Organized Money
Organized Money is a podcast that explores how corporate consolidation and monopolies dominate the economy. Hosted by journalists Matt Stoller and David Dayen, it goes beyond traditional business reporting to reveal how monopolies control food, drugs, communication, and dating. Each week, the show features workers, business leaders, antitrust lawyers, and policymakers fighting for open markets and fair competition. New episodes are released weekly.
Episodes
An AI Expert Explains The Hype
We've discussed the financial aspects of the AI boom and bubble in previous episodes, but today we're trying to demystify the technology itself. This week we're joined by Gary Marcus, scientist and author of many books about AI and the Marcus On AI Substack. We discuss how chatbots like ChatGPT work, how they've advanced in recent years by harnessing large language models to mo
Mamdani Marts Vs. Big Grocery
Of all New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's campaign promises, his plan for government-subsidized grocery stores has resulted in the strongest, and sometimes strangest, ire. Critics have called it bad policy, bad business, and even the tipping point on our slide towards Venezuelan socialist oblivion, oh no! Today on the show, we have one of the experts who consulted with the mayor on his gro
Bonus: Makan' Fun - An Update On The Paramount Merger
We’re back with an update on the Paramount merger! We continue to make fun of Makan Delrahim’s legal strategy, David Ellison’s op-ed in the New York Times, and poke holes in the Paramount-engineered framing of the story as a first-amendment issue about CNN. See you for a regular episode next week!
The Franchising Scheme
Kay Sharaf started a Kitchen Tune-Up franchise business to provide for her family. Five years later, it has nearly bankrupted her, and she's fighting back. Today on the show, Kay and Keith Miller of Franchise Advocacy Consulting (who is also a Subway franchise owner), are here to discuss the wild world of franchising. Franchise businesses run the gamut from serious, healthy businesses where l
The Roll-Up of All Media Is No Longer Inevitable (with Adam Conover)
Comedian and podcaster Adam Conover of Adam Ruins Everything, Factually, and so much else, is here to help ruin the Paramount merger, literally! Today on the show, we break down the breakdown in the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, as the state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America West lawsuits have led to a pause until next year. We cover the events leading up to this turn, then get A
The Prescription Drug Playbook (From An Arm And A Leg)
It’s summer break over here at Organized Money, but don’t worry, we have a great story for you from our friends over at An Arm And A Leg: A show about why healthcare costs so damn much, and what we can do about it. Last year they did a series called The Prescription Drug Playbook, documenting all the ways we get screwed in the marketplace, and we, individually, can make the best of an unfair situa
The Supreme Court Gives Wall Street Its Own Regulator
Last week, the Supreme Court handed down two seemingly contradictory rulings: one, allowing Trump to fire the independent commissioners on the FTC, and the other, protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from executive whim. To make sense of these two cases, we’re bringing back one of those fired FTC commissioners (and Organized Money MVP) Alvaro Bedoya, host of The Fair Fight with Alvar
Curbing America's Gambling Problem
Today on Organized Money, a dispatch from Minnesota, one of the most exciting states in terms of regulating corporate power.Recently, Minnesota passed a bipartisan bill banning prediction markets in the state. Within a day, they were being sued to block the legislation. On the show today, we have Minnesota State Representative Emma Greenman, who introduced the house bill, to discuss it, her work,
How To Think About AI (with Cory Doctorow)
One of our favorite guests is back! The writer, thinker, and general polymath, Cory Doctorow is here with a new book and a new episode of Organized Money! After a brief detour into mid-century chili recipes, Matt, David, and Cory discuss The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, a "short, provocative guide to what’s good, bad, and stupid about AI". Cory argues that in order to c
How States Can Regulate Big Oil
This week, we’re continuing a recent Organized Money conversation in order to answer the question: Why is California’s gasoline so damn expensive? Famously, California has higher fuel standards than the rest of the nation, as well as higher gas taxes, but that’s only one part of a much more complex pricing picture. Today on the show, we welcome Tai Milder, the inaugural director of an exciting new
Meta Is Dying
Last month, the veteran journalist Julia Angwin wrote an op-ed, “Meta Is Dying. It’s About Time,” which details the ways in which Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp have become a kind of zombie business: Think Yahoo, Myspace, and AOL after their dot-com peaks. On this episode, we invite Julia on the show to discuss her op-ed and dance on Meta's grave—just a little, because it turns out a dying
California Dreamin'...Of A Slush Fund For Uber
California is known as a bastion of blue state values, but when you start to look at how the state’s legislative sausage gets made, you start to notice how completely borked America’s most populous regulatory state has become. Today on the show, we have Jamie Court, a consumer advocate and president and chairman of Consumer Watchdog, to break down California’s weirdness and some of his organizatio
Why Farmers and Filmmakers Both Face Monopoly
While David is out on vacation, Matt is joined by Organized Money alum Alvaro Bedoya as co-host this week. He's a former FTC commissioner and host of the new podcast The Fair Fight with Alvaro & Max.The idea for today's show came to us when Lance Lillibridge, an Iowa farmer and past president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, wrote on Facebook: "As a farmer, watching the pro
The Mechanic Vs. The Billionaire With Dan Osborne
Union steamfitter Dan Osborne nearly pulled off a Senate upset in Nebraska two years ago. Now he's back, facing billionaire heir and former governor Pete Ricketts in one of the quietly critical races for Senate control.David sat down with Osborne in Omaha to talk about what's changed and what hasn't. They cover the real squeeze on family farmers, why anti-monopoly messaging is start
Who Killed Spirit Airlines?
Spirit Airlines is dead, and everyone is pointing fingers: Was it the war in Iran that killed Spirit? Joe Biden's Justice Department? Antitrust regulation? Jet fuel? Lina Khan!?? Today on the show we demystify Spirit's demise with William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. William is a long-time consumer advocate in the air travel
The Conservative Who Torments Big Business
Ashley Keller is a pioneer in getting corporations to pay up. As an attorney and founding partner of the firm Keller Postman, only recently he pioneered an influential mass arbitration strategy, argued a case against Monsanto at the Supreme Court, and is fighting Google on behalf of several states in a major ad tech antitrust case. Keller is also an avowed conservative and originalist. For him, th
The Chatbot Will See You Now: Big Tech In Therapy
Today on the show Matt and David are joined by Linda Michaels, a psychologist and co-founder of the Psychotherapy Action Network, to discuss all the creepy ways technology companies are weaseling themselves into your therapist's office. From matching services like BetterHelp, to PMC middlemen, and potentially dangerous therapy chatbots, tech companies are seeking to exploit your therapist (an
Big Oil And Big Plastic Are One And The Same
Yet another consequence of the war in Iran is a looming supply shock in plastics. Plastics, which are derived from oil byproducts, are everywhere, but their origins remain somewhat mysterious to the average consumer. Today on the show we demystify the plastics industry with Beth Gardiner, author of the new book Plastic Inc.: The Secret History and Shocking Future of Big Oil's Biggest Bet an e
Emergency Pod: The Live Nation Ticketmaster Verdict
Matt and David are live from a conference room in Chicago to break down the Live Nation Ticketmaster verdict! Live Nation was just found to be an illegal monopoly in a dramatic jury trial which saw the Trump administration drop out of the case with a surprise settlement. The states picked up the baton from there. Matt and David cover the decision, the history of Ticketmaster’s tangles with Pearl J
How AIPAC Tries to Dominate the Business of Politics
On March 17th, the candidate Daniel Biss defeated 15 other democratic challengers in the primary election for Illinois' 9th Congressional District. It was one of the most closely watched in the country, in which Biss, and other candidates, were up against millions of dollars in ad spending from dark money super pacs like "Elect Chicago Women", and "Chicago Progressive Partnersh
Up Ship's Creek: The Crisis At The Strait
Ever since the US and Israel began bombing Iran, the Strait Of Hormuz has become the most watched shipping lane in the world economy. The strait itself is just a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf Of Oman, but much of the world's oil and other crucial material, such as industrial helium, flow through it. Now, after weeks of bombing and retaliation, the strait is gummed up,
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is Not Done with Ticketmaster
With the federal government largely stepping back from antitrust enforcement, who's picking up the slack? California Attorney General Rob Bonta makes the case that state attorneys general are filling the void, and he's got the caseload to prove it. David and Matt speak with Bonta about his remarkable portfolio of active fights: the Ticketmaster/Live Nation trial (which the states presse
The Business Of Betting On Murder with Sen. Chris Murphy
As bombs started to fall on Iran, some Americans cashed in by placing bets on prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi. These bets paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to users who almost certainly had inside information about the exact timing of the attacks. Similar bets were made on the assassination of Iran's Ayatollah, turning an act of murder into a commodity.As these markets h
Robbing Them Blind, Baby: The Live Nation Case
In a shocking turn of events, the federal government settled their longstanding anti-trust action against Live Nation after a week of in-court proceedings. This process was described as “mind-boggling” by the judge, and surprised counsel on both sides along with many states’ attorneys generals who are also suing Live Nation. Today on the show we break down the case against Live Nation and Ticketma
Why Your Lamp Sucks
This week we discuss the recently rediscovered history of midcentury lighting, the elegant modernist style of lamps and fixtures that emerged in small design firms and flourished from the 1940s through the 70s. By that point, they were being consumed by megacorporations that flattened their products’ quality and style, and they gradually drifted out of fashion, and memory. This style was spearhead
Emergency Pod: The Paramount Takeover
In a shocking move this week, Netflix declined to raise its bid against Paramount for control of Warner Bros. After months of corporate tug-of-war, Paramount and David Ellison have taken a giant step towards controlling Warner Bros’ linear television assets, including CNN, its streaming service HBO Max, and its film studio, which just had a blockbuster year. Without question, this deal will lead t
How Private Equity Is Driving Up Your Electric Bill
Besides data centers, climate change, and regulatory capture, there is yet another reason utility rates are far outpacing inflation: private equity! On this episode, we try to understand why investor-owned utilities, which provide electricity to the majority of Americans, continue to reap profits at the expense of their customers. These entities are supposed to be regulated by state governments, b
The Epstein Class War
The Epstein files lay bare the impunity the rich and powerful possess as a social class: The Epstein class. Today on the show, Matt and David dig into the Epstein files with one of the congressmen responsible for their release: Representative Ro Khanna. We discuss what the Epstein files tell us about the influence that wealth affords the people who run our economy and institutions: People like Bil
The End of United Healthcare For All
After the government announced new regulations for Medicare Advantage, the market-based alternative to traditional Medicare, the stocks of healthcare companies that participate in the program plummeted. But why is this popular program in the crosshairs? And are these new Trump Administration rules actually...good?Today on the show, Olivia Kosloff, senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties P
White Collar Crime Enforcement In The Age Of ICE
As The Department and Homeland Security and ICE see their budget balloon, anything unrelated to to immigration is getting short shrift. Today on the show, Matt and David talk to Richard Powers, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at The Justice Department, and the former Acting Assistant Attorney General at the Antitrust Division, to discuss the consequences of ignoring antitrust and white
The Monopolists Who Gatekeep the Court System
We tend to think of the law as a public asset - centuries of statutes, common law, and legal precedents that shape how society governs itself. So why is the law itself so hard and so expensive to access? Matt and David talk with Mike Lissner of the Free Law Project about the quiet duopoly that controls legal information, how Westlaw and LexisNexis turned public court records into pricey commoditie
The New Frontier in Price Discrimination
This week Matt and David talk with pricing expert Lindsay Owens about Google's plan to turn its Gemini AI into your personal shopping assistant. It sounds convenient until you realize it's actually a massive surveillance pricing operation. Google just announced partnerships with Walmart, Visa, MasterCard, and others to use everything they know about you (emails, photos, calendar, searche
The Secret Scam Driving Up Food Prices
In the twilight of the Biden Administration, FTC Chair Lina Khan filed a price-fixing case against Pepsi, using the powerful but little-enforced Robinson-Patman Act. A few months into Trump’s 2025 term, that lawsuit was dead and buried by the new regime, leaving only a bunch of redacted documents and a lot of questions for the public to pore over. Our guest today is Stacy Mitchell, the co-executiv
The Enshitification Life Cycle With Cory Doctorow
As a holiday treat, we bring you a new conversation with author and Organized Money alum Cory Doctorow about his new book Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. Recorded earlier this year at a live book event, David asks Cory to expand on the thesis of the book: that digital platforms are now locked in a cycle of decay, seeing our technology become less intuit
When Billionaires Go Rogue
The Warner Bros. deal could decimate the film industry in California, and yet almost no state-level politicians have spoken out about it. Today on the show, Matt and David talk to a California gubernatorial candidate who has vocally opposed the deal: Tom Steyer. Tom is a former financier, 2020 presidential candidate, and billionaire, who happens to be the most vocally anti-monopoly candidate in th
The Shadowy Puppet Masters Who Control College Athletics
College sports is a multibillion dollar business, but until a few years ago the athletes didn't see a penny of it. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA, the organization that governs college sports, had violated antitrust laws, and athletes gained the right to monetize their appearances and endorsements. This year, for the first time, athletes will receive revenue sharing from NCAA,
The AI Bubble Everyone Wants To Pop
With its promise to displace jobs and disrupt daily life, AI and large language models have formed a unique market and social bubble: one that nearly everyone hates. Despite little revenue, billions of dollars are promised by hyperscalers like Google and Meta to help build out AI data centers in increasingly arcane financing schemes that are propping up the otherwise meager economy. Today on the s
Big Tech and Fascism
On today's show, David and Matt sit down with Tim Wu, the man who coined the term “net neutrality”, about his new book, The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity. They discuss how tech platforms went from scrappy innovators, enabled by a robust regulatory state, to the massive, extractive platforms we know today. Wu walks through the ea
The Bad Seed: Another Side Of The Farmer Revolt
It’s one of the most surprising and least understood stories in American agriculture: the monopoly over the seeds that grow our food. Farmers are facing a “seed squeeze,” where two companies, Bayer and Corteva, control 90% of the seed corn market, driving up prices even as crop profits fall. Matt and David speak with Independent seed producer John Latham and industry veteran Todd Martin about how
The Election And Tariffs At The Supreme Court
From Zohran Mamdani in New York City, to Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, Democratic candidates are putting populist economic messages at the center of their campaigns. On today’s show, Matt and David break down the dynamics of this week’s elections and share their predictions. Then, they’re joined by Organized Money alum Lori Wallach, director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Proj
The Dark Side Of The McDonald's Monopoly Contest
Today on the show, Matt and David sit down with Sam Levine and Stephanie Nguyen, formerly of the FTC under Lina Khan, to discuss the dark side of customer loyalty programs like frequent flyer miles, corporate discount cards, and ordering apps from chains like Starbucks and McDonalds. Their new paper, The Loyalty Trap: How Loyalty Programs Hook Us with Deals, Hack our Brains, and Hike Our Prices, e
Snitching As A Service - The Antifraud Company
This week on Organized Money, David and Matt sit down with Sahaj Sharda and David Barclay, co-founders of The Anti-Fraud Company, a scrappy new startup aiming to turn corporate whistleblowing into a business model. Sharda, a 27-year-old anti-monopolist and author of The College Cartel, and Barkley, a former FTC attorney known for busting healthcare fraud, explain how they’re using data tools, law
The AI Bubble: More Subprime Than Dot Com
Investment in AI infrastructure has exploded over the last few years, with big players like Google, Meta, OpenAI, Nvidia, and Oracle, striking deals involving hundreds of billions of dollars to build out AI data centers. These deals are single-handedly buoying the otherwise-flailing US economy, but where are these billions actually coming from? And why do all these deals seem to involve the same p
Who Controls Your Dentist?
What happens when Wall Street sinks its teeth into your smile? David and Matt talk with Dr. Jill Tanzi, dentist and founder of the Alliance of Independent Dentists, about the corporate takeover of dentistry. She pulls back the curtain on how corporate consolidation and giant insurers like Delta Dental are reshaping what happens in the chair, from pricing to patient care, and why it should matter t
The Very Weird Farmer Revolt Against Trump…Over a Bailout of Argentina
As American farmers struggle under Trump’s tariffs, the Trump Administration is preparing to bail out…Argentinian farmers? Today on the show, a sprawling, international story that you might have missed: how an electoral blow to the market-friendly government in Argentina is causing panic across the financial sector, bringing together forces like The International Monetary Fund, the US Treasury, an
On The Ground At The Antimonopoly Summit With Lina Khan, Sen. Chris Murphy, and More
We are at the Antimonopoly Summit - where David and Matt sit down for some candid conversations with some of the leaders in the field - Sen. Chris Murphy (D–CT) on the political stakes, Lina Khan on enforcement and where hope still lives. Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) on hearings and state-level power, David Seligman (workers’ rights attorney and candidate for Colorado Attorney General) on how consol
How Gamer Lawyers Took On A Gaming Monopoly
What happens when two gamers-turned-lawyers decide to take on one of the biggest monopolies in the video game world? On this episode of Organized Money, David and Matt dig into a David-versus-Goliath story from the world of PC gaming. Their guests, attorneys Will Bucher and Judson Crump — both gamers themselves — are taking on Valve, the company behind Steam, which which controls nearly all PC ga
Senator Elizabeth Warren on Google, The Fed, And The Future Of The Democratic Party
Senator Elizabeth Warren is here! The Massachusetts democrat she sits down with David and Matt to talk about the fights that keep her fired up—from Wall Street and Big Tech to pushing Democrats to get serious about the cost of living. In this wide-ranging interview, we discuss how democrats should respond to Trump's second-term victory, the Google antitrust trial, spar on Fed independence, an
Emergency Pod: The Google Ruling Sucks
Google just lost a huge antitrust case—but somehow seems to have walked away the winner. In this emergency episode David and Matt explain how a federal judge ruled that Google is an illegal monopolist, then turned around and let the company keep the very deals that entrench its dominance. From billion-dollar payments to Apple to the future of AI, they dig into what the ruling means, why critics on
The NFL Collusion Scandal Includes Antitrust, Strip Clubs, And A Whole Lot Of Drama
The biggest story in football this season isn’t on the field, but in the boardrooms and backrooms of the NFL. In this episode David and Matt dig into the collusion scandal rocking the league—where billionaire owners conspired to block star quarterbacks from getting guaranteed contracts, in cahoots with the NFL Players Association, the union meant to represent player interests.We're joined by
How Do You Do, Fellow Kids: How Private Equity Consumed Skateboarding
The business of skateboarding has grown from an independent, DIY culture into one almost completely dominated by private equity groups. How did it get gobbled up? In this episode David teams up with former “skate rat” and researcher Daniel Stone of the Center for Economic and Policy Research to expose how private equity has quietly, and sometimes catastrophically, taken over the world of skateboar
How One Man Fought A Pharmaceutical Monopoly
Organized Money is on vacation this week, but we still have a fantastic monopoly story for you. Around the globe, tuberculosis kills more people than any other infectious disease, despite the fact that it's treatable. This episode is about a drug that would otherwise save lives, but is so expensive that many of the people who desperately need it, can't afford it. The reason is because of
Is There Even a Trade War?
It's hard to keep track of the number of trade deals, threats, carve-outs and deadlines and random stops and starts in the Trump administration's wild approach to tariffs. To untangle the chaos, Matt and David sit down with trade expert Lori Wallach, Director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Project and a senior advisor to the Citizens Trade Campaign. Lori breaks down
The Coup at the Antitrust Division
Last week, the journalist Sohrab Ahmari broke a story titled The Antitrust War Inside MAGA: Powerful Lobbyists Are Battling Populist Reformers. In it, he reported that the recent $14 billion deal in which Hewlett-Packard acquired its competitor, Juniper Networks, was quietly shepherded along with help from the Justice Department, complete with martini-sipping backroom deals. Two attorneys within t
Amway, Mary Kay, Herbalife and the Get Rich Quick Business
In this episode of Organized Money, hosts Matt Stoller and David Dayen are joined by journalist and author Bridget Read to unravel the shadowy world of multi-level marketing (MLM) and pyramid schemes. Drawing from Bridget’s new book, Little Bosses Everywhere, How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America, they explore how companies like Amway, Herbalife, and Mary Kay built vast empires by selling not jus
Costco's Private Equity Headache
Costco is a great place to buy bulk toilet paper, cheap hot dogs, or even a mortgage—but for some customers, their recent Coscto experience has felt a little off, especially when dealing with their vendors. In this episode Matt and David talk with Steve Hunt, a Costco customer service worker and former Oklahoma City mayoral candidate, about how private equity takeovers of vendors selling everythi
The PBM Hitman
In this episode, a rare piece of good news in prescription drug pricing. Matt and David speak with Antonio Ciaccia, president of 3 Axis Advisors and architect of Ohio’s Medicaid pharmacy overhaul, and Benjamin Jolly, pharmacist and advocate with the American Economic Liberties Project. Together, they unpack how Ohio kicked pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) out of its Medicaid program, saving $140 m
America’s Rare Earth Problem
At the height of Trump’s tariff spree, when he kept ratcheting up taxes on Chinese imports, China struck back by withholding an under-discussed but essential resource: rare earth minerals. These elements are crucial to nearly all modern electronics, vehicles, and weaponry, and play a vital role in high-tech manufacturing. The business world quickly sounded the alarm. Some companies, like General M
How Spotify Monopolized Music
After file-sharing decimated the music industry in the late 1990's, tech platforms, and music publishers spent years finding a profitable solution to the problem of free music. Spotify was the result. For investors and major labels, Spotify was a triumph: it revitalized the business of recorded music, and accommodated a public that had grown used to having instant, on-demand access. But for a
The Zohran Situation
Zohran Mamdani's triumph in New York City's democratic mayoral primary is sending shockwaves through the political strata: As the populist wing celebrates, establishment Democrats are scrambling to make meaning of his upset, and big-money financiers are holding secret meetings to address "the Zohran situation".On today's episode, Matt and David bring back friend of the sho
Can Hollywood Survive?
This week, the film giant Warner Bros. announced plans to split into two separate companies: one for its flagship brand HBO and its growing streaming service, HBO Max; the other for its declining linear TV assets, like CNN and TNT. It’s a sharp reversal—just a few years ago, Warner Bros. merged with Discovery under CEO David Zaslav, forming the very partnership they're now unwinding. Today on
How Oregon Is Ending Corporate-Run Healthcare
All over the country, corporate consolidation of doctor’s offices has exploded in recent years. Most states have longstanding laws on the books forbidding corporate entities from controlling medical decision-making, but large corporations like United Health have managed to weasel their way in via loopholes. Recently, the state of Oregon passed a new bill that closed the exceptions that made these
A Big Beautiful Antitrust News Roundup
We’re over thirty episodes deep into Organized Money, and on today’s episode, we’re looking back at some of the topics we’ve covered, and where they stand today. Matt and David discuss recent developments in the Google case, pharmacy benefit manager reform, the legal state of non-competes, tariffs, surveillance pricing, and more—and yes, there is (some) good news.They also dive into Trump’s “Big B
The Wild World of Surveillance Pricing with Lee Hepner
Ever wonder why the price of your rent or even a bag of frozen potatoes seems to jump for no clear reason? It could be the result of “surveillance pricing”—where companies use your personal data and powerful algorithms to set prices just for you, often squeezing consumers and renters alike. Matt chats with antitrust lawyer Lee Hepner about the rise of these new forms of price fixing. They dig into
The Non-Compete Nightmare
"I was served papers while picking up my children from school." That was the beginning of Arizona real estate broker Courtney Van Kott's shocking six-year legal nightmare to fight a non-compete. As a young mother just starting in real estate, Courtney tells Matt she was pressured to sign a contract requiring her to pay 75% of commissions earned for three years after leaving her team
The Corporate Mole On The Supreme Court
Ever wonder how corporations gained so much power? In this episode, David and Matt explore a pivotal moment in the 1970s when Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell wrote a memo that would reshape American capitalism. Guests David Seligman and Luke Goldstein explain how Powell's legal maneuvering essentially rewrote antitrust rules, enabling corporations to use "vertical restraints" to
When Will Consumers Feel the Tariff Tidal Wave?
We’re diving back into tariffs! This time, David and Matt chat with Mike Beckham, co-founder and CEO of Simple Modern, to break down what the new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports really mean for businesses and shoppers. Mike shares his firsthand stories from the trenches of global supply chains and his efforts to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and why that’s way harder than it sounds. He expl
The Tariff Doomsday Scenario
What’s the real-world fallout of the newly imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese imports? Matt and David speak to Molson Hart, someone smack in the middle of the current tariff debate. Molson is an entrepreneur and toy company founder with firsthand experience in global manufacturing. He breaks down the step-by-step journey of a product from design to delivery-and how these tariffs have abruptly halted
Antitrust Woodstock: Google and Meta Go to Court
Today, we go courtside at two landmark tech antitrust trials unfolding in the DC District Court: the Department of Justice’s remedy hearing against Google, and the Federal Trade Commission’s monopolization case targeting Meta (Facebook). David and Matt speak with two lawyers and antitrust experts Laurel Kilgore and Brendan Benedict who are covering the trials. The Google case is all about what pun
Marketcraft with Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes
Spurred on by Trump, Covid, and climate change, leaders are taking a more hands-on approach to shaping markets that would be seen as impossible a few years ago—but as our guest today argues, this kind of marketcraft is actually a long American tradition. Today, Matt and David welcome Chris Hughes, one of Facebook's founders, to the show to talk about his new book Marketcrafters. The book demo
Breaking Monopolies from the Inside with Jonathan Kanter
Ever wonder what it's like to take on Google with a tiny government team? In this episode David and Matt are back with part two of their interview with Jonathan Kanter, who until recently led the DOJ's antitrust team. Kanter doesn't hold back, sharing what really happens when you sue tech giants, meatpackers, and ticket monopolies while working with government resources (read: not
The Business of Big Law
Since taking office in January, Trump has issued several executive orders targeting major Democratic-aligned law firms, revoking their security clearances and threatening the government contracts of their clients. These law firms are among the "big law" firms that not only wield a great deal of money and power in Washington but also play a significant role in the political establishments
Cheater Sizes and Other Dirty Secrets of Big Grocery Stores
Why is it that Walmart can sell bananas for less than what an independent grocer pays for it wholesale? In this episode, David and Matt expose how major retailers like Walmart and Dollar Stores use their sheer size to strong-arm suppliers into giving them special deals—while smaller, independent grocers are stuck paying higher prices. They talk to Randy Arceneaux, CEO of Affiliated Foods, and anti
Trump's Showdown At The FTC with Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya
On March 18th, the White House sent a letter to the two democratic commissioners at the FTC that they had been fired. Clear Supreme Court precedent reinforces that FTC commissioners cannot be fired at-will by the executive. So what happens next? Today on the show Matt and David talk to one of those commissioners, Alvaro Bedoya, about his attempted firing. They discuss the context, consequences, an
The Enshitification of Big Tech: A Conversation with Cory Doctorow
How did Silicon Valley's ideology go from utopian dreams to self serving power grabs? David and Matt dive into the power dynamics of Big Tech with author, activist, and anti-monopoly advocate Cory Doctorow. They explore how Silicon Valley’s early ideals of openness and innovation gave way to corporate dominance, leading to what Doctorow calls “enshitification”—the systematic decay of platform
Actually Bob, Corporate America is MORE Wasteful than the US Government
Are Elon Musk's efficiency strategies brilliant or reckless? David and Matt explore this question with procurement expert Rich Ham, CEO of FineTune, who reveals what efficiency really means in large organizations. They discuss how companies often waste money through inefficient buying of complex services, Rich explains how slashing budgets isn't always the smartest way to save. Using co
When Government Works: A Conversation with Lina Khan
What does it look like when government actually works for the people? Matt and David explore this question with Lina Khan, whose groundbreaking tenure as FTC Chair rewrote the playbook for federal agencies. Khan details how she transformed an understaffed agency into the spearhead of a governance revolution - confronting corporate giants, championing consumer rights, and proving that government ca
The Pocket Picking Machine
When it comes to utilities - why are we paying so much for service that can be so unreliable? In this episode, Matt and David expose how a small group of economists and some untrustworthy models have allowed utility companies to inflate rates and spend on dubious projects. Former utility executive Mark Ellis helps explain the "scam" that has misled regulators and advocates, leading to ex
The Woman Who Defeated Google
Former DOJ Antitrust Division head Doha Mekki takes us behind the scenes of some of the most consequential monopoly cases in recent history, including the landmark Google search case. Drawing from her unique experience serving in both the Trump and Biden administrations, Mekki reveals how antitrust enforcement is essentially "policing for white collar crime" - albeit with a budget smalle
It's Not Just Avian Flu: The Hidden Risks in Our Food System
The recent egg shortages and avian flu outbreaks aren't just hurting our pocketbooks, they reveal how the consolidation of American agriculture has created dangerous vulnerabilities in our food system. David and Matt dive deep into the precarious state of American farming with Jeff Bender, a North Carolina farmer with 40 years of experience. Bender explains how farming has transformed from th
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