The Indicator from Planet Money

Flock cameras promise to reduce crimes like car theft. But these automated license plate readers come with a trade-off: a wide-reaching surveillance network. Today on the show, does Flock actually make communities safer?

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Stuck In China’s Panopticon

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It’s time for another Indicator Quiz! For today’s quiz, we’re testing the Indicator knowledge of a brilliant mathematician. Will we stump his theoretician brain? Tune in and find out! 

Interested in being a contestant on our next Indicator Quiz? Email us your name and phone number to indicator@npr.org and put "Indicator Quiz" in the subject.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— An urban planner, infinite scroll, and … what is a public good?

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This week’s indicators: Is The U.S. Treasury Department futzing with financial markets?; Is Patagonia’s pretty picturesque setting … for data centers?; Was the summer box office actually swell? 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— A Treasury showdown with the bond market

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— Sign up for The Indicator’s weekly newsletter! 
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Our favorite entry on the regional economy from the latest Beige Book reveals a troubling development in higher education. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
— Community colleges are kind of underrated

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Why do so many fintech companies — like Square and Mercury — want to be banks? And what does it take to get there? Find out today when we play our fake game show … Who Wants To Be A Bank!

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
—Is this a bank?

Connect with The Indicator 
— Sign up for The Indicator’s weekly newsletter! 
— Buy the Planet Money book 
— Find our socials, YouTube and more! 
— For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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