Betty Boop, Excel Olympics, Penny-isms: Our 2026 Valentines

Summary

Planet Money — "Betty Boop, Excel Olympics, Penny-isms: Our 2026 Valentines"

Host: Kenny Malone (with contributions from the Planet Money team)
Date: February 13, 2026

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Overview

This episode of Planet Money is a special Valentine’s Day celebration where the hosts and correspondents share playful “valentines” to their favorite economic phenomena, trends, and innovations of the moment—from comic icons entering the public domain, to the glory of Excel competitions, to endearing (and disappearing) small change, and even a self-checkout system worth loving. The episode weaves together humor, nostalgia, and clever economic insight, all while emphasizing the fun side of understanding how the economy shapes our loves and lives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Betty Boop and the Public Domain Day List

Guests: Jennifer Jenkins (lawyer, professor, public domain expert)

• [02:31] The episode opens with a physical Valentine featuring Betty Boop, whose earliest version from 1930 has just entered the public domain.

• Jennifer Jenkins shares why she adores Betty Boop:

  "She is one of the first comic book characters who was not defined by her relationship to a male character... she's fiercely independent, unapologetically sexy." (02:01)

• The Significance:

  • The annual Public Domain Day List (compiled by Jenkins) highlights the culturally important works whose copyrights have expired.
  • After decades of legislative “freeze” due to lobbying (notably by Disney), classic works are now regularly entering the public domain.

• Notable Quotes:

  • "Literally, the public domain was frozen for two decades... and that's why you’re hearing about it so much now, because every single year, you can expect a trove of material to enter the public domain." — Jennifer Jenkins (04:04)
  • “Boop boop...question mark.” — Kenny confounds Jennifer by not quite nailing Betty’s catchphrase for the planet money valentine. (03:36)

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2. Valentine to the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Championship

Contributors: Jess Jiang (editor), Kenny Malone

• [07:14] Jess Jiang brings a Valentine to an article about the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Competition, written by Jesse Dougherty for the Washington Post.

  • The event is described like an esports tournament, with students competing on stage and giant screens projecting their spreadsheets for the audience.
  • Jess likens mastery of Excel to learning a language, celebrating how the competition showcases the tool’s complexity and creative problem-solving.

• Industry Insights:

  • Despite Excel’s stereotype as a finance/accounting tool, it's most heavily used in manufacturing.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “[The competition] looks like what I imagine esports video game competitions to be like." — Jess Jiang (08:12)
  • "It’s a really powerful tool if you can understand the language." — Jess Jiang (09:45)
  • “It treats these Excel experts with the sort of elevated regard that you and I are just all in for. It’s not a joke.” — Kenny Malone (10:28)

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3. A Valentine for Uniqlo's Self-Checkout

Contributor: Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi

• [12:52] Alexi records an audio valentine to Uniqlo’s self-checkout machines, celebrated by Forbes for their efficiency and user-friendliness.

  • Utilizes RFID tags to instantly scan all items at once.
  • Alexi interviews a store staffer, Melissa Ray Bailey Gale, who notes that while the technology makes things smoother, she wishes more people would just read the instructions.

• Economic Insight:

  • Uniqlo’s model—RFID tags now only cost about 4 cents each—makes sense for apparel, but is unlikely to work for groceries where margins are too tight to absorb the extra cost per item.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “Something about it just screams love. There’s nothing more romantic than parting with your hard-earned cash.” — Alexi (15:00)
  • “If there has to be self-checkout, here’s one that doesn’t create more of a mess. That’s his point.” — Kenny Malone (15:30)

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4. Penny-isms: A Farewell Valentine to the Penny

Contributor: Erica Barris

• [20:41] Erica Barris professes her affection for the penny, which the U.S. Mint is ceasing to mint—although pennies remain legal tender.

  • Discusses the penny as a nostalgic connection to the past and as a cultural artifact, as seen in common expressions:
    • “A penny saved is a penny earned”
    • “Penny for your thoughts”
    • “Penny wise, pound foolish”
    • “It cost a pretty penny”

• Economic Context:

  • Pennies now cost more to produce than they’re worth (over 3 cents each), prompting their phase-out for taxpayer savings.
  • The shift to digital payments is also hastening their irrelevance.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “The penny is one of the few things we have that is a link to the past that we can hold. And it makes noise!” — Erica Barris (21:49)
  • “They are literally penny pinching, I guess, is what’s happening.” — Erica Barris (24:32)

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5. Valentine for Data Journalism: 404 Media

Contributor: Nick Fountain

• [25:31] Nick Fountain salutes the tech journalism of 404 Media, especially their work uncovering Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s use of Palantir, a “Google Maps for ICE” data mining app.

  • 404 Media’s small, reporter-owned team uses open public records (such as federal procurement databases) to uncover government contracts and track how tax dollars are spent.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “It’s probably their reporting on Palantir ... It compiles federal data and shows ICE neighborhoods that might be hotspots where lots of non-citizens are suspected to live.” — Nick Fountain (27:45)
  • “We need to do that. I need to do that. And then like many things in life, I did not do it. And they did it and did a great job.” — Nick Fountain (29:45)
  • “Let this be an inspiration to us all.” — Nick Fountain (30:19)

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Memorable Moments & Quotes — With Timestamps

• Betty Boop and Feminist Roots (02:01)
  “She’s fiercely independent. She’s unapologetically sexy. She dances around, she sings boop boop boo doop.” — Jennifer Jenkins

• Why Copyright Law Froze the Public Domain (04:04)
  “Literally, the public domain was frozen for two decades. … All the material that was set to go into the public domain from 1923, we had to wait 20 years for it.” — Jennifer Jenkins

• Excel Competition as E-Sport (08:53)
  “People on a stage and their screens are projected in the background so everyone can watch. … Like planning a group trip with 500 of your closest friends.” — Jess Jiang

• Uniqlo Checkout Revelations (15:00)
  “It just intuited magically … it’s just so confident. There’s just zero hesitation. … I hate to admit it, something about it just screams love.” — Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi

• Penny Language (22:43)
  “I love language, right? And there’s all these words … built around the penny.” — Erica Barris

• Public Records for Public Good (28:49)
  “This is reporter Joseph Cox directing people to the federal procurement website, which is just a public site, basically listing all the contracts the federal government enters into.” — Nick Fountain

---

Creating the Official Planet Money Valentine

[31:21]–[32:28]

The hosts huddle to craft their punny, economics-themed Betty Boop Valentine, riffing on economic language and metaphors for love and market dominance.

• Winning Tagline:

  “Boop boop ba duopoly. I’ll never bust your trust.” — Kenny Malone & Jennifer Jenkins (32:01)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:22: Introduction and the Betty Boop valentine reveal
• 02:31–04:29: Discussion of Betty Boop and Public Domain Day list
• 07:14–11:46: Excel Collegiate Competition valentine (Jess Jiang)
• 12:52–15:30: Field valentine at Uniqlo’s self-checkout (Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi)
• 20:41–25:22: The penny and "penny-isms" (Erica Barris)
• 25:31–30:25: Data-driven journalism and 404 Media (Nick Fountain)
• 31:21–32:34: Official Planet Money Valentine finalization

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Conclusion

With a spirit of curiosity and affection for overlooked bits of the economic world, this episode encourages listeners to see connections between the everyday and the economy. Whether it’s a cartoon character, spreadsheet wizardry, a pesky (yet lovable) penny, or cutting-edge investigative reporting, the Planet Money team brings original, playful approaches to economic storytelling.

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Connect & Further Reading

• Photos of the official Planet Money Valentine: [Planet Money Instagram]
• Full list of new public domain works: [Duke Law – Public Domain Day]
• Jesse Dougherty’s Excel championship article: [Washington Post archives]
• Explore 404 Media’s reporting: [404media.co]

---

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Planet Money team — to nerds, market dominators, and penny lovers everywhere!

Transcript

[Announcer]

This message comes from the UPS Store. Open this holiday. Come into your local store today. Most locations are independently owned. Products, services, pricing and hours of operation may vary. See center for details. The UPS Store be unstoppable.

[Erica Barris]

This is Planet Money from npr.

[Kenny Malone]

So, Jennifer, you got what I sent you?

[Nick Fountain]

Yes, I did.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

It's the greatest mystery of the year so far.

[Kenny Malone]

This is Jennifer Jenkins, lawyer, professor. You may have heard her before. She's become sort of our unofficial trademark and copyright attorney here at Planet Money. And what I sent her is inside a large yellow envelope.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

You want me to guess? You want me just to open?

[Kenny Malone]

No, just go ahead and open.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

I love surprises, Teddy. So just. This is like. Oh, this is loud.

[Kenny Malone]

Every year, we at Planet Money send Valentines to the things we love this year, to innovative reporting on ice, to the sport of competitive spreadsheeting, to perhaps the only belove self checkout system, and more. And typically, these are not physical Valentine's. They're shout outs in a Valentine's episode such as this chock full of big ideas and recommendations that we want to share with you all. But for my first valentine to Jennifer Jenkins, we had in fact made a bespoke physical Valentine.

[Sponsor Messages]

What?

[Nick Fountain]

Oh, my.

[Sponsor Messages]

God.

[Kenny Malone]

Do you want to describe it?

[Erica Barris]

I need a moment.

[Kenny Malone]

Oh, my God. Okay, fine, I'll describe it. Red and black font. That's a little tattoo, motorcycle style. It says official Planet Money Valentine. And then a famous cartoon character that for reasons we are not going to get sued for using. And that character also happens to be one of Jennifer's favorites. Betty Boop. Happy Valentine's Day. Now, I know you love Betty Boop in particular.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Oh, my God. So much.

[Kenny Malone]

Explain why you have an affinity for Betty Boop.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Because she is one of the first comic book characters who was not defined by her relationship to a male character. So Minnie Mouse is Mickey Mouse's girl. Olive Oil is Popeye's girl. Betty Boop's just her own woman. She's fiercely independent. She's unapologetically sexy. She dances around, she sings boop boop boo doop.

[Kenny Malone]

I have to have poop.

[Announcer]

Boop.

[Kenny Malone]

Betty Boop debuted in this cartoon in 1930, 95 years ago. Which means as of January 1st, the copyright has expired. Anyone is allowed to use this version of Betty Boop for anything. This version, by the way, literally a, like, dog person hybrid, which is very weird and would not always be this way. But, like, yes, this version from 1930 is now in the public domain. And the reason I knew this is because every year Jennifer Jenkins helps Put out a list of. Of all the famous books and songs and cartoons entering the public domain. And that. That is my first valentine to Jennifer's annual list of newly liberated intellectual property, the Public Domain Day list, where you will learn that the copyright has now expired on the book, the Maltese Falcon, the song Georgia on My Mind, the Academy Award winning film All Quiet on the Western Front, and yes, Betty Boop and her iconic catchphrase. Although Jennifer has noted something odd about what we've written on her valentine says.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Boop boop question mark.

[Kenny Malone]

Yes. Yeah, we're going to get to that in a second because first, the reason I wanted to give a valentine to this list is because it feels like all of these works are now flooding into the public domain in a somewhat novel way. And that is because for 20 years leading up to 2019, basically nothing entered the public domain. Legislators, with lobbying from Disney, kept extending the length of copyright.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Right? Literally, the public domain was frozen for two decades. And so all of the material that was set to go into the public domain from 1923, we had to wait 20 years for it to finally start entering the public domain in 2019. And that's why you're hearing about it so much, because now the goalposts are where they are. And every single year, you can expect a trove of material to enter the public domain.

[Kenny Malone]

And I mean, and you can find out about it from my valentine, the public, the Public Domain day list from Jennifer Jenkins.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

I can't tell you how tickled I am. I'm trying to find the right word. That's what my grandmother said. I'm, like, just tickled about this valentine. Oh, my God. Are you going to. You haven't explained the question mark yet.

[Kenny Malone]

Ah, yes, the boop boop. A question mark. Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Kenny Malone. Today on the show, the things that we love and that we think you will love. Nick Fountain brings us investigative reporting that you can do at home as well. Erica Barris makes a case for the love of her life, the one that got away, the US Penny. And along the way, together, we will all design the first ever official Planet Money Valentine's Day card that you can print out and give to the nerd love of your life. We're going to finish our Betty boop boop, question mark valentine by coming up with a pun to make the economist in your life swoon. Although it turns out it will be a bit of work. Boop boop. But, Dupuis, I don't actually know how to say it, but it's a French economist who was like, no, let's not do that one right.

[Announcer]

Okay.

[Kenny Malone]

Now, Doug.

[Announcer]

This message comes from the UPS Store. Open this holiday. Come into your local store today. Most locations are independently owned. Products, services, pricing and hours of operation may vary. See center for details. The UPS Store. Be unstoppable. This message comes from Capital One. Capital One offers checking accounts with no fees or minimums. What's in your wallet terms apply. See capitalone.combank for details. Capital One NA Member FDIC.

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[Kenny Malone]

Welcome back to a very special Valentine's Day episode at Planet Money. Lots to do here. So Jennifer Jenkins and I, we're kicking around ideas for how to take the newly public domain Betty Boop and tweak her catchphrase and make the official Planet Money economics themed Valentine. Boop. Boop. But dumping. Dumping is something that this international trade thing, Right? Yeah, it's an international trade.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

It's when you sell a whole bunch of stuff cheaper. Right?

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah. You know, but I do feel like dumping is maybe the wrong. No, it's like not the right. Okay. Okay. Meanwhile, my colleagues have their own traditional Planet Money Valentine's to hand out to to the things that they love and want to share with you all at home.

[Jess Jiang]

Hey, Kenny.

[Kenny Malone]

Hi, Jess. Jess Jiang, senior supervising editor at Planet Money. And if you love an episode of our show, it's probably because of the notes that Jess gave. If you hate an episode, it's probably because we ignored notes that Jess gave. And Jess has brought a Valentine very near and dear to my heart.

[Jess Jiang]

I think you and I have a special love for spreadsheets.

[Kenny Malone]

Love spreadsheets.

[Jess Jiang]

And it's so particular to us that I feel like sometimes I don't even want to talk about it in a meeting because I'm like, everyone else is going to be bored by whatever love for spreadsheets we have.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah, Jess, I couldn't be more excited.

[Jess Jiang]

Yes. Okay, so this valentine is actually to a Washington Post article that I saw recently, and it's all about Microsoft Excel.

[Kenny Malone]

That article was written by reporter Jesse Dougherty. The headline made me blush a little bit between the sheets at the college Excel Championships. A little too naughty for my taste, but very. But very clever.

[Jess Jiang]

I thought we were going to skip over that music. I Have some thoughts about that.

[Kenny Malone]

People need to find it so they could search for it.

[Jess Jiang]

That's fair. Okay, so I saw this article and it's all about Microsoft Excel. In particular, something called the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Competition. And so it's an annual competition that happens around Christmas time. This year it took place in Las Vegas. And basically there's two parts of the competition. Yes, it has semifinals, finals. It has the whole rigmarole. And looking at the photos and pictures of it and videos of it, it looks like what I imagine esports video game competitions to be like. So, like, by the time I.

[Kenny Malone]

That's what I want esports competitions to be like, quite honestly. Sells glasses. Lots of. Yeah, it's amazing.

[Jess Jiang]

Yeah. So by the time you get to the semifinals and finals, there are people on a stage and their screens are projected in the background so everyone can watch. And it's basically a series of puzzles that people have to go through.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jess Jiang]

And so I saw one puzzle was like planning a group trip with 500 of your closest friends.

[Kenny Malone]

That's very good.

[Jess Jiang]

And so I think there are all sorts of things where it's sort of like, how do you use Excel to do these things? And I think for me, what I loved about it so much was like, oh, Excel is like a language. It's a really powerful tool if you can understand the language. And this is maybe the most extreme, kind of highest form of this language is watching these people use it. And I think this article got that to. To a large degree.

[Kenny Malone]

I did do a little background research in anticipation of this. Now a lot of these competitors are finance majors. It says makes sense. Those are like often very complex formulas you need to learn. And so it would attract that kind of person. But do you want to guess in what industry Excel is reportedly used the most?

[Jess Jiang]

Oh, and it's not finance.

[Kenny Malone]

Nope.

[Jess Jiang]

Oh, my God. Not account. It's not something mundane like accounting.

[Kenny Malone]

It is manufacturing. Manufacturing.

[Jess Jiang]

I can see that. I can see that.

[Kenny Malone]

And you know, it makes sense. It's a very intuitive program. It's very user friendly, so you don't have to have a master's degree to use this, which is like, it's the best. One of the great things about reading this piece in particular is it treats these Excel experts with the sort of elevated regard that you and I are just all in for. It's not a joke. It's like truly in awe of these people's skills, which I am as well. And it's so good.

[Jess Jiang]

Yeah. I looked into the reporter who went his Coverage is mostly of college sports. And so I really liked that he took the same like excitement, vigor, all of the things, the rigor that you would take to college sports and applied it to this scene and took it as seriously as everything else. And so I think that really comes through in the article that he wrote.

[Kenny Malone]

Yep, sports coverage is useful in many, many disciplines. I think. Yes, it's true. And I guess we should say that that kind of excellent sports coverage is the kind of thing that the Washington Post has just decided to eliminate almost entirely. But yes, our first valentine to Jesse Dougherty. His story between the Sheets, the College Excel Championships. It's extraordinary work by Jesse. Check out the article, check out his substack, which we will link to in the show notes. And thank you, Jess J.

[Jess Jiang]

Thank you, Kenny. Thank you, Jesse.

[Kenny Malone]

We begin this next valentine with a quote from Forbes magazine. Quote, I can't wait to use that self checkout machine. Said no one ever. Retail stores have increasingly scaled down on hiring and paying human beings to scan our purchases and instead are forcing us to do it as customers slowly with constant machine problems that require an overworked human to come over and scan some card. Anyway, Forbes describes an exception to this though. The clothing store Uniqlo. Uniqlo. Uniqlo has developed a cult following for its self checkout. Quote, you just toss all the apparel you're buying into the self checkout machine's container bin and miraculously, all of your items are automatically scanned. Apparently this is because each item has a little radio transponder. Anyway, that is the background you need to know for this next valentine. Our own Alexi Horowitz Ghazi was walking through New York with a friend, remembered how much he loved Uniqlo's self checkout and hated other self checkouts and recorded this audio valentine on his phone.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

It's a rainy January day at the Broadway Uniqlo store. Looking for that heat deck. It's cold outside. I found a turtleneck. It's a full turtleneck. There is driving techno. Where are the self checkouts here?

[Kenny Malone]

Self checkout.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

What's your name?

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

Mel. Ray.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

Wait, sorry. Mel Ray. Say your full name.

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

Oh, my full name is Melissa. Ray Bailey Gale.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

How do you feel about these machines?

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

How do I feel about the machines?

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

Do you like them or are they annoying?

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

But people are annoying about them. They ask questions all the time. They're like, where are the bags?

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

Really? Okay.

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

And it tells you that Right here.

[Joseph Cox]

I see.

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

But they're okay, I guess. I mean, I like that.

[Announcer]

It's fast.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

So I work for an economics radio show and we have to give our valentines to things in the world.

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

Give your Valentine's to.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

So I. You know, this is one that I've kind of thought about giving my valentine to for a long time.

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

Unique little self checkout is what you're giving your Valentine's Day to? To technology. No way.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

Is there something a little sad about that?

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

Yes, very much so. To technology. That's crazy. This one I see every day. This one that give me problems. You want to give it to?

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

Hey, just try to elevate the daily things in life. What would your valentine go out to?

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

It would go out to me getting a promotion. If you'll hear this, Uniqlo, I'm promoting the technology. Give me a promotion.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

Excellent. It's true. You're going to move a lot of these products on this.

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

Exactly.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

Thank you so much. Oh, self checkout. There it is. All right. We're in line at the self checkout. Wonderful. Oh, look at this. It's just silent. You just see rows, maybe like two dozen people in a silent row communing with these plastic tubs that immediately extract their money from them. Okay, so we've got a sort of like monolithic plastic bin thing. It's just like a big tub. Press start. Okay. Keep tech ultra warm. So it just kind of like intuited magically to just by standing next to this machine. What we have. It's just so confident. There's just zero hesitation. Do you need any shopping bags?

[Announcer]

Sure.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

I hate to admit it, something about it just screams love. You know, there's nothing more romantic than partying with your hard earned cash. Uniqlo. Self checkout. Will you be my valentine?

[Melissa Ray Bailey Gale]

Please select the items in the scanning area on your right hand side, then press start.

[Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi]

I'm going to take that as a yes. Bye, Uniqlo. Happy Valentine's Day.

[Kenny Malone]

Alexi Horowitz. Ghazi there, who did ask me to clarify that he is, quote, not some sociopath who wants all humans replaced by machines. It's more like if there has to be self checkout, you know, here's one that doesn't create more of a mess at the checkout. That's his point. And I will add that Alexi's valentine did prompt a whole lot of frantic research for some of us at Planet Money wondering, why isn't every self checkout this good? And why isn't my grocery store this good? And is Alexei paying extra for his Uniqlo turtleneck because of this? And the answer seems to Be that each item at Uniqlo, you know, it has this little RFID chip, a tiny little radio transponder, and. And those have become cheaper and cheaper. One McKinsey report says that RFID tags have come down from 20 cents about a decade ago to 4 cents a tag in recent years. And yeah, I mean, if you sell clothes like Uniqlo, like, What's an extra $0.04 to make your fancy self checkout work? Especially if Uniqlo doesn't have to pay a cashier and customers move through it faster. But if you're a grocery store and you sell, you know, green peppers, an extra 4 cents on each pepper really cuts into the margin. So I wouldn't count on seeing this Valentine's worthy technology at the grocery store anytime soon. Meanwhile, back with my Valentine's Day copilot today. And Betty Boop Stan, Jennifer Jenkins. Wait, hold on. Let me go back to my list. All right, this is a tough one. We are building the official Planet Money Valentine's Day card. Our task at the moment, find a nerdy twist on Betty Boop's iconic catchphrase. Something economically that isn't also, how do you say, horribly unromantic. Boop boop, doom loop.

[Joseph Cox]

Which is.

[Kenny Malone]

Do you know what a doom loop is?

[Jennifer Jenkins]

No, no.

[Kenny Malone]

Doom loop is a self fulfilling disaster. Tornado, cyclone. Like how Greece had its credit rating downgraded, which scared investors, which caused all kinds of new problems for Greek finances, which made Greece an even riskier investment, et cetera, et cetera. So, you know, boop boop, doom loop.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

I guess that's brilliant. And it also really captures the spirit of Valentine's Day.

[Kenny Malone]

Well, yeah. No. Okay. Okay. This one is a. It doesn't rhyme as well. I'm gonna warn you. Okay, ready?

[Jennifer Jenkins]

I can do.

[Kenny Malone]

But I think when you start to think about it, it's actually quite beautiful. Ready?

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Okay.

[Kenny Malone]

Boop boop. But duopoly.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Oh, that's nice. Oh, you got it. You got it. That's the one.

[Kenny Malone]

A duopoly is where two companies control a market. A monopoly for two, if you will. And I think that's kind of like, I don't know, something lovely. Well, I mean, maybe not as a consumer, but like metaphorically, because it's two. Two together.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

It's not a monopoly. It's a duopoly. Duo.

[Kenny Malone]

Yes.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

It's like, honey, will you be mine and we'll own everything? Yes.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Well, that's hot.

[Kenny Malone]

After the break, we finish off our boop boop a duopoly Valentine so you can give it to the market dominator in your life. Plus a valentine to serious data journalism that you can do at home right now.

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[Kenny Malone]

Podcast for our next Valentine. I was simply sent a zoom link and told show up here. And so I did. Hello?

[Erica Barris]

Oh, hey, Kenny. Sorry, I was just jamming out to my favorite song.

[Kenny Malone]

Music's playing.

[Erica Barris]

I forgot you were coming in. Happy Valentine's Day, Ken.

[Kenny Malone]

This is just the music you were playing when I showed up. This is incredible. Yeah, great. Pennies from heaven for you and me. Now come over here, boy. Well, it's. It's very loud in my ears. It's wonderful.

[Erica Barris]

Turned it down for you.

[Kenny Malone]

Well, it's funny that you mentioned pennies from heaven, Erica. Yeah. Because this is a phrase I only recently learned. Oh. Do you want to explain what it means?

[Erica Barris]

Um, it's just kind of like your good fortune is gonna come Raining down from the sky. And it can only come in what is quite possibly one of the greatest currencies that we've ever all had the.

[Kenny Malone]

Fortune of knowing clearly. We are now here with Planet Money co host Erica Barris, who is about to present her valentine. I feel like we've walked right up to it. Just go ahead and say it.

[Erica Barris]

Okay. My valentine is for the one that got away, my one true love, the penny.

[Kenny Malone]

Your one true love?

[Sponsor Messages]

Yes.

[Nick Fountain]

Why?

[Sponsor Messages]

Why?

[Erica Barris]

Erica, we are living in this, like, increasingly digital, bubbly, cloudy world, and the penny is one of the few things we have that is a link to the past that we can hold. And it makes noise, and it is just like. It's just a small, small, tiny little thing. It's just so nice. You get a hundred of them, you have a whole dollar. Who doesn't love a dollar? I mean.

[Kenny Malone]

All right, you love the penny.

[Erica Barris]

Yeah.

[Kenny Malone]

Last year, it was announced that the Federal Reserve will. Well, it's the Treasury.

[Erica Barris]

The mint is going to stop minting.

[Kenny Malone]

Pennies, so no new pennies. Okay. So it's not like they're going away permanently. They're not gathering pennies and burning them in a bonfire.

[Erica Barris]

No, no, no, no, no. They're good. They're good. If you have pennies, they're still tender. Yeah, yeah. Forever, indefinitely.

[Kenny Malone]

But it's not just that you love the penny. My understanding is, I think you love the culture around the penny perhaps more than the penny.

[Erica Barris]

Yeah, I mean, you know, the penny is just a coin. Like, let's be real. But I love language, right? And there's all these, like, words and, like, phrases and expressions in our language that are built around the penny. Like, you know, penny for your thoughts. Then there's a. Find a penny, pick it up all day long, you'll have good luck.

[Kenny Malone]

Have good luck. I do like the luck part of the penny. My lucky penny. You have a penny. It's a lucky penny. I like the lucky penny.

[Erica Barris]

A penny saved is a penny earned. Have you ever heard the cost a pretty penny?

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Kenny Malone]

That costs a pretty penny. Yeah.

[Erica Barris]

In for a penny, in for a pound. And then this one is. I love this one. Penny wise and pound foolishness.

[Kenny Malone]

That is my favorite one.

[Erica Barris]

I think that's my favorite, too.

[Kenny Malone]

It's really beautiful.

[Erica Barris]

Yeah, it's true.

[Kenny Malone]

So we spent, I guess, 250 years with the penny as our smallest denomination. And so the entire vernacular.

[Erica Barris]

Actually, that's actually not true because we used to have a half penny. We used to have a half cent, but we've had pennies for a very long time. As our smallest denomination.

[Kenny Malone]

As our smallest denomination. And therefore, whenever we reached for or created some kind of saying that needed to emphasize the smallest denomination, it's true. It's all built around the penny. And so I guess you're sad we're losing that. We're not losing that. You can still say your. You can still say your old sayings.

[Erica Barris]

If you want, I guess, but who's gonna appreciate them, you know? Like, we stopped making the penny for two main reasons. One is apparently they cost a little bit more to make than they're actually worth. The US Mint is saying that this is gonna be a savings of $56 million a year. So they cost like more than $0.03 to make $0.01. So they are literally penny pinching, I guess, is what's happening. Yeah. And then our other reason. Do you want to hear the other reason?

[Kenny Malone]

Please.

[Erica Barris]

The reason we got rid of the penny is because people pay for everything with credit cards and like, you know, phone payments and whatever.

[Kenny Malone]

Now here's my question.

[Erica Barris]

Yeah.

[Kenny Malone]

Will we run out of pennies before the sun extinguishes?

[Erica Barris]

Probably not. And I'll tell you why.

[Kenny Malone]

You think we'll still have pennies.

[Nick Fountain]

Yes.

[Erica Barris]

It's a metal. It's not going anywhere.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay. Yes. I mean, yes. So metaphysically they will still.

[Erica Barris]

But they're gonna be here.

[Kenny Malone]

But I'm just saying they'll be like lost in the proverbial couch cushions for eternity. That's what I'm saying. Like, when will they fully be like sort of down sewer grates and buried in people's backyards in a way that they're unusual?

[Erica Barris]

I can guarantee that I will actually become an 85 year old woman. And pennies will still be in circulation.

[Announcer]

They'll still be there.

[Jess Jiang]

Yeah.

[Kenny Malone]

It'll be fine.

[Jess Jiang]

Yeah.

[Sponsor Messages]

Hopefully.

[Erica Barris]

I'm back.

[Kenny Malone]

Thank you so much.

[Erica Barris]

Oh, yeah.

[Sponsor Messages]

Thank you.

[Announcer]

All right.

[Kenny Malone]

For our final valentine, I had a little bit of spare time on my hands. I will say I'd been spending a lot of that time on the list of public domain things newly available to mess around with. And I decided to make another special little valentine to tee up this final segment. Nick Fountain.

[Announcer]

Hi.

[Kenny Malone]

Planet Money co host. I need to give you something. Are you ready?

[Nick Fountain]

Yes. Never been more ready.

[Kenny Malone]

My valentine for you, Nick, is.

[Nick Fountain]

Ta da. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. The Secret of Planet Money Valentine.

[Kenny Malone]

Valentine.

[Announcer]

Bah.

[Kenny Malone]

The very first Nancy Drew novel is in the public domain this year. So that's very exciting. And so, as you can see, Nancy, this is actually a Book about some sort of clock, but I've replaced the clock with a laptop computer. She's carrying a laptop computer.

[Nick Fountain]

There's a lot of ones and zeros in the background.

[Kenny Malone]

Because I know that your valentine has to do with our love for the kind of reporting that is about following the data, following the money. It's the kind of stuff that we really, really get into. And so with that, Nick, I'll throw it to you. Amazing segue, Valentine.

[Nick Fountain]

Yes, amazing segue. My valentine goes out to the journalists at 404 Media for their coverage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in particular the technology that ICE has been using in this past year.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah, 404 Media is the name of the outlet and I feel like they're probably. They should be, but they're not yet a household name perhaps. And so it's probably useful. You want to talk a little bit more about them.

[Nick Fountain]

Yeah, they're at this newish outlet, pretty small. They are owned by their reporters, which I think is pretty cool. Have sort of a retro Internet vibe. Kind of not unlike Nancy Drew, your new she's spangled.

[Kenny Malone]

Super retro retro Internet vibe. Yes, yes. Proto Internet. Yeah.

[Nick Fountain]

Their design choices are not what I want to shout out though. It just seems like these folks have been training for this like their entire lives. And because of that they are firing on all cylinders.

[Kenny Malone]

Like they're tech reporters. Largely.

[Nick Fountain]

They're tech reporters. And so what I want to shout out are their scoops, which are many and I am very jealous of. I. I find them.

[Kenny Malone]

It's been really incredible. And do you want to. Do you want to shout out a specific scoop?

[Nick Fountain]

Yeah, I mean, it's probably they're reporting on Palantir, the data mining software company, and this app Paler developed, which seems like it's sort of the Google Maps for ice. According to their reporting, it compiles federal data and shows ICE neighborhoods that might be hotspots where lots of non citizens are suspected to live. It shows potential targets on maps and like if an agent clicks on one, it'll show a dossier about that target. By the way, we reached out to Palantir. They disputed this description of the software. They said it's a tool used to reconcile address data, data that's not theirs. They wanted to be cleared, but their customers. And while 404 is really secretive about their sourcing, they are very open about their techniques. So like a year ago they had this little online training for their subscribers, of which I am one.

[Joseph Cox]

Hello there. Can you let us know if you.

[Nick Fountain]

Can see us about how they use public records to generate scoops.

[Joseph Cox]

So this is a very old school system for searching government, federal government procurement records.

[Kenny Malone]

Nick, do you want to describe what's happening in this video here?

[Nick Fountain]

So, right, this is reporter Joseph Cox directing people to the federal procurement website, which is just a public site, basically listing all the contracts the federal government enters into.

[Joseph Cox]

Just go to that search bar and just type in Immigration Customs Enforcement.

[Nick Fountain]

And so Joseph is showing how an enterprising reporter can learn a lot about how a federal entity like ICE operates just by looking at the contracts it signs from, you know, its janitorial services to its technological providers.

[Joseph Cox]

There you go. So click on that.

[Kenny Malone]

Click this.

[Joseph Cox]

Yeah, click on that. Then these are all the contracts for ice.

[Kenny Malone]

In other words, they are peering into this government database and then following where that leads them. It is, I guess, one of the most basic things that journalists do, which is just a kind of accountability, like, where's our tax money going and why?

[Nick Fountain]

Exactly. And I watched that training and I was like, that's amazing. We need to do that. I need to do that. And then like many things in life, I did not do it. And they did it and they did a great job. And I am jealous and I am grateful.

[Kenny Malone]

You don't need to be hard on yourself, Nick, because now we've heard video of them doing it. So perhaps someone listening will also just be a part of this. Because, look, we're all the public, and the public has a right to lots of information. And you should take advantage of that, Nick. Or anybody listening if.

[Announcer]

Nick.

[Kenny Malone]

Yes.

[Nick Fountain]

Let this be an inspiration to us all.

[Kenny Malone]

And check out their work. Where can you find that? 400 and.

[Nick Fountain]

404 Media co.

[Kenny Malone]

Thank you, Nick.

[Announcer]

Thanks, Ben.

[Kenny Malone]

We will. We will make sure to post a picture of the Nancy Drew Valentine I made for Nick and a few others. You can find those on our Instagram. All right, that leaves us with one final task before we're done today. To finish up the official Betty Boop Planet Money Economics Valentine's Day card so that you listener, can print it out and give it to the most important person in your life. So remember, picture, we've got a kind of like tattoo style red on black font that says the official Planet Money Valentine, which we feel okay writing because we're not gonna get sued because we are using the picture of betty boop from 1930, which is now in the public domain. And. And it says boop boop. A duopoly. We just needed one last touch, a little tagline to pull it all together. And make this valentine about love and market dominance. I brought our Betty Boop loving friend Jennifer Jenkins a few options to choose from.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Is this the taglines or the. The actual.

[Kenny Malone]

So this is going to be the tagline for Boop boop. A duopoly.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Yeah, that's clearly the winner.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay, so here we go. Boop boop boo duopoly subline. You dominate the market for my heart. It doesn't quite work because it's like it doesn't. You dominate. That's one player. It's not quite there. Okay. I anti. Antitrust you. That's clever.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

And who doesn't love a double negative, right?

[Kenny Malone]

Okay. Exactly.

[Announcer]

All right.

[Kenny Malone]

Ready? Together we are everything.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Oh, that's much better.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay. All right, ready? Boop boop boo doo appoly. I'll never bust your trust.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Ooh, this is good.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay, and then here's the last one. Boop boop ba duopoly. U plus me equals. Hopefully not so much potential consumer harm to warrant regulatory intervention. That one's a little worried. It won't fit on a candy heart, but I think the sentiment is right. Yeah, fine. I got a little carried away there. The clear winner was Boo Poopa duopoly. I'll never bust your trust.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

I'm in love with this idea. It's amazing. On behalf of the public domain, we thank you.

[Kenny Malone]

Happy Valentine's Day.

[Jennifer Jenkins]

Happy Valentine's Day.

[Kenny Malone]

We will post the official Planet Money valentine as a Downloadable [e-mail] and on our Instagram. If you give this to someone, please, please let me know how this goes over. I am very curious. Email us that story. Planet Money pr.o r g that's planetmoneypr.org and if I may sneak one final valentine, it is to you all, to our listeners and I would like to say that I'd love to deliver personally one of our official Planet Money Boop Valentine's when I see you in person as part of the Planet Money book tour, which is not your typical book tour, we are staging live never before seen Planet Money stories. We've got Q and a, we've got a bonkers lineup of guests for live on Saturday stage interviews. And I will personally be at the stops in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. And at least one of us co hosts will be at every single stop putting on a show taking your questions. There's 12 cities in total, each stop a little different and you can find out the details, who's coming where and to what city at a link in the show notes or you can go to planetmoneybook.com where you will you know you will have to scroll down a little bit to find that information. Fair warning at the live events only you will get a specially designed tote bag with your ticket purchase while supplies last. That is again planetmoneybook.com for more details. Scroll down to find those details. Today's episode of Planet Money was produced by James Snead with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kessler. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez, engineered by Sina Lofredo and Kwesi Lee, and edited by our executive producer, Alex Goldmark. I'm Kenny Malone. This is npr. Thanks for listening.

[Sponsor Messages]

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[Announcer]

This message comes from Greenlight. Parents say financial literacy is the hardest life skill to teach. Greenlight's debit card and money app for families makes it easy for kids to learn to earn, save and spend wisely. Start today, risk [e-mail] NPR.