Secrets of Trump’s Tarnished Gilded Age

Author Evan Osnos joins Joanna Coles to parse the twisted games the world's wealthiest play with and aboard their crazy expensive yachts. As tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg snap up megayachts, Osnos, author of 'The Haves and Have-Yachts,' unpacks what these floating palaces reveal about a seismic shift in American wealth and power. He explains why Donald Trump shut down the KleptoCapture task force, how oligarch envy shapes Trump's worldview, and what it means that he once owned a Saudi arms dealer's yacht—but hated being on it. From Adnan Khashoggi to Elon Musk, Osnos traces the rise of ostentatious wealth, the decline of discretion, and why the modern billionaire isn't satisfied with private jets—they also want political control. Plus, how Musk crossed a line even Andrew Carnegie didn't, and why Americans may finally be waking up to a new, gilded threat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices