It's 1902 and political campaigner Lizzie Magie is fighting a losing battle. For years, she’s pushed the idea of a land-value tax, but fewer and fewer people are listening.So she’s going to try something new to spread the word. She’s going to make a board game – and not just any game. Magie’s game is going to become the biggest game of all time.Trouble is, w ... Show More
May 2020
Business Battles | Tetris: Soviet Blocks | 4
It’s 1988, and Tetris is making waves. It’s billed as the first Soviet video game, and it’s selling fast.But the man who introduced it to the West harbors a secret: he doesn’t own the rights. And when his subterfuge fails, a multi-million-dollar battle to win over the communist r ... Show More
26m 47s
May 2020
Business Battles | Toilet Paper Wars: White Gold | 5
Quarantine restrictions during the coronavirus have induced toilet paper panic-buying as people scratch, claw and punch each other to get rolls. But why? What’s behind the frenzy, and how will that affect the TP industry? In the last 150 years, it’s grown from selling humble boxe ... Show More
24m 4s
Dec 2021
The secret history of Monopoly
In 1904, a left-wing American feminist called Lizzy Magie patented a board game that evolved into what we now know as Monopoly. But 30 years later, when Monopoly was first marketed in the United States during the Great Depression, it was an out-of-work salesman from Pennsylvania ... Show More
9m 4s
Sep 2024
Ep481 - Mary Pilon | Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game
Author Mary Pilon visits Google to discuss her book, "The Monopolists". The book reveals the unknown story of how the classic board game Monopoly came into existence, the reinvention of its history by Parker Brothers and multiple media outlets, the lost female originator of the g ... Show More
44m 27s
Jan 2025
Take the Monopoly Money and Run | 143
In the midst of the Great Depression, out-of-work salesman Charles Darrow sold the board game he created, Monopoly, to Parker Brothers. The game was an overnight success, and Charles became a hopeful example of the American dream. But soon, fellow game obsessives questioned Charl ... Show More
44m 4s
Oct 2025
BOARD GAMES 1: We're making a game
We want to make a board game. It must, of course, teach the world about economics. It must be fun. It’d be nice if it sold lots of copies! How hard could that be!? (Monopoly and Catan are hugely popular and basically little economy simulators, after all.)Well, turns out, it’s qui ... Show More
32m 17s