A Podcast Worth Listening To, and a New NY Times Finance Columnist

I didn't catch This American Life's May 9 broadcast, but I did listen to the podcast of the show this weekend. It was a special episode called "The Giant Pool of Money," which gave an entertaining behind the scenes look at why the housing market meltdown happened:

A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR news. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

You can listen or download a podcast at this link.

Also, there is a new personal finance columnist at the Times. Here's his debut effort: Five Basics for Building a Solid Financial Future.