Episode 39 - Fungible

For this week’s discussion, Ben (and an incredibly vocal Mango who presumably was confused with Ben appearing like he was talking to himself for an hour and a half) is joined by Aunt Norah for a somewhat unfamiliar word to both of them, but it’s nothing that can’t be cured by some research and questioning of Chicago restaurant waitstaff.  Topics of discussion include Lunchables, Economics, “The Problem with Jon Stewart”, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, a Michael Jordan story, and in-game collections. 

00:01:05 - “When was the first time you heard the word fungible?”
00:04:10 - A brief history of Lunchables, and Norah’s advertising experience 
00:08:50 - Charcuter-Easy … (soon to be trademarked?) 
00:11:10 - The lunchmeat exchange rate, cryptocurrency, fiat money, and Norah is not new
00:14:50 - Grandpa preferred paying with a physical thing
00:18:05 - Ben thinks Jon Stewart needs to invest in a comma 
00:22:35 - Is a stock market a mechanism for gambling?
00:28:45 - The 2 items in Norah’s top 3 things she learned in economics class
00:30:45 - Ben’s cryptocurrency research and glossary of terms 
00:36:50 - Ben’s NFT research and glossary of terms
00:42:15 - OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace, pizza, and pizza NFTs
00:45:45 - Norah asks, “Is this a new form or art?”
00:49:00 - Ben’s Non-Fungible Tolkien creation example, and Norah gets the reference 
00:52:50 - The inter-Met(-ropolitan Museum of Art), and the high-class version of the pet rock
00:57:20 - Ben’s Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan slam dunk story
00:59:20 - LimeWire... is it music, malware, or hardcore porn? 
01:01:15 - Taxes, NFTs, and the first time Ben has uttered a particular sentence
01:06:05 - Thoughts on digital collections in games, loot crates, and the value of cosmetics
01:08:30 - Again with the GameStop desperation tactics, and the Warframe in-game economy
01:12:12 - Norah’s cat suit, and the evils of micro-transactions
01:13:30 - Closing the show with Norah’s unintentional AOL style goodbye.