Book Launch and Live Taping
Join the team behind the popular podcast ‘Planet Money’ and celebrate the publication of their new book, PLANET MONEY: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life.
Book author and longtime contributor Alex Mayyasi and co-host Erika Beras bring Planet Money’s signature brand of storytelling to the stage and discuss some highlights from the new book, including unlikely origin stories, revealing truths about human behavior, and insightful suggestions for navigating chaotic times drawn from the latest ideas in economics.
Kevin Zollman, Herbert A. Simon Professor of Philosophy and Social and Decision Sciences and Director, Institute for Complex Social Dynamics at Carnegie Mellon, will be the special guest interview this evening.
Come prepared to engage with the silly and the sublime and ask some questions of your favorite Planet Money hosts and reporters.
Alex Mayyasi is a longtime contributor to Planet Money and the author of Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life (April 2026). Previously he was the founding editor of Gastro Obscura, which earned two James Beard Awards and published a bestselling travel book, and a writer and editor at Priceonomics.
His writing on business and economics has appeared in publications such as Smithsonian, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Mayyasi also consults for the University of Chicago economics department. He’s the co-author of You Are Under Arrest for Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution (a Memoir).
Erika Beras is a reporter and host for NPR’s Planet Money podcast. Prior to joining the team in 2021 she spent four years as a reporter at Marketplace. As a freelancer, she was a regular contributor to Scientific American podcasts and filed stories for NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Latino USA. She also contributed to PRI’s The World, the BBC and Monocle 24 Radio and wrote stories for National Geographic and NewYorker.com. Before that, she spent a decade as a staff reporter for NPR Member station WESA and at The Miami Herald.
Her reporting has taken her places as varied as The Democratic Republic of Congo, Switzerland and Erie, Pennsylvania. Beras is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer and a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. A native Spanish speaker, she grew up in New York City and lives in Pittsburgh.
Books
Pre-order PLANET MONEY from Mystery Lovers Bookshop where you may also purchase additional titles by Alex Mayyasi.
WHEN
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 7:00 pm ET
Get Tickets
Ticket for this event comes with a free copy of the book, PLANET MONEY.
For group tickets (up to 4), please call our Box Office (412.622.8866) or email info@pittsburghlectures.org.
WHERE
Carnegie Library Lecture Hall (Oakland)
