The turmoil in the markets has been a common topic of conversation the last few days, and whenever it comes up I wish I could whip out this This American Life episode called “The Giant Pool Of Money” in which they explain the core mortgage defaulting part of the crisis. I was pretty much totally clueless before I listened to that story, but now I feel like I have at least a vague understanding of what’s going on.

Krugman’s op-ed today is also not bad, and extends the story beyond the — at this point four months old — TAL story.