Planet Money

This episode is packed with your best economic ideas from around the world and a penguin interview. It all comes together in this final session of Summer School 2026.Pack your parka, we’re headed to Antarctica. The continent nobody owns, but everyone benefits from and plenty of economic activity if you know where to look.First, we’ll travel back in time to the late 1970s when NPR was a scrappy young network, with a synth soundtrack, and tons of heart. Science reporter Ira Flatow took a trip to the South Pole that put NPR on the news industry map. We’ll hear an excerpt where he brings us along through what life is like on the ice, including a memorable interview with the wildlife.Then we look inside McMurdo Station, the largest human settlement and research base on Antarctica to hear from a listener who managed the store at the base back in the 1980s. Normal retail rules do not apply. We’ll also speak with an economist who has estimated the continent’s monetary value, while asking questions like “why put a pri