First, some programs on PRI’s program “Marketplace”:
* “Financial Crisis 101: CDOs explained” (3 Oct 08) — marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/03/cdo/ . That’s the transcript. The video calls itself “Uncorking CDOs,” and can be found at vimeo.com/1876936 .
* “Untangling Credit Default Swaps” (8 Oct 08) — vimeo.com/1915392
* Ron Settle’s third period econ class featured on “Econ class is now in session” — marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/10/st_louis_high_school/
Marketplace’s Tess Vigeland wraps up her “Road to Ruin?” trip in St. Louis, where she sits in with a group of high school students as they learn about the economic crisis.

Here’s another worth a look:
* Ira Glass (”This American Life”): “Another Frightening Show about the Economy” — http://www.pri.org/business/frightening-show-economy.html

Students may also find it interesting to look at a particular controversy that developed in the context of efforts to mobilize voters in the coming elections:
“Private Sector Loans, Not Fannie or Freddie, Triggered Crisis” — http://www.truthout.org/101408K
David Goldstein and Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers: “As the economy worsens and Election Day approaches, a conservative campaign that blames the global financial crisis on a government push to make housing more affordable to lower-class Americans has taken off on talk radio and e-mail. Commentators say that’s what triggered the stock market meltdown and the freeze on credit. They’ve specifically targeted the m*rtg*ge finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the federal government seized on Sept. 6, contending that lending to poor and minority Americans caused Fannie’s and Freddie’s financial problems. Federal housing data reveal that the charges aren’t true, and that the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis.”

Finally, there are a number of programs on PRI’s “The Story” series that offer different windows on the run-up to and fall-out from the crisis. Students might find these personal stories both interest-grabbing and stimulating of curiosity and insight. Start at the first page of the Archive — thestory.org/archive/ — and be mindful that there are several successive pages with narratives and interviews that relate to the current situation.