Is the Ice Cream Scooper a Top 50 Invention?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Kenny: Could you imagine running this business without the ice cream scooper? If my only alternative was a spoon, I seriously doubt that anybody would be in the ice cream business. The author of 50 inventions that shaped the modern economy and a whole bunch of other things is Tim Harford. There are economy changing inventions which work their way into lots of nooks and crannies of the economy.

It's Groundhog Day, and once again, the eyes of the nation have turned to a small town in Western Pennsylvania. Every February 2nd, the only story anyone can talk about is whether or not Punxsutawney Phil will see his own shadow. If he does: six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't: spring is on its way.

This year, in a cruel twist of fate reminiscent of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, two Planet Money hosts have found themselves facing a curse. They'll be trapped in this never-ending groundhog news cycle until they can find a new February 2nd story to tell...something that has nothing to do with one furry prognosticator... something that changed the economy forever.

So rise and shine campers, and don't forget your booties as we journey through a series of Groundhog Days past to try to find a historical scoop.

This show was produced by Dave Blanchard and edited by Sally Helm. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Gilly Moon and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money's acting executive producer is Jess Jiang.

Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy