50 Fires: Money and Meaning with Carl Richards
Talking about money is hard. All over the world, people are taught never to talk about money, politics, sex or religion in polite company. On 50 Fires: A Podcast About Money and Meaning from Executive Producers Chip and Joanna Gaines, host and financial conversationalist Carl Richards will remove money from that list by having frank, funny, and often difficult conversations about money - the kind we were all told not to have! - with guests from all walks of life. In each episode, Carl will invite a new guest to answer the question “What does money mean to you?” Their answers will reveal much more than their attitudes about money, spanning revelations about identity, community, faith, family and the true meaning of wealth. Please direct business inquiries to: blindnilaudio@magnolia.com Website: https://www.blindnilmedia.com/audio
Episodes
July 2, 2025 • 12 mins
Before taking a pause for the Summer, Carl revisits moments with recent guests Austin Kleon, Debbie Millman, Tom Fishburne, and Gretchen Rubin to pulling together common threads about the hidden stories we tell ourselves about money. Ask yourself the following questions while listening: Where does your money come from and what does it cost you? What stories are you believing about money, and are they even true? The answers to thes...
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June 25, 2025 • 57 mins
Austin Kleon has built a life around making art—and making choices. In this candid conversation, the bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist opens up about the cost of creativity, the pressure of success, and the freedom that comes from knowing what’s enough. From turning down life-changing sums of money to driving an old Honda with pride, Austin reflects on how his values have shaped both his art and his bank account.
Austin a...
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June 18, 2025 • 66 mins
Cartoonist and former brand manager Tom Fishburne—best known as the creator of Marketoonist—joins Carl for a conversation that flips the script on what it means to take risks. From leaving a stable job with a Harvard MBA to becoming a full-time cartoonist, Tom shares what looked like “career suicide” from the outside became his most stable and fulfilling path.
They explore the quiet financial anxiety of childhood, the lessons Tom ...
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June 11, 2025 • 64 mins
Debbie Millman is a celebrated designer, writer, educator, and host of the long-running podcast Design Matters. In this conversation, Debbie opens up about a subject she rarely discusses publicly: her lifelong relationship with money.
Together with Carl, she traces the roots of scarcity, shame, and control that shaped her childhood and career decisions—from hiding candy in a handbag as a little girl, to working three jobs to ens...
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June 4, 2025 • 64 mins
"You Actually Miss Your Life While You're Trying to Protect It". That’s the provocative idea at the heart of this episode with bestselling author Oliver Burkeman (Four Thousand Weeks). Oliver reflects on how class, money, and time shape our identity and our illusions of control. From childhood popsicle enterprises to awkward dinner bills and the haunting anxiety of spending money in the present, the discussion digs deep into the em...
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May 28, 2025 • 63 mins
Is money ever just about money? Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author and happiness expert, joins Carl to explore the subtle ways our childhood, identity, and and the surprising power of choosing what not to spend money on. From her awe at the simple amount of $100 as a child to the moment she chose not to renew her New York Bar license, Gretchen shares how she made peace with desire, comparison, and her own financial narrative along ...
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May 21, 2025 • 63 mins
What happens when you’ve checked every financial box—and still feel lost? Carl sits down with comedian, former Facebook exec, and Reasonably Happy author and podcast host Paul Ollinger to explore the emotional weight of money and identity.
Paul shares what it felt like to walk away from Silicon Valley at 42, why he once considered himself a "rich loser," and how chasing fulfillment led him back to the stage as a stand-up comedian....
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May 14, 2025 • 62 mins
Identity, belonging, and the real meaning of money and Judaism is covered in this episode with Rabbi Shira Stutman. Rabbi Shira and Carl navigate questions of tradition and community in today’s polarized world, the need to hold space for complexity—within ourselves and our institutions—and how embracing discomfort can spark growth, understanding, and ultimately, a stronger sense of purpose.
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Is money dangerous? Could be. Is money powerful? Definitely. Can it corrupt? Of course. Can it liberate? Absolutely. Money is a mirror.
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Follow 50 Fires on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/50firespod/
Please direct business inquires to: blindnilaudio@magnolia.com
Cover Art: Josh Passler - TheFinArtist.com
Music Credits:
Alexandra Woodward / Rabbit Reggae / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
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April 30, 2025 • 63 mins
Breanna Rae Blainey is a financial wellness leader, entrepreneur, and co-founder of the Anya Institute for Human Revolution. She and Car unpack themes like control and the emotional energy we attach to our finances, offering practical tools like the "Triple A" framework—awareness, alignment, and action—to help navigate our relationship with money in a more intentional, values-driven way.
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For more on...
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April 23, 2025 • 70 mins
What if the boldest career move you ever made was stepping away? Neha Ruch, founder of Mother Untitled and author of The Power of Pause, joins Carl to unpack the layered experience of pausing a high-powered career to prioritize family — and rediscover a deeper sense of self.
Neha shares her journey as the daughter of Indian immigrants, growing up acutely aware of financial insecurity and the privilege of choice. She opens up about...
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April 16, 2025 • 64 mins
Poet, Zen teacher, and memoirist Henry Shukman joins Carl for a conversation that explores what it truly means to live freely.
Through stories from Henry’s life—including his youthful encounters with a wandering tramp named “Speedy” and the spiritual revelations that shaped his memoir One Blade of Grass—they dive into profound ideas of freedom, enoughness, and generosity.
Carl and Henry explore how early experiences with money sh...
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April 9, 2025 • 57 mins
Singer-Songwriter Susan Werner joins Carl for a deeply personal conversation that weaves together her upbringing on a midwest farm, her financial philosophy, and how it intersects with her pursuit of creative integrity. From the sound of coins jingling in her father’s pocket as a young child to the smell of manure—“the smell of money” on an Iowa farm—Susan shares how early experiences shaped her understanding of value and work.
Su...
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April 3, 2025 • 11 mins
What should we do to protect our finances and investments right now? First off, when markets get scary? We should avoid chasing predictions.
It turns out that creating financial resilience is not about making perfect predictions about what’s coming next. It’s about building a life that can adapt to whatever arrives. This approach works, regardless of what’s happening with tariffs, markets, or potential recessions. By focusing on w...
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April 2, 2025 • 8 mins
Carl tackles the fear and uncertainty that often accompanies volatile markets (are you feeling a little bit of that right about now?), with a reassuring reminder that market fluctuations are normal. Carl emphasizes the importance of staying focused on long-term goals rather than reacting emotionally to short-term market movements.
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March 26, 2025 • 8 mins
Making tough financial decisions can be overwhelming, especially when emotions and biases come into play. In this mini episode of 50 Fires, Carl shares a powerful mental tool he calls The Overnight Test. This simple yet effective exercise helps navigate the inertia of holding onto investments, properties, or even routines that no longer serve us.
Through real-life stories—including a long-abandoned family cabin, an under-performin...
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March 19, 2025 • 29 mins
Peter Singer may be, as The New Yorker calls him, the planet’s “most influential living philosopher." He has written the classic text Practical Ethics, The Expanding Circle, The Life You Can Save (which gave rise to the organization of the same name) and Pushing Time Away (an account of the life and fate of his grandfather, a victim of the Holocaust). Carl and Peter discuss the carefulness around spending instilled by his parents ...
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March 12, 2025 • 67 mins
Katie Gatti Tassin, the creator of the Money with Katie Podcast, joins Carl to explore the personal and philosophical sides of money. Katie shares her journey from launching a personal finance blog to selling it to Morning Brew, and how that experience reshaped her views on wealth, work, and independence.
Together, they dive into Katie’s early memories of money, the financial habits instilled by her parents, and the emotional weig...
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March 5, 2025 • 69 mins
At 54 years old, Kevin Dahlstrom has discovered the secret to ‘enough.’ A four-time CMO, founder, rock climber, father, and husband, Kevin joins Carl to explore themes of career control and the true importance of aligning one’s life with personal values. They discuss strategies for gaining control over one’s career, the significance of unstructured time for creativity, and the concept of a low-cost ideal life. Ultimately, Kevin adv...
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February 26, 2025 • 58 mins
Celebrated author Pam Houston describes her extraordinary journey with Carl in this inspiring episode —from a childhood shaped by financial anxiety to finding solace and purpose in the natural world. Pam shares the remarkable story of how she bought her beloved ranch in Wyoming with just 4.7% down and a signed copy of her first book, the life lessons she learned from her father’s obsession with money, and how she discovered the tru...
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