Slate Money

The Illusion of ‘America’s Next Top Model’

In this Money Talks: Journalist Bridget Armstrong [https://www.bridgetarmstrong.me/] joins Emily Peck [https://www.axios.com/authors/epeck] to discuss this moment of reckoning for the iconic reality show America’s Next Top Model and what she learned in reporting for her podcast Curse of: America’s Next Top Model [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curse-of-americas-next-top-model/id1838536758]. They explore how Top Model’s central promise—a fast track to a career in the fashion industry—was ultimately an illusion used to make great television at the expense of the contestants.  Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Trade or Treason?

This week: Just minutes before Trump posted about talks with Iran, oil markets saw a flurry of activity. Conspiracy theories followed. Felix Salmon [https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:zxqezqfhjwidbrsvk66ded57], Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/], and Emily Peck [https://www.axios.com/authors/epeck] dissect the suspicious timing of those trades and the possibility of insider trading within the Trump administration. Then, the hosts react to the surprising ruling on Meta and social media addiction. And: OpenAI’s sudden decision to shut down its consumer-facing video generation platform, Sora.  In the Slate Plus episode: The treasury market rom-com Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Money On Film: Spirited Away

Welcome to a very special Money On Film miniseries! Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance. On this episode, Nadira and Felix take a trip to a bathhouse for spirits in 2001’s Spirited Away. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the film follows a girl named Chihiro, who becomes trapped in the spirit world and must save her parents, encountering soot sprites, river spirits, a giant baby, and many more wonderful and terrifying beings along the way. The film is a masterpiece of storytelling and technical animation, but as Felix explains, it also works as a highly developed metaphor for capital and the Japanese economy at the close of the millennium: the bathhouse stands in for a stable but exploitative economic system, beset by outside capital forces, with workers stripped of their names and identities. This is the final episode of the Money On Film miniseries. Thanks for listening! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Money On Film: Materialists

Welcome to a very special Money On Film miniseries! Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance. On this episode, Felix and Nadira discuss dating and money in Celine Song’s 2025 romantic comedy Materialists, which centers on a love triangle between a millionaire matchmaker (Dakota Johnson), a hunky financier (Pedro Pascal), and an old flame and out-of-work actor (Chris Evans). While not particularly romantic or comedic, the film raises questions about the role money plays in modern dating, how we select partners based on financial viability, and whether romance itself might be a bit overrated. Next time on Money On Film: Spirited Away. See you then! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Are the Billionaires Smothering HBO?

This week: The war in Iran has caused a dramatic spike in global oil prices. Felix Salmon [https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:zxqezqfhjwidbrsvk66ded57], Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/], and Emily Peck [https://www.axios.com/authors/epeck] discuss the international repercussions of the oil shortage and how central banks are responding. And: With the dust settling on the Paramount-Warner Brothers deal (including a $700 million payout to David Zaslav for some reason), the biggest loser in the megamerger might be HBO. The hosts discuss how billionaire dealmaking and rebrand fatigue is hurting the network's reputation for edgy, prestige TV. And later: Reuters published a very long story “revealing” Banksy’s real name—which, Felix will tell you, has been public knowledge since 2008. So what was the point? In the Slate Plus episode: Claude is not an accountant.  Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.