1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 The desire for diamonds isn’t natural, and it’s not ancient. It’s entirely manufactured by one company inside a single decade. I got engaged last year. And like most women in America, my wife had a couple of criteria: a ring, and a diamond on it. Specifically, she wanted a lab-grown diamond. I got curious and went on a deep research inquiry into the history of diamonds, the origins of the diamond engagement ring, and the cartel behind it all. Over the course of this episode, we dive into the history of diamonds. We study the myth behind diamonds, and we go from the founding of the diamond industry in South Africa — the De Beers cartel — all the way through the current day, and how that empire, which lasted for more than 100 years, has been radically disrupted by the adoption en masse of lab-grown diamonds. For this research, I’ve pulled on a lot of resources, but three books in particular: The Last Empire: De Beers, Diamonds, and the World by Stefan Kanfer&amp;nbsp; The Rise and Fall of Diamonds: The Shattering of a Brilliant Illusion by Edward Jay Epstein The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire by Tom Zoellner We start with the myth of diamonds, then the history of the cartel, and then bring it all the way to the present day to ask: why did this industry work? As with any successful persuasive campaign, it’s important to understand what was done, why we believe what we do, and how you can protect against these techniques being used on you in the future. I'm Robin P. Zander. This is Snafu. Thanks for being with me. Let’s dive in. Snafu w/ Robin Zander http://www.robinpzander.com/ <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/43339599/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/207753514