Money is a relationship, not just a currency
Money is a relationship, not just a currency
- July 16, 2026
- Bill Maurer, anthropology and law, sits down with the Re-Educated Podcast to talk about money’s deeper meaning
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What is money? Most of us think of it simply as something we earn, save, and spend. But according to UC Irvine cultural anthropologist Bill Maurer, money is far more than a medium of exchange; it is a technology for creating relationships, preserving memory, organizing society, and expressing political authority. In this episode, Re-Educated sits down with Bill Maurer, dean of the School of Social Sciences at UC Irvine and one of the world's leading scholars of the anthropology of money. Together, they explore the surprising history of money, from ancient clay tablets and cowrie shells to credit cards, mobile payments, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence. Along the way, they discuss why money is deeply connected to politics, law, trust, and social relationships rather than simply economics. The conversation also explores inequality, generational wealth, capitalism, debt, financial technologies, education, and why understanding money requires perspectives from anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy, and economics. Above all, Maurer challenges listeners to see money not as an object we possess, but as a system of relationships that shapes nearly every aspect of human life.
Listen in, courtesy of Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or watch on YouTube.
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