The surprising, anti-monopolist history of Monopoly

Mary Pilon, author of The Monopolists, grew up playing Monopoly every Christmas Eve with her family.

“Tucked into our family’s board game box was the story of Charles Darrow, this man who invented the game during the Great Depression and made millions,” Pilon said. “So for years this was my monopoly experience, playing with my family, arguing, fighting, and thinking it came out of the Great Depression.”

But while working as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal in 2009, Pilon discovered another story. That Monopoly was actually invented by a woman named Lizzy Magie at the turn of the century to teach people “about the evils of monopolies.”

Click the audio player above to hear the story.