{"podcast":{"title":"The Econoclasts","slug":"the-econoclasts-6347002","podcast_index_feed_id":6347002,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/644d3eb26d7c8a0011cf2a0b","website_url":"https://unherd.com/these-times","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/644d3eb26d7c8a0011cf2a0b/1761322833913-f149aced-c084-4770-9326-165ad0f06dcb.jpeg","author":"UnHerd Limited","episode_count":172,"summary":"The Econoclasts is a new podcast from UnHerd hosted by economist Yanis Varoufakis and journalist Wolfgang Munchau. While they don't always agree politically, they are united in one conviction: the consensus is rotten. Mainstream economics has consistently failed to predict the events that shape our world, yet this broken orthodoxy still dominates policy and media. Each week, they choose two pillars of the established orthodoxy — the \"settled facts\" — and shatter them, cutting through the spin to connect the dots between money, geopolitics, and the real forces shaping our future. Don't forget to rate, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-22T10:18:03.462666+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-econoclasts-6347002"},"episode":{"title":"The Starmer-Mandelson-Epstein scandal & Musk’s merger","slug":"the-starmer-mandelson-epstein-scandal-musk-s-merger","published_at":"2026-02-11T00:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-econoclasts-6347002/the-starmer-mandelson-epstein-scandal-musk-s-merger","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-econoclasts-6347002","url":"https://shows.acast.com/these-times/episodes/the-starmer-mandelson-epstein-scandal-musks-merger","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/644d3eb26d7c8a0011cf2a0b/e/698b516e5e0cb52f15a932d5/media.mp3","summary":"In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau confront the false orthodoxies of finance and power, beginning with a deep dive into the “rigged” valuation of the SpaceX-xAI merger and toxicity of stock buybacks, before clashing over Keir Starmer’s appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador, Mandelson's links to Jeffrey Epstein, and the resignation of Morgan McSweeney as proof of a clownish and ultimately doomed political strategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"In this episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau confront the false orthodoxies of finance and power, beginning with a deep dive…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2214,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-econoclasts-6347002/episodes/the-starmer-mandelson-epstein-scandal-musk-s-merger/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-econoclasts-6347002/the-starmer-mandelson-epstein-scandal-musk-s-merger.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}