This is the first podcast of 2025 and we're calling it Monetizing Hope with Jane Marie, an award-winning podcaster, podcast producer, writer, and author of Selling The Dream: The Billion Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans. Jane joins us from her home in LA, just after the devastating wildfires had somewhat subsided. This episode was recorded a few weeks prior to its release. Jane shares stories from her formative years in Michigan where she grew up, including her experiences seeing Nirvana live at The Blind Pig, watching LL Cool J hump women uncontrollably on stage, Insane Clown Posse, and her close encounter with a vertically challenged Eminem. We also get into her book, which pulls back the curtain on MLMs (multi-level marketing companies) and the origins of pyramid schemes. We dive into the companies that continue to thrive by preying on people looking to make an extra buck, using mind control tactics, empty promises of future wealth, and celebrity and political endorsements to bolster their deceptive pitches. Press play.