The End of Ownership

The End of Ownership

From Stuff They Don't Want You To Know by iHeartPodcasts

May 1, 2026 · 1h 34m

About this episode

The episode explores the shift from ownership to subscription models and its implications for the future.

For most of modern history, the concept of ownership was pretty simple. You paid for something, either all at once or over time, and boom: you owned it. However, as Ben, Matt and Noel discover in today's episode, powerful forces are conspiring to push consumers away from owning stuff, and into a world of constant, unending subscriptions. "You will own nothing," says the World Economic Forum, "and you will be happy." So what does this mean for the future? How long do we have before we live in a world without ownership? They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Ben, Matt, Noel

Topics covered

  • ownership
  • subscriptions
  • consumerism
  • future of ownership
  • economic trends

Keywords

  • ownership
  • subscriptions
  • consumerism
  • World Economic Forum
  • economic trends

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: World Economic Forum

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