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 National Flood Insurance Program was operates like an insurance company in many ways except one: it just about always loses money. This piece originally aired on Morning Edition in January 2013.
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Hidden in the trash heap of commerce there is buried treasure. Abandoned brands--including trusted, beloved brands--are waiting to be claimed and reborn. Today on the show: A cookie comeback.
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We visit the workshop of the meat inventor who came up with Steak-Umm and KFC's popcorn chicken. And we try to figure out what meat inventors tell us about patents and innovation. -
On today's show: The story of two guys who tried to cut the pay of a CEO at a small pneumatic tool company. -
A man goes looking for the invisible wall that traps poor people in poverty. Finding it almost gets him killed. -
The creation of the electronic spreadsheet transformed industries. But its effects ran deeper than that. -
The government is getting $100 billion this year, essentially from nowhere. It is the profit made by the Federal Reserve. The Fed is in charge of managing how many dollars are in the economy. It turns out to be a very profitable business, especially since the financial crisis, when the Fed threw an extra $3 trillion into the economy.
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Two years ago, in January 2013, oil was about $100 dollars a barrel. At that time, towns near new oil fields expanded rapidly, filling up with workers and overflowing revenue. But how are those towns doing now that oil is worth about half what it was then? The Planet Money team checks in with oil workers and residents in Williston, N.D.
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The Fed created the money after the financial crisis to try to help the economy, but the money could eventually create inflation or cause bubbles. (This piece initially aired on Oct. 23, 2015 on ATC.)
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A group of cancer doctors is trying to create a database on cancer drugs. It would give a score for each drug, reflecting how well the drug works. It would also list how much the drug costs.