Wailin Wong
Co-host at The Indicator from Planet Money and NPR. Likes waffles and news. Chicagoland. She/her
npr.org/people/1093418997/wailin-wong
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- Reposted by Wailin Wonghad the great privilege of joining @bmluse.bsky.social and @wailinwong.bsky.social on today's episode of It's Been a Minute, talking through why the job market really does still suck despite topline (emphasis on topline) economic numbers looking sanguine as ever www.npr.org/2026/01/26/n...
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- Reposted by Wailin WongCharles Yang of Time for Three absolutely slaying me. I would lose my mind if I heard this live. Even crappy phone speakers made me scream and cry.
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- If you're in Chicago, come see me with Alex Mayyasi and Adriana Robertson on April 23!
- We're going on the road for a book tour in April! Author Alex Mayyasi will be joined by Planet Money hosts and special guests. Attendees can get swag, like a tour-exclusive tote bag (while supplies last/restrictions apply). Ticket and tour info: planetmoneybook.com
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- This is a great cathartic rage listen for those of us who lived through this drama
- My middle schooler this morning: "I don't want to go to school. I don't care that education is a privilege." Me: "Who said that?" Her: "MALALA!" [storms out the door]
- A tiny Freddy Krueger just rang my doorbell and wished me a "Happy 6-7." I love Halloween!
- Reposted by Wailin WongSusan Stamberg, an original National Public Radio staffer who went on to become the first U.S. woman to anchor a nightly national news program, has died. n.pr/4qjVMDS
- "Officers pulled out his REAL ID, which Alabama only issues to those legally in the U.S. But the agents dismissed it as fake." BTW this happened TWICE to the same person!
- Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social
- Reposted by Wailin WongJUST IN: Chicago journalistsa re suing DHS and ICE over force used against reporters: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
- Reposted by Wailin WongYou guys, so many Romance girlies are reading "On Tyranny" that they've broken the Goodreads recommendations algorithm. 10/10; no notes. #romancelandia
- At Curriculum Night at the middle school, the social sciences teacher was telling us about the current unit on the Columbian Exchange. The slide said "Three cultures meet," referring to European/African/indigenous. It took every ounce of self control not to yell AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED
- I was telling my 12yo about Task and said, "It's about an FBI agent and a robber." Her: "Do they fall in love?" Me: "Um, I don't think so."
- Clicked on this article hoping for an announcement that Gap was bringing back its fragrance line from the 90s but nope [throws laptop out of window in anger] www.wsj.com/business/ret...
- This reminds me of @caseynewton.bsky.social's erstwhile game show podcast, Converge, where he did a recurring bit asking each guest what they would put on the blockchain. That podcast is from like 5 years ago but I still think about this gag, mostly bc what is the blockchain anyway
- All I wanted to do yesterday was pick up my KATABASIS pre-order from the bookstore and start reading. But instead I ended up doing an emergency episode about what's happening at the Fed. Which was, I suppose, its own kind of descent into the underworld. www.npr.org/2025/08/26/n...
- A Palantir exec has a WSJ op-ed today arguing that Harvard should expel Chinese students. What if, and I'm just spitballing here, there was some kind of legislation...that banned Chinese people from the U.S., full stop? We could call it, I don't know, the Chinese Exclusion Act...?
- Devastated that neither Chicago daily has a film critic anymore. Thanks for a great run, Michael Phillips! I was always too nervous to introduce myself when I saw you in the elevator at Tribune Tower (which is now luxury condos) www.thewrap.com/chicago-trib...
- WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVINS
- Was explaining the Mary Magadalene/Jesus ❤️ theory to my 12yo and she deadpanned, "Hmmm, disciples to lovers"
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- Reposted by Wailin WongIt has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.
- Hear me out—a romance where the jumbotron thing happens, and the rock star feels bad and reaches out to the jilted wife and sparks fly! My other idea is THE DATING COMMITTEE, about 2 economists on the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee who fall in love while arguing about if we're in a recession
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- Happy Pub Day to my better half, Alec Nevala-Lee! His biography of Nobel-winning physicist Luis Alvarez, COLLISIONS, is out today and you should read it if you are into ✅ Oppenheimer / Manhattan Project / WW2 ✅ Dinosaurs ✅ the Keith Hernandez episode of Seinfeld bookshop.org/p/books/coll...
- Congrats to Broadway producer Hunter Arnold, who just won a Tony for Best Musical for Maybe Happy Ending. I'm sure this is his second proudest moment after coming on The Indicator to talk to me about the economics of Broadway! www.npr.org/2023/10/18/1...
- My theater kid, watching the Tonys: "Hey, it's Darren Criss!" Then the camera pans to George Clooney and she says, "Who's that?" I say "George Clooney" and she says "He made Star Wars?" I explain and then add that his wife is a world-renowned human rights lawyer. "Oh, like Elle Woods."
- Jobs Friday AND opening day for Ballerina! Listen to me yap about labor productivity with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee or about Ballerina with @aishaharris.bsky.social @originalsp.in @trevellanderson.bsky.social www.npr.org/2025/06/06/1... www.npr.org/2025/06/06/1...
- My 12yo told me about a girl who drew Xs and wrote UGLY on classmates' yearbook photos, including on a picture of a girl who used to be her friend until they had a falling out relating to spoken word club, and anyway I am just thinking about that today for no reason
- I got to see Ballerina last night and my spoiler-free reaction is that if you've ever wondered what would have happened if the Duke of Weselton were actually a psycho killer and took over Arendelle, you're in for a treat!
- Pope Char Siu VI
- Are you telling me we now have a Pope who's seen the Eagleman insurance TV commercial? Victory Auto Wreckers? Dare I say it, Sybaris Pool Suites?! I am going to hell for that last one but c'mon, those ads were unavoidable
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