Make Me Smart

62: We could never get free

Molly Wood dives even deeper into radical economics this week with Glen Weyl of Microsoft Research, who's also a visiting scholar at Yale and co-author of the new book "Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society." He says inequality is at the root of most problems facing our world, and those problems are worse because our "free" markets are not free enough. So-called "free market champions" used capitalism as a veil to further entrench privilege and power, Weyl says, and a real free market could make things more equitable. "If we can get these ideas out there in a way that people understand, we can change the world." It gets deep, y'all. Plus, we hear from so many of you who wrote in about the potential merger between Sprint and T-Mobile, and what it means for business and life.

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One of Glen Weyl's ideas for fixing inequality in this country? Rethinking one person, one vote.

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MAKE ME SMART WITH KAI AND MOLLY

Because none of us is as smart as all of us. Make Me Smart with Kai and Molly is a podcast about the economy, technology and culture. Hosts Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood use their expertise to connect the dots on the topics they know best, and get help from listeners and experts about the ones they want to know better.

Kai Ryssdal is the host and senior editor of Marketplace, the most widely heard program on business and the economy – radio or television, commercial or public broadcasting – in the country. Kai speaks regularly with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, start-up entrepreneurs, small business owners, and everyday participants in the American and global economies. He first came to Marketplace in 2001 as the host of Marketplace Morning Report, where he covered the economic aftermath of the September 11th attacks, the collapse of Enron, and the slow buildup to the housing crash, the financial crisis, and the Great Recession. Before his career in broadcasting, Kai served in the United States Navy and the United States Foreign Service.

Molly Wood is a host and senior tech correspondent for Marketplace. Molly’s experience covering technology spans all media – print, online and broadcast. Before officially joining Marketplace in 2015, she was a tech columnist at The New York Times, and a frequent contributor to Marketplace Tech. Previously, she launched the CNET podcast Buzz Out Loud, which was one of the early successes in podcasting and which fans still celebrate today. In the web video space, she created and executive produced a broadcast-quality tech show: “Always On with Molly Wood.” The ambitious series ultimately shot episodes all over the world. Molly is based in the Bay Area so that she can contribute her passion and knowledge of all things tech for Marketplace.