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Home / Series / American Experience / Aired Order / Season 35 / Episode 3
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Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History

For generations, Monopoly has been America’s favorite board game, a love letter to unbridled capitalism and — for better or worse — the impulses that make our free-market society tick. But behind the myth of the game’s creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. Contrary to the folksy legend spread by Parker Brothers, Monopoly’s secret history is a surprising saga that features a radical feminist, a community of Quakers in Atlantic City, America’s greatest game company, and an unemployed Depression-era engineer. And the real story behind the creation of the game might never have come to light if it weren’t for the determination of an economics professor and impassioned anti-monopolist.

English
  • Originally Aired February 20, 2023
  • Network PBS
  • Created November 10, 2022 by
    Jordanene
  • Modified August 13, 2023 by
    anaximandre