Gotcha! How MLMs Ate the Economy w/ Bridget Read

Gotcha! How MLMs Ate the Economy w/ Bridget Read

Multi-level marketing schemes have built an empire by enticing people with promises of self-realisation and economic freedom. The cost is simple: exploit and be exploited.

More like this: Worker Power & Big Tech Bossmen w/ David Seligman

This is part two of Gotcha! Our series on scams, how they work, and how technology is super-charging them. This week Bridget Read came to Alix with a very exciting business opportunity. Bridget authored Little Bosses Everywhere — a book on the history of MLM.

We explore how door-to-door sales in the mid 20th century US took on the business model of a ponzi scheme, and transformed the sweaty salesman into an entrepreneurial recruiter with a downline.

MLM originators were part of a coordinated plan to challenge the new deal in lieu of radical free enterprise, where the only thing holding you back is yourself, and the economy consists solely of consumers selling to each other in a market of speculation. The secret is, no one is selling a product — they’re selling a way of life.

Further reading & resources:

Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!

Jaksot(103)

The Collective Intelligence Project w/ Divya Siddarth and Zarinah Agnew

The Collective Intelligence Project w/ Divya Siddarth and Zarinah Agnew

Most of the time we interview people who say No to AI. In this interview, Georgia and Alix talk to two people who look at AI and ask How and For What. And lots of other questions too.Divya Siddarth an...

30 Touko 202554min

Net0++: Data Center Sprawl | NEW Research from The Maybe

Net0++: Data Center Sprawl | NEW Research from The Maybe

We’re excited to finally share our report on data center expansion and resistance around the world. It’s been a labor of love, but also showcases the amazing work of many organisations, activists, and...

23 Touko 202554min

Net 0++: AI Thirst in a Water-Scarce World w/ Julie McCarthy

Net 0++: AI Thirst in a Water-Scarce World w/ Julie McCarthy

Last year, Elon Musk’s xAI built a data centre in Memphis in 19 days — and the local government only found out about it on the 20th day. How?Julie McCarthy and her team at NatureFinance have just rele...

16 Touko 202553min

Short: Open AI for...Countries? w/ Marietje Schaake

Short: Open AI for...Countries? w/ Marietje Schaake

This is another Computer Says Maybe short, this time with Marietje Schaake (author of The Tech Coup), to discuss OpenAI’s recent announcement: they want to partner with governments all around the worl...

15 Touko 202513min

Short: What Just Happened to 23andMe? w/ Jenny Reardon

Short: What Just Happened to 23andMe? w/ Jenny Reardon

Personalised genotyping company 23andMe just went bankrupt — what’s gonna happen to all that genetic data?We brought back genomics professor Jenny Reardon to discuss the crushing void that was 23andMe...

13 Touko 202514min

Terra Nullius: Who Owns the Skies? w/ Julia Powles

Terra Nullius: Who Owns the Skies? w/ Julia Powles

This is our second Terra Nullius episode. As a reminder this means ‘Nobody’s Land’ — an infamous legal fiction from the age of Empire. In this episode we ask: who owns the skies?We get into it with la...

9 Touko 202552min

Terra Nullius: Who Owns Outer Space? w/ Heather Allansdottir

Terra Nullius: Who Owns Outer Space? w/ Heather Allansdottir

This is our first in a series called Terra Nullius. Huh? It’s Latin for ‘Nobody’s Land’. We will be exploring how rules are made for contested territory. If a land belongs to no one, does that mean it...

2 Touko 202548min

How to (Actually) Keep Kids Safe Online w/ Kate Sim

How to (Actually) Keep Kids Safe Online w/ Kate Sim

Child safety is a fuzzy catch-all concept for our broader social anxieties that seems to be everywhere in our conversations about the internet. But child safety isn’t a new concept, and the way our po...

25 Huhti 202548min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
kaksi-aitia
i-dont-like-mondays
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
poks
kolme-kaannekohtaa
antin-palautepalvelu
aikalisa
sita
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
mamma-mia
rss-murhan-anatomia
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-nikotellen
loukussa
terapeuttiville-qa
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
mystista