#intellectual-property
25 episodes
#5552: Why Ireland and Israel Feel Poorer Than Their GDP Says
Ireland ranks 2nd in the world by GDP per capita. Israel's prices rank 5th highest. Neither number tells you how wealthy life actually feels.
#5537: How Do Cover Artists Legally Exist?
A 1909 fight over player pianos accidentally created the legal shelter that lets every cover artist on YouTube operate in broad daylight.
#5504: Motolola and the Art of the Near-Miss Knockoff
From a Motolola walkie-talkie to barcode-cloned counterfeits, how knockoffs calibrate just enough distance to trade on recognition.
#5413: Who Actually Picks Your In-Flight Movie?
Eight in ten passengers use seatback screens — but at Southwest, one person picks everything. Inside the tiny teams behind airline entertainment.
#5307: Selling Holy Air and Moon Deeds
Moon deeds, bottled Banff air, and a proposal to sell Holy Air from Jerusalem — what makes novelty gifts actually work?
#5273: Why Bosch Tools Cost More in Israel
A broken Dremel leads to a pricing mystery: why does an exclusive importer charge more than the retailers it supplies?
#5241: How the Library of Congress Became a Universal Library
A fire, a retired book collector, and a copyright law nobody thought through — how three accidents built the world's largest library.
#5168: Ten Inventors You've Never Heard Of
From the yellow traffic light to the geoid model behind GPS — ten inventors whose quiet work reshaped daily life, and why we forgot them.
#4748: Should You Upload That Old Manual?
The legal gray area of crowdsourcing orphaned product manuals and what it means for preservation.
#4527: Is Genius Linked to Social Awkwardness?
We dig into the data behind the "mad scientist" stereotype — and find the pattern isn't what you'd expect.
#4412: When Hacking Becomes Disclosure: The Suno Breach
A hacker stole Suno's internal training code and handed it to a journalist. Was it a crime or whistleblowing?
#4248: How Libertarianism Found Its Label and Its Fault Lines
The surprising leftist origins of "libertarian" and the Hayek-Rothbard split that still defines the movement.
#4143: How Screwdrivers Became a Museum of Bad Decisions
Why are there so many incompatible screw types? The surprising history of Phillips, Robertson, and the design that won by failing.
#3608: The Lost Scent of the Temple: Incense in Jewish Tradition
How a core Temple ritual vanished from Jewish practice and became associated with other religions instead.
#3577: How Do Knockoff Brands Get Away With It?
The surprising legal strategy behind those supermarket products that look almost exactly like the real thing.
#3238: Ancient Ink, Modern Scribes: The Chemistry of Kosher Ink
What’s really in that bottle of certified kosher ink? A deep dive into Talmudic chemistry, gum arabic, and the Sharpie-on-Tefillin debate.
#2845: Why Reading Patents Is Always Free
Google Patents, Espacenet, and the secret weapon of classification codes for tracking ANC innovation.
#2445: How to Pick a Music Distributor Without Getting Trapped
Why can't you upload music directly to Spotify? And how to pick a distributor without losing your catalog.
#2319: The Rise of the Dodgy Box: Streaming Piracy’s New Era
How the dodgy box became the go-to device for streaming piracy, and why authorities are cracking down now.
#2281: Startup Funding Decoded: Stages, Dilution, and Exit Realities
Unpacking how startup funding works, from seed to exit, and why most equity grants don’t deliver as expected.
#1363: How Shenzhen Clones Your Tech Before the Keynote Ends
Discover the "AliExpress Paradox" where $12 earbuds rival $200 flagships, and the high-speed ecosystem turning global IP law on its head.
#1173: Digital Borders: The Economics of Geo-Restricted Content
Why is your favorite show still blocked in your region? We dive into the complex world of global licensing and the escalating war on VPNs.
#712: Hollywood's Walled Garden Strategy for AI Video
How are major studios handling the rise of AI video? Explore the legal traps, union rules, and the future of synthetic B-roll.
#677: The Social Contract of Your Code
Don’t let your AI project become a legal "radioactive zone." Herman and Corn break down the philosophy and pitfalls of open-source licensing.