In this episode of The Dollar Is Dead podcast, hosts Jimmy Gorham and Jesse Posner dive into the surprising connections between poker scams and economic history.

Jimmy shares stories from his days as a poker player, revealing the antics of "poker's dumbest criminal" and the parallels he sees between overselling a poker tournament and the behavior of bankers during the 2008 financial crisis.

The hosts then dive into inflation — defining it from both conventional and unconventional perspectives — and examine how it impacts different segments of society. They explore historical examples of hyperinflation, including the French Revolution, Weimar Germany, and the Israeli bank crisis of the 1980s, uncovering the political incentives and psychological spirals that drive economic collapse.

The episode wraps with a broader conversation about monetary policy, innovation, and what alternatives might exist in a post-inflation world.

00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Poker scams
09:02 - What is inflation?
28:41 - Inflation during the French Revolution
39:29 - Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany
51:38 - Israeli bank crisis of the 1980s

🎧 Also available on YouTube

#thedollarisdead #PokerScams #Inflation #EconomicHistory #FinancialCrisis #Crypto #WeimarGermany #FrenchRevolution #CentralBanking #MonetaryPolicy

In Episode 105 of The Dollar Is Dead, Jimmy and Jesse square off in a heated debate over Bitcoin’s promise—and its pitfalls. With Jimmy challenging its long-term viability and Jesse defending it as a potential path forward, the two dig into what Bitcoin is, what it isn’t, and what it could become.

This episode explores:
– Why Bitcoin might not live up to the hype
– The risks of energy consumption and centralization
– Challenges around mass adoption
– What happens if Bitcoin fails to scale
– Whether crypto is really a hedge against fiat collapse

Jesse (constitutional lawyer turned cryptographer) and Jimmy (entrepreneur and poker pro) bring sharp insight into the collision of money, politics, and philosophy.

The Dollar Is Dead is where big questions get honest answers. Subscribe for real talk about money, power, and what’s next for civilization.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:33 How to define what a human right is?
04:58 The nature of reason
09:00 The law of non contradiction
13:37 Thomas Hobbes and The Leviathan
23:21 The concept of injury
37:36 Reason vs rationalizations
42:34 Negative rights and positive rights
47:17 Democracy as a way of ruling by emotion
49:23 Rousseau and his Discourse on Inequality
55:04 Is bitcoin justified if it disrupts the system?
01:01:35 Reconceptualizing the state of nature
01:06:06 Bitcoin as a political action
01:11:16 The Devil's bargain of the state

🎧 Also available on ⁠YouTube⁠.

In Episode 104 of The Dollar Is Dead, Jimmy digs into the true story behind gold — and what it really means today.

We explore:
– The history of gold as money and why it's been trusted for thousands of years
– How gold compares to fiat currency, Bitcoin, and other stores of value
– Whether gold still makes sense as a hedge in a digital, debt-fueled world
– The psychological and cultural factors that make gold so powerful

Jimmy and Jesse bring sharp insights, historical context, and honest debate to a topic often clouded by hype.

The Dollar Is Dead is where big questions get honest answers. Subscribe for real talk about money, power, and what comes next for civilization.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to the Gold Standard
01:08 - Different Types of Gold Standards
07:29 - Early US Currency and Coin Tampering
08:44 - The US Bimetal Standard (Gold and Silver)
16:05 - The Civil War and Abandoning Gold
20:59 - Government Printing Money During War
26:37 - International Trade under the Gold Standard
30:30 - World War I and the End of the Gold Standard
33:40 - FDR and the Gold Confiscation
37:46 - The Bretton Woods System
41:30 - Nixon Ends Gold Convertibility
46:21 - The Rise of the Petrodollar
51:47 - The Future of the Gold Standard
55:27 - Weaponization of the Dollar and CBDCs
01:04:06 - Lessons from Money's History

🎧 Also available on YouTube.

In Episode 103 of The Dollar Is Dead, Jimmy and Jesse square off in a heated debate over Bitcoin’s promise—and its pitfalls. With Jimmy challenging its long-term viability and Jesse defending it as a potential path forward, the two dig into what Bitcoin is, what it isn’t, and what it could become.

This episode explores:

– Why Bitcoin might not live up to the hype
– The risks of energy consumption and centralization
– Challenges around mass adoption
– What happens if Bitcoin fails to scale
– Whether crypto is really a hedge against fiat collapse

Jesse (constitutional lawyer turned cryptographer) and Jimmy (entrepreneur and poker pro) bring sharp insight into the collision of money, politics, and philosophy.

The Dollar Is Dead is where big questions get honest answers. Subscribe for real talk about money, power, and what’s next for civilization.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
2:00 Bitcoin's energy costs
6:08 Bitcoin as medium of exchange
12:33 Money laundering and tax evasion
18:14 Bitcoin's malleability
22:11 Centralization of miners
25:58 Bitcoin's deflationary nature
31:52 Scams and lack of consumer protections
35:03 Copycat coins
41:56 Does government intervention alleviate suffering?
45:55 Weighing the pros and cons
51:34 CBDCs
58:28 Outro

🎧 Also available on YouTube.

In Episode 102 of The Dollar Is Dead, Jimmy Gorham and Jesse Posner dive deep into the unsustainable debt spiral, central bank manipulation, and how Bitcoin is emerging as a serious alternative to collapsing monetary systems.

We explore:

– Why the global economy is addicted to debt
– The philosophical flaws of fiat currency
– How Bitcoin challenges state-backed money
– What happens when trust in the dollar dies
– Whether America is becoming ungovernable

Jesse (constitutional lawyer turned cryptographer) and Jimmy (entrepreneur and poker pro) bring sharp insight into the collision of money, politics, and philosophy.

The Dollar Is Dead is where big questions get honest answers. Subscribe for real talk about money, power, and what’s next for civilization.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:51 What is the difference between bitcoin and cryptocurrency?
07:06 Bitcoin as "sound money" vs fiat currency
11:12 What is money?
19:00 Non-monetary value of objects used as money
26:59 Can bitcoin be copied?
32:31 The nature of value
39:06 Bitcoin right now: is it better money?
48:08 What will bring the mainstream into bitcoin?
52:01 Why is bitcoin a better store of value than the US dollar?
59:46 Is the Fed successfully achieving their stated goals?
1:05:20 What do we mean by inflation?
1:13:34 Jesse's elevator pitch for bitcoin
1:15:35 Jimmy's pitch for bitcoin

🎧 Also available on YouTube.

Welcome to the first episode of The Dollar Is Dead, a podcast exploring the unraveling of the U.S. dollar, the fragility of global finance, and the future of money.

Hosted by Jimmy Gorham (entrepreneur, poker pro) and Jesse Posner (constitutional lawyer turned cryptographer), this episode dives deep into:

– Why reserve currencies always collapse
– How political incentives and debt are eroding the dollar
– The weaponization of the dollar after Ukraine
– Bitcoin as a new kind of money
– The dangers of polarization—and the need for calm voices

We’re not financial advisors—we’re just asking the big questions most people are afraid to talk about.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:14 What the podcast is about: why the dollar matters
10:13 The global system and America's role in it
19:50 Unsustainable debt and the limits of monetary power
27:52 U.S. treasuries: who buys them and why it’s shifting
40:43 Media incentives and public economic perception
51:09 Core American values in the face of economic transition

Recorded May 2025 — a snapshot in time as financial history unfolds.

🎧 Also available on YouTube.