The movies come to Indicators of the Week. We dig into why one film is letting you reserve tickets a whole year in advance, what ticket prices might tell us about tariffs and inflation, and how Los Angeles might be cutting back on the red tape when it comes to making movies there.

Related episodes:
Why aren't filmmakers shooting in LA? (Apple / Spotify)
The story of China and Hollywood's big-screen romance (Apple / Spotify)
When is cosplay a crime? (Apple / Spotify)
Before La La Land, there was Fort Lee, New Jersey (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Cosplay—or dressing up as your favorite character from pop culture—is fun! But it can fall into a legal gray area when it comes to companies' intellectual property.

Today on the show: a group of cosplayers, Lucasfilm(!), a lawyer, and finding economic symbiosis in order to express yourself.

Related episodes:
Before La La Land there was Fort Lee, New Jersey (Apple / Spotify)
Why aren't filmmakers shooting in LA? (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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No country can come close to the amount of money Americans spend at the box office each year ... that is, until China came along. The US and Chinese film industries have a long intertwined history, with shifting power dynamics.

Today on the show, we continue our week-long look at the movie business as we explore the on-and-off romance between Hollywood and China's film industries.

Related episodes:
Why aren't filmmakers shooting in LA? (Apple / Spotify)
Before La La Land there was Fort Lee, New Jersey (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Despite being, ya know, Hollywood, more and more movies and TV shows are shooting outside of Tinseltown.

Dozens of U.S. states and many countries offer subsidies for film production. This has drawn filmmakers away from L.A. and led to historically low levels of shooting activity in recent years in the city.

After the COVID shutdowns, labor strikes, and January's devastating wildfires ... what can bring back LA's film industry?

Related episodes:
Before La La Land there was Fort Lee, New Jersey (Apple / Spotify)
Why residuals are taking center stage in actors' strike (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Hollywood, baby! The glitz! The glamour! The ever-changing business models! This week, The Indicator is going to the movies. Starting today with the history of Hollywood and where it began ... New Jersey!

Related episode:
The Origin Of The Oscars

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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We are back with Indicators of the Week! Today, we'll be digging into why U.S. professional gamblers are worried about their future, why businesses might start investing more in research and development, and why cancelling your subscriptions is going to remain difficult.

Related episodes:
How sports gambling blew up (Apple / Spotify)
The cautionary tale of a recovering day trading addict (Apple / Spotify)
The 'Planet Money' team examines the subscription trap

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Many small businesses are online now, but so are cyber criminals trying to take advantage. On today's show, how one bar owner fell victim to a Facebook scam and if big tech could do more to protect small business owners from increasing cyber attacks. Read Stephan's original piece.

Related:
The secret world of those scammy text messages
After being scammed, one woman tries to get her money back

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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We are just at the start of hurricane season, and we're already seeing the danger and tragedy brought on by storms. There's another cost that gets much less attention, but it's a gamble everyone in the path of a storm has to make.

Today on the show, we examine the decision on whether or not to evacuate from an oncoming disaster.

Based on the digital story: 1 reason people don't evacuate for hurricanes? Rising costs, and they're getting pricier

Related episodes:
Hazard maps: The curse of knowledge
Unintended Consequences, Hidden Deaths
The brewing recovery in Western North Carolina

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is now law. It's expected to cost the government a pretty penny. The Congressional Budget Office predicts a $3.4 trillion increase in the deficit over ten years. This is driven by significant tax cuts, including extensions of those made in 2017.

Trump's advisors argue the tax cuts will pay for themselves. Today on the show, we speak with the guru on that school of thought, Arthur Laffer, and dig into some of those claims with a tax economist.

Related episodes:
The simple math of the big bill (Apple / Spotify)
What's going to happen to the Trump tax cuts? (Apple / Spotify)
So, how's this No Tax On Tips thing gonna go? (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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In the U.S., we insure most everything we sell. So why not trees? Today on the show why trees aren't insured like other crops, and what it would take to get that insurance with extreme weather events on the rise.

Related episodes:
When insurers can't get insurance (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Tyler Jones. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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