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What makes an idea valuable? What turns it into a product that can be bought, sold, or rented? Ideas turn into capital assets thanks to our system of intellectual property rights. But understanding IP isn\\u2019t simply a matter of learning what a trademark or patent is, and then learning how to leverage it to create wealth. To truly understand intellectual property, we need to under property\\u2014what it is and why it exists\\u2014first.

In this episode, I explore the origins of our conception of private property, why we\\u2019ve coded intellectual property rights into law, and how one business owner\\u2014Jenny Blake\\u2014licenses her IP to companies to generate (relatively) passive income.\\xa0

Footnotes:

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• Jenny Blake\\u2019s Free Time
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• Jenny Blake\\u2019s Pivot Method
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• \\nDebt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
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• \\nThe Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow
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• \\u201cCoding Land and Ideas | The Laws of Capitalism\\u201d featuring Katharina Pistor via the Institute for New Economic Thinking
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• \\u201cEnclosure\\u201d on Wikipedia
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• \\u201cLegal Evil\\u201d featuring Katharina Pistor via the Institute for New Economic Thinking
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• \\u201cHow to Unf\\u2605ck Intellectual Property\\u201d featuring Dean Baker via the Institute for New Economic Thinking
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• \\nRentier Capitalism: Who Owns the Economy and Who Pays for It? by Brett Christophers
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• \\nCapitalist Realism by Mark Fisher
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New episodes are published in essay form every Thursday at explorewhatworks.com. Get them delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge, by subscribing to What Works Weekly: explorewhatworks.com/weekly

If you\\u2019d like to learn more about how we can approach life and work differently, check out my book, What Works. I explore the history and cultural context that\\u2019s led us to this success-obsessed, productivity-oriented moment. Then I guide you through deconstructing those messages and rebuilding a structure for work-life that works.