Back in May, This American Life did an hour-long episode explaining the mortgage crisis.  It's received a great deal of acclaim ... it explained the core causes of the mortgage crisis in plain, ordinary English, and did it without being condescending.  I listened to it in July and was astounded.  (You can still listen to the episode online from the link above, or spend a buck to download it.)

This week, the same folks are back with a follow-up episode about the market crisis and the bailout.  I just finished listening to it, and they've done another fantastic job of explaining stuff in plain English.  I learned a lot by listening to it.  I heartily recommend it to you.  (And you can download the MP3 for free for the rest of the week ...)