A Christmas present for drivers

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report — "A Christmas Present for Drivers"

Date: December 25, 2025
Host: Sabri Benishore
Special Guests: Dr. Hassan Ben Shukran, Amy Scott, Paul Penner

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Episode Overview

This episode of Marketplace Morning Report delivers a brisk yet informative Christmas Day update on key economic news and trends shaping the lives of Americans. Highlights include a major break for holiday travelers as gas prices hit multi-year lows, an exploration of artificial intelligence’s expanding role in health care, and a field report on how Midwestern agriculture is coping with a drier climate—with implications for the global food supply.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Holiday Relief: Lowest Gas Prices Since 2021

Host: Sabri Benishore

• AAA reports the average price of gasoline has stayed below $3/gallon for most of December, down 7% from a month ago—just in time for the holiday travel surge.
• [00:55]: “Gas prices are at their lowest level since 2021. That’s according to AAA, as millions of Americans are traveling for the holidays...down 7% from a month ago.”

2. AI’s Growing Presence in Healthcare

Host: Sabri Benishore, Guest: Dr. Hassan Ben Shukran (Pulmonary and Intensive Care Physician, San Diego)

• [01:08]: “Artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger and bigger part of healthcare. AI is helping to develop new drugs... regular people going to AI directly to search their symptoms...that makes doctors a little uneasy. But doctors use AI too...”

• Doctor’s Insights on AI in the Clinic:

  • Ambient Scribs: Helps with clinical note-taking and paperwork, alleviating administrative burden.
  • Quick Research: AI models allow doctors to get rapid, referenced summaries when unfamiliar diseases or conditions arise.
  • Quote

    “Some of the models I use are ambient scribes... A second one is the research models...instead of plugging it into Google and then clicking on each link...you have a digest of something and you have the references.”
    — Dr. Hassan Ben Shukran [01:53]

• Further Listening: Full interview available at marketplace.org/tech.

3. Market Status: Christmas Holiday

• [02:27]: “Stock and bond trading is closed today for the Christmas holiday. Markets are set to reopen for regular trading tomorrow.”

4. Climate Change on the Great Plains: The Moving Dryline

Host: Amy Scott (How We Survive), Guest: Paul Penner (Kansas Farmer)

• The 100th meridian west—once the symbolic line dividing arid West and humid East—is shifting eastward due to climate change, causing drier conditions deeper into the Midwest.
• Columbia University research flags significant implications for US agriculture, farm economies, and global food security.
• [04:31]: “The 100th meridian west is...the dividing line between the arid western United States and the more humid East. But...the dryline appears to be moving due to climate change...that could have huge implications for farmers, the economy, and the global food supply.”

On-the-Ground: Paul Penner, Hillsboro, Kansas

• Farming on ~1,000 acres; has observed more severe, frequent droughts over the past 15 years.
  • Quote:

    “You do it for the love of farming, but also, you know what, I'm a businessman too. I gotta make money. And I get really angry at myself when I don't make money.”
    — Paul Penner [06:07]

• Adaptation: Introduced no-till farming about 20 years ago—retaining crop stubble to reduce erosion, preserve moisture, and protect yields during drought.
  • [06:19]: Explanation and demonstration of stubble layers in his fields.
• Climatic Extremes: This year, rain came in short, intense bursts—too much water in total, but too little soaks in.
  • [07:16]: Paul shares rainfall app: average = 36”, this year = 42”.
  • [07:24]:

    “Much of it has come in short, intense bursts where only a fraction soaks in, leaving crops stressed... one wet year doesn’t change the trend line toward a hotter, more arid future.”
    — Amy Scott

Broader Impacts & Market Pressures

• Global consequences: Less consistent moisture could hurt both yield and quality, impacting world food supply.
  • Quote:

    “It’s going to impact the amount of wheat available...could impact quality depending on how the rainfall patterns are... We have to have, you know, a consistent form of moisture...”
    — Paul Penner [07:53]

• Trade Troubles: Downward pressure on prices due to tariffs and drying export markets (notably China).
  • To break even, needs $7.50/bushel for wheat; market offering < $5 as of September.
  • Quote:

    “Tariff trade war. I could use some other expletives, but I won’t.”
    — Paul Penner [08:40]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dr. Hassan Ben Shukran on AI:

  “Instead of plugging it into Google and then clicking on each link... you have a digest of something and you have the references.”
  — [01:53]

• Paul Penner on the Challenge of Modern Farming:

  “I'm a businessman too. I gotta make money. And I get really angry at myself when I don't make money.”
  — [06:07]

• Paul Penner’s Market Frustration:

  “Tariff trade war. I could use some other expletives, but I won’t.”
  — [08:40]

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Key Segment Timestamps

• 00:55 — Welcome & Gas prices drop
• 01:08 — Artificial Intelligence in Health Care
• 01:53 — Doctor’s perspective on AI in the clinic
• 02:27 — Holiday markets closure
• 04:31 — Climate change shifts US dryline, move to Kansas farm
• 05:11 – 09:13 — "How We Survive" special: Realities and adaptation in the nation’s breadbasket

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Conclusion

This Christmas edition of Marketplace Morning Report weaves together news on lower gas prices, the evolving role of artificial intelligence in health care, and the pressing challenge of climate change and economic pressure on US farmers. Interviews with a practicing physician and a Kansas farmer add firsthand perspectives and urgency to the economic and environmental headlines.

For full conversations and more stories, visit marketplace.org

Transcript

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[Sabri Benishore]

A Christmas Present for Drivers From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Benishore. David Brancaccio Here's a holiday gift for all the drivers out there. Gas prices are at their lowest level since 2021. That's according to AAA, as millions of Americans are traveling for the holidays. The average price of gas has been below $3 a gallon for most of this month, and it's down 7% from a month ago. Artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger and bigger part of healthcare. AI is helping to develop new drugs by predicting what might work. And of course you've got regular people going to AI directly to search their symp and financiers, just like they've been doing with Google and WebMD for years. Needless to say, that makes doctors a little uneasy. But doctors use AI too, for paperwork and administration, but also sometimes for treatment plans and diagnoses. Dr. Hassan Ben Shukran is a pulmonary and intensive care doctor in San Diego, California.

[Dr. Hassan Ben Shukran]

There are several ways that I use AI in my day as a physician, so some of the models I use are ambient scribes. A second one is the research models in which I'm in front of a patient and they mentioned to me the different name that I've never heard of a disease that they have as a history. So I go and research it real quick. Instead of plugging it into Google and then clicking on each link and having to read each one, you have a digest of something and you have the references.

[Sabri Benishore]

You can find that full conversation from our Marketplace Tech show streaming [e-mail] stock and bond trading is closed today for the Christmas holiday. Markets are set to reopen for regular trading tomorrow.

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[Sabri Benishore]

The 100th meridian west is the invisible longitudinal line that runs north to south through the Great Plains, and it has long symbolized the dividing line between the arid western United States and the more humid East. But research from Columbia University has found that the dryline appears to be moving due to climate change causing arid conditions further east. And that could have huge implications for farmers, the economy, and the global food supply. So for the latest season of our podcast, How We Survive, host Amy Scott traveled to our nation's breadbasket to see how one farmer is adapting.

[Amy Scott]

At Penner Farms in Hillsborough, Kansas, I pull into a driveway and see an explosion of small cats come from beneath a parked pickup truck. Barn kitties that keep the mice at bay.

[Paul Penner]

Oh, hi kitties. Yeah, you think I'm getting food?

[Amy Scott]

Paul Penner steps out of the truck. I've come to meet him because research suggests the dry line, once represented by the 100th meridian further west, now lies around here, closer to the 98th meridian. I wondered what changes Paul had seen in the 50 years he's been farming in central Kansas. Today he grows wheat, corn, soybeans, And a little bit of grass hay on about 1,000 acres. According to U.S. drought Monitor data going back to 2000, Pauls county has experienced more frequent and severe droughts over the past 15 years.

[Paul Penner]

You do it for the love of farming, but also, you know what, I'm a businessman too. I gotta make money. And I get really angry at myself when I don't make money.

[Amy Scott]

To try to keep making money in drier conditions, Paul has adapted. Around 20 years ago, he started practicing no till farming. After a harvest, instead of turning the soil over for the next crop, he leaves the stubble, reducing erosion and evaporation and preserving the moisture in the soil. We drive out to one of his corn fields to check how close it is to harvest.

[Paul Penner]

And you see all the evidence of.

[Amy Scott]

You can see, yeah, that's wheat stubble under our feet, right?

[Paul Penner]

And you see corn cobs, you see from the previous corn crop. And in between, I don't know, maybe you can look, here's a soybean stub.

[Amy Scott]

Paul believes this practice of planting in layers of stubble has saved his crop during times of extreme drought. This year, though, Paul says has almost been too wet. He pulls up a rainfall app on his phone.

[Paul Penner]

You see that line? That line is average for 30 years.

[Amy Scott]

The average is about 36 inches, and.

[Paul Penner]

This year we've already done 42.

[Amy Scott]

Much of it has come in short, intense bursts where only a fraction soaks in, leaving crops stressed. But one wet year doesn't change the trend line toward a hotter, more arid future. So if Kansas gets a lot drier or just has a lot more like wide swings and variability, how does that impact the rest of the world and our ability to feed a growing population?

[Paul Penner]

Well, that, that would be a serious concern. Obviously, number one, it's going to impact the amount of wheat available production. It's going to. It could impact quality depending on how the rainfall patterns are. We have to have, you know, a consistent form of moisture so that the nutrients that are needed can be absorbed and taken up by the roots and produce a crop.

[Amy Scott]

But for Paul, there's a challenge more immediate than climate change. To break even, he needs to bring in about $7.50 a bushel for wheat. But when I met Paul in mid September, the market was offering less than $5. What is causing the low prices?

[Paul Penner]

Tariff trade war. I could use some other expletives, but I won't.

[Amy Scott]

Before the tariffs, Kansas had a rhythm. Roughly half the wheat moved overseas. China bought a lot of the soybeans as well as corn and milo. But in late summer, those markets were drying up in response to US Tariffs and all that turbulence has Paul worried about the sustainability of farming in Kansas. In Hillsborough, Kansas, I'm Amy Scott for Marketplace.

[Sabri Benishore]

And in New York, I'm Sabri Benishore with the Marketplace Morning Report. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from APM American Public Media.

[Rima Reyes]

Hey everyone. You already listened to Marketplace podcasts, so you know that it's important to understand how economic forces shape our lives. And that feels especially important now as we're all trying to make sense of the latest headlines. I'm Rima Reyes, host of Marketplace's this is Uncomfortable, a show that explores how money bumps up against our relationships, our choices, and the parts of life we don't always say aloud. And starting January 15th, we are back every single week. New stories, new questions, and the kind of conversations that make you feel less alone in this quickly changing economy. We're tackling questions like should I turn my hobby into a money making side hustle? How do I deal with layoff anxiety? Or what do we owe our parents financially? Don't miss an episode. Subscribe to this is Uncomfortable from Marketplace. Wherever you get your podcasts.