Epsilon Theory Podcast

Marie Antoinette has a rather interesting historical footprint. For all that her image is iconic and her reputation infamous, it's not all the truth. The real Marie Antoinette has been lost to the cartoon of Marie Antoinette™. So I want to show you a glimpse at the real person behind the cartoon and take a closer look at how her cartoon got started.

The Golden Age of Hollywood was full of drama. On and off screen. It was the age of carefully cultivated images. Fake names and secret procedures. And it was the age of censorship. The Hays Code and the censorship office had more influence on the film industry than any actor, director, or producer ever could. They had full control over what Hollywood made. Well, almost. There were still a few loopholes left to exploit.

Part 13 of the Notes from the Field series discusses the Narrative Machine, which can help us see the invisible memes that drive our political behaviors. Because you're smart enough to make up your own damn mind.

What's in a name? Quite a bit actually. Names and titles can be all that's needed to make some one a hero or a villain. So we're looking at some villains who never got their proper title. People who were able to hide behind social standing and wealth to excuse their crimes.

Locks of Love is one of the most well known and well regarded charities in America. But things aren't always what they seem. Sometimes the smokescreen of common knowledge can obscure what's really going on. So join me in a look behind the curtain at America's most beloved charity.

Over the past 25 years, our leaders have intentionally constructed an Apocalypse Now world of proclamation and fiat, where our wealth has grown much faster than our economy. The bill is due for their hubris, and inflation is here to collect it.

We are the human animal. We are non-linear. We ARE a song of ice and fire. It’s a song that has built cathedrals and fed billions and taken us to the moon. It’s a song that can do all of that and more … far, far more … if only we remember the tune. The Pack remembers.

We live in a Cartoon Age, an era not of alienation per Karl Marx, but of alienation per Groucho Marx. What’s the cause, what’s the future, and what do we do about all this? It’s a TL;DR cri de coeur in Part 12 of Epsilon Theory's Notes from the Field series.

This is Part 11 of Ben's Notes from the Field series. I don’t need to calculate a Sortino ratio to know if my dogs are doing a Good Job. Same with active investment management. Same with active citizenship. It’s all about embracing Convexity, not as a mathematical cartoon, but as a philosophy.

The inevitable result of financial innovation gone awry, which it ALWAYS does, is that it ALWAYS ends up empowering the State. When too clever by half people misplay the meta-game, that’s all the excuse the State needs to come swooping in and crush them, just as they are with Bitcoin today they did with Bear and Lehman in 2008. Installment #10 from Notes from the Field.