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Organized Money is a podcast about how the business world really works, and how corporate consolidation and monopolies are dominating every sector of our economy. The series is hosted by writers and journalists Matt Stoller and David Dayen, both thought leaders in the antimonopoly movement. Organized Money is a fresh spin on business reporting, one that goes beyond supply and demand curves or odes to visionary entrepreneurs. Each week Matt and David break down the ways monopolies control everything from the food we eat, to the drugs we take, the way we communicate and even how we date. You’ll hear from workers, business leaders, antitrust lawyers, and policymakers who are on the front lines of the fight for open markets and fair competition.
If you care about an economy that is free and open, one not controlled by a handful of corporations, Organized Money is for you. New episodes out every week until the end of the year. Organized Money is a Rock Creek Sound production, from executive producers Ari Saperstein and Ellen Weiss, and senior producer Benjamin Frisch.
53 Episodes
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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 artists and smaller labels, it has only exacerbated the problem of making a living. Today o...
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 show, Zephyr Teachout, to ask how Mamdani did it. Zephyr ran for governor against Cuomo in 2014, and her background as an at...
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 the show, Matt and David welcome the editorial director and columnist for The Ankler, Richard Rushfie...
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 corporate takeovers possible. Today on the show Matt and Dave talk with Oregon House Majori...
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 Beautiful Bill,” which proposes cutting Medicaid, banning state-led AI regulation, reforming stud...
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 RealPage scandal, where software allegedly helped landlords coordinate rent hikes across mil...
"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—even for clients she found herself. After moving to a new brokerage, she faced a lawsuit demanding hundreds of ...
1Ever 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 dominate markets, workers, and consumers. From hospital supply shortages to gig worker contracts, we explore how...
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 explains how these tariffs could cause even more chaos than we saw during the pandemic, thanks to Ame...
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 shipments, risking layoffs in ports, trucking, and warehouses long before consumers feel the shor...
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 punishment fits the crime after they were found guilty of monopolizing search - should they h...
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 demolishes the myth that government and the free market were ever truly separate entities and examines the...
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 much). He talks about the challenges, the courtroom drama, and even brings some laughs to the table—s...
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 of both parties. In this episode, Matt and David deconstruct how big law works with Jonathan Kanter, forme...
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 antitrust lawyer Chris Jones about how this system is not only unfair but likely illegal under the lo...
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, and legal precedent of what's happening at the FTC, along with Trump's potential goals, the importa...
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 platforms as they prioritize profits over users. The conversation unpacks the monopolistic strategies of giant...
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 comparisons to the movie "Office Space," they examine how how procurement teams are stretched thin...
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 can be a powerful force for positive change. Their conversation offers a window into a transformati...
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 excessive profits for investor-owned utilities at our expense. They break down utility regulation, how rates ...
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