What happens when billions of dollars in research funding goes away

The NIH has helped transform American cities like Birmingham, Alabama.

Darian Woods is a host of The Indicator from Planet Money. He blends economics, journalism, and an ear for audio to tell stories that explain the global economy. He's reported on the time the world got together and solved a climate crisis, vaccine intellectual property explained through cake baking, and how Kit Kat bars reveal hidden economic forces.

Cooper Katz McKim produces NPR's daily economics podcast The Indicator from Planet Money. Before The Indicator, McKim reported at NPR Member stations in South Carolina and Wyoming. At Wyoming Public Radio, he filed stories with NPR's Environment And Energy Collaborative on bankruptcies, carbon capture and economic transition. He's won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Use of Sound. More recently, he's served as a podcast producer at Sports Illustrated and the HISTORY Channel. He's a graduate of Tufts University. [Copyright 2024 NPR]

Kate Concannon is the Supervising Senior Editor at The Indicator from Planet Money. She leads this small, collaborative team of hosts, reporters and producers in making sense of crucial, but often complex and confusing, economic news in just 10 minutes a day.

February 20, 2025

Federal funding from the National Institutes of Health has driven the biomedical research industry in cities across America including Birmingham, Alabama. It’s helped support research into life-saving treatments for cancers, strokes and Parkinson’s. But, the Trump Administration says the NIH is getting ripped off in how those grants are calculated. We take a look.

Related episodes:
The gutting of USAID ( Apple / Spotify )
A 'Fork in the Road’ for federal employees ( 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 .

What happens when billions of dollars in research funding goes away

More National News

Room for dessert? Here's why your brain says yes to sugar

Lab mice may give 'first aid' to unconscious mates

Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime to win the contentious 4 Nations Face-Off

AI can score our every moment and mood. Should musicians be worried?