Everyone Is Lying to You For Money
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Back in the depths of the pandemic, what was an actor to do? Ben McKenzie started looking into cryptocurrency—and his research yielded both a book and a new documentary. The works are both non-fiction, which is more than McKenzie can say for crypto.
Guest: Ben McKenzie, actor, director of the documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, and co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.
Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.
Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The thing that Ben McKenzie knows, maybe above all other things, is that you know him as |
| 0:13.6 | Ryan Atwood from the O.C. Yes, Ben co-wrote a book about crypto. He's written for Slate about |
| 0:20.3 | crypto. Now he's made a documentary |
| 0:22.9 | about crypto called Everyone is Lying to You for Money. And yet, the Ryan thing keeps coming back. |
| 0:31.5 | It's even a running gag in the movie when things like this happen. Ben McKenzie, best known for his starring roles in TV shows, The O.C. and Gotham, |
| 0:40.3 | well, he's made an unexpected career change. |
| 0:43.3 | You might recognize Ben McKenzie as Ryan Atwood from the O.C. |
| 0:47.3 | Ben, you're an actor. You've played cops. |
| 0:50.3 | You've played road teenagers. |
| 0:52.3 | Roe Teenagers. Why become the guy that hate that You've played cops. You've played road teenagers. |
| 0:58.8 | Why become the guy that hates crypto? |
| 1:03.7 | I interviewed Ben and his co-author, Jacob Silverman, back when their book came out. And I realized while watching Ben's new movie that I did the Ryan Atwood thing to him, too. |
| 1:10.2 | So when I sat down with Ben earlier this week, I apologized. |
| 1:14.5 | No, I mean, don't, don't apologize. |
| 1:17.6 | This is just my life. |
| 1:19.2 | Are you like, are you ready for another round of this? |
| 1:21.7 | Because it's going to happen. |
| 1:22.9 | Oh, yeah, yeah. |
| 1:23.6 | I mean, you know, I was in my mid-20s when I was playing a teenager. |
| 1:30.6 | And so I've been dealing with this. |
| 1:32.3 | I'm now in my mid-40s. |
| 1:33.8 | I've been, you know, up and down understanding my relationship to this character for many, many years. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.