Organized Money Podcast: How To Stop Businesses From Gaining Monopoly Power

 Let's begin our review of Organized Money with its August 5th episode about "The Coup at the Antitrust Division." In both Trump Administrations, transparency and "draining the swamp" were touchstones of its governmental philosophy. Someone must have forgotten to tell Pam Bondi and the Department Of Justice because journalist Sohrab Ahmari broke a story titled The Antitrust War Inside MAGA: Powerful Lobbyists Are Battling Populist Reformers. In it, he reported that the recent $14 billion deal in which Hewlett-Packard acquired its competitor, Juniper Networks, was quietly shepherded along with help from the Justice Department, complete with martini-sipping backroom deals. Two attorneys within the department who objected to the shady procedural maneuvers were reportedly fired.

On my first episode of Organized Money , co-hosts Matt Stoller and David Dayen interviewed Ahmari as he unpacked the situation. On the show, co-hosts and guest what it could mean for antitrust policy under the second Trump administration, and whether this signals the end of populist influence within the MAGA movement.

After listening to this episode, I was hooked. As any self-respecting podcast discovery adventurer will tell you, I binge-listened several episodes, and learned as much about the podcast as possible without being arrested for stalking. 

Organized Money is a podcast about how the business world really works, and how corporate consolidation and monopolies are dominating every sector of our economy. The series is hosted by writers and journalists Matt Stoller and David Dayen, both thought leaders in the antimonopoly movement. Organized Money is indeed "a fresh spin on business reporting, one that goes beyond supply and demand curves or odes to visionary entrepreneurs."

Each week, the co-hosts break down the ways monopolies control everything from the food we eat, to the drugs we take, the way we communicate and even how we date. In the episodes, listeners will hear from workers, business leaders, antitrust lawyers, and policymakers who are on the front lines of the fight for open markets and fair competition.

The producers of Organized Money make this plea. "If you care about an economy that is free and open, one not controlled by a handful of corporations, Organized Money is for you."

Searching for listener reaction to the show, I found this Reddit post that sumd up the show nicely: "If you're interested in micro-econ, in particular the topic of market power, this podcast is for you. It only just started, but they've had some great episodes about how Google backdoor bribed the FTC and DOJ into dropping anti-trust charges and shined light on the crazy market structure that is prescription drugs.

"These are real world conspiracies in the market. Not Joe Rogan crazy ideas. They actually get into a lot of details about each situation. I hope it succeeds because I love this kind of stuff. It's new/obscured knowledge that I know most people don't actually know, and it's fascinating to say the least."

The show's co-hosts are Matt Stoller and Dave Dayen, and both are ideally suited for this role in ferreting out monopolistic schemes and backroom deals.  

David Dayen is the executive editor of The American Prospect. He is the author of Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power (2020) and Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud (2016), which earned the Studs and Ida Terkel Prize. He was the winner of the 2021 Hillman Prize for excellence in magazine journalism.

 The American Prospect is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., The American Prospect says it "is devoted to promoting informed discussion on public policy from a progressive perspective." Its motto is "Ideas, Politics, and Power".

 Matt Stoller is an American political commentator and author. He is the research director of the American Economic Liberties Project. 

In 2019, Matt Stoller published the book Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, a history of the United States economic policy. To help promote his book and ideas, Stoller started a newsletter titled Big. As of 2023, it has around 85,000 subscribers.

The show began in October 2024, and since then has exposed how Kroger and Albertsons tried to monopolize their grocery industry; how the baby formula monopoly caused a crisis of supply in 2020; and the FanDuel and DraftKings duopoly. 

Perhaps the episode that defines the objectives of the podcast was the interview with former FTC Chair Lina Khan. In that episode, the co-hosts ask an essential question: What does it look like when government actually works for the people? They explore this question with Lina Khan, whose groundbreaking tenure as FTC Chair rewrote the playbook for federal agencies. Khan details how she transformed an understaffed agency into the spearhead of a governance revolution - confronting corporate giants, championing consumer rights, and proving that government can be a powerful force for positive change. Their conversation offers a window into a transformative moment in American governance, where old assumptions about corporate power are being challenged, and new possibilities are emerging. 

Stoller and Dayen are superb co-hosts, terrific interviewers, and would make excellent private detectives because they dive into these monopolistic conspiracies with a passion to uncover the ugly truth. 

The opening is a clip of an FDR speech warning about the unholy power of organized money, with appropriately ominous music, and it sets the tone for the show. In addition, the co-hosts announce the thematic premise of the show at the beginning, which helps new listeners learn right away about the show. Too many indie podcasts keep new listeners either guessing about their content and theme or make the wrong-headed assumption that listeners already have that knowledge, and that's why they are test-driving this episode. 

Organized Money isn't anti-business. It's pro-people. With the co-hosts emanating from different spectrums of the political world, it's a short leap to the podcast's essence, which is: no matter what your political party or ethical beliefs, big business (corporations, private equity, paid-for politicians, and big investors) is constantly try to screw the little people. If you think that's "fake news," then listen to several episodes of the podcast. 

You'll change your mind. Fast.