The Story of Money

By Financial Times

FT columnist Gillian Tett and FT Alphaville editor Robin Wigglesworth dig into the ideas, personalities and institutions that have shaped the history of finance.

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The podcast currently has 342 episodes available.

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Number 1: The ‘Sheriff of Wall Street’ who exposed bankers’ lies
He was the bruiser of Wall Street. In the early noughties, New York attorney-general Eliot Spitzer took it upon himself to expose the lies of stock analysts during the dotcom bubble. His crusade blindsided the bankers and made him one of America's most popular politicians. People even spoke of him as a possible US president before a scandal ended his political career almost overnight. In this episode of The Story of Money, host Gillian Tett speaks to Brooke Masters, FT US managing editor and author of Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer, to explore how Spitzer reshaped financial regulation during the dotcom era, why his aggressive tactics won both admirers and enemies and why his legacy still matters today. Further reading: Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer, (2006), Brooke Masters Credits: Getty Images Love listening to The Story of Money? Join Robin and Gillian on Saturday September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now at ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPODCAST. To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Producers: Laurence Knight and Lulu Smyth Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa Original music and sound design: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis Podcast development: Laura Clarke FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips Video editor: Richard Topping Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at [email protected]. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 26, 202647min
Number 2: Mohammed: prophet, trader . . . and capitalist?
Did you know that the Prophet Mohammed was a caravan trader? He helped arrange convoys of thousands of camels carrying valuable goods across the Arabian desert. And he put his commercial nous to good use. Not only did he found one of the world’s great religions, but also a model of free-market capitalism that Friedrich Hayek would have approved of. That is the claim of this week’s guest, the libertarian economist and author Benedikt Koehler. He tells hosts Robin Wigglesworth and Gillian Tett how Islamic commercial practices were, in his view, eventually copied by medieval Europeans to great effect. Further reading: Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism (2014), by Benedikt Koehler The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East (2010), by Timur Kuran Muhammad: Man and Prophet (1995), by Adil Salahi Credits: Getty Images Love listening to The Story of Money? Join Robin and Gillian on Saturday September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now at ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPodcast. To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Producer: Laurence Knight Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa With additional help from: Saffeya Ahmed Original music and sound design: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis Podcast development: Laura Clarke FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips Video editors: Josh Divney and Kristen Kenyon at Podcast Discovery Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at [email protected]. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 19, 202649min
Number 3: The hidden financial world of ancient Rome
Ancient Rome is often depicted as a glamorous empire of power, sophistication and wealth. Yet for most people, the reality of daily life was precarious. Host Robin Wigglesworth talks to Kim Bowes, author of Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent, about how ordinary Romans combined real grit with surprising financial sophistication in order to weather a system that was stacked against them. They uncover a hidden financial world in which women often ran the household finances, families delivered their own children into debt bondage and shepherds might sell wool futures on rented sheep. A far cry from the Rome of popular imagination, this is the ancient Roman empire as most Romans experienced it. Further reading: Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent by Kim Bowes Credits: Getty Images Love listening to The Story of Money? Join Robin and Gillian on Saturday 5 September at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now at ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPodcast. To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at [email protected]. Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Producer: Lulu Smyth Senior Producer: Michela Tindera Executive Producer: Manuela Saragosa Original music and sound design: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Giuompasis Podcast Development: Laura Clarke FT Global Head of Audio: Flo Phillips Video editor: Josh Divney and Kristen Kenyon at Podcast Discovery Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 05, 202655min
Number 4: How a stock market crash gave birth to modern antisemitism
The 1873 Gründerkrach, the spectacular stock market crash that followed Germany’s unification, is one of history’s great financial maelstroms. But its most enduring legacy isn’t about money. Host Robin Wigglesworth speaks to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Liaquat Ahamed about how the resulting economic malaise fuelled social division and transformed old prejudices into antisemitic conspiracy. It gave birth to ideas that would resurface with catastrophic consequences decades later in the 20th century. Further reading: 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World (2026), by Liaquat Ahamed Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German Empire (1977), by Fritz Stern Credits: Getty Images, Alamy Love listening to The Story of Money? Join Robin and Gillian on Saturday September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now at ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPodcast. To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Senior producers: Michela Tindera and Laurence Knight Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa Original music and sound design: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis Podcast development: Laura Clarke FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips Video editors: Josh Divney and Kristen Kenyon at Podcast Discovery Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at [email protected] Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 12, 202651min
Number 5: 1873: The year America ditched silver as money and all hell broke loose
In 1873, Ohio senator John Sherman quietly helped pass a law that stopped Americans from turning silver into official US money. The consequences were huge: years of economic pain and political turmoil that earned it the nickname “the Crime of 1873”. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Liaquat Ahamed explains how the event squeezed American farmers and fuelled the Free Silver movement, led by the populist firebrand William Jennings Bryan. Host Gillian Tett explores with Ahamed how monetary policy can reshape politics. Further reading: 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World (2026), by Liaquat Ahamed Credits: Getty Images, Wikimedia, Alamy Note: The “Cross of Gold” clip is from a 1921 studio recording, read by William Jennings Bryan. Love listening to The Story of Money? Join Robin and Gillian on Saturday September 5 at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now at ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPODCAST. To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FTTheStoryOfMoney Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Senior Producers: Michela Tindera and Laurence Knight Executive producer: Manuela Saragosa Original music and sound design: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis Podcast development: Laura Clarke FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips Video editor: Richard Topping Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at [email protected]. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
September 02, 202642min