203. Diamonds Are a Marriage Counselor’s...

David Rubenstein, a product of the old bipartisan D.C., made his fortune in private equity. He’s been spending it on “patriotic philanthropy” and institutions like the Kennedy Center, where Trump fired him as chairman. Now he wonders if the center can hold. SOURCES:David Rubenste ... Show More

Podcasting started as a niche-nerd pursuit. Now it’s a $9 billion industry. Is that a lot? The strange economics of this thing we do. SOURCES:Jim Bankoff, chairman and C.E.O. of Vox Media.Ben Davis, head of digital at WME.Will Page, former chief economist at Spotify and author of ... Show More

An economist calls America’s beef industry a “miracle.” An antitrust scholar calls it “broken.” Maybe they’re both right? SOURCES:Austin Frerick, agriculture antitrust expert, fellow at Yale University, author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry ... Show More

Diamonds are considered one of the world’s most valuable gemstones. But what if their prices are high due to brilliant marketing and supply monopoly tactics, not because of their rarity? And if that’s the case, are diamonds just a run-of-the-mill gemstone? Learn more about your a ... Show More

They’re shiny rocks that we’ve somehow agreed embody romance and eternity. But diamonds, it turns out, are not as rare as we think. And these days, they can be made in a lab. So why do we continue to spend so much money on them? This week, the story of a century-long, internation ... Show More

Diamonds and gems scattered about the dry earth just waiting to be gathered and sold. Little to no work involved. Easy money. Sounds to good to be true, right? Not for the titans of industry, experts, and investors who fell for this ridiculous con.See omnystudio.com/listener for ... Show More

<p>Diamonds represent value, in all its multiple meanings: values, as in ethics, and value as in actual price. But what are these rocks actually worth? The ethics and costs of diamond rings have shifted with society, from their artificial scarcity perpetuated by DeBeers to their ... Show More

Diamonds are considered to be the rarest and most valuable gemstone. Is that really true? Or is making diamonds appear more valuable than they actually are and monopolizing the diamond trade the first step in consolidating power to form a New World Order? Learn more about your ad ... Show More

When is a diamond really a diamond? When it’s been formed miles underground a billion years ago, or when has it been created in a laboratory, under temperatures close to the heat of the sun? The answer is – both are true. They look and behave exactly the same, but they are very d ... Show More

If you boast that you can make diamonds out of burnt sugar, you better be able to deliver. Especially if you're boasting to a diamond magnate whose industry you could destroy. Proving it may include showing your tush, but that's life in the diamond biz.See omnystudio.com/listener ... Show More

“This is a diamond!”: In 2017, two young miners, Komba and Saffea, struck gold. They uncovered a huge 709 carat diamond - the ‘Peace Diamond’ - worth millions of dollars, in Sierra Leone. It was a dream come true for them both. They were rich beyond their wildest dreams. And then ... Show More