My favourite podcasts (inside)

My 10-year-old son is thinking about launching his own podcast.
 
“Is there any money in podcasting, Dad?” he asked.
 
“Well, if you did one with me … I’d say yes”, I said, smiling smugly.
 
“Umm, this would be a kids’ podcast – no adults allowed!” he shot back, shutting me down.
 
Okay, so when my 10-year-old is thinking about doing a podcast, it tells me two things:  
 
First, the barrier to entry is extremely low (which explains why there are 17,000 new podcasts being created each month).
 
Second, podcasting has now gone mainstream. (Aussies downloaded one billion podcasts last year, and we are proportionately the biggest podcast listeners on the planet.)
 
So, to answer my son’s question, I decided to talk to a guy I know called Mike Fitzpatrick, who has been at the top of the broadcasting tree in Australia for near on 20 years.
 
“The biggest podcasters in Australia are earning over $1 million a year from advertisers”, said Fitzy.
 
“However … your favourite local podcast with, say, 50,000 listeners and 100,000 downloads a week, could be making around $500 a month from advertising … and of course the vast majority of podcasts don’t earn anything”, he added.
 
Interesting.
 
I explained to my son that podcasting is a lot like writing a book. Most authors spend hundreds of hours toiling away … and barely cover their costs. However, as with most rewarding things in life, money isn’t their main driver. They do it because they have a passion for the subject at hand, and they want to connect with and help people.
 
So”, I told number one son, “creating your own podcast is an awesome idea, mate.”
 
“But you’ve sold a lot of books, Dad … so maybe you could be my co-host?” he said, rethinking the idea.
 
Gotcha!
 
Speaking of which, here are my (latest) favourite podcast episodes:
 
1. Your Undivided Attention, with Jonathan Haidt
 
Every parent, school principal and politician should listen to this episode by psychiatrist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation. It made me deeply anxious about the horrible impact social media and AI algorithms are having on our kids. However, Haidt also gives us clear, concrete steps we can take to protect them – if we’re willing to stand up and act. (The episode is called ‘Jonathan Haidt on how to solve the teen mental health crisis’).
 
2.  The Political Fallout of Housing, with David McWilliams 
 
 You could be forgiven for thinking that the housing crisis is unique to Australia – yet the truth is that it’s a global phenomenon. This episode looks at the policy failures of older, out-of-touch politicians (who are generally landlords themselves!). If history is a guide, young, angry renters will soon ‘evict’ them from public office. Be forewarned: a political hurricane is heading our way.
 
3. The Stupidest Thing You Can Do With Your Money, with Freakonomics (Stephen J. Dubner)
 
This episode is labelled “Wall Street’s worst nightmare”, and it tells the story of the index fund revolution. Once you listen to it you’ll never go near a ‘wealth platform’ again. It will also leave you questioning why most not-for-profit industry super funds don’t invest this way. Maybe they’re too busy building their own empires with their members’ money?
 
Tread Your Own Path!

Dirty Money

On Sunday nights my wife and I have a ritual.

We turn on the telly and begin searching for something we both want to watch.

Problem.

My wife refuses to watch anything that’s violent, or sad, or scary … or too ‘finance-y’.

I refuse to watch romantic comedies.

So, even though there are a thousand shows to watch, I inevitably end up reading a book while my wife scrolls Instagram.

Yet in a fantasy world, far far away, where I rule the remote, here’s what I’d click on:

Money For Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve (YouTube)

This is the story of some of the most powerful people in the world.

If ordinary Americans understood the mistakes the US Federal Reserve has made, they’d be outraged: by keeping interest rates at zero, and printing money, they’ve driven record wealth inequality in the US … and around the world.

This documentary is now 10 years old … but it hasn’t dated one bit. It paints a picture of a Federal Reserve that is arrogant, out of touch, and enslaved to Wall Street interests. And, a decade on, things are even worse. Rates are still at basically zero, and when Covid hit the Fed printed 300 years’ worth of money in just a few months. You’re going to hear a lot about the Federal Reserve in the next few years. This doco is a good primer.

Dirty Money: Payday (Netflix)

Okay, so there’s a theme here: most good finance shows involve greed and stupidity (or both) … like a thinking person’s MAFS.

I love the Dirty Money series on Netflix, and my favourite episode is ‘Payday’, which tells the story of Scott Tucker, an amateur race car driver turned loan shark. He was a financial predator who created payday loans that charged huge interest rates and big fees (with deliberately confusing terms that skirted legislation), trapping millions of Americans. And if you think this isn’t happening in Australia, you’re wrong.

Principles for Dealing with the New World Order (YouTube)

This is an animated presentation by Ray Dalio, who runs the biggest hedge fund in the world. His basic theme is that we are on the cusp of a ‘changing of the new world order’, with the decline of the US as a superpower and the rise of China to top spot. Personally, I’m not sure the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can continue its reign over the long term. Still, Dalio is a smart guy who has gone back over 500 years of history to study the big economic cycles … and he explains it pretty succinctly in 20 minutes or so.

In truth, Liz is never going to watch any of these.

However, there are a couple of saucy finance series coming out that I might just be able to tempt her with: On Disney+ there’s The Dropout, which details Elizabeth Holmes’s fraud at Theranos. And on Apple TV there’s WeCrashed, which looks at how the co-working space dropped $US40 billion in less than a year.

And if all that fails, the third season of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso is soon to arrive to save our Sundays.

Tread Your Own Path!

Three podcasts I’m listening to

The great thing about spending months on the road with your family is that you get to know them on a deeper level.

For instance, it turns out my wife has a quota — a set number of words she says in a day — after which she’s done.

As in no more chitty chat.

Just silence.

I discovered this little nugget about two hours into what would become a 300-hour journey … which gave me the green light to binge on podcasts guilt free.

Here’s my takeout: there are too many podcasts. Everyone seems to be doing one (well, except me) … heck even the blokes who did my irrigation have a show (shout out to the Irrination podcast!).

In other words, you need a filter, otherwise you’ll drown in drivel. And with that in mind, rather than giving you show recommendations, let me give you three single podcast episodes that really hit the mark for me:

Episode: How Zillow Failed at Flipping Homes
The Journal

Could you imagine if Realestate.com.au or Domain decided to start buying and selling houses for profit?

After all, they know how many clicks and sales each house, street, and suburb are getting ... and with all that data they could buy undervalued homes and make a fortune, right?

Well, this is exactly what happened with the biggest real estate listing site in the US, Zillow. In 2018 Zillow predicted their house-flipping operation would quickly become a $US20 billion business.

And today it is a … zero dollar business.

This episode tells the story of how Zillow had every advantage: big data, artificial intelligence, and a booming housing market, yet managed to lose $500 million in a short few years.

Episode: Walt Mossberg's Take on Mark Zuckerberg and More
The Sway

Imagine having dinner with a crusty old journo who spills the beans on what tech billionaires are really like.

That’s what this episode delivers, with legendary (now retired) tech journo Walt Mossberg as the guest.

Walt talks about back in the day having stand-up arm-waving arguments with both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates … but he says he still respected them because they had principles.

And his thoughts on the new guard?

Well, Elon Musk is as vain and egotistical as he is on Twitter, and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey comes off as a weirdo. And here’s what he says about Zuck: “In my encounters with Mark Zuckerberg, I’ve never been able to discover any principles.” Stick that in your Metaverse, Mark!

Episode: Is Cryptocurrency the Silver Bullet to Inflation?
David McWilliams Podcast

This episode is full of contrast; David McWilliams is a sensible, thoughtful Irish economist, and he interviews Max Keiser, a Bitcoin bull most famous for tearing up a $US10 bill on live TV and screaming, “The dollar is going to Zero, Buy Bitcoin!” McWilliams does his best to leave you with a balanced perspective, without resorting to screaming or ripping up money. Listen to this if you want to know more about crypto. Which brings me to my first question …

Tread Your Own Path!

Five podcasts that are on my playlist

“For the last week I’ve been following a new morning routine. I wake up, meditate, then light a candle and do some affirmations …”, gushed a friend of mine.

“It’s been a total gamechanger.”

Right.

From the moment the first of our four kids wakes up, it’s on like Donkey Kong.

The amount of noise and tantrums and Vegemite that gets smeared from 6am to 8.20am is an affirmation in itself.

Yet at 9am it’s time for my gamechanger.

I’ll often head out to the farm to do a $20-an-hour job, and listen to a podcast. Spending time listening to intelligent people talk about interesting things leaves me feeling really rich (even as I mindlessly dig a ditch).

And so, as we move into the Easter break, I thought I’d share with you five podcasts that are on my playlist.

Planet Money

Right now we’re living through a giant monetary experiment of historically low rates and money-printing that affects every one of us — whether we understand it or not. Planet Money does an amazing job of explaining it all in simple terms. The show takes complex issues and explains them in a way that anyone can grasp, without dumbing things down and while managing to be entertaining (my wife enjoys the show!). Best of all, despite the fact that economics invariably strays into politics, Planet Money doesn’t have a political agenda.

Best episode: ‘Bond Voyage’.

The Dropout

In 2015 Elizabeth Holmes was the youngest self-made billionaire ever, with a fortune of $4.5 billion. She’d dropped out from Stanford University to develop a blood-testing machine that took a prick of blood from your finger rather than a vial from your arm. She named the contraption Edison (after Thomas) and pranced around in a black turtleneck (after Steve). Two years later her net worth was zero, and now she’s on trial for fraud. This is the story of how a young woman swindled some of the wealthiest, smartest people on earth … and how she got caught.

Best episode: It’s a four-part series, and it’ll hook you in from the moment you start listening.

Cautionary Tales

Tim Harford is a brilliant economist who writes for the Financial Times in the UK. Yet he’s also worked out what most economists haven’t: most people learn best through stories. And Harford’s podcast Cautionary Tales is very good at telling fascinating (and frightening) stories that ultimately help you make better decisions. “We’ve always warned children by telling them unsettling fairy tales. But my Cautionary Tales podcast is for the education of the grown-ups. And my cautionary tales are all true”, says Hartford.

Best episode: ‘Buried by the Wall Street Crash’.

No Feeling Is Final

Trust me, you haven’t heard a podcast like this. Honor Eastly offers up an audio memoir which takes you to the depths of her depression and subsequent psychiatric hospitalisation. It’s raw, heartfelt and addictive. It’s not the easiest thing to listen to, but that’s the point. The six-episode series left me with a better understanding of mental illness and the challenges that many of my clients (and friends) deal with on a daily basis.

Best episode: All of them. There are some rude words, though, so you don’t want to play it in the car with the kids.

Oh, and speaking of which, here’s one that’s on my playlist for the kids:

Wow in the World

I have young boys, and the amount of poo humour per kilometre I’m subjected to on the school run is off the charts. So when I reach my fill I put on Wow in the World. It’s a podcast series aimed at primary-school-aged kids and it explains things about science, tech and the world around them. It’s educational and really funny.

Best episode: ‘Are You Smarter than a Toilet?’

Tread Your Own Path!