I was talking the other day with Dean Carlin. He is an economist who has studied why people donate money.

And as we were talking, he mentioned this sort of Econ 101 question that is useful in thinking about this.

The question is, when we're far away from home and eating out, why do we leave a tip?

Why would you ever pay? I don't live in this area, I don't have to worry about this waiter, you know,

spitting in my food the next time I come.

But of course, we do tip, even when we'll never be back again. And Carlin says, we tip for a pretty straightforward reason.

If I don't pay, I feel like crap, if I pay, I still can't with myself.

I was talking to Carlin about this because now is the time of year when we ask you for money.

You don't have to pay to listen, but a lot of people who listen to Planet Money do pay.

They donate to NPR, not because they have to, but because it makes them feel good.

So if you can spare a few bucks, please go to donate.npr.org slash Planet Money.

Thanks very much.

This is Planet Money from NPR.

For decades, Ron Palmer kept a secret from his colleagues.

This secret.

The reason why I got the name Ron, Ronald, was because my grandmother was madly in love with Ronald Reagan.

That'd be back when Ronald Reagan was a movie star.

But the reason Ron Palmer hid this fact professionally was because of what happened about 40 years later.

Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.

This speech is from August 3, 1981.

Fade in gentlemen, I have a statement which will be made available to you, but which I will read for the audio media.

It was a Monday morning and Ron Palmer remembers watching this.

...