Episode Details

Is a Medici bankrolling Brunelleschi's dome really the same impulse as a foundation issuing grants for climate research? This episode traces the lineage from ancient patronage systems to the modern nonprofit sector — exploring how private wealth funding public goods morphed from a transaction in prestige and salvation into a regulated legal category. We cover the 1917 charitable deduction, the 1969 Tax Reform Act, and how Carnegie's library system turned philanthropy into infrastructure. Plus: how think tanks like Brookings and Heritage transformed the nonprofit form into a vehicle for political influence.