Slate Money: Money Talks — The Fabulous Wealth of Carrie Bradshaw

Podcast: Slate Money
Episode Air Date: August 5, 2025
Host: Emily Peck (A), with guest Shana Roth (B)

Episode Overview

This special episode of "Money Talks" dives into the fantastical finances and real estate of HBO’s "And Just Like That," the reboot of "Sex and the City." Host Emily Peck is joined by Slate Senior Producer Shana Roth to obsessively analyze the economic (im)possibilities underpinning Carrie Bradshaw’s luxurious Manhattan lifestyle, as well as those of her friends. The conversation is rich with pop culture references, feminist commentary, and a sharp-eyed look at the show's implausible depiction of money, class, and real estate.

Main Discussion Points

1. The Fantasy Economics of "And Just Like That"

• Carrie Bradshaw’s life has gone from aspirational to outright fantasy, with her mansion-sized Manhattan home front and center.
  • [03:10] “Carrie, for some reason, lives in a mansion. She's in the middle of Manhattan in Gramercy. She has unlimited money, huge house, by any standard—not just by New York City standard. Any standard. Huge house, yeah.”—Emily Peck
  • The writers of the show admit “this is just fantasy.”
• Shana Roth frames the reboot as a “money fantasy,” more than even the original series, arguing:
  • [04:37] “...it has turned into, I would argue, one of the most moneyed shows there is, because you can't watch an episode without being hit in the face with signifiers of wealth and class..."—Shana Roth
• The show is less about friendship and romance now, more about privileged lifestyles.

2. The Real Estate Breakdown

Carrie’s Absurd Apartment

• Size and Location: Two-story Gramercy mansion, an unattainable NYC unicorn.
  • [06:20] “She moves to an apartment that I didn't know existed in New York.... It looks like something out of The Gilded Age. It is enormous and it is just for one person.”—Shana Roth
• The Kitchen Mystery: Despite the mansion, the kitchen is tiny and old-fashioned, which bewilders the hosts.
  • [07:35] “It's got like a little ruffle skirt under the sink. There is half a table. It doesn't have a real table. Has a half a table. It's a half of a table. Next to the window, a Smeg refrigerator. And like that's it.”—Shana Roth
  • The writers consciously chose this for "charm," despite the inconsistency.
• Wealth Plausibility:
  • Big’s career and the inheritance left to Carrie are a mystery—his supposed wealth doesn’t match the digs.
    • [10:34] “How much money do we think Big left her? Realistically, I don't... He's got to have left hundreds of millions of dollars.”—Shana Roth

Other Characters’ Real Estate

• Aiden’s Farm:
  • Now owns a “multi-acre farmstead” with a guesthouse in Virginia, paid for by a supposed West Elm collaboration—implausible, but the hosts speculate maybe he made great 1990s real estate investments.
    • [16:05] “Do you think a furniture collaboration with West Elm is going to yield this much money?—Shana Roth
    • [16:30] “The most generous explanation I have for Aiden’s property… is that they made good real estate bets in the ’90s.”—Emily Peck
• Anthony’s Apartment:
  • Most realistically depicted: small, kitchen by the front door, fits what a bakery owner might afford in NYC.
    • [19:21] “This is what I expect a New York apartment to look like for somebody who owns their own bakery. If we're being honest, this is the most realistic.”—Shana Roth
• LTW’s (Lisa Todd Wexley’s) Home:
  • Uptown opulence, walk-in closet/office (“clothis”), gorgeous kitchen — somewhat plausible, as her husband is a hedge fund guy.
    • [20:17] “There's a scene where she, like, wakes up early one morning and she, like, gets her espresso... and it's incredible.”—Emily Peck

3. Careers and Income: No One Works

• Carrie’s job status is implausible—writing one terrible book of historical fiction, yet supporting herself lavishly:
  • [17:32] “Nobody works in this show. Carrie is writing her terrible book. Apparently a lot, which I'm so mad about this book.”—Shana Roth
  • [17:57] “This idea that Carrie can go from being a nonfiction memoirist type writer... and then all of a sudden it turns out she's a brilliant fiction writer. Come the fuck on.”—Shana Roth
  • Show claims seven best-selling books contribute to her wealth, but the hosts remain skeptical.
• Anthony (bakery owner)—realistic home and career.
• LTW (documentary filmmaker) and her hedge-fund husband’s economic station is plausible, but the show still bends reality.
• The hosts constantly remark on how little work anyone does—most characters seem to be comfortably idle.

4. Why Are We So Bothered by These Money Fantasies?

• Is realism needed? Why the fixation on accurate depictions of wealth in TV?
  • [25:07] “Do we need shows to be realistic about money? Like a show like this. Like why are you so mad, Shayna?”—Emily Peck
  • [25:49] “These women are not punished enough to have all of this stuff...When we're watching a lot of money porn type shows...bad things happen to them. But here, the problems are all small scale.”—Shana Roth
    • Contrasts with shows like "White Lotus" or "Your Friends and Neighbors," where rich people are “punished,” making their opulence more palatable.
  • [27:45] “You are supposed to be this cool gal in her studio apartment ordering takeout with her girlfriends.”—Shana Roth
  • The hosts reflect on internalized misogyny: are viewers harsher on women having unbridled wealth and happiness?

5. The Phenomenon of "Hate Watching"

• Many fans say they "hate-watch" the show, but are they really just enjoying it?
  • [29:15] “In the conversation around the show, everyone talks about how it's become like a hate watch for people… I don't believe in the hate watch. If you don't like something, you won't watch it. If you like something, you'll watch it...I think people like the show. They're just embarrassed.”—Emily Peck
  • Shana: [29:43] “It's not about liking it or not liking it, it's about getting something out of it... There is something about this series that is so ingrained in my being that even through the terrible movies and even through this weird-ass show, I can't not watch every episode.”
  • The idea that “nostalgia properties” have irresistible pull, regardless of objective quality.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Carrie’s mansion:
  [06:20] “It looks like something out of The Gilded Age. It is enormous and it is just for one person.”—Shana Roth

• On the kitchen paradox:
  [08:00] “There is clearly space for a kitchen. And why would anybody who is making this apartment...Why is the kitchen so small?”—Shana Roth

• Speculating on Big’s finances:
  [10:34] “He's got to have left hundreds of millions of dollars.”—Shana Roth

• On the implausibility of Carrie’s fiction book career:
  [17:57] “This idea that Carrie can go from being a nonfiction memoirist type writer for, what was it, like, seven, eight, ten books, and then all of a sudden it turns out she's a brilliant fiction writer. Come the fuck on.”—Shana Roth

• Trying to justify Aiden’s farm:
  [16:30] “The most generous explanation I have for Aiden’s property and Miranda is that they made good real estate bets in the ‘90s.”—Emily Peck

• On TV’s money fantasies versus reality:
  [12:21] “...this is how all TV shows are now. No one lives. Like, the 80s house on the Roseanne show is... You know, that looked pretty real. That just does not happen anymore.”—Emily Peck

• On internalized misogyny in reactions to the show:
  [27:48] “I think what we are seeing here, ladies and gentlemen, live, is my internalized misogyny coming into play. I think so. I think that's totally accurate. I'm willing to admit it.”—Shana Roth

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:44] - Episode introduction, rationale for discussing AJLT on a money podcast
• [05:35–11:10] - Deep dive into Carrie’s unreal apartment and kitchen, speculation about property values and Big’s wealth
• [15:04–17:19] - Questioning Aiden’s financial windfall and real estate
• [17:32–18:13] - Discussion of Carrie’s implausible writing career and its connection to her wealth
• [19:21–20:41] - Contrast between Anthony’s realistic apartment and others’ luxury
• [25:07–28:54] - Why viewers get angry at rich, happy women; punishment and realism in money portrayals
• [29:15–32:24] - “Hate-watching,” nostalgia, and why viewers stick with problematic favorites

Conclusion

This episode is a funny, incisive takedown (and love letter) to the economic absurdities of "And Just Like That." Emily and Shana blend fandom, pop-culture analysis, and real financial skepticism to explore why the show’s money fantasies matter, why viewers both love and resent them, and how our deeper feelings about wealth, women, and nostalgia shape our TV obsessions.

Produced by Jessamyn Molly.
See you Saturday for a regular Slate Money episode!