The Unlimited Hangout Podcast Ep #001 - Prediction Markets
In the pilot episode of The Unlimited Hangout Podcast, Whitney Webb and Mark Goodwin discuss their latest investigation into Polymarket and how the company was born out of a desire to resurrect the US military's controversial Policy Analysis Market, also known as the Terrorism Futures Market, from 2003. Also discussed is the largely unknown background of Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan, the role of oligarch Peter Thiel in privatizing failed DARPA programs like the Policy Analysis Market, and how Coinbase helped sunset Polymarket's unofficial predecessor Augur after Coinbase's earliest employees poured money into Polymarket shortly after its founding. 0:00 Intro, Why A New Video Show, and Latest Piece Reactions 7:29 Brief History of Prediction Markets 18:57 DARPA, PAM, and Robin Hanson 32:07 Privatizing the Information Awareness Office 39:30 The Napsterization Model and Sean Parker 48:56 Shayne Coplan Before Polymarket 56:17 Joey Krug, Augur, Thiel Fellow and Founders Fund 1:05:52 Augur = Napster, Polymarket = Spotify Read Part 1 of UH's Polymarket investigation here: https://unlimitedhangout.com/2026/06/investigative-series/the-secret-history-of-polymarket-part-1/ Become a member of Unlimited Hangout to get early access to all UH content (videos, podcasts and articles) and participate in live Q+As with Mark and Whitney: https://unlimitedhangout.com/join/ Subscribe here, on YouTube, or elsewhere to help us fight AI impersonation of Whitney and other UH writers and to stop the slop! Follow and subscribe to us on other platforms here: https://linktr.ee/whitneywebb Intro/Outro Music by meanthemusician.bandcamp.com
