Many of you may have heard of the dark net and some of its notorious sites, such as Silk Road and AlphaBay, which sell all kinds of illegal items and services. Julia Norgaard, an economist and professor at Pepperdine University, joins the podcast to share her research on the topic and discuss various aspects of the dark net, including the shocking amount of money exchanged on the markets, the history of its creation, legitimate/legal reasons to use the dark net, the process of building trust as a seller, and much more.

Economist Julia R. Norgaard is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Pepperdine University, where she runs the PEP Talks Research Seminar and the Economics Reading Group. She is affiliated with the Sudreau Global Justice Institute and serves on the External Advisory Council for the International Justice Mission's Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children. Norgaard received her Ph.D from George Mason University in 2017 and her Master's degree in economics in 2015. She also holds a B.A. in economics with a minor in mathematics from The University of San Diego, which she completed in 2012.