The Economy of Nothing Podcast

Mike Bedont
  • 4.4 (7)
  • Comedy
  • Updated Weekly

The Economy of Nothing is a show about building something real in a world that rewards nothing. Part podcast, part experiment, part transmission from the void—this is where ideas get tested, stories get shaped, and the impossible might get made. Join us each week as we work in public and try to make meaning from the mess.

  1. 4d ago

    226 | A Dystopian Odyssey Through The Corporate Cosmos

    The episode opens with an aggressive rant that veers into commentary on transgender bathroom panic, closeted politicians, and claims that Trump's politics are about avoiding prison and the Epstein files, before shifting to planning and improvising the next "Economy of Nothing" story.   Mr. Green and Captain Ray Tracy return to the Nothing Corp office via elevator to request a new JJ Abrams-style Mystery Box delivery, but a Jeeves bot insists their last box to Brenner 1078D was never turned in. Mr. Green admits he gave it to Postman Bobberts, yet Nothing Corp threatens negative credits and disqualification, ultimately charging Captain Tracy's account and forcing them to go retrieve the box. They set up a flashy Moonshine launch sequence, head back to Brenner 7, and anticipate a Skull Pirates encounter   While intransit they riff on Netflix drop-off, AI in media, Christopher Nolan, and the state of superhero movies. Timecodes 00:00 Lahey Quote Cold Open 00:22 Trans Panic Rant 02:56 Closet Politics Theory 03:34 Back to the Show 04:14 Plot Planning Moonshine 05:18 Story Stuck Joke 06:21 Improv Skills Update 07:29 Box Problem Solution 09:47 Trailer Park Boys Intro 12:06 Elevator Banter Setup 15:59 Jeeves Office Showdown 22:08 Captain Garage Debrief 25:39 Theme Song Escape 26:29 Director Banter 27:34 Parenting Blame Rant 29:58 George Lucas AI Future 31:17 Netflix Dropoff Theory 33:12 Nolan Odyssey Takedown 35:30 IMAX Format Critique 37:33 CGI Lies and Netflix AI 39:59 Soap Opera Cinema 45:15 Doomsday Economy Test 49:50 Spider Man Last Hurrah 55:02 Wrap Up and Patreon 55:49 Brenner Seven Teaser 58:49 Final Goodbyes

  2. Jul 14

    225 | The Shite-est Touch

    The Skull Pirates are back to steal the Mystery Box from a no-armed, mustachioed Marshal/Postman, and it goes about as well as you'd expect. Meanwhile, The Captain and Mr. Green spiral through leveraged ETFs, AI data centers, and the gerontocoracy.  Timecodes: 00:00 Cold Open – Trailer Park Boys & Mr. Green Lore 02:00 Skulk Steals the Mystery Box 07:00 How the Sausage Happens (Behind the Scenes) 13:00 The Marshal Ramble / Michael Scott Theory 16:00 DoorDash, Robo-Human Wars & the Analyst Problem 24:00 Elden Ring, Graphics & the AI Data Center Bottleneck 31:00 Trump, Putin & the Shite-est Touch 50:00 Corporate Data, Walled Gardens & Variable Pricing 55:00 Patreon Plug & Studio Fund 57:00 Iced Coffee, Retirement Grift & DoorDash Child Labor Closing Rant

  3. Jul 7

    224 | The Deception is Obvious

    Captain Tracy and Mr. Green return to their ongoing sci-fi workplace story about a long-undelivered Nothing Corporation package. Greenie admits he forgot to hand the box to a suspicious robot marshal on Burner 7 due to dehydration and blackout-inducing space medicine, and proposes a plan to return the box to sender via the post office to get paid. The conversation detours into meta podcast logistics, ratings and Patreon, flash mobs, vacations and empathy, consumerism and comfort (with references to Fight Club, "mo money mo problems," and Spinoza), fireworks and PTSD in people and dogs, and a non-canon IHOW scene where they brainstorm a Mississippi-led "Puppy Posse" spin-off and high-priced character-creation tiers. Back in-story, Green tries to mail the box to Nothing Corp but is seemingly tricked by "Postman Bobert," who may be the marshal in disguise, leaving the box's fate unresolved and "to be continued." Timecodes: 00:00 FMK Mystery Box 00:56 Why Keep The Box 01:18 Dehydration Confession 04:47 Return To Sender Plan 07:08 Meta Patreon Rant 09:23 Flash Mob Explained 10:53 Vacation Crowd Psychology 12:26 Fight Club And Spinoza 14:29 Fireworks And PTSD 19:09 IHOW Fourth Wall Break 20:25 Puppy Posse Pitch 24:41 MySpace And Surveillance 27:09 Gem Of Understanding 27:58 Gem of Understanding Bit 28:21 Plan to Drop the Box 29:29 Inventing Postman Bobert 31:11 Training Bots and Robo Wars 34:51 Rangers Lore and Family Ties 36:28 Podcast Finally Starts 37:43 Roleplay Post Office Scene 45:36 Box Delivery Goes Wrong 49:23 Trademark Talk and Wrap Up 51:02 To Be Continued Debrief

  4. Jun 23

    223 | The Subtle Art of Being a Peak Male

    Captain Ray Tracy and Mr. Green debate whether Quentin Tarantino would actually be fun to do cocaine with, dig into the Justin Roiland/Dan Harmon Rick and Morty fallout, and unpack The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck. Then Mr. Green pitches his dream business: Peak Male, a Big Buck Hunter bar for guys who don't give a fck. Plus emails, including one that goes somewhere dark fast. Timecodes: 00:00 Mystery Box Trouble 01:45 Clone Wars Hot Takes 02:50 Jabba Puppet Grossout 03:09 Rick and Morty Drama 06:11 Hollywood No Professionalism 08:37 Tarantino Rant 14:25 Is This Episode Bad 16:36 Subtle Art Book Talk 18:17 Learning Never Stops 24:55 Cowboy Law Perspectives 25:58 Patreon and Reviews Plea 27:08 One Star Reviews Bit 27:35 Time Travel Backstory 28:24 Patreon and Sponsorship Pitch 29:55 Peak Male Business Idea 31:38 Name Debate and Target Crowd 34:05 Calibrating the Buck Hunter 36:25 Pants Down Peak Male Joke 40:37 Landing the Bit 42:07 Wrap Up and Scheduling 43:59 Walking Animation Critique 45:38 Emails Segment 47:52 Final Plugs and Sign Off 🌐 Website https://economyofnothing.com 🛠️ Patreon https://www.patreon.com/economyofnothing 👕 Merch https://www.teepublic.com/user/economyofnothing

    223 | The Subtle Art of Being a Peak Male

  5. Jun 16

    222 | Nostalgia is the Currency

    The Captain and Mr. Green return with a full show rundown before spiraling into their ongoing mission for the Nothing Corporation, delivering a JJ Abrams mystery box. . Along the way: Iran war, Epstein, CEOs blaming AI for layoffs, Martin Scorsese selling out again, and whether Steven Spielberg is working for the government. Then a deep dive into the SpaceX IPO — is it valuation hype, a rug pull, or just your retirement fund doing the heavy lifting for Elon? After digressions on propaganda, meme stocks, Boiler Room, and the Musk/Zuck fight that never happened. Mr. Green finally delivers the box to a legless robot marshal on Brenner 7. The Skulk Pirates are back and they have thoughts. Timecodes: 00:00 Welcome Back Rundown 01:38 Road Trip Banter 02:41 Margaritaville Dream 04:21 Patreon And Mystery Box 06:38 SpaceX IPO Segue 08:17 Valuation Hype Or Rug Pull 15:47 Meme Stocks Market Makers 18:59 Boiler Room And Shell Games 21:17 Spielberg Disclosure Day 24:37 Watchmen Reagan And 9 11 26:35 Iran War Toll Booth 29:53 Politics Corruption Rant 31:34 Nerds Won Backlash 32:23 Zuckerberg Rogan Talk 32:51 Mr Green Rogan Pitch 33:37 Billionaire Fight Hype 35:07 Lore Heatstroke Detour 38:05 Mystery Box Economy 40:44 Robot Sheriff Showdown 47:04 Skulk Pirates Stinger 48:42 Behind The Scenes Wrap 🌐 Website https://economyofnothing.com 🛠️ Patreon https://www.patreon.com/economyofnothing 👕 Merch https://www.teepublic.com/user/economyofnothing

    222 | Nostalgia is the Currency

  6. Jun 9

    221 | Cognitive Traffic Jam

    AI Grifts, Dead Internet Theory, and Unregulated Portals The Captain and Mr. Green are rumbling, stumbling and bumbling our way through this one. Questioning conflicting U.S. labor statistics and calling market reactions to jobs reports and government shutdowns "nonsense," arguing money is fleeing bonds into hype-driven IPOs and AI narratives that rely on continual buy-in like a Ponzi scheme. They discuss "dead internet" claims, bots and engagement farms, and propose a conspiracy that data centers are a land/data grab designed to expand targeted advertising and even let bots "stimulate" the economy via crypto and stablecoins. They argue "AI" is mostly a marketing umbrella for old tools, works best for uninformed users, and is embraced by managers who don't understand work. The conversation veers into ads, streaming enshittification, dystopian futures like Neuralink-delivered ads, cultural hypocrisy, and then pivots to show planning: rebranding the podcast and plotting a skull-pirate space battle using illegal "unregulated portals" tied to robot-human war lore. timecodes 00:00 Jobs Numbers Don't Add Up 00:26 Markets React Backwards 01:21 IPO Hype and Broken Fundamentals 02:52 AI as the New Grift 03:36 Betting Apps Like Lotteries 04:09 Dead Internet Conspiracy 06:15 Data Centers Land and Data Grab 07:35 AI Is Just Marketing 08:47 Cold Reading and Fake Intelligence 10:33 Managers Love AI Summaries 12:40 Economy of Cowards 15:42 Ads Ruined the Internet 19:28 Neuralink and Mandatory Ads 23:49 Bread and Circuses Propaganda 25:47 Don't Tread on Me Hypocrisy 27:05 Wrapping the Rant 27:20 Mr Green Meta Talk 28:52 AI Panic Is Marketing 30:10 Rogan Numbers Rant 33:09 Pride Month Backlash 36:32 Religion Versus Progress 39:47 Internet Feels Real 42:02 Elvis News Cycle 43:47 Data Versus Information 45:24 Rebranding The Show 48:00 Skull Pirates Plotting 51:31 Unregulated Portal Lore 53:35 Robot Wars Time Travel

  7. Jun 3

    220 | The American Nightmare

    In this episode of Economy of Nothing, Captain Ray Tracy and Mr. Green riff on conspiratorial timing around "disclosure," 23andMe selling genetic data, and the alien.gov site, which they describe as a Men in Black–styled ICE page meant to redirect attention and encourage reporting. They spiral into broader thoughts on distraction cycles in politics and media, then shift to everyday materialism and how value is reduced to dollar amounts, illustrated by a child being paid to carry groceries and reflections on transactional relationships. A running sci‑fi narrative about delivering a mysterious box to Brenner 7108‑D turns into a saloon standoff, skull pirates, and drunk piloting advice—before revealing it was all Mr. Green's dream after passing out at IHOP. They close by plugging their email, site, and socials and encouraging listeners to do something real offline. 00:00 Bounty Hunters Framing Us 01:17 Conspiracy Vibes Tease 01:47 Restarting The Show 02:50 Ribbiting Joke Spiral 03:35 Captain And Lore Setup 04:39 23andMe Alien DNA 05:34 Alien Gov Explained 06:44 Distraction On Distraction 07:23 No Silverware Assassin 08:59 Birthday Bags Materialism 10:18 Economy Of Nothing Value 13:22 Kid Capitalist Story 15:29 Men In Black ICE Rant 17:23 TV Warriors And Hegseth 18:08 Asteroid Field Myth 19:07 Space Lanes Talk 20:17 Mr Green Parrot Head 21:32 Margaritaville Dreams 22:57 Brenner Address Confusion 24:03 Sheriff Drop Off Plan 26:12 Marshal Showdown 29:53 Skull Pirates Escape 31:15 Wake Up At IHOW 33:25 Dream Reveal Wrap 34:00 Links And Goodbye

    220 | The American Nightmare

  8. May 26

    219 | Intergalactic House of Waffles

    This week The Captain and Mr. Green are still waiting on their chocolate chip pancakes while the police interview the waitstaff. In the meantime: why does time speed up as you get older (and why is Green immune), the SpaceX IPO prospectus reads like a hype bot wrote it, Reddit is cooked, the Moonshine Spaceship captain debate gets settled once and for all, and holographic cigarettes may or may not be making it into the show. Also the Intergalactic House of Waffles shirt is real, it's $16 on TeePublic, and it will be worth something someday. Wear it and refuse to explain it to anyone. Get the shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/76632863-intergalactic-house-of-waffles?store_id=803009 economyofnothing.com | Patreon | TikTok | Instagram | Substack In the distant future, it's all gonna be fine. Chapters: 00:00 Captain vs Pilot Debate 03:13 Why Time Speeds Up 06:29 Reddit Bots and Algorithms 07:47 Elon Musk Space Hype 12:34 Back to the Space Plot 16:02 IHOW Merch Plug 16:44 Jeeves Wrong Brunner 20:42 Label Printer Chaos 22:36 IHOW Cigarette Hologram 25:14 Canon Free Zone Talk 28:33 Mystery Box Economy 31:48 Pirates Not Reported 33:34 Roman Numeral Switches 37:09 Improv Misery Meta 39:04 Social Links and Merch 42:28 Stars Aint Coming

    219 | Intergalactic House of Waffles
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4.4
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The Economy of Nothing is a show about building something real in a world that rewards nothing. Part podcast, part experiment, part transmission from the void—this is where ideas get tested, stories get shaped, and the impossible might get made. Join us each week as we work in public and try to make meaning from the mess.

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