Do NOT Pass GO! (Classic)
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Pushkin Industries
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 3 January 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Cautionary Tales returns with new episodes on January 10th.
Lizzie J. Magie (played by Helena Bonham Carter) should be celebrated as the inventor of what would become Monopoly. But, even though she had a patent, her role in creating the smash hit board game was cynically ignored.
Discrimination has marred the careers of many inventors and excluded others from the innovation economy entirely. Could crediting forgotten figures such as Lizzie Magie help change that?
For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Pushkin. |
| 0:07.0 | Happy New Year! Did you pull out a board game over the holiday season? |
| 0:16.0 | Did you play nicely? Or did it quickly descend into acrimony, |
| 0:21.4 | name-calling and accusations of cheating? |
| 0:24.6 | The game that seems to bring out the killer instinct |
| 0:28.1 | in even the kindest of grannies is Monopoly. |
| 0:32.0 | The cut-throat activity sees players try to amass fortunes |
| 0:37.0 | while gleefully making opponents bankrupt. |
| 0:41.3 | But it wasn't meant to be like that. |
| 0:45.1 | It may surprise you to know that the inventor of the game imagined a far, gentler, kinder |
| 0:51.3 | pastime. |
| 0:52.5 | But as I learned, researching the history of Monopoly, her ideals |
| 0:57.3 | and her name were squeezed out of the origin story. So take a break from your own gaming to listen |
| 1:05.1 | again to a classic cautionary tale featuring the voice talent of Helena Bonham Carter as the inimitable Lizzie McGee. |
| 1:14.4 | Whatever you do, do not pass go. |
| 1:23.7 | In September 2019, the toy and game giant, Hasbro, struck a blow in the battle over women's rights. |
| 1:32.4 | Although, it's not quite clear which side they were on. |
| 1:36.0 | They published Muz Monopoly, putting a new spin on their classic board game. |
| 1:41.4 | The tagline for this new version was, |
| 1:43.4 | The First Game, Where Women Make More Than Men. classic board game. The tagline for this new version was, the first game where women make more than men. |
| 1:48.0 | They're not kidding. |
| 1:50.0 | Female players start the game with more monopoly money than male players. |
... |
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