s central banker is a technical job. But, just like high school, if you are a popular central banker, it pays off. Aditi Sahasrabuddhe is a political scientist at Brown University, and has researched just how much it pays to be popular. It’s the kind of question that the field of economics largely neglects. Aditi looks at central-bank-likeability through the manifestation of swap lines, currency exchanges made available between two economies. These become especially important in a moment of crisis, and a close connection between central bankers can mean the difference between an economy that sinks and one that swims.  Further Reading: Aditi Sahasrabuddhe: Banker’s Trust Liaquat Ahamed: Lords of Finance Financial Times: Swap lines are geopolitical infrastructure Financial Times: A less independent Fed raises risks to a key crisis tool Financial Times: Will the Fed continue to assume its global responsibilities?   Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

  6. Sep 17

    Emily Oster Doesn't Mind the Haters

    Emily Oster is not a doctor. She’s an economics professor at Brown University, and for years she’s been applying her economics lens and ability to read studies and analyze data to help decode health research. Her conclusions sometimes produce runaway hits – as in Expecting Better, her book upending the “conventional pregnancy wisdom” – and at other times are wildly unpopular – as with her recommendation to re-open schools while the pandemic was still raging. Emily tells us about the gaps that open up as science progresses, and how people jump into those gaps with theories, political agendas, and grifts. We talk about why we tend to make health and science a political team sport, if we can learn to parse data ourselves, and how to practice living with uncertainty. Further reading: Expecting Better, by Emily Oster Schools Aren’t Super-Spreaders by Emily Oster The Safety Turducken by Emily Oster Can America’s Students Recover What They Lost During the Pandemic? by Alec MacGillis Transformative Experience by L. A. Paul The Rise of Female Autonomy and the Decline of Fertility: The Role of Mismatch, by Claudia Goldin Earthing the Human Body Influences Physiologic Processes   Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

  7. Sep 10

    The Bond Market Rules Everything Around Me/You/Us

    Bonds around the world have been selling off, kind of a lot. And that selloff has sent interest rates on government debt to or near their highest in decades— for US government debt, but also debt from the UK, Germany, France, Japan. What gives? We pulled in one of the people who buys and sells those bonds, Ed Al-Hussainy, at Columbia Threadneedle, which manages a lot of money for other people and institutions. Ed reads the market tea leaves for us about why this is happening, what it means for participants in the US economy, and how much we need to worry.  Further Reading: Harper’s: Debt Reckoning, by Mary Childs WSJ: The Bond Market Issues World Leaders a Failing Grade, by Greg Ip Goldman Sachs: Why Global Bond Yields Are Expected to Stay Elevated Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

  8. Sep 3

    Why do we love gold so much?

    Gold was on a tear in August. People, investors, and central banks around the world were buying more and more, in large part because it’s seen as a stable alternative to the dollar, or to any currency. But…why? Why gold? What makes it so special? Friend of the show Jacob Goldstein wrote a book called Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing, and he explains the real, physical reasons why we love gold so much, and the long history of our collective obsession. Further Reading Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing, by Jacob Goldstein ThePollenNation.com America Is Having A Fiscal Midlife Crisis Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

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4.8
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About

Mary in America is a weekly conversation about how the machine of society works. Journalist and author Mary Childs jumps into the minds of the greatest, most interesting people who are shaping the world we live in, to understand the structures we build, the stories we tell, the games we play, and the choices we make. Why is it like that? Who made it that way? Should we change it? Can we?

Information

  • Creator
    Mary Childs
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mary in America
  • Show Website
    Mary in America

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