The Economy of Nothing Podcast

We opened with a space-truck under fire, drifted into astral projection, tore apart modern vampire movies, and somehow ended up asking whether Netflix should be allowed to buy Hollywood. Check out the Animation in the Visual Radio: https://youtu.be/SYFQN1MtCyc In this episode of The Economy of Nothing , Captain Tracy and Mr. Green unpack: • why "stakes" don't matter in movies anymore • how Strange...

This week on The Economy of Nothing , Mike Allen (Mr. Green) and Captain Tracy spiral through one of the most chaotic episodes of the year. We kick things off with Mr. Green's Portfolio Update — Nvidia, Google, semiconductors, GLP-1 drugs, international dividends, and a full breakdown of the "secret AI war" that may or may not be happening against China. Then the Captain goes nuclear on JJ Abrams...

This week in The Economy of Nothing, the Captain attends his first day at Pilot School — and Mr. Green immediately regrets opening enrollment. We dig into the Scrubs pilot "My First Day" and break down why it works, how it builds character relationships, and how it accidentally becomes Nothing Corp's official training video. We talk Steadman disappearing mid-episode, Cox and Kelso as dueling mento...

Marvel's First Family is back — and somehow more boring than ever. In this week's episode of The Economy of Nothing , Mike and Mike break down the new Fantastic Four (2025), a film that manages to be ambitious, confused, and shockingly uneventful all at once. They dig into the movie's strange pacing, Reed Richards' complete lack of stretching, and the bizarre decision to open with a pregnancy test...

The Captain and Mr. Green dive into the trillion-dollar economy of modern villainy — from Elon Musk's $1 trillion pay package to the expanding shadow of the Nothing Corporation and the rise of the Dark Orbit. We talk: • Trillion-dollar compensation and the myth of genius • Government shutdowns as content strategy • Gil's golden shield — the rise of the nepotism cyborg • The Dark Orbit — building t...

"Everyone's getting paid — just not by each other." In Episode 117 of The Economy of Nothing , Mike & Mike chart the endless feedback loops of modern capitalism — the tech giants investing in each other, the fake profits, and the divine grifts that hold it all together. The cold open starts with Mike's "laser pointer whip" moment — the classic EoN chaos that perfectly transitions into a conversati...

In Episode 116 of The Economy of Nothing , Mike Allen and Mike Bedont explore how capitalism has learned to fail profitably. Starting with a broken washing machine and ending in Hollywood's AI assembly line, the conversation tracks how everything — from appliances to art — is now optimized for replacement . Topics include: Planned obsolescence and the "five-year washer" problem Netflix, Disney+, a...

From Pokémon to Tron, this one's a slow-motion spiral into the economy of failure. Mike & Mike try to figure out why Jared Leto keeps getting work despite every movie bombing, how the Oscars turned into a feedback loop of fake credibility, and what happens when sincerity itself becomes a business model. Somewhere in the middle, Pokémon becomes an accidental metaphor for Hollywood's ranking system,...

Bill Burr performs in Saudi Arabia. HBO Max cancels another show. Freddy vs Jason still makes no sense.   From horror nostalgia to billion-dollar hypocrisy, Mike and Mike unravel what we choose to forget — from streaming traps to the blood money behind the camera. • HBO Max and the streaming trap   • Freddy vs Jason (2003) and lost horror tropes   • Bill Burr & Saudi Arabia – comedy vs conscience...

James Gunn's Superman has arrived — but does it fly? In this week's episode of The Economy of Nothing , Mike and Mike pull apart the latest DC reboot, examining everything from plot structure to Lex Luthor's questionable plan. They debate Superman's characterization, Jimmy Olsen's sidelined role, and the film's uneven tone — balancing sincerity with Gunn's trademark irony. The conversation also di...

On this week's Economy of Nothing , we ask the big questions: 👉 Did the rapture already happen and we just didn't make the cut? 👉 Why does America feel more Idiocracy every year? 👉 And why is 28 Years Later suddenly #1 again, even though it's trash? We spiral from fake rapture infomercials to Andrew Jackson's bare-knuckle White House parties, UFC politics on the front lawn, Snowpiercer, nepotis...

Bitcoin, Fight Club, and The Economy of Choices! In this week's episode of 'The Economy of Nothing' podcast, we dive into a range of topics from Bitcoin's impact on the economy and choices to an in-depth discussion on the 1999 movie Fight Club. Mike Bedont AKA Captain Tracy reveals his thoughts on Bitcoin's future, debates the nuances of the film Fight Club, and whether he actually watched it.  We...

This week Mr. Green and Captain Tracy map out the manifest destiny of franchises: FX/Hulu's Alien Earth (synths, cyborgs, xenos & Timothy Olyphant) The Super Mario Galaxy teaser and Nintendo's inevitable Smash-verse Spider-Man sequel fatigue and why anthologies might save superheroes The graffiti Cool S as proof we're all living in a simulation AI "shutdowns" (robots can't trip, sorry Skynet) West...

Title: $98 Is Better Than a Job | Economy of Nothing Podcast 109 Description: Mike Allen and Captain Tracy return with another round of The Economy of Nothing Podcast , and this week's theme is simple: everything's broken, but $98 at the casino is still better than a lifeguard job. 🥀 Unemployment & Gambling — Mike's $98 saga and why gambling pays more than lifeguarding. 🤖 AI Is a Grift — Google...

Episode 108 of The Economy of Nothing jumps from sex myths to zombie movies to the rise of diabetes — and somehow it all makes sense (in our universe, anyway). We kick things off with a freestyle announcement and a pitch for a Mass Effect TV show, before diving into the now infamous "missionary misunderstanding." From there it's a full ride: reviewing 28 Years Later , asking life's fundamental que...

Episode 107 — Rick Mission Mort-Possible: Tom Cruise Jumps Into the Streaming Wars Tom Cruise still won't go to space, Rick & Morty isn't the same without Roiland, and the Streaming Wars keep burning bad money after bad money. In this Visual Radio cut of The Economy of Nothing , we break down: The Mission Impossible stunt obsession ( Go to Space, You Coward ) Rick & Morty's future without Roiland...

The Moonshine Crew is back, and this week Mr. Green reveals his Totally Real Stock Tips™ (please, absolutely do not invest). Along the way, Captain Unemployment battles HOAs, Cheyenne threatens society with fruit trees, and the crew decides once and for all whether movies break physics or just common sense. We rant about streaming ads as harassment, cross a Rubicon that technically doesn't exist,...

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 d...

This week we talk pirates, billionaires, and the algorithmic rot of corporate booze.  It's a classic EoN hangout: Mike and Mike spiral through *Pirates of the Caribbean 5*, Nintendo nostalgia, weird fitness VR, and the slow death of flavor. The ghost of Four Loko lingers over everything. Also: livestream call-in culture, Google Calendar breakdowns, and the real reason Portal games feel like jobs....

This week on The Economy of Nothing, we ask the big questions: What if Forrest Gump had AIDS? What if Liam Neeson's wolf fight was real? And what if your guest couldn't speak… because she was an octopus robot? Mike Allen (Mr. Green) opens the Man Cave™ for a cinematic breakdown of The Grey, The Punisher, and the existential dread of survival movies. Meanwhile, Captain Tracy fights malfunctioning t...

This week, we broadcast directly from Yavin 4 to bring you the Star Wars Special —a rogue transmission of hot takes, nostalgic rewatches, and corporate-media despair. Mike B is joined by Brent and David for a full-scale nerd-out over Andor Season 2, the tragic brilliance of Rogue One , and whether Clone Wars ever really worked. From Ewok basement parties to the bureaucracy of fascism, we ask the b...

Welcome to Episode 101 of The Economy of Nothing — the first official episode of the podcast reboot, where we start building a universe from the basement up. Literally. Join hosts Mike Allen (aka Mr. Green) and Mike Bedont as they draft the blueprints for Mr. Green's man cave, dream up a parody of Wall Street inside a cartoon space truck, and argue over how much a Patreon tier should cost. Also in...

🎙️ Episode 015 – Permanent Vacation 📄 Description: Cheyenne's taking PTO (Permanent Tactical Offloading), Mr. Green's watching movies on the moon, and Captain Tracy is trying so hard to hold it all together. This week on The Economy of Nothing , we redefine rest, rage, and rant-based animation economy. In this episode: Cheyenne Soapbox is pitched as a lightning-powered trading card animation Mr....

This week, Mike's out and the remaining crew spirals through the process of trying to write a fake TV show—live, on mic, with no plan. It starts with a discussion of how the podcast itself *is* the pitch, and quickly devolves into segment chaos, Dispatch bureaucracy, and an attempt to build the Nothing Corporation's propaganda machine around Cheyenne. Also, The Accountant 2 gets rebooted again for...

In this episode of The Economy of Nothing , the crew tests the limits of what counts as a good idea. Ryan (aka Training Unit D1-CK) pitches from above a shark tank. Mike Allen analyzes fame, narcissism, and banner quality. The Captain just wants the podcast to stay on track. Along the way, they invent the Hollowoods Content Feedback Loop™, crown a new podcast king, and argue about mermaids—again....