00:00 Monopoly was invented during the Great Depression, but the origin story commonly known is actually a lie, and the game has taken on new significance in the face of economic struggles and inflation.

04:43 Monopoly reflects enduring inequities in American society and the uglier parts of our history, yet it remains one of the best-selling board games in history, raising questions about the aspirations, desires, and myths we hold as a country.

10:04 Lizzie McGee, inspired by the ideas of Henry George and his single tax theory, invented a board game called the landlord's game as a way to spread his message about inequality and the concentration of wealth in the late 1800s.

15:08 Lizzie McGee invents the landlord's game, which is similar to Monopoly, as a teaching tool to demonstrate the concentration of wealth and the injustice of the land system, and creates both a monopolist and an anti-monopolist version of the game, with the monopolist version gaining popularity among progressives and being played by influential figures such as Upton Sinclair. The game evolves and is localized in different regions, encouraging players to make it their own, and it becomes popular in Atlantic City in the 1930s, particularly among the Quaker community despite dice being considered taboo.

19:25 A Quaker family in Atlantic City creates a homemade board for the game with fixed prices on Atlantic City properties, which becomes popular and leads to spin-offs; Charles Darrow learns the game from a friend, redesigns the board, markets it, and eventually sells it to Parker Brothers, saving the company from destruction.

24:15 During the Great Depression, Charles Darrow's story of inventing Monopoly captivated the country and provided hope during a time of economic hardship, but there is evidence that Elizabeth McGee Phillips actually invented the game decades earlier and sold the patent to Parker Brothers.

29:22 Despite Elizabeth McGee's role in inventing Monopoly, she received little recognition and her obituary made no mention of the game, while Charles Darrow was hailed as the inventor in his obituary, highlighting the stark difference in their fates.

35:02 Ralph Ansbach, an econ professor, tells the story of how playing Monopoly with his family during the 1973 oil crisis sparked his realization of the impact of real-world monopolies.

40:36 Ralph Ansbach creates a board game called Anti-Monopoly and discovers the forgotten origins of Monopoly, leading to a legal battle with Parker Brothers.

45:56 The lack of affordable housing, rising rental prices, and the concentration of power in big tech companies are some of the issues that need to be addressed in our society.