The Grant Williams Podcast Ep. 124 - Dave Dredge

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I’m joined by author Dominic Frisby for a conversation that is equal parts monetary history, philosophy, and comedy. Best known to many as a comedian, writer, and commentator, Dominic brings a rare ability to explain complex financial ideas with clarity, humour, and perspective. The discussion traces his journey from trying to finance a West End musical to becoming one of the most recognisable voices in the world of gold and sound money. Along the way, we explore why gold continues to exert such a powerful hold over the human imagination, what its enduring appeal reveals about the nature of money itself, and why the debate over gold remains as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com. Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, Brendan Ballou returns for a fascinating and deeply important conversation about the rise of forced arbitration and the quiet transformation of the American legal system. Brendan explains how what began as a narrow mechanism for resolving commercial disputes has evolved into a vast private justice system that increasingly shields corporations from public accountability. Through examples ranging from hidden cellphone fees to wrongful-death cases, the discussion explores how decades of court decisions have steadily weakened consumers’ and workers’ ability to challenge powerful institutions—particularly when harms are individually small but collectively enormous. Along the way, he lays out why this matters far beyond the courtroom, touching on incentives, transparency, corporate power, and the broader erosion of trust in public institutions. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com. Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I welcome my good mate Dave Dredge of Convex Strategies for a fascinating conversation about fragility, portfolio construction, and why so many traditional investment frameworks are no longer fit for purpose. Using everything from London Tube strikes to Mandelbrot’s work on volatility clustering, Dave explains why markets should be understood not as stable systems occasionally disrupted by shocks, but as inherently fragile structures where hidden stresses build quietly over time before suddenly erupting. At the heart of our discussion is the “total portfolio approach”—a growing institutional framework that focuses less on the standalone return of individual assets and more on how each position contributes to the resilience, correlation profile, and survival of the portfolio as a whole in an increasingly unstable world. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com. Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I reconnect with Jawad Mian for a deeply thoughtful conversation that moves seamlessly between markets, personal evolution, and the challenge of building an intellectually honest life in an increasingly noisy world. Jawad reflects on his decision to leave Dubai and return to Toronto, explaining how the move forced him to rethink not only where he wanted to live, but also the kind of person and investor he wanted to become. What emerges is a discussion about rhythm, reflection, and the importance of creating enough mental and emotional space to think clearly in a world dominated by speed, outrage, and constant distraction. Along the way, we trace the origins and growth of Stray Reflections, the role of community and conversation in shaping ideas, the importance of remaining flexible, curious, and humble when navigating both markets and life itself and apply all that knowledge and understanding to today’s wild markets – particularly the AI trade and the rocketship that is South Korea’s KOSPI index. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com. Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I welcome my old friend, and veteran copper analyst Simon Hunt for a sweeping conversation that connects the war in Iran to supply chains, commodities, monetary power, and the future of the global order. Speaking from his home in Dubai, Simon describes a city transformed almost overnight by the conflict before widening the lens to argue that the struggle over Iran is ultimately about far more than the Middle East. From BRICS strategy and copper shortages to wartime economics, gold-backed currencies, and the long-term weakening of the dollar system, Simon lays out what is most definitely a non-consensus and deeply interconnected framework for understanding a world moving steadily toward geopolitical and financial fragmentation. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com. Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I welcome David Leiter for a lively and highly practical conversation about his new book, Stop Making Stupid Investments: 7 Rules to Avoid the Hype and Build Real Wealth. David traces the unlikely path from guitar-obsessed kid and struggling salesman to Credit Suisse banker, Queens real-estate investor, and ultimately author of a book designed to help people avoid the traps he has seen ruin investors again and again. From dot-com mania and crypto yield schemes to Wall Street’s talent for repackaging risk under more appealing names, David lays out a refreshingly plain-spoken framework built around cash flows, downside risk, emotional discipline, and one beautifully simple maxim: “math is the enemy of bullshit.” Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com.  Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm… 

In the latest episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I welcome Danielle DiMartino Booth back for a wide-ranging conversation about a macro backdrop that feels increasingly detached from the official story. Danielle explains why consumer sentiment—particularly rising expectations of unemployment—is flashing a far darker signal than headline labour data suggests, and why she believes the average household is under far more pressure than policymakers are willing to admit. From hidden weakness in the job market to the spread of gambling, speculation, and buy now, pay later behaviour, our discussion paints a picture of an economy held together by coping mechanisms, financial stress, and a deepening sense that something important is missing beneath the surface. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com.  Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm… 

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I’m joined once again by Marvin Barth to unpack a rapidly shifting geopolitical and monetary landscape through the lens of the superb recent piece he published titled “Alea Iacta Est”—the die is cast. Marvin argues that once the United States and Israel crossed the threshold into open confrontation with Iran, the strategic calculus for all players changed irreversibly. From the distinction between Iran as a nation and its ruling regime to the broader implications for China, Europe, and the global financial system, the conversation weaves together geopolitics, currency dynamics, and investor positioning in a world increasingly defined by fragmentation and high-stakes decision-making. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com.  Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm… 

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, Grant is joined by David Murrin for a sweeping and provocative discussion about the structural forces shaping today’s geopolitical landscape. David argues that current conflicts—from Ukraine to the Middle East—are not isolated crises, but manifestations of a long-term power transition from a declining US-led order to a rising, strategically coordinated China. Framed through his concept of a 100-year “war cycle,” our conversation explores how modern warfare, technological asymmetry, and internal Western fragmentation are converging to create a far more dangerous and unpredictable global environment than most investors or policymakers are prepared for. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com.  Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm… 

In this episode of The Grant Williams Podcast, I’m joined by Variant Perception’s Tian Yang for a sweeping discussion of what he calls a “late-cycle macro, early-stage regime shift.” Tian argues that the global economy is pivoting away from efficiency and toward sovereignty, as great powers prioritise control of supply chains, technology, and industrial capacity. Drawing parallels to McKinley, Roosevelt, FDR, and Eisenhower, he explains why state-driven investment, industrial policy, and fiscal dominance are becoming permanent features of the economic landscape. From AI-driven melt-up dynamics in markets to gold’s role as a geopolitical hedge, Tian lays out a framework for navigating a world where governments are increasingly shaping the direction—and outcomes—of economic growth. Every episode of the Grant Williams podcast, including This Week In Doom, The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, The Narrative Game, Kaos Theory, Shifts Happen and The Hundred Year Pivot, is available to Copper and Silver Tier subscribers at my website www.Grant-Williams.com.  Copper Tier subscribers get access to all podcasts, while members of the Silver Tier get both the podcasts and my monthly newsletter, Things That Make You Go Hmmm…