Read & Discuss – Planet Money by Alex Mayyasi

Read & Discuss is a book club meetup at Fortnight Brewery, on Maynard Road, starting at 4:00 PM on December 1, 2026. This session covers Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life by Alex Mayyasi.

The book is the first from NPR's Planet Money podcast. Mayyasi, a longtime contributor, wrote it with the show's hosts, drawing on more than ten years of reporting. Topics include how AI could help or replace workers, how dating markets work, and what pro sports' "dumbest" contract reveals about building wealth. The reporting also visits a smartphone factory in Patagonia, a raisin cartel in California, and an Indigenous reserve in Canada with a possible answer to the housing crisis.

The group alternates between history or current events and practical how-to titles. It does not endorse any particular idea in the books it reads, and picks a range of subjects to encounter unfamiliar viewpoints. Attendees can join partway through a discussion, and finishing the book is not required. Audiobook listeners are welcome too.

The group aims to use the room at the back right of the main indoor seating area, to the right as you enter from the Maynard Road side. If that room is taken, they sit at a nearby table. A Google Sheet lists past, current and possible future books, and a Google Doc describes upcoming meetings. Both are tentative, since the group takes suggestions at meetings and nothing is final until an event is scheduled.