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Power, Lust and Glory: The Story of Gold

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Power, Lust and Glory: The Story of Gold

By: Alvin Hall, Marilyn Rust
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About this listen

Why are humans seemingly hardwired to worship gold?

It is unique amongst metals: it is malleable, it doesn’t tarnish, and it shines like nothing else. Over time it has come to symbolise wealth and status. It can represent goodness and fidelity but also greed and lust.

Financial educator, author and broadcaster Alvin Hall explores why we are so obsessed with this particular metal, and what it represents around the world - in terms of wealth and symbolism - both historically and now.

Alvin will look at the lengths people go to in the pursuit of gold and ask what is the true value of Au?

A Just Radio production for Audible Originals.

©2020 Audible, Ltd. (P)2020 Audible, Ltd. Commodities Investing & Trading World
Episodes
  • Ep. 1: Conquistadors and the Lust for Gold

    Ep. 1: Conquistadors and the Lust for Gold
    Oct 12 2020

    Alvin explores the Spanish conquest of South America and the pillaging of a people for gold.
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    32 mins
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  • Ep. 2: Extracting Ore

    Ep. 2: Extracting Ore
    Oct 12 2020

    Alvin looks at some of the different methods for extracting gold including mining and panning but also the impact it has on the people and the environment.
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    31 mins
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  • Ep. 3: Criminal Gold

    Ep. 3: Criminal Gold
    Oct 12 2020

    The lust for gold drives people to commit criminal acts. Alvin investigates gold heists, smuggling, theft from mines and historical sites.
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    31 mins
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All stars
Most relevant  
Very enthusiastic narrator, full of interesting information about Gold. I really enjoyed listening to this series.

Golden entertainment

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I always love Alvin's stuff and this was no exception. Really entertaining and informative. I learned quite a bit.

Very interesting

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This was a really interesting series, and I loved listening to Alvin Hall. He has a very engaging manner and genuine interest in the subject. Not usually something I would listen to but I’m so glad I did.

Fascinating

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Overall this was pretty interesting, love how recent it is given the Covid impact to gold in the final episode.

Only a couple of negative comments, personally found the content somewhat random. Yes, there was 'gold' involved in all the stories but I felt there was lacking one central narrative; at times it was the cultural impact then criminal aspect and global expansion etc.

People could disagree here but I didn't feel they were all that well connected when you go from the horrific experience from the conquistadors part to 'cheeky caps' in Italian Job. At least all of it was interesting but perhaps if each part was focused on one area slightly tighter or even better if there was different series going deeper into each element.

Also slight mark down for me on the narration, some of it didn't quite work for me. This was with how the main narration was done and some of the contributors, but then some of them were excellent with a fairly large variety used. So at least if your not enjoying someone's 'voice' it is never for too long. This is my rationale for the 3 star rating on performance.

Now I am off to invest all my money into gold :-p

Insightful if slightly disjointed

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Alvin Hall narrates the story of gold beautifully. Plenty of history I wasn't aware of and I really enjoyed.

interesting and engaging.

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I truly wish I could listen to more of it, but after 3 episodes, the narration grated on me too much. I'm sure he tries to enunciate, but instead, he just talkes incredibly staccato. So much so it got very distracting. It sounds like he's working so much on it that I'm getting exhausted on his behalf.

Interesting subject

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A succinct, clear and glittering summary of gold and why it fascinates us. It may make you want to buy some.

A great synopsis of the thing we call gold

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really informative it made me want to listen to to the next episode and maybe even buy a piece of gold myself

fantastic informative loved it

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Educator, author and broadcaster Alvin Hall explores why we humans love gold and what we’ll do to obtain it. It covers:

Ep. 1: Conquistadors and the Lust for Gold. Alvin explores the Spanish conquest of South America and the pillaging of a people for gold.
Ep. 2: Extracting Ore. Alvin looks at some of the different methods for extracting gold including mining and panning but also the impact it has on the people and the environment.
Ep. 3: Criminal Gold. The lust for gold drives people to commit criminal acts. Alvin investigates gold heists, smuggling, theft from mines and historical sites.
Ep. 4: Buried Treasure. The discovery of buried treasure makes headlines - we are reminded of fairy stories and tales of ancient heroes but what more do we learn?
Ep. 5: I Wanna Be Adorned (with gold). Throughout history the wearing of gold has reflected status, but why? Alvin explores the status of gold in different cultures.
Ep. 6: Wealth. We associate gold with riches but how much is it actually worth? Alvin looks into gold as an investment and its role in the financial markets.

It's all very enjoyable. We learn why our ancestors – from Egypt to Anglo Saxon England – buried gold in the ground; ask why we adorn ourselves with the sparkly stuff; see how the Spanish Conquistadors asset-stripped South America and, via a trip to the Bank of England’s vault, explore gold’s connection to money and ask “what is it really worth”? Worth your time; recommended.

Why we love gold & what we'll do to get some

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A great story of gold and the allure.
Would highly recommend this podcast.
The narrator is excellent. The story's are Interesting and discoverable.

Gold is good

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