Episode 267 – Billionaire Boogeymen with Brian Dunning

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Episode Summary:

First, Ben and Celestia go over the latest CDC website shenanigans, an unfortunate update on a Human Barbie, some voodoo accusations in the world of soccer, the true cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, and a djinn committing crimes in Pakistan. Then Brian Dunning joins us for a discussion on billionaires and why we all seem to hate them. Should we? Would the world be better off without them? Brian brings some economic research on the “two types of billionaires,” and we also examine some tropes and memes — folklore, that is — about how billionaires hoard resources. Do they? Can they? Is money imaginary? It’s a complicated topic, and we’re not approaching it as economists, but we agree on a few things that might surprise you.

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Billionaires, Brian Dunning, CDC, CDC website, djinn, economics, folklore, hoarding, Human Barbie, money, soccer, Thanksgiving dinner, voodoo
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Episode 268 – Daniel Reed on Vegetable Man and Gray Barker
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Episode 266 – Jon Michael Visits, Plus Corporate Lore and Legends!

Standard disclaimer: All show transcripts—yes, including this one—was AI-generated and skimmed by at least two busy and fallible humans. They offer an overview of the show but you’ll find occasional typos and glitches and therefore should not be assumed to be accurate or verbatim. Readers who wish to quote anything here for any reason are encouraged to check it against the original audio at the time stamps provided. Thanks.