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August 12, 2025 80 mins

From dragons to $10 ice cream in 63 minutes.

In this episode of The Economy of Nothing, hosts Mike Allen and Mike Bedont veer from $10 ice cream cones to streaming ads (or as they call them, “subtracts”), with plenty of detours in between. They debate whether dragons might have been real, celebrate Twisted Metal for getting TV right, and roast the decline of modern writing. Along the way, they dig into corporate collusion, the economics of novelty pricing, and Big Pharma’s slow-motion disclaimers, all while keeping the conversation funny, fast, and just a little unhinged.

From nostalgic TV rants to full-on ice cream conspiracies, it’s another unpredictable, entertaining ride through capitalism, pop culture, and the weird logic of the algorithm.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:28 Meet the Hosts
01:16 Unemployment
03:30 The $10 Ice Cream Rant
08:53 Streaming Services & Ads
13:04 Pharma Ads & Medicine
24:04 Economic Rants & Conspiracies
40:44 Pivot / Closing Thoughts
41:11 Twisted Metal (the show!)
45:10 The Decline of TV Writing
52:36 Dragons: Myth or Reality?
59:27 “Subtracts”: What We’re Calling Ads Now
01:03:58 Political Rants & Social Commentary
01:11:55 Future Plans

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