The Economy of Nothing Podcast

Mike Bedont
  • 3.7 (3)
  • 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. 222 | Nostalgia is the Currency

    4d ago

    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

    52 min

  2. 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

    55 min
  3. 220 | The American Nightmare

    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

    35 min
  4. 219 | Intergalactic House of Waffles

    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

    45 min

  5. May 19

    218 | The Minimum Viable Future

    Proximity Alert, Skull Pirates, and the Minimum Viable Future | Economy of Nothing In a far-future space adventure, the Captain and Green bungle their way through a proximity alert system with 17 switches, discover two ships tailing them, and use coded maneuvers like "8008135," "42069," and "8732" to pull off evasive moves and win a dogfight against skull pirates. They then rush to return a "JJ Abrams mystery box" to dispatch, realizing they're delivering to the wrong Brenner 7 due to confusing Roman numeral vs regular numbering and debating whether to blame a robot. The episode shifts into a long discussion about modern entertainment feeling like "minimum viable product," bureaucracies, sales culture, opaque financial jargon, broken supply and demand, corporate power, voter suppression and local civic engagement, skepticism about AI and tokenized perks, and job sites allegedly farming interviews to train AI. 00:00 Theme Song Intro 00:33 Proximity Alert Panic 01:22 Hologram Radar Reveal 02:51 Evasive Maneuver Codes 04:18 Dogfight and Fuel Bureaucracy 06:17 Skull Pirates and Mystery Box 06:53 Patreon Plug and Sponsors 08:32 Wrong Brenner Seven Mixup 11:13 TV Rant The Boys 14:37 Minimum Viable Society 17:12 Sales Finance and Fake Acronyms 20:53 Crypto Hype Machine 21:51 Platforms Above The Law 22:55 Hollywood By Checklist 23:32 Plato And Better Worlds 25:07 Accountability And MeToo 26:58 Voting Power And Local Politics 27:35 Blockchain Voting Paradox 33:57 China Debt And CBDCs 37:56 Boomers Wealth And Debt Trap 39:19 AI Tokenized Labor 40:34 AI Limitations And Fluff 42:50 Walled Gardens And Data Lockdown 43:37 Job Sites Farming Interviews 44:33 Rejecting AI Interviews 45:22 Hiring Hell Conclusion

    46 min

  6. May 12

    217 | Ads on Your Eyelids

    AR glasses as surveillance and ad delivery, the addiction economy (vapes, kratom, subscriptions, gambling), JJ Abrams mystery boxes, alien headlines as distraction, Bitcoin shareholder pressure, and AI trickle-down claims. Plus: Parks & Rec, power, and who actually has the courage to risk anything. // economyofnothing.com Timecodes: Chapters: 00:00 Half Full Excuses 01:00 Podcast Plug Banter 01:46 Meta Glasses Dystopia 04:28 Shareholder Duty Rant 05:31 Lost Mystery Box 08:33 Vapes And Mines 10:21 Kratom Gas Station Opioids 13:28 Addiction Economy Spiral 16:36 U2 Album No Choice 17:51 Alien Disclosure Headlines 19:25 UFO Skeptic Breakdown 21:12 Alien Lore Debunked 22:32 Would Aliens Unite Us 23:26 Money Is The Matrix 25:28 Bitcoin Meets Shareholders 28:42 AI And Trickle Down 31:33 Extraction Economy Rant 34:38 Escaping Clickbait News 37:09 Parks And Rec Politics 38:47 Heavy Lies The Crown 42:12 Courage Versus Wealth 42:54 Closing Plug

    43 min

  7. May 5

    216 | The Future Sucks

    A robot with mandatory break times, a lunch break, and apparently several other robot-related obligations is the only thing standing between The Captain and Mr. Green and their Mystery Box. They have nothing to do but wait. So they talk. Topics include the quiet death of Ask Jeeves while AI is at its peak, why nobody brought back Clippy, Zambia being told to open its minerals to American firms or lose HIV support for 1.3 million people, how HIV actually spread and who's really responsible, billionaire anti-aging schemes, whether anyone actually knows anything about health, the moral logic of conditional aid, rewatching Game of Thrones in 2025, why nostalgia hits different when you had to buy the DVD, taxes, debt, and a prediction that crypto tokenization and stablecoin loyalty systems are already reshaping the economy whether you noticed or not. The robot eventually hands over the box. It takes a Bitcoin bribe to make it happen.  Chapters: 00:00 Nothing to Talk About 00:56 Robot Queue Setup 02:51 JibJab Phone Bits 03:13 Ask Jeeves Nostalgia 04:26 AI Companions and Clippy 06:45 Robot Time Check 10:36 Zambia Minerals Ultimatum 12:13 Aid Ethics Debate 15:20 HIV Origins Rabbit Hole 19:17 Googling HIV Timeline 21:18 Unicorn Youth Myth 22:17 Aphrodisiac Foods Talk 23:51 Health Fads Doubt 25:33 Billionaire Anti Aging 27:46 Curious Versus Dogma 29:43 Algo Talk Shutdown 31:00 Rewatching Game Thrones 33:09 Nostalgia And Streaming 37:01 Taxes And Debt Spiral 38:05 Crypto Tokenized Future 43:39 Bagholder Reality Check 44:05 Mystery Box Skit 45:11 Cyborg Banter Wrap

    46 min

  8. Apr 28

    215 | The Alien in the Elevator Told Me Everything

    Elevator Ride with a Telepath: Government Grift, Internet Skepticism, and the New Wild West Two coworkers ride an elevator as "Mr. Green" reveals he's a telepath who developed powers from boredom at Nothing Corp, sparking a wide-ranging conversation about distrust in government, war narratives, and how society feels like it has returned to Wild West "Pinkerton times" where only integrity and keeping your word matter. They argue modern protest and celebrity outrage can be self-serving, discuss Dave Chappelle's controversies and motivations, and claim internet fame metrics and comments are often fake. The pair debate how images and AI undermine proof, how the internet mainly enabled faster payments and easier porn while devaluing art and attention, and lament media consolidation (including talk of Paramount/Warner, Saudi influence, and journalism as a lost public good). They close with global wealth inequality statistics and concerns about digitization enabling further theft and lack of accountability. 00:00 Elevator Telepathy Reveal 01:37 Mind Reading Boundaries 02:26 Government Abuse Rant 04:05 Mafia and Manufactured Enemies 05:23 Holocaust Poem and Real Fear 06:46 Wild West Loopback 08:38 Proof Is Dead in AI Era 11:03 Integrity in Pinkerton Times 11:56 Protest Grifts and Culture Wars 13:54 Dave Chappelle Saudi Debate 15:45 Fame Narcissism and Fake Numbers 19:27 Hot Takes and Self Involvement 21:17 Internet Payments and Porn 23:15 Convenience Devalues Art 24:19 Cranium Crumbs Roundup 25:01 Media Merger Rage 27:24 Digital Ownership Illusion 28:05 Autotaxis No Accountability 29:12 Wealth Pyramid Breakdown 32:49 Billionaire Tiers Explained 36:42 History Written By Winners 39:03 Internet Knowledge And Trust 40:04 Integrity In Wild West 44:23 Journalism Dies In Mergers 45:32 Power Without Responsibility

    46 min
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Ratings & Reviews

3.7
out of 5
3 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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