Stacey Vanek Smith Business and economics host on NPR’s The Indicator from Planet Money, author of Machiavelli for Women

Stacey Vanek Smith is a longtime public radio reporter and host, highly regarded for her insight and journalism on work, business, and economics. Vanek Smith served as a correspondent and host for NPR’s Planet Money and Marketplace and, until recently, the host of NPR’s daily podcast, The Indicator from Planet Money. Her work has appeared in Time Magazine, The New York Times, and People Magazine.

Vanek Smith is also the author of the forthcoming Machiavelli for Women: Defend Your Worth, Grow Your Ambition, and Win the Workplace, on how today’s women can apply the principles of 16th-century philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli to their 21st-century work lives and shatter the glass ceiling once and for all. With charm and wit, Vanek Smith uses Machiavelli’s The Prince as a guide to understanding behavior and power in Renaissance politics—demonstrating how women can use those same principles today to take and maintain power in careers where they have long been cast as second-best. Highlighting the latest research, tips from successful women across many industries, and experiences from Vanek Smith’s own life, Machiavelli for Women offers real tools to combat these obstacles in areas including money, promotions, negotiating, and getting interrupted.

Perfect for fans of Lean In and Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office, Vanek Smith’s Machiavelli for Women is a clever and uncompromising look at how power is received differently depending on your gender—teaching readers how to get strategic about power dynamics. Vanek Smith has been praised for “totally reimagining [Machiavelli’s] work in a brilliant, entertaining and super-instructive way” and “mak[ing] scholarly material accessible and inspiring” (Guy Raz, host and creator of How I Built This).

Known for her unique approach to storytelling across podcasts and radio segments, Smith is an engaging public speaker frequently sought-after for her insight on workplace and gender dynamics, as well as business and economics. Whether speaking at colleges and universities, corporations, federal reserve banks, or industry conferences, Vanek Smith leaves her audiences feeling informed, empowered, and inspired.

A native of Idaho, Vanek Smith is a graduate of Princeton University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature and creative writing. She also holds a master’s in broadcast journalism from Columbia University.