{"podcast":{"title":"Planet Money","slug":"planet-money-551334","podcast_index_feed_id":551334,"rss_url":"https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml","website_url":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money","image_url":"https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/10/24/pm_new_tile_2022_sq-e543deddd0a46a98be481b46e6a72efa6b52236f.jpg?s=1400&c=66&f=jpg","author":"NPR (podcasts@npr.org)","episode_count":355,"summary":"Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money , we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world. Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/planet-money-551334"},"episode":{"title":"Battlefield rare earths: How the U.S. lost to China","slug":"battlefield-rare-earths-how-the-u-s-lost-to-china","published_at":"2026-04-24T21:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/planet-money-551334/battlefield-rare-earths-how-the-u-s-lost-to-china","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/planet-money-551334","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/24/nx-s1-5798742/rare-earths-mining-china-usa","audio_url":"https://tracking.swap.fm/track/XvDEoI11TR00olTUO8US/prfx.byspotify.com/e/play.podtrac.com/npr-510289/npr.simplecastaudio.com/43b5acee-463e-4612-95ad-d2596d9dd337/episodes/8856e6f5-c07d-4d85-be0d-534bb4dd549d/audio/128/default.mp3?awCollectionId=43b5acee-463e-4612-95ad-d2596d9dd337&awEpisodeId=8856e6f5-c07d-4d85-be0d-534bb4dd549d&feed=hvWWWzRv&t=podcast&e=nx-s1-5798742&p=510289&d=2055&size=32894311","summary":"At one point in history, one U.S. company monopolized the rare earths industry. Then China took over the industry. Can the U.S. bring it back? Rare earths are critical to making, like, everything. From smart phones to electric vehicles to microwaves. They’ve also become a powerful political weapon for China, which controls the majority of mining and processing of rare earths. Today, we have the story of the rise and fall of America’s rare earth industry told through that single company. It’s a corporate saga made for prestige television about the elements that literally, once, made prestige televisions. Live event info and tickets here. Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift . / Subscribe to Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter . This episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy","meta_description":"At one point in history, one U.S. company monopolized the rare earths industry. Then China took over the industry. Can the U.S. bring it back? Rare earths…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2055,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/planet-money-551334/episodes/battlefield-rare-earths-how-the-u-s-lost-to-china/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/planet-money-551334/battlefield-rare-earths-how-the-u-s-lost-to-china.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}