On this episode of pplpod, we investigate the rise and fall of the South Sea Company, a corporation founded in 1711 to manage Britain's national debt that spiraled into one of history’s most infamous financial bubbles. We explore the company’s dark reality as a slave-trading enterprise and how its directors utilized bribery, insider trading, and "extravagant rumours" to artificially inflate stock prices. Tune in to hear how the speculation mania of 1720 seduced investors ranging from ordinary citizens to Sir Isaac Newton, leading to a catastrophic crash that ruined thousands and exposed deep corruption within the British government.