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

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.

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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.

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!