2002: Rich People Behaving Badly: What the Art World Teaches Us About Wealth and Women

**Farnoosh Torabi** (0:00)
Hey friends, if you've been sitting on a book idea and wondering could this actually become something, this is your moment. Join me in New York City on October 9th for Book to Brand. This is my intimate full-day immersive designed to help you turn your idea into a clear, compelling, pitch-ready book concept. You will meet the insiders, agents, publishers, and recent authors who can help bring your book to life. Spots are limited and early-bird tickets are on sale now. Head to booktobrand.co to reserve your spot. So Money episode 2002, Rich People Behaving Badly, What the Art World Teaches Us About Wealth and Women.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:39)
You're listening to So Money with award-winning money guru Farnoosh Torabi. Each day, get a 30-minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers, and from Farnoosh yourself.
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**Jo Piazza** (1:05)
I write a lot of unlikable women. My thing though with these characters is that you have to empathize with them at some point. You have to know where they're coming from, and I would like it if you'd like to sit down and have a spicy margarita with them. That's where I'm at. But because I write a lot of women anti-heroes is how I describe them, and people are often shocked. They're like, oh, that is terrible. That is the worst. I'm like, male anti-heroes are the best in fiction. Look at Tony Soprano and Don Draper and Walter White. Men can be anything and women are expected to be put in a box, to put in this very highly specific mold in culture, in high culture, in pop culture.
I'm trying to write women that are many things, that are multi-faceted, like women are also all the things, as men are all the things.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (1:55)
Welcome to So Money, everyone. I'm Farnoosh Torabi. The art market is one of the least regulated, most opaque wealth transfer systems on the planet. We're talking billions of dollars moving between billionaires, oligarchs and heads of state with almost no oversight. It's where old money hides, new money launders and powerful families build dynasties that last for generations.
And at the center of all of it, almost always a man. But behind that man, almost always a woman who did the work and got written out. That's the art world at the heart of The Parisian Heist, the new novel for my guest today, Jo Piazza. And it is juicy. We're talking rich people behaving very badly, the hidden female genius behind one of the most famous artists who ever lived, and what all of it has to do with our money, financial agency, and why handing over control, even to someone you love and trust, can cost you everything. Jo Piazza is a best selling author, journalist, and podcast host, with now 14 books to her name and 25 million downloads to her podcasts. Let's get into it.
Jo Piazza, welcome back to So Money with your 300th book. I think, what, the 14th book?

**Jo Piazza** (3:08)
I think it's 14 Yeah, someone just asked me that.
And I was like, I think I'm going to say 14 We're going to 14 on this one.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (3:16)
And what a 14th book. It's called The Parisian Heist. And in your true Jo Piazza style, it has it all. There is feminism, there's history, there's richness, there's a thriller wrapped up in all of this. And of course, it takes place in one of my favorite cities, maybe my favorite actually, Paris.
I mean, why didn't you invite me when you were in Paris for all the business write-offs?

**Jo Piazza** (3:41)
I know, for all the business write-offs. Anyway, I did two research trips to Paris and one to Amsterdam.
Fourth thing. Fourth. I started writing Parisian Heist in Paris and I finished writing Parisian Heist in Paris. But I'm inviting you now because we're throwing a bash in Paris in September at an English language bookstore there and we're going to have like wine and cheese and chocolate mousse. I think it's September 16th right now. So I think I can make it. Great. Come, come. It's good. I mean, I'm on tour all summer in the United States, which will also be wonderful. But yeah, but then I cap it off with Paris.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (4:17)
So Parisian Heist follows two women separated by a century.
Emma, she's a broke American artist in Paris who ends up cleaning penthouses for the ultra rich and eventually masterminding a heist at Musée d'Orsay. Then you've got Jo Van Gogh, who's actually a real historical widow who inherited hundreds of Vincent's paintings when the entire world thought they were worthless. She made him famous essentially through sheer determination and a hidden figure. So you've got thriller, you've got money, legacy, what women do when the system tries to write them out and off. But tell us how this book really started for you. Yeah.