A trap-loving DJ takes on economics

0:01NPR.

0:11This is The Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong. And I'm Adrian Ma. Typically on the show, we do some sort of incisive, very smart, serious econ explainer about the news of the day. But the world is, it's worlding a lot right now. We have got tariff shock and stock market upheaval and Katy Perry going to space. Did you hear what she sang when they were in space? Was it, um, no, what is she saying? She sang What a Wonderful World, the Louis Armstrong song. Good choice. I was going to say, I was like, is it the one about kissing a girl? It's a good song. Where are we? I have blasted off into a different planet.

0:56Let's come back down to Earth to take the Indicator Quiz. That's right, the Indicator Quiz, where we test one lucky contestant's knowledge of the topics we've been covering on the show so far. And you, dear listeners at home, you can play along. Test your wits. Today on the show, we have, can we call you by your professional name? DJ Melvin, hello. Hey. Hello, DJ Melvin. You are, as your name suggests, a DJ among many other things in Vancouver, Washington. Welcome to The Indicator. Hey, thank you so much for having me on. Cass, what kind of DJ are you? If you leave it entirely up to me, I prefer to mix trap music more than any other type of music.

1:42Fun. Okay, now, DJ Melvin, you might have a new co-DJ for your gigs because today you're playing for a plushie of Indie, the Indigator. Indigator! Yeah! It's just one of the best mascots ever, man. I love gators and I love economics. I know that sounds goofy. Go. No, we love it. We are so excited to have you here. And for those of you playing along at home, all this merch and more is available at shop.npr.org. But for now, we're going to blast off with this quiz. That's after the break. This message comes from NPR sponsor, Capella University. Sometimes it takes a different approach to pursue your goals.

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3:18It is indicator quiz time with our guest Melvin. Melvin. Hey. If you need a hint, I'm your phone a friend in this situation. Okay. All right, Melvin. We're going to get rolling with our first segment, which is something we call Alphabet Soup. We are going to name an acronym and you tell us what it stands for. You ready? Ready. Okay. President Trump has launched a trade war with, well, pretty much every country. Big tariffs, then changing course, then more tariffs all across the globe. Is there someone who can mediate this conflict? Well, there is. There is something called the WTO. So what does the WTO stand for?

3:57Is it A, woof, tariffs, ouch. Is it B, world trade oversight, or C, world trade organization? I want it to be A so bad, but I know it's not. I know it's C, world trade organization. World trade organization. You are exactly right. The world trade organization is an intergovernmental body that deals with the global rules of trade between nations. And they're supposed to play trade referee for conflicts, but right now it's not really happening, as we explained in our episode. On to the next acronym in our alphabet soup. President Trump is using tariffs to fight what he considers unfair trade barriers.

4:41He singled out Europe's use of VAT as one example. So what does VAT stand for? Is it A, value-added tax, B, vastly asinine tax, or C, variable actuality tax? Ooh, it's A. That's a value-added tax. Ah, you knew it. You knew it. You are correct. The term value-added tax, or VAT, refers to a consumption tax on goods and services levied at each stage of the supply chain where value is added. All right, we're rolling on to a round we're calling test your terms. This is a fill in the blank and it's an economic term, a person or organization that you're looking to fill in the blank here. Are you ready to test your terms, Melvin?

5:28Absolutely. Let's go. Okay. Your first term. The federal government spends millions of dollars each year on wildlife damage management. This is a program that includes killing thousands of blank. Rifles, cyanide, even aerial gunning have been used to kill blanks. These methods have actually caused the spread of them to different places. What is blank? Wolves. So close. Coyotes. Coyotes, dang it. They're just like basically wolves. Biologists, don't come for me. And it's funny because I remember that episode because they have an internal thing where, you know, their body will sense that, you know, there's less of us out here.

6:12And it'll start making way more of them and you're never going to get ahead of them. Oh, man, you really remember that episode. I love the close listening. I love it. I just mixed up the two different dogs, whatever. I mean, they're very similar. OK, moving on to the next test your terms question. This is a place we've been covering a lot lately on the Indicator. It is a critical piece of waterway that President Trump has had his eye on for quite some time now. It's a major hub of international trade. And recently, a consortium led by American investment fund BlackRock agreed to buy majority stakes in two ports here.

6:50What is the name of this waterway? The Panama Canal? That is right. It is the Panama Canal. This waterway connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, creating a more direct and convenient trade and travel route. I just want to know for people listening, Melvin's doing a little like head shimmy in celebration. You should be celebrating. You're doing amazing. Thank you. And now we're going on to a segment called Name That Voice. We're going to play a clip and you have to tell us who it is. The range of answers can go from U.S. politicians to people across the pop culture spectrum to maybe someone whose voice just made a little cameo on the indicator.

7:35For this one, you may want to get your dancing shoes. This singer was featured in a March episode because they wrote a song about the massive changes hitting their home. The song was full of lyrics ruining what was being lost on their native island, losing cultural identity by way of gentrification and displacement. Let's hear the clip.

8:06I see that glimmer of recognition in your eyes, Melvin. Who is the singer? That is none other than Mr. Bunny himself, Bad Bunny. Yes, Bad Bunny, as you probably know, is from Puerto Rico. And on a recent episode, we covered how political leaders have been trying to turn Puerto Rico into a tax haven for a long time. The lyrics here are saying they want to take my river and my beach to. They want my neighborhood and your kids to leave. So that was clip number one. Now we're going to do another Name That Voice. This one comes from our episode about marketing pet peeves. Hello, ladies. Look at your man.

8:43Now back to me. Now back at your man. Now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me. But if he stopped using ladies... Do you know what brand this ad is for? I don't know. Old Spice. Is it Old Spice or am I wrong? It is. It is Old Spice. Yeah, yeah, your instincts are totally correct. Yes, it is Old Spice. And in this episode, we explored how brands are getting a little comfier comfier and maybe overly familiar with consumers in their marketing. And one of our marketing experts said that's different from advertisements back in the day, like Old Spice, that had a very strong, distinctive voice. Like you would never hear the Old Spice guy being like, hey, bestie, or whatever.

9:27Right. That was awesome. Again, Melvin, with the celebration dance, I wish we had some trap music we could play to be your celebration song. No, it's okay. I got all the music right here. Melvin, I have to say, you like speed ran this thing. This is truly, truly an impressive run on the indicator quiz. Yeah, it's funny because my kids, whenever we went on long road trips, I'd always make them listen to this and to Planet Money and some of these other economic shows I listen to. Oh, no, no, no. Fall asleep in the back of the car. And I go, but that's fine. You know, I like to think that all of this knowledge is seeping in through their brain just by osmosis.

10:06Oh, no, it's going to come up at some point in their lives and they're going to go, my dad said Roth IRA.

10:15This episode was produced by Angel Carreras with engineering by Neil Rauch. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Julia Ritchie. Geeking Canon is our show's editor and The Indicator is a production of NPR. This message comes from Grammarly. From emails to reports and project proposals, it's hard to meet the demands of today's competing priorities without some help. Grammarly is the essential AI communication assistant that boosts your productivity at work so you can get more of what you need done faster. Just a few clicks can tailor your tone and writing so you come across exactly as you intend.

10:50Get time back to focus on your high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free at grammarly.com slash podcast. That's grammarly.com slash podcast.