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Meltdown

By: David Sirota, Dan O’Donnell, Shoshi Shmuluvitz, Kiarra Powell
Narrated by: David Sirota
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  • Summary

  • Listen to the trailer now and the full podcast on 10/28.

    How did we end up in this version of America, with neighbors divided against neighbors, and some citizens angry enough to storm the U.S. Capitol?

    The 2008 financial crisis - and the government’s botched, multibillion-dollar bailout - is the skeleton key that unlocks almost every big thing that’s gone wrong in America in the 21st Century, from climate change, to the all-out assault on democracy, to the rise of white nationalism.

    In this thrilling, 8-part podcast, investigative journalist David Sirota explores why the financial crisis happened, how the bailout went so wrong, why politicians covered up Wall Street’s crimes and what the lasting impact of the meltdown was on America’s political, social and economic fabric.

    This is an epic adventure, a search for answers that stretches from Bogotá, Colombia to Madison, Wisc., to Washington, D.C. Sirota talks to politicians who made the laws, the investigators who uncovered massive fraud and ordinary people who lost homes, families and livelihoods, in order to shed light on why the economic disaster happened, why nobody succeeded in fixing it, and why the country soon embraced the politics of rage.

    Meltdown is the first collaboration between Audible, a leading producer and provider of original spoken-word entertainment and audiobooks, and Jigsaw Productions, the production house launched and helmed by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) in collaboration with Transmitter Media, the Peabody-nominated and Webby-winning production company behind podcasts such as Finding Fred, Work Life with Adam Grant and Tabloid: The Making of Ivanka Trump. 

    Meltdown is enraging and engaging, must-listen audio entertainment for anyone who wants to know how we ended up where we are now - and where we might be going next.

    ©2021 Meltdown Pod LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC
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Episodes
  • Meltdown Trailer
    Oct 14 2021

    Listen to the trailer now and the full podcast on 10/28.

    How did we end up in this version of America, with neighbors divided against neighbors, and some citizens angry enough to storm the U.S. Capitol?

    The 2008 financial crisis - and the government’s botched, multibillion-dollar bailout - is the skeleton key that unlocks almost every big thing that’s gone wrong in America in the 21st Century, from climate change, to the all-out assault on democracy, to the rise of white nationalism.

    In this thrilling, 8-part podcast, investigative journalist David Sirota explores why the financial crisis happened, how the bailout went so wrong, why politicians covered up Wall Street’s crimes and what the lasting impact of the meltdown was on America’s political, social and economic fabric.

    This is an epic adventure, a search for answers that stretches from Bogotá, Colombia to Madison, Wisc., to Washington, D.C. Sirota talks to politicians who made the laws, the investigators who uncovered massive fraud and ordinary people who lost homes, families and livelihoods, in order to shed light on why the economic disaster happened, why nobody succeeded in fixing it, and why the country soon embraced the politics of rage.

    Meltdown is the first collaboration between Audible, a leading producer and provider of original spoken-word entertainment and audiobooks, and Jigsaw Productions, the production house launched and helmed by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) in collaboration with Transmitter Media, the Peabody-nominated and Webby-winning production company behind podcasts such as Finding Fred, Work Life with Adam Grant and Tabloid: The Making of Ivanka Trump. 

    Meltdown is enraging and engaging, must-listen audio entertainment for anyone who wants to know how we ended up where we are now - and where we might be going next.

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    2 mins
  • Episode 1 -The Big Heist
    Oct 28 2021
    The 2008 Meltdown was a pivotal moment in modern history, as harmful to America as the Moon Landing was inspirational. But the government responded in a much different way than President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to the Great Depression - and here’s why that failed response was even more disastrous than the crisis itself.
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    54 mins
  • Episode 2 - The Rant Heard Round the World
    Oct 28 2021
    CNBC pundit Rick Santelli's on-air rant helped give birth to a new movement and channeled a deluge of bitter hate towards the average homeowner. How did something as simple as taking out a loan to buy a house turn the American Dream into an American Nightmare?
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    49 mins

What listeners say about Meltdown

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Insightful

I really enjoyed this podcast series. It gave a really insightful breakdown of the 2008 financial crisis and the unbelievable greed of the banks and failure of of the government to protect the every day people. It does make you understand just how someone like Trump did end up winning the election when so many people had lost faith in the government and had lost so much during the crisis.

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  • Rui
  • 25-11-2021

Great investigative reporting! Solid analyis.

Fantastic interviews, and great analysis. Solid investigative reporting. In depth study of a critical period in time for american democracy.

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Slam Dunk

Not since The Big Short have I been this engaged in a topic which can often be very dry. Great production, well researched and informative! Loved it

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Incredible

Great stuff! very clear and informative. Republicans are the devil incarnate, but Obama and Dems have A LOT to answer for. Sad thing is Biden is more of the same and a great set up to another Trump term or something even worse.

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