Monopoly is the bestselling boardgame of all time. In this episode you'll learn how Monopoly was invented. Until the truth came out, in the 1970s, we used to believe that a man named Charles Darrow created the game in 1934 in a burst of genius. But some dedicated sleuths discovered the real invention story. It's a fascinating story about the power of collaboration and social networks. You'll hear about the battle against Capitalism, the Supreme Court, Quakers, a political campaign—this story has it all! Monopoly emerged over a 30-year period, with creative contributions by hundreds of people. Each person contributed a small spark of creativity along the way. The story of Monopoly demonstrates the power of collaboration to drive creativity. (0:00) The Myth (00:26) Introduction (00:51) The Success (1:57) Anti-Monopoly (4:49) Charles Darrow (9:01) The Single Tax (10:23) The Quakers (13:39) Professors and Fraternities (15:06) Atlantic City (18:10) The Supreme Court (20:02) The Collaborative Web (23:55) Closer (24:22) Outro Copyright (c) 2024 Keith Sawyer SOURCES: Keith Sawyer, Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration Ralph Anspach, The Billion Dollar Monopoly Swindle Philip Orbanes, Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game and How It Got that Way Mary Pilon, "How a fight over a boardgame monopolized an economist's life." Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2009 Gavin Edwards, "Overlooked no more: Lizzie Magie, the unknown inventor behind Monopoly." New York Times Tim Walsh, Timeless toys: Classic toys and the playmakers who created them Music by license from Soundstripe (in order of appearance): "Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ "Uptown Lovers" by AFTERNOONZ "At The Get Down" by Matt Wigton "What's The Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich

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