Will China come to Russia's rescue?

As Vice Week wraps up here at The Indicator, we wanted to take a slightly different perspective on the evolving business of crime and take a look at TRUE crime. As in the genre. Because look, people are obsessed with it! Today on the show, our hosts favorite pieces of true crime ... Show More

Market manipulation is an age-old issue. People trying to make money off unsuspecting investors by artificially influencing the price of a stock, say. But what happens when the one manipulating markets isn't human? This week on The Indicator from Planet Money, we bring you five e ... Show More

The Sinaloa Cartel made the bulk of its money on cocaine. But cartels are diversifying into new operations including things like wildlife trafficking. Think sharks, jaguars, capybaras. The result is something called “narco-degradation.” On today’s show, we look at what’s driving ... Show More

A series of governments on both sides of the Atlantic have announced punitive measures in response to Russia ordering troops into rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine. But how much of an impact will these sanctions actually have on Russia?In addition to restrictions on banks and ... Show More

The U.S. is imposing economic sanctions on Russia to punish it for invading Ukraine. But Russia has spent years trying to make its economy immune to sanctions. So, will these new sanctions be enough? | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here. Learn more about sponsor message choi ... Show More

Nearly a year on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the sanctions regime imposed on Vladimir Putin’s regime by the West and its allies looks to be less effective than initially hoped. According to Brooke Harrington, a professor at Dartmouth, that’s been due in part to the difficu ... Show More

One year into the Ukraine war, the United States says China may be on the brink of supplying weapons to Russia. 

How the latest penalties for invading Ukraine will hit Russia, and may also spill over into the world economy.Ed Butler explores what the democratic world hopes to achieve with their targeting of the Russian Central Bank's currency reserves, as well as the exclusion of major Russ ... Show More

Munitions, equipment losses, sanctions, isolation - Vladimir Putin's decision to invade has come with a rapidly increasing price tag. Just the cost of prosecuting the war is proving astronomical, as Edward Arnold of military think tank RUSI tells Ed Butler. Then there's the econo ... Show More

Sanctions, energy supplies, cyber-attacks - how bad could the economic fallout be if the situation in Ukraine spirals out of control?How likely would Russia be to simply cut the gas supply off to Europe in the middle of winter for example? Ed Butler asks Jane Collin, editor of th ... Show More