So imPORTant: Bananas, frogs, and... Bob's??

Summary

Planet Money Podcast Summary: "So imPORTant: Bananas, frogs, and... Bob's??"

Host: NPR's Planet Money
Episode Title: So imPORTant: Bananas, frogs, and... Bob's??
Description: Delving into the intricate world of ports, this episode explores how disruptions can ripple through the economy. From the surprising journey of bananas entering the United States through Delaware to the unexpected prominence of Bob's Discount Furniture as a top importer, the hosts uncover the hidden mechanics that keep global commerce flowing.

---

1. The Vital Role of Ports in the Economy

Kenny Malone opens the episode by reflecting on a recent port strike that halted operations for three days, sparking widespread concern about potential shortages and inflation. He describes cargo containers as "the blood cells of our entire economy" (00:53), emphasizing their essential role in maintaining the flow of goods.

Amanda Aronczyk adds historical context by referencing past port disruptions, including those caused by COVID-19, highlighting that such events are not isolated incidents but part of an ongoing challenge in managing global trade.

---

2. Understanding Port Strikes and Their Impact

During the strike, Kenny Malone expresses personal anxiety, humorously questioning whether he stockpiled necessities like dog food and diapers, while Amanda Aronczyk teases him about his overreactions (01:08). This light-hearted exchange underscores the genuine concerns that port closures can raise among the public about everyday goods.

Stephen Flynn, a political science professor and port expert, is introduced as a key voice in unpacking the complexities of port operations. Kenny Malone likens the halt in port activities to blood cells stopping in the body, illustrating the potential economic paralysis that can ensue (01:05).

---

3. The Lifeline of Global Commerce

Stephen Flynn explains that approximately 80% of the world's goods by volume move through ships and ports, portraying it as a "constant water ballet of commerce" (01:57). This metaphor captures the orchestrated efficiency required to keep the global economy running smoothly.

Kenny Malone reflects on his newfound appreciation for ports post-strike, likening his realization to finding "new beauty and fascination after a near-death experience" (02:15). This personal insight leads into a series of intriguing port facts shared throughout the episode.

---

4. Decoding Import Data with Import Genius

To understand what exactly moves through ports, Kenny Malone and Amanda Aronczyk consult Michael Kanko, CEO of Import Genius, a company that organizes import and export data. Michael Kanko describes their users as "import Geniuses" (07:16), emphasizing the value of accessible trade information.

Together, they examine a sample shipping manifest from the New York-New Jersey port, revealing a diverse array of imports such as "upholstered furniture from Turkey" and "biscuits from Spain destined for Goya Foods" (07:43). This examination illustrates the breadth of goods that pass through ports daily, from luxury items to everyday consumables.

---

5. Fascinating Port Facts: Live Bullfrogs and More

Throughout the episode, Kenny Malone intersperses "port facts" to engage listeners with quirky and unexpected information. One standout fact involves the importation of live bullfrogs, with shipments arriving about six times a month (12:12). This revelation raises questions about the purposes behind such imports, adding a layer of intrigue to the economic narrative.

---

6. The Banana Phenomenon: Wilmington, Delaware as a Hub

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to uncovering why Wilmington, Delaware, is a central hub for banana imports—a fact that initially seems perplexing given the geographical distances from typical banana-exporting regions like Central America.

Sam Yellow Horse Kessler interviews Tracy Levin, who shares her family's long-standing involvement in banana ripening, dating back to 1906 (13:43). Tracy Levin explains that bananas are shipped firm and green to withstand transportation, then ripened in specialized facilities using ethylene gas to ensure they arrive ready for consumers (16:05).

Sam highlights the "cluster effect," where the development of banana ripening infrastructure around Wilmington attracted major companies like Dole and Chiquita, solidifying the port's status as a banana powerhouse (15:40). This clustering not only optimizes logistics but also creates a comparative advantage for the region in handling perishable goods.

---

7. The Unexpected Rise of Bob's Discount Furniture

In a surprising twist, the podcast reveals that Bob's Discount Furniture emerged as the fourth-largest importer on the Eastern Seaboard, alongside giants like Walmart and Amazon (21:36). Bill McLaughlin, editor-in-chief of Furniture Today, estimates Bob's to be a $2 billion business, emphasizing the scale of their operations (22:26).

Amanda Aronczyk and Kenny Malone explore why Bob's, a company primarily dealing with Asian-manufactured discount furniture, opts to import through the East Coast rather than more traditional ports like California. Bill McLaughlin explains that bulk shipping via ships is more cost-effective for large volumes, as it minimizes handling and transportation costs associated with moving individual containers (24:37).

---

8. The Economics of Bulk Shipping and Globalization

The hosts delve into the economics of bulk shipping, noting that cargo ships carry massive amounts of goods using TEUs (20-Foot Equivalent Units), which are standardized container measurements (24:01). Bill McLaughlin illustrates how companies like Bob's maximize efficiency by retaining bulk shipments on ships longer, reducing the need for additional transportation and handling.

Stephen Flynn adds that globalization thrives on such efficiencies, where companies leverage low labor costs overseas to organize shipments meticulously before they reach retail shelves (26:51). This practice underscores the interconnectedness of global supply chains and the economic principles that drive international trade.

---

9. Conclusions: Ports as Pillars of the Global Economy

The episode concludes by reinforcing the indispensable role of ports in sustaining the global economy. Kenny Malone reflects on his journey from initial panic during the port strike to a deeper appreciation of how bulk shipping and port infrastructure underpin modern globalization (25:45).

Amanda Aronczyk and Kenny Malone leave listeners with a newfound understanding of the complex systems that ensure the availability of everyday items, from bananas to furniture. The episode highlights how critical ports are in connecting global markets, optimizing logistics, and maintaining the flow of goods that fuel economic activity.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Kenny Malone (00:53): "And those cargo containers are like the blood cells of our entire economy."
• Stephen Flynn (01:57): "It's a constant water ballet of commerce to keep food and fuel and life moving."
• Michael Kanko (07:16): "Our users are the import Geniuses."
• Tracy Levin (16:43): "Every single piece of this banana room is designed for optimal banana ripening."
• Bill McLaughlin (22:26): "Bob's is a $2 billion business."

---

This episode of Planet Money intricately weaves together personal anecdotes, expert interviews, and fascinating data to illuminate the hidden mechanisms of global trade. By exploring the pivotal role of ports, the episode underscores how disruptions can have far-reaching economic impacts, while also celebrating the often-overlooked systems that keep the world connected.

Transcript

[Kenny Malone]

This message comes from solidym. Yesterday's approach to storage can't meet the demands of today's AI ambitions. Bigger, faster and more energy efficient Solidigm solid state storage solutions are optimized for AI. Learn more at storageforai.com this is Planet Money from NPR. My eyes have been opened. I am a changed man. And it all stems from just a few days last week when there was a port strike, a port shutdown.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Of course this was not the first port disruption we have dealt with recently. Looking at you Covid ports mess. But yes, you may recall the longshoremen on the eastern seaboard walked off the job. Those are the people in charge of basically everything to do with loading and unloading cargo containers.

[Kenny Malone]

And those cargo containers are like the blood cells of our entire economy. And you know Amanda, it is very scary when the old blood cells stop pumping suddenly.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Which of course was the point of the strike.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah, you know, exert economic pressure and pressure they exerted. You know people were freaking out during this shutdown. Like would this cause toilet paper shortages? Would this cause inflation? Is this going to ruin Christmas?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Kenny, you are saying. But I think actually maybe you were the one freaking out. Possible.

[Kenny Malone]

I mean did I stockpile dog food and diapers and show up to staff meetings raving about ports? Who can say?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Oh man.

[Kenny Malone]

But I did start making a lot of port related phone calls.

[Stephen Flynn]

Hello, Kenny.

[Kenny Malone]

Hello Steve.

[Stephen Flynn]

Thanks for reaching out.

[Kenny Malone]

You were pitched to me as the man who knows all there is to know about ports.

[Stephen Flynn]

Okay, now I'm really in trouble.

[Kenny Malone]

Stephen Flynn is a professor of political science at Northeastern University, a former coast guard officer and has become a port's obsessive.

[Stephen Flynn]

I visited about every port in the world, a major port in the world.

[Kenny Malone]

Something like 80% of the world's stuff by volume moves by ship, in and out of ports. A constant water ballet of commerce to keep food and fuel and life moving.

[Stephen Flynn]

Oh, this is like an incredibly complex but efficient system that everybody's taking for granted.

[Kenny Malone]

Unless let's say it suddenly stopped overnight or something. Yes, yes. And look, when that port strike ended or was suspended, it was about three days in and you know, I found a place to store my panic purchased dog food and Amanda, I decided I am not going to take ports for granted. Like yes, in the, you know, it really matters and I hadn't thought about it way but also in the way that you suddenly see new beauty and fascination after a near death experience.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Near death, Kenny? Yeah, really.

[Kenny Malone]

I mean maybe overstating it but, but I do, I do Find myself stopping to smell the port roses to appreciate the system more. Like, for example, you know, when I was talking to Steve Flynn, he had these great tidbits about ports that I cannot get enough of. I cannot stop telling people about them. And would you. Would you like to hear some of them?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Yeah, sure.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay. Number one.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Yeah.

[Kenny Malone]

Did you know that luxury goods often ship in refrigerated containers?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

So what are we talking about? What's a luxury good?

[Kenny Malone]

Oh, I guess leather handbags, fancy belts, fancy shoes. Things that are very expensive.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Okay, maybe leather maybe smells if it's not refrigerated.

[Kenny Malone]

That was my guess also. But no, maybe they do that. Are you intrigued, Amanda?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I am intrigued.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay. Okay. It is not because you need it cold. They're not necessarily even using refrigeration. It is because Steve says because on.

[Stephen Flynn]

A ship and on a terminal, the boxes you keep track of are the refrigerated containers. Better idea, just put it in a box that doesn't need refrigeration, but just that you have the assurance that along the way there is control.

[Kenny Malone]

Refrigerated containers get more monitoring, have more safeguards.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Okay, and does it. I assume it costs more to have it done.

[Kenny Malone]

Shipped that way costs more, but the goods are so expensive, you don't care.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

It's worth it. Okay. Super interesting fact. Port fact one. I love it. What is port?

[Kenny Malone]

You want more port fact?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I would like another port fact, please.

[Kenny Malone]

Well, hello and welcome to planet Money. I'm Kenny Malone.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

And I'm Amanda Aronczyk.

[Kenny Malone]

Today on the show ports.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Ports.

[Kenny Malone]

I learned so much about ports during the shutdown, and I cannot keep it all to myself.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Today, we investigate why so many of our bananas come from Delaware. Did not know.

[Kenny Malone]

We discover a way to see virtually every single thing that gets sh. Shipped into the country. And learn how cookies and ice cream built a furniture empire. And, Amanda, are you game to learn some pork facts through this hashtag episode?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

You know I am.

[Kenny Malone]

Yes, I am. We're gonna have a little sound for every pork fact we have. It's gonna sound like this insert here. Hey, O. That's the sound of commerce, baby.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Wow. Commerce is loud.

[Kenny Malone]

Of course.

[NPR Sponsor]

This message comes from Apple Card. Apple Card is the perfect card for your holiday shopping. When you use Apple card on your iPhone, you'll earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase, including products at Apple like a new iPhone 16 or Apple Watch Ultra. Apply now in the wallet app on your iPhone. Subject to credit approval. Apple card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch terms and [e-mail] this message comes from Grammarly. 88% of the work week is spent communicating, so it's important your team gets it right. Enter Grammarly. Grammarly's AI helps teams communicate clearly the first time. It goes beyond basic grammar to help teams instantly create and revise drafts in just one click, all without leaving the page they're on. Join the 70,000 teams and 30 million people who use Grammarly to move work forward. Go to Grammarly.com enterprise to learn more Grammarly Enterprise Ready AI okay, let's make.

[Kenny Malone]

A distinction right now because I can feel the anticipation. Yes, we are going to have some Portfacts sprinkled through this episode. They are amazing and I have been saving them up to surprise my co host Amanda.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Can't wait. I know nothing of Portfax. Very excited to learn more.

[Kenny Malone]

You do not sound excited.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I am excited. I am excited by your excitement, Kenny, and you are excited.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay, Port facts. That's going to be the seasoning through this episode. But the meat. The meat is really, I guess, three questions that we had when we were suddenly reading lots and lots about the ports when they were shut down.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Right. We began with the first and I guess the most obvious question. What is on those boats?

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah. What's coming in? Can we know specifically, like what is getting imported through the ports? And to answer this, we got in touch with Michael Kanko, CEO of a company called Import Genius. Let me ask, are you the titular Import Genius?

[Michael Kanko]

Our users are the import Geniuses.

[Kenny Malone]

Spoken like a true CEO.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Import Genius is a company that provides import and export data to its users.

[Kenny Malone]

And to give us an example, Michael and I pulled up this big old spreadsheet that is apparently a list of some of the stuff that came in through the New York, New Jersey port one day back in September. So what am I looking at? Tell me what these fields are.

[Michael Kanko]

Well, the product description is the general description on the shipping manifest of what's in that shipment.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay, so I'm looking there and I can see like quote, upholstered furniture. And then another column it says that there's almost £13,000 worth of upholstered furniture. Another column says it came from Turkey and another says that it was imported by a company called Empire usa.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

But also that very same day you can see a big shipment of food.

[Michael Kanko]

Biscuits, purchase order number 764317 coming in.

[Kenny Malone]

From Spain, going to Goya Foods. Love Goya Biscuits. Happy those are coming in. Glad to see it.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Also that same day, bubble milk tea drink boba tea. An 86,000 pound shipment of just the bobas or the tea.

[Kenny Malone]

Do you know, I don't know, it might be other stuff too. Like some of these fields are not totally clear, but like, you know, you can see hotel soap and shampoo being imported by the Hyatt in Times Square.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Knitted garments coming into Vera Bradley. Bathroom stuff coming in for big lots.

[Kenny Malone]

I think, to sell, not to put in their bathrooms for customers. Although it doesn't say.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I have no idea.

[Kenny Malone]

I don't either. And one line item is literally just 36,000 pounds of quote, men's slim jeans. Just a bunch of tight jeans coming in.

[Michael Kanko]

And a totally unnecessary qualifier that is that CBP does not care whether they're slim or baggy.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Right? That's cbp. Customs and Border Protection.

[Kenny Malone]

It occurs to me that you get when you look at this stuff, and if you guys are looking at this stuff, you get it's almost like seeing the matrix code for the whole economy.

[Michael Kanko]

It's endlessly fascinating. And that's a good analogy.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Now the reason Mike has all of this is because according to federal law, import information is technically public information.

[Michael Kanko]

But like it's public, it's not free, and it's unusable in the format that it comes in. For years, the data came to us by CD rom, delivered by mail every day from some office in Northern Virginia.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah, and apparently some records are paper only still. So some guy called Grant is in charge of getting those for the company once a week.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

But you can see why collecting all this data and making it usable is a business model. Import genius is one of a number of companies that do this. Then other companies pay money to have easy access to all of this information.

[Kenny Malone]

And like, look, looking at that big spreadsheet with the CEO of a tech data company, this feels very modern. But in fact, Michael says this is one of the like oldest traditions in America.

[Michael Kanko]

Strangely, back in the 1700s, the local newspapers and gazettes in the port towns during the colonial era would publish shipping manifests detailing what's about to arrive on a vessel.

[Kenny Malone]

So it'd be like, hear ye, hear ye. New shipments of, I don't know, cured beef have arrived for all.

[Michael Kanko]

That's exactly how I imagine it.

[Kenny Malone]

It is shockingly not far off. We we found a copy of a newspaper from 1795 and front page, quote, imported in the ship Sophia and Carolina hemp gin in casks, cables and cordage looking glasses. And then obviously the best thing here, quote, velvet for lining and capes.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Oh, you could make such A dapper cape. If you just had the right lining.

[Kenny Malone]

Not enough capes anymore.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

No, we all need to wear more capes.

[Kenny Malone]

Now, look, obviously you can understand why this information was in the newspaper. Like, since virtually everything was imported into the country back then, customers would be wondering, like, hey, when can I finally line my cape? Or whatever.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Carpe diem for the capes. But also, this information would be really useful to other merchants to know what they should be importing. Like, what do their competitors already have, what things aren't being imported yet.

[Kenny Malone]

And really, that is the same role this data plays 200 years later today when companies use a service like Import Genius. And. Oh, wait. Oh, what is. What's that? Amanda, do you hear something?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Oh, goodness.

[Kenny Malone]

Oh, the sound of our. We probably gotta turn that down or else we're gonna crash their cars. That is the sound of our next portfact. Are you ready?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

When my ears stop ringing, I will be ready. Okay, I'm ready.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay. So Michael and some of the other folks at Import Genius sent me a list of a very specific kind of shipment that they have noticed happening over time. And I would love to show this to you. Can you see this?

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I mean, it says live bullfrog.

[Kenny Malone]

It does say live bullfrog. Because about six times a month, shipments of live bullfrogs come in.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Why?

[Kenny Malone]

Well, well, for. For eating. For frog. Frog legs.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

No.

[Kenny Malone]

You don't like that? Hashtag portfolio.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I don't like. I don't. I don't like frogs legs. Like, I.

[Kenny Malone]

All I'm saying. All I'm saying is, hashtag portfact, there are giant shipments of bullfrogs coming in monthly. Like, this is what's happening. This is just what's happening.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Unbelievable. It is a lot of bullfrogs.

[Kenny Malone]

Ok, port question number two is about bananas. Bananas, yes.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

If you look at the import data, you will see a peculiar banana pattern. A huge chunk of the country's bananas come in through a single port, Wilmington, Delaware.

[Kenny Malone]

Now, most of America's bananas come from Central America. And like, I don't know, maybe this is naive, but. But I guess I must have assumed that they would then come into the country through, like, Florida or some ports on the Gulf, but. But no. Wilmington, Delaware, of all places. So our producer Sam spoke with someone just outside of Wilmington. Sam joins us now. Hello, Sam.

[Sam]

Hi, Kenny. Hi, Amanda.

[Kenny Malone]

Sam is waving over. Zoom. You cannot hear that. But yes, welcome, Sam.

[Sam]

It's true. I do wave. Yeah. So I got in touch with Tracy Levin.

[Tracy Levin]

So bananas are in my family's blood. In 1906, my great grandfather opened up a ripening cellar on Dock Street. Bananas would come off the ships. We would cut them off the stalks and ripen them in a cellar.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

So why Wilmington? Why do the bananas go through Wilmington?

[Sam]

Well, first, the logistical answer. If you just used a port in Florida, yes, that is close to where the bananas come from. But Wilmington is close to where the bananas need to ultimately go to.

[Tracy Levin]

Population hubs, they're centrally located. People from New York actually come down to Port of Wilmington to pick up bananas here. People from Canada come down to Port of Wilmington to pick bananas up here. People from Virginia and North Carolina, South Carolina are still also coming up here to pick up bananas at the Port of Wilmington.

[Kenny Malone]

Amanda, your Canadian childhood bananas may have come through Wilmington. Amazing.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I've learned so much.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay, so location good for Wilmington. This is great.

[Sam]

Yeah. And Back in the 1970s, Del Monte Foods first started sending most of their bananas to Port of Wilmington, that nice central location. But here is what I think is the more interesting lesson. Once you have bananas going in through a port that did something special. And here's how I think about it. Let's say you are shipping something different, like skinny jeans or pencils or scooters. Once those hit the ports, they are more or less ready to hit the shelves. But items like fresh produce need another stage before they end up in your and my smoothies. They need to ripen. And that is where Tracy's operation comes in. They are fourth generation ripeners, and to do that, they have special ripening rooms for bananas.

[Tracy Levin]

So people, when they see it, they're kind of blown away by the entire process. What do you mean you've ripened bananas? They don't just appear on the shelves. Yellow.

[Sam]

As bananas started coming into Wilmington, a bunch of ripening centers cropped up to support that incoming produce. And now that those ripeners were nearby, Dole and Chiquita, you know, famous banana companies, they wanted to take advantage of those too. So they also set up contracts with Port of Wilmington.

[Kenny Malone]

I. I love this. This is the classic econ idea of the cluster effect. If. If banana ripening infrastructure gets built around the Port of Wilmington. Well, now the region around Wilmington has a comparative advantage for banana ripening. And please, Sam, tell me that you got access to a banana ripening room. I think I need to know everything about banana ripening.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah. So, Kenny, I did get to visit one of the ripening rooms.

[Tracy Levin]

We're looking at bananas that are placed three tiers high. Airflow is going around them. There Is ethylene gas in the room as we speak? You can kind of smell it. It's a little sweet.

[Sam]

Now, ethylene gas is just the gas bananas already produce as they ripen. So the idea is that the bananas ship firm and green, so they travel well. And then once they arrive, you add more of this gas to help them ripen quickly, consistently, and that's when they go into these ripening rooms.

[Tracy Levin]

Every single piece of this banana room is designed for optimal banana ripening.

[Sam]

The room itself sort of looks like a giant walk in cooler with stacks and stacks of bananas in boxes. And it's chilly, around 70 degrees, but it feels colder.

[Kenny Malone]

It's very windy.

[Tracy Levin]

It's like you're basically in a wind tunnel.

[Kenny Malone]

And I will say it sounds very windy. It sounds like you are in a windy place.

[Sam]

Yeah. That wind, though, is important. The boxes are actually designed to allow for the gas to flow in them and between the bananas. Tracy, I do have a confession, and I should have told you earlier. I'm actually allergic to bananas.

[Tracy Levin]

Allergic to the skin.

[Sam]

I'm allergic to eating them. To the. To the. To the fruit. Yeah.

[Tracy Levin]

Okay. I don't know if I've ever heard anyone be allergic before to bananas themselves, but I have heard people being allergic to this skin.

[Sam]

And in some senses, the worst reporter that they could have sent along to do this story.

[Kenny Malone]

Sam's, like, throwing us under the bus. This is the first I'm hearing about a banana allergy. We would. We would have not sent you in if we thought you could be harmed. Sam, this is unfair.

[Sam]

I am. Okay? Thank you for asking. But back to why I was risking life and limb in the first place. Tracy did tell me that bananas aren't the only produce that needs a whole production ecosystem. You know, mangoes, tomatoes, apples, pears, plums, avocados, and kiwis all have their own special ripening facilities near their top ports.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay, so bananas come in through Wilmington in part because at this point, all the banana infrastructure is now clustered around Wilmington. And, Sam, thank you so much for. I guess that's heroic reporting. We didn't know, but thank you.

[Sam]

Yeah, sure thing. Kenny, time to peel out.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

No, he did not do that.

[Kenny Malone]

Get out of here.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Go.

[Kenny Malone]

Get out of here. Oh, Amanda, Portfact.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Oh, it's so loud. Okay, but I'm recovering. All right.

[Kenny Malone]

Yes, it is. You now dread them. It's a shame. You now dread them because of the.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Sound effect, but just a little triggering, but I'll recover. It's fine. Tell me.

[Kenny Malone]

So, while Sam was at the old banana ripening place. He talked to a guy named Lou who has been there for ages and said that in the olden days there was a risk of banana shipments also coming with critters. I was crawling on a pallet of bananas and I heard like a scratching noise. And there goes a scorpion, crawled right into the banana box. We had to take the whole pallet apart, finally found it, and we kept it for a pet for a while, and then it died in the jar. Scorpion.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Scorpion. Yeah, of course.

[Kenny Malone]

You love it. Portfact.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I mean, do I love it? Will it keep me awake tonight? Yes, both.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay. After the break, a final port mystery about a surprisingly big importer. And also we'll talk about cookies and ice cream and candy. I mean, come on.

[NPR Sponsor]

This message comes from Capital One. Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.combank for details. Capital One NA Member FDIC.

[Sam]

This is Ira Glass of this American Life. Each week on our show, we choose a theme, tell different stories on that theme. All right. I'm just going to stop right there. You're listening to an NPR podcast. Chances are you know our show. So instead I'm going to tell you we've just been on a run of really good shows lately, some big, epic, emotional stories and some weird, funny stuff, too. Download us this AMERICAN Life.

[Kenny Malone]

Alexi Horowitz, Ghazi here.

[Sam]

Sure, subscriptions offer convenience, but are they bad for competition?

[Stephen Flynn]

When you're not canceling because you forget about it or it's difficult to cancel, those forces of consumers taking their business to another product are blunted.

[Sam]

That's from our recent Planet Money bonus episode, my extended interview with Stanford economist Neal Mahoney. Listen with [e-mail] Joe Biden's on his.

[Tracy Levin]

Way out and Donald Trump's on his way back. Want to know what's happening as the.

[Kenny Malone]

Presidential transition is underway?

[Tracy Levin]

The NPR Politics Podcast has you covered with the latest news and analysis. Listen to the NPR Politics podcast.

[Kenny Malone]

And we're back. So for our final segment, we're going to name a bunch of companies for a reason that will become clear in a second. One of them is Amazon, which is among NPR's financial supporters and pays to distribute some of our content. With that out of the way, our final port question. It stems from this thing that we kept seeing, like a list that we kept seeing.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Yes, there was a list of the biggest importers to the Eastern Seaboard and actually, this was calculated using import Genius data.

[Kenny Malone]

Shout out importgidis again. So the biggest importer on this list was Walmart, which makes sense. They are the biggest retailer in the country.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Also up there in the rankings was Amazon. Again, giant company. Got it.

[Kenny Malone]

Heineken is also in the top 20. They ship a lot of beer from Europe, so, sure, bring it in through the Eastern seaboard.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

But admittedly, we were pretty surprised to see that number four on the list was. Roll the campy ad.

[Kenny Malone]

Bob's Discount Furniture. It's Bob's Discount Furniture. It was Bob's Discount Furniture.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Bob's Discount Furniture.

[Sam]

What?

[Kenny Malone]

You're putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable. It's Bob's Discount Furniture. All right, all right. However you say it, I think our final big ports question kind of boiled down to, like, really, Bob's.

[Bill McLaughlin]

Bob's is a big company. I mean, Bob's is a $2 billion business.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

That is Bill McLaughlin's estimate. He's the editor in chief of the furniture trade publication Furniture Today.

[Bill McLaughlin]

I'm kind of a furniture geek.

[Kenny Malone]

Why do you love furniture so much?

[Bill McLaughlin]

How do you not love furniture? I mean, does anybody not have furniture in their house? Think about it.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah, think about it. And I thought about it. It's true. We all have furniture. Okay? But yes.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

So quiet while you're thinking.

[Kenny Malone]

Bob's is much bigger than I knew. They are massive. 186 stores, mostly on the East Coast.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I also did not know this. These are stores that Bill says also famously serve snacks, popcorn and cookies.

[Bill McLaughlin]

Not a lot of folks have done that before. So you can have a little snack while you shop.

[Kenny Malone]

I mean, I love that.

[Bill McLaughlin]

Well, the smartest thing about it is most parents shop with their kids, right? And, you know, if somebody's tugging on your shirt going, I want to go.

[Kenny Malone]

I want to go eat this cookie, kid.

[Bill McLaughlin]

Eat this cookies. Have some popcorn. Isn't this fun?

[Kenny Malone]

I did reach out to Bob's for this story, and they wanted to clarify that the food offerings are actually cookies, candy, and ice cream. So no popcorn. But look, the bottom line is that Bob's is bigger and snackier than I knew, and that's on me. But, like, look, here's what really caught our attention as, like, a port insight. So Ikea, for example, they are a massive east coast importer, the second biggest one. And that makes sense. Ikea is shipping from Europe, and so importing to the east coast makes sense.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

But Bob's, they are making discount furniture, which is largely made in Asia, China, Vietnam, Malaysia.

[Kenny Malone]

Bill says Our question then is, is it not impractical to have to ship that stuff all the way to the east Coast? Like, why not just land it in California? And I will admit, did not expect this answer from Bill.

[Bill McLaughlin]

Furniture is kind of like a cold sore, right? You don't want to touch it a lot.

[Kenny Malone]

Okay.

[Bill McLaughlin]

So every time you move a piece of furniture, you run risks. You run the risk of it breaking, you add an expense because in order to move it, that means somebody is moving a container. Right. And every time you touch it, it costs you more money.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah. The reality is it is just so much cheaper to keep things moving on a ship because a ship is a bulk method of transportation.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Cargo is measured in what the industry calls TEUs, or 20 Foot Equivalent Units, which is half of one of those big old metal containers that you're probably picturing. A cargo ship can carry 24,000 TEUs.

[Kenny Malone]

That is so many giant metal cargo containers all at once, moving in bulk.

[Bill McLaughlin]

I think the average person, you think, oh, wow, they're bringing in a big container and you think of it in terms of one, right? Well, if I was shipping one container from China to New York, the shortest way is to ship it to California and then take it and move it, drive it or wherever, right? That might be true if you do.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

It one time, but if you're the fourth largest importer on the east coast, like Bob's, we are talking so many cargo containers worth of stuff, it's just a different scale. And keeping all those containers on a ship for as long as possible just makes sense.

[Kenny Malone]

And, you know, I mean, I think this actually really gets at what I have come to appreciate maybe most from my short lived port strike, port shutdown panic, which is that when I thought about how the world's economies have become globalized, I guess I was really picturing like zooming jets and bustling airports. But it is all about moving things cheaply on ships to and from the ports. And for better and worse, that is what turned the entire planet into one giant marketplace where customers and importers and manufacturers can scour the globe for a place that makes the cheapest widget. Which, Amanda, brings us to our final portfact.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I was ready for that sound that time. Okay, lay it on me.

[Kenny Malone]

All right, so this one comes from the professor that I, that I first called when I was, you know, stockpiling dog food and freaking out about ports or whatever that is. Professor Stephen Flynn. And Steve had this example that I think is kind of globalization in a nutshell.

[Stephen Flynn]

There are places in China where they stack the clothes in the container. Exactly how they're going to come out of the container onto the retail shelf.

[Kenny Malone]

As in, you know, you like send this place a carefully put together list. You know, don't just load these shirts on the container willy nilly. I want them loaded in the exact order that they're going to go onto our shelves or our rack or whatever.

[Stephen Flynn]

Yeah, I want these dresses of this size being put in these colors and that is sort of through at very low labor cost overseas.

[Kenny Malone]

Yeah, it is just that much cheaper to have someone in another country spend the time organizing the things instead of having American workers do it here. Globalization in a nutshell. This episode was produced by Sam Yellow Horse Kessler. It was edited by Audrey Quinn and fact checked by Danya Suleiman, engineering by Sina Lofredo and Kwezi Lee with an assist from Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Special thanks this week to Will Chase for tracking down so many banana facts.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Who knew there were this many banana facts? So many facts to know.

[Kenny Malone]

I could have guessed. There's a hashtag Banana facts.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

Oh, I think you just came up with our next episode.

[Kenny Malone]

I'm Kenny Malone.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

And I'm Amanda Aronczyk. This is npr. Thanks for listening. The Code Switch team spent election Day.

[Kenny Malone]

Talking to folks about how the outcome might impact them.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

It's a time capsule of people's hopes.

[Kenny Malone]

And fears before they knew the results. One way or another, there's a change coming.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I wanted to vote for, but I voted for her.

[Sam]

Gays for Trump.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

I cried this morning. I've been crying on and off. I'm terrified. Listen to Code Switch, the podcast about.

[Kenny Malone]

Race and identity from npr.

[NPR Sponsor]

This message comes from Wondery. Some of the craziest conspiracy theories are actually classified government operations. To hear more about these hidden truths, listen to Redacted Declassified Mysteries with Luke lamanna on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kenny Malone]

NPR brings you the updates you need on the day's biggest headlines. The Senate narrowly passed the debt ceiling bill that will prevent the country from defaulting on its loans. Stories from across the world. Knowing how to forage and to live with the land is integral to anise culture and down your block.

[Amanda Aronczyk]

From CPR News, this is Colorado Matters.

[Kenny Malone]

And you can find all of that and more in your pocket. Download the NPR app today.