Money is everywhere and influences everything. But what is it?
For questions about subscriptions or your Slate Plus feed, check our FAQ.
If you can't access your feeds, please contact customer support.
Thanks! Check your phone for a link to finish setting up your feed.
Please enter a valid phone number.
Listen on your phone:RECOMMENDED
Enter your phone number and we'll text you a link to set up the podcast in your app:
We'll only text you about setting up this podcast, no spam.
Apple Podcasts will only work on MacOS operating systems since Catalina. We do not support Android apps on desktop at this time.
Listen on your device:RECOMMENDED
These links will only work if you're on the device you listen to podcasts on.
Money is everywhere. Money influences just about everything. We think about money all the time. But how much do we really know about it? In this episode of Decoder Ring, we explore the obscure historical forces that make our money what it is and behave the way it does. We ask two simple-sounding questions with surprising answers: Why is our money called the dollar—and where are those dollars really coming from?
First, you’ll hear from Brendan Greeley, a veteran finance reporter turned economic historian, and author of the new book, The Almighty Dollar: 500 Years of the World’s Most Powerful Money. Then, we get help from Mark Blyth, a political economist at Brown University who teaches about the architecture and plumbing of global finance.
This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman and produced by Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is also produced by Katie Shepherd and Supervising Producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is our Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Lizzie O’Leary.
In each episode, host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters.
Willa Paskin is the host of Decoder Ring.