Decoder Ring | How to Make Dollars Make Sense

Decoder Ring | How to Make Dollars Make Sense

From Slow Burn by Slate Podcasts

April 22, 2026 · 35 min

About this episode

This episode explores the historical forces behind the dollar and the origins of money.

Money is everywhere. Money influences just about everything. We think about money all the time. But how much do we really know about it? In this episode of Decoder Ring, we explore the obscure historical forces that make our money what it is and behave the way it does. We ask two simple-sounding questions with surprising answers: Why is our money called the dollar—and where are those dollars really coming from?  First, you’ll hear from Brendan Greeley , a veteran finance reporter turned economic historian, and author of the new book, The Almighty Dollar: 500 Years of the World’s Most Powerful Money . Then, we get help from Mark Blyth , a political economist at Brown University who teaches about the architecture and plumbing of global finance. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman and produced by Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is also produced by Katie Shepherd and Supervising Producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is our Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Lizzie O’Leary. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus…

People in this episode

Hosts: Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, Katie Shepherd, Evan Chung, Merritt Jacob

Guests: Brendan Greeley, Mark Blyth

Topics covered

  • money
  • history
  • economics
  • finance
  • cultural analysis

Keywords

  • dollar
  • money
  • finance
  • economic history
  • Brendan Greeley
  • Mark Blyth

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Slate Podcasts

Books & works: The Almighty Dollar: 500 Years of the World’s Most Powerful Money

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