He is the host of the public radio business program Marketplace Morning Report and the PBS newsmagazine Now.

From London, Brancaccio also contributed diplomatic and feature coverage for the radio service of the Christian Science Monitor.

On his last Now broadcast, Moyers had this to say about Brancaccio: I asked David to join me over a year ago because I wanted my successor to have grown up, as it were, in public broadcasting, an independent journalist, believing our job is to sift through the untidy realities, weigh the competing claims, and offer to you our considered approximation of what's really going on.Among his beats: business innovation and the economy, politics, human rights, national security, the environment, health care, and science policy.

In 2000, his book, Squandering Aimlessly, was published, his account of a pilgrimage across America to learn how Americans apply their personal values to their money.

Brancaccio's documentary film Fixing the Future, directed by Emmy winning filmmaker Ellen Spiro, exploring more sustainable options for the economy, was released in theaters in 2012.

He is now host and senior editor of the popular business program The Marketplace Morning Report[4] from 6:51 am Eastern to 7:51 am Pacific on public radio stations nationwide.