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Jul 3 2014

How Monopoly Works

63 min 17 movies discussed
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Since more than 1 billion people have played it, you're probably familiar with the board game Monopoly, but we bet you don't know its secret origins as a left-wing socialist teaching tool. Learn about the history, rules and cultural impact of Monopoly.

AI Summary

In this episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive into the surprisingly fascinating and controversial history of Monopoly, revealing how America's most famous board game was actually stolen from a leftist Quaker intellectual named Lizzie Maggie who created it to teach about the evils of capitalism. They explore how the game evolved from "The Landlord's Game" into the corporate juggernaut we know today, covering everything from the properties based on Atlantic City to the various tokens (RIP iron piece), while also breaking down the actual rules that most people apparently don't play by correctly.


Movies Discussed

Cobra
Cobra
1986 1h 27m
★ 6.1
"Rhinestone, Cobra, like I guess. Wait, wait, wait. Those were awful movies. — Josh mentioned this as another bad Stallone movie, though Chuck seemed to disagree about its quality." — Josh
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
1982 2h 10m
★ 6.8
"Conan the Barbarian, the original Terminator. — Josh listed this as one of Schwarzenegger's great 80s movies when choosing between Arnold and Stallone." — Josh
Cosmos
Cosmos
2014
★ 8.5
"Yeah. Cosmos is awesome. — Chuck praised this show when discussing Neil deGrasse Tyson as a science promoter." — Chuck
First Blood
First Blood
1982 1h 33m
★ 7.5
"I'm a huge first blood fan and Rocky fan. — Josh mentioned being a fan of this Stallone movie when explaining why it was hard not to choose Stallone over Schwarzenegger." — Josh
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
1965
★ 7.5
"You saw Hogan's heroes, saw Hogan's heroes — Chuck referenced this TV show as an example of how WWII prison camps were portrayed as relatively comfortable in popular media." — Chuck
Rhinestone
Rhinestone
1984 1h 51m
★ 4.8
"Rhinestone, Cobra, like I guess. — Josh listed this as another bad Stallone movie, describing it as the one with Dolly Parton where Stallone plays a country singer." — Josh
Rocky
Rocky
1976 2h 0m
★ 7.8
"I'm a huge first blood fan and Rocky fan. — Josh mentioned being a fan of this Stallone movie series when discussing the Schwarzenegger vs. Stallone question." — Josh
Star Wars
Star Wars
1977 2h 1m
★ 8.2
"I have personally, my version is a Star Wars Monopoly — Chuck mentioned owning a Star Wars-themed version of Monopoly as an example of licensed game variants." — Chuck
Tango & Cash
Tango & Cash
1989 1h 44m
★ 6.5
"Tango and Cash and the Dolly Parton one — Josh mentioned this as an example of a bad Stallone movie that made it hard to choose him over Schwarzenegger." — Josh
The Great Escape
The Great Escape
1963 2h 53m
★ 7.9
"you've seen the, uh, like the great escape — Josh mentioned this movie when discussing how POW camps in WWII seemed more lenient in movies compared to other conflicts like Vietnam." — Josh
The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
2008 1h 54m
★ 6.2
"The Incredible Hulk. No, he was not rich. — Josh guessed this character might be the richest fictional character when Chuck was discussing Forbes' rankings." — Josh
The Jetsons
The Jetsons
1962
★ 7.3
"That was the Jetsons. — Josh corrected Chuck about which show featured a robot maid when they were discussing Richie Rich." — Josh
The Simpsons
The Simpsons
1989
★ 8.0
"There's a Simpsons Monopoly — Chuck mentioned this as an example of the many licensed versions of Monopoly that exist." — Chuck
The Terminator
The Terminator
1984 1h 48m
★ 7.7
"Conan the Barbarian, the original Terminator. — Josh mentioned this as one of Schwarzenegger's great 80s movies when comparing him to Stallone." — Josh
Total Recall
Total Recall
1990 1h 53m
★ 7.3
"Total recall. Total recall. — Josh listed this as another great Schwarzenegger film from the 80s era." — Josh
Twilight
Twilight
2008 2h 2m
★ 6.3
"Carlisle Cullen from Twilight — Chuck mentioned this character when discussing Forbes' fictional wealth rankings, explaining who Carlisle Cullen was." — Chuck
Uncommon Valor
Uncommon Valor
1983 1h 40m
★ 0.0
"I've seen on Common Valor. That was a good movie. — Josh mentioned this movie while discussing Vietnam-era prison camps and how they were much harsher than WWII camps as depicted in films." — Josh

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