California is known as a bastion of blue state values, but when you start to look at how the state’s legislative sausage gets made, you notice how completely borked America’s most populous regulatory state has become. Today on the show, we have Jamie Court, a consumer advocate and president and chairman of Consumer Watchdog, to break down California’s weirdness and some of his organization’s recent work.

First, we discuss how industries like insurance and ridesharing have captured so much of the state legislature, before honing in on how Uber specifically is running laps around its own regulators, with a fresh, bonus slush fund to boot. Then we discuss robotaxis and the role of the California insurance commissioner, currently held by the embattled Ricardo Lara, and how future commissioners might help untangle this morass. Finally, they get into why gas prices are so much higher in California than elsewhere in the United States. And no, gas taxes aren’t the whole story.

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We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

While David is out on vacation, Matt is joined by Organized Money alum Alvaro Bedoya as co-host this week. He’s a former FTC commissioner and host of the new podcast The Fair Fight with Alvaro & Max.The idea for today’s show came to us when Lance Lillibridge, an Iowa farmer and past president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, wrote on Facebook:

“As a farmer, watching the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger debate sounds awfully familiar. A handful of dominant firms get bigger, independent businesses lose leverage, and the people actually creating the product get squeezed harder and harder. Farmers have lived this story for decades through consolidation in inputs and retail. Now more industries are starting to see the same thing happen to them.”

Today on the show, we discuss the surprising commonalities between two different antitrust stories we’ve been following: the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, and the decades-long squeeze of farmers in middle America. Representing farmers, we have Lance to expand on his thoughts, and representing filmmakers, we’re joined by Kirby Dick, a Peabody-winning documentary filmmaker, to discuss how a concentrated economy affects their economic lives, and how to forge solidarity across industries and outlooks.

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We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Union steamfitter Dan Osborn nearly pulled off a Senate upset in Nebraska two years ago. Now he’s back, facing billionaire heir and former governor Pete Ricketts in one of the quietly critical races for Senate control.

David sat down with Osborn in Omaha to talk about what’s changed and what hasn’t. They cover the real squeeze on family farmers, why anti-monopoly messaging is starting to resonate with everyday voters, Citizens United, and what it actually costs a working person to run for office.

Osborn’s pitch is simple: mechanics should be able to beat billionaires.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Spirit Airlines is dead, and everyone is pointing fingers: Was it the war in Iran that killed Spirit? Joe Biden’s Justice Department? Antitrust regulation? Jet fuel? Lina Khan!?? Today on the show we demystify Spirit’s demise with William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project.

William is a long-time consumer advocate in the air travel space and has watched as the deregulation project which began in the 1970s has slowly whittled down competition, forming our current aviation oligopoly. William walks us through all the factors that lead to Spirit’s liquidation, from jet fuel, to pricing squeeze from the big 4 airlines, to Trump’s proposed bailout and creditors seeking a payout. Despite the popular narratives you might hear on CNBC, Spirit’s undoing was multifaceted with history of blame going back 50 years, and many killers working in concert.

Check out the white paper How to Fix Flying: A New Approach to Regulating the Airline Industry, by William McGee and Ganesh Sitaraman

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We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Ashley Keller is a pioneer in getting corporations to pay up. As an attorney and founding partner of the firm Keller Postman, only recently he pioneered an influential mass arbitration strategy, argued a case against Monsanto at the Supreme Court, and is fighting Google on behalf of several states in a major ad tech antitrust case. Keller is also an avowed conservative and originalist. For him, there’s no contradiction between fighting for conservative principles and antitrust enforcement.

Today on the show, Matt and David talk to Keller about the conservative case for antitrust, the dangers of corporate power, and his legal worldview. They go into detail on his current work against Google and the programmatic ad market, and his recent appearance at The Supreme Court, his take on the Live Nation Ticketmaster case, the role of plaintiff’s lawyers in the legal exosystem, and get into some big picture legal questions about antitrust enforcement from an originalist perspective.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Today on the show Matt and David are joined by Linda Michaels, a psychologist and co-founder of the Psychotherapy Action Network, to discuss all the creepy ways technology companies are weaseling themselves into your therapist's office. From matching services like BetterHelp, to PMC middlemen, and potentially dangerous therapy chatbots, big tech wants to both exploit your therapist (and you) by using your private data for advertising and AI training. They also discuss the business of psychology, and the progress that has been made in states like Illinois, which could serve as a model for the nation.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Yet another consequence of the war in Iran is a looming supply shock in plastics. Plastics, derived from oil byproducts, are everywhere, but their origins remain somewhat mysterious to the average consumer. Today on the show we demystify the plastics industry with Beth Gardiner, author of the new book Plastic Inc: The Secret History and Shocking Future of Big Oil's Biggest Bet an expose of the industry that underlies modern consumer culture. Along with Matt and David, they discuss where plastics come from, how they are made, and how the situation in Iran will affect the supply chain. They also get into the major players, the semi-scam that is recycling, and whether non fossil fuel alternatives are a viable solution in a world that is already up to its knees in plastic.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Matt and David are live from a conference room in Chicago to break down the Live Nation Ticketmaster verdict! Live Nation was just found to be an illegal monopoly in a dramatic jury trial which saw the Trump administration drop out of the case with a surprise settlement. The states picked up the baton from there.

Matt and David cover the decision, the history of Ticketmaster’s tangles with Pearl Jam and the Justice Department, and how the current case played out, and what the decision means for the future of Ticketmaster, and the antitrust movement.

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On March 17th, the candidate Daniel Biss defeated 15 other democratic challengers in the primary election for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District. It was one of the most closely watched in the country, in which Biss, and other candidates, were up against millions of dollars in ad spending from dark money super pacs like “Elect Chicago Women,” and “Chicago Progressive Partnership.” These vaguely-named pacs were all fronts for AIPAC, the big-spending Pro-Israel lobbying group which threw money and ads at various candidates, in hopes of electing Laura Fine, who eventually came in third.

Biss won by putting AIPAC, and their influence, at the center of his campaign. Today on the show Matt and David talk with Biss about what it’s like to go up against the AIPAC lobbying machine, how these pacs used their vast resources to distort the race in real time, and what the democrats should do if they take back congress in the upcoming midterms.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Ever since the US and Israel began bombing Iran, the Strait Of Hormuz has become the most watched shipping lane in the world economy. The strait itself is just a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf Of Oman, but much of the world’s oil and other crucial material, such as industrial helium, flow through it. Now, after weeks of bombing and retaliation, the strait is gummed up, with hundreds of ships stranded, little traffic, and no end in sight. We’re already seeing prices at the pump begin to spike, and the stock market has cooled, but according to our guest, we haven’t actually felt any true material shocks, yet.

Today on the show Matt and David talk with Salvatore Mercogliano, former merchant marine, maritime history professor at Campbell University, and host of the popular What’s Going on With Shipping? on Youtube. Together they break down what’s happening, why the high prices we’re seeing at the gas pump are only a precursor to actual shortages, and what to look for as we begin to feel the supply chain pinch.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

With the federal government largely stepping back from antitrust enforcement, who's picking up the slack? California Attorney General Rob Bonta makes the case that state attorneys general are filling the void, and he's got the caseload to prove it. David and Matt speak with Bonta about his remarkable portfolio of active fights: the Ticketmaster/Live Nation trial (which the states pressed forward with after the DOJ settled), a price-fixing case against Amazon, social media addiction suits against Meta and TikTok, and a challenge to the Nexstar/TEGNA local TV merger that could give a single broadcaster control over news in 70% of American households. Bonta doesn’t shy away from describing what he sees in DC as corruption. He also has a direct message for anyone in Hollywood nervous about the Paramount/Warner Brothers investigation: it's not illegal to talk to his office and they want to hear from you.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

As bombs started to fall on Iran, some Americans cashed in by placing bets on prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi. These bets paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to users who almost certainly had inside information about the exact timing of the attacks. Similar bets were made on the assassination of Iran’s Ayatollah, turning an act of murder into a commodity.

As these markets have come to embrace acts of violence, often rife with insider trading, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has introduced legislation to curb betting on government actions and similar events. His bill, Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions, or the BETS OFF Act, was introduced this past Tuesday.

Today on the show, Matt and David talk to Sen. Murphy about the problem of prediction markets, both political and moral. They also get into the war in Iran, its rudderless trajectory, and the Pentagon’s $200 billion request to continue fighting, perhaps indefinitely. Finally, they discuss how to get out of the morass we have found ourselves in as a country that seems to keep making big, bad decisions, and ask whether Trump and the war are just symptoms of a larger problem plaguing America.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

In a shocking turn of events, the federal government settled their long standing antitrust action against Live Nation after a week of in-court proceedings. This process was described as “mind-boggling” by the judge, and surprised counsel on both sides, along with many states’ attorneys generals who are also suing Live Nation.

Today on the show we break down the case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster (which it acquired back in 2010) with two guests: Gigi Liman, who is reporting on the trail for bigtechontrial.com, and Tommy Dorfman, a live music promoter who has been in litigation with Live Nation for over a decade. Together with Matt and David they break down the proceedings, how Live Nation uses mafia-like tactics to secure its monopoly, and where the case goes from here as states pick up the prosecutorial baton from a compromised federal justice department.

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Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

This week we discuss the recently rediscovered history of mid-century lighting, the elegant modernist style of lamps and fixtures that emerged in small design firms and flourished from the 1940s through the 70s before being consumed by mega corporations that flattened their products’ quality, style, and influence.

This style was spearheaded by a company called Modeline, but until very recently dealers and scholars alike often misattributed their work and the work of similar designers. Our guest today is Nick Ferrell, a dealer, author of Modeline of California: Pioneer of Modern Lighting, and proprietor of EstheticVintage, who has been instrumental in correcting the record. Together we discuss the history of these nature-inspired lamps, how a spirit of artistic openness and economic solidarity fostered these beautiful objects, and how greed and consolidation spelled their end.

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Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

In a shocking move this week, Netflix declined to raise its bid against Paramount for control of Warner Bros. After months of corporate tug-of-war, Paramount and David Ellison have taken a giant step towards controlling Warner Bros’ linear television assets, including CNN, its streaming service HBO Max, and its film studio, which just had a blockbuster year. Without question, this deal will lead to mass layoffs, fewer shops to sell work to in Hollywood, and leverage massive debt against Paramount: so why is Paramount and Trump-World so desperate for it, and why did Netflix get cold feet? Today on the show, Matt and David dig into the deal, its questionable legality, and how antitrust objections may play out from both federal and state attorneys general.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

Besides data centers, climate change, and regulatory capture, there is yet another reason utility rates are far outpacing inflation: private equity! On this episode, we try to understand why investor-owned utilities, which provide electricity to the majority of Americans, continue to reap profits at the expense of their customers. These entities are supposed to be regulated by state governments, but why is enforcement often so toothless? And why does venture capital want to get involved in something as thin-margined as utilities?

To answer that, we are joined by Marissa Gillett, a former utility regulator and current senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, along with James Baratta, a writing fellow at The American Prospect. We try to untangle some of the regulatory spaghetti and dig into James’ recent reporting on the venture capital firm Blackstone’s bid to acquire a New Mexico utility, and the stock deal that could undo it if regulators are brave enough to follow the law.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

The Epstein files lay bare the impunity the rich and powerful possess as a social class: The Epstein class. Today on the show, Matt and David dig into the Epstein files with one of the congressmen responsible for their release: Representative Ro Khanna. We discuss what the Epstein files tell us about the influence that wealth affords the people who run our economy and institutions: People like Bill Gates, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk, and countless less-famous people who structure the world we live in, but are seemingly accountable to no rules at all. They also discuss Khanna’s recent decision to name some of the men listed in the unredacted files, how it feels to work with victims seeking justice, and how the government can restore trust with Americans in a post-Epstein world.

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We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

After the government announced new regulations for Medicare Advantage, the market-based alternative to traditional Medicare, the stocks of healthcare companies that participate in the program plummeted. But why is this popular program in the crosshairs? And are these new Trump Administration rules actually good?

Today on the show, Olivia Kosloff, senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project and creator of the newsletter Acute Condition, joins Matt and David to discuss Medicare Advantage and how a program that was intended to be cheaper for the government than traditional Medicare has become far more expensive. In addition to problems that have plagued the program since its inception, AI is now being used as a new tool for insurers to extract money from the government. They also discuss how insurers are reacting to the new rules, the future of the program, and whether we need Medicare Advantage at all.

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We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

As The Department and Homeland Security and ICE see their budgets balloon, anything unrelated to immigration is getting short shrift. Today on the show, Matt and David talk to Richard Powers, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice, and the former Acting Assistant Attorney General at the Antitrust Division, to discuss the consequences of ignoring antitrust and white collar crime. They discuss the post-DOGE state of the Department of Justice, the culture of prosecution (or lack thereof) that dominated the antitrust division through the Obama and first Trump era, and how to make budgeting antitrust a priority.

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.

We tend to think of the law as a public asset - centuries of statutes, common law, and legal precedents that shape how society governs itself. So why is the law itself so hard and so expensive to access?

Matt and David talk with Mike Lissner of the Free Law Project about the quiet duopoly that controls legal information, how Westlaw and LexisNexis turned public court records into pricey commodities, and why even the federal government charges by the page to read your own laws. Along the way, they uncover a system that drives up legal costs, shuts regular people out of justice, creates real security risks, and stifles innovation, and explore how a scrappy nonprofit might finally crack it open

Listen via Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also provide transcripts and video for every episode. Here is last week’s episode.

Thank you so much for listening. If there’s a monopoly you’d like us to explore this year, or if you have anything else to tell us, please let us know by leaving a comment or by responding directly to this email.