In 2021, scrappy young investors from across the world joined forces to buy GameStop stock, aiming to take down greedy hedge funds. What came next was tragedy, injustice, and a conspiratorial internet cult so stupid we had to do an episode about it. To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Jan 2023
The Cult of Preppers
The end of the world... but make it cute and consumerist! "Preppers" are the latest iteration of doomsday survivalists, who band together on social media to talk canning, stockpiling, and first aid, but also multi-million-dollar bunkers in rural New Zealand?? Um, yeah, there are ... Show More
48m 34s
Jan 2021
GameStop, Reddit, and Robin Hood: How r/WallStreetBets gamed the stock of GameStop
The Verge's Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, and Elizabeth Lopatto explain how the users of the subreddit r/WallStreetBets sent GameStop, AMC and other stocks rocketing up through the stock market. A year into coronavirus, we’re still counting the dead Slow certification process keeps s ... Show More
1h 9m
Oct 2022
319 - The Bloody Harpes
<p>How much do you know about America's first documented serial killers, The Bloody Harpes? Micajah and Wiley Harpe went on a crazy murder spree out on the western American frontier, starting in late 1798. The murdered men, women, children, and even babies. And they'd been bad, m ... Show More
2h 13m
Oct 2023
Dumb Money: Unpicking the GameStop saga
Shares in GameStop, the video game store, experienced a dramatic rise in early in 2021. The stock had captured the imagination of many individual investors who heard about it on social media platforms such as TikTok and Reddit. Some investors made a lot of money, while some hedge ... Show More
18m 15s
Apr 2023
The Cult of The Real Housewives
Fame, wealth, fraud, backstabbing, plastic surgery, hidden power hierarchies... are we talking about one of reality television's most successful franchises or a full-blown cult??? Host of the Reality Life podcast Kate Casey, an unscripted TV connoisseur who's been analyzing The R ... Show More
1h 5m