'This Giant Beast That Is The Global Economy' Trailer Features Doomsday Prep, Artificial Intelligence, And More

Kal Penn and director Adam McKay want to teach you about the global economy. That doesn't sound very exciting at first, but just wait – the This Giant Beast That is the Global Economy trailer goes to great lengths to make all of this sexy, funny, and, well, kind of scary. And it's educational, too. For instance: you'll learn all about how we'll turn into cannibals a mere two months after the global economy collapses.

This Giant Beast That is the Global Economy is a bit of a clunky title, but perhaps that's appropriate for a docu-series focused on how complex and messy the global economy is. Director Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short) and Kal Penn (who previously worked under President Obama) are bringing this 8-part docu-series to Amazon Prime Video next month, promising to show viewers the "surprising ways the economy interconnects and impacts the lives of people all over the planet, told through the curious and thoughtful mind of Penn, a former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement." Here's some more info:

Each episode focuses on a central question about the global economy: How can I launder a bag of dirty cash? Is money even real? Why is death so expensive? How scared should I be of a rubber apocalypse? Does buying knockoff Nikes really fund terrorism? And is it easier for jerks to get rich? Across thirteen countries, Penn meets unique characters in fascinating locations — including a crypto-mine in Prague, a corruption reporting center in Singapore, a rubber plantation in Thailand, an airplane graveyard in the Mojave, and a dildo factory in Los Angeles.

In addition to Penn, the series features appearances from Cristela Alonzo, Tone Bell, Rob Corddry, Ted Danson, Zach Galifianakis, Colin Hanks, Ed Helms, Pete Holmes, Rashida Jones, Joel McHale, Thomas Middleditch, Bobby Moynihan, Ed O'Neill, Patton Oswalt, Missi Pyle, Rob Riggle, Paul Scheer, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Sudeikis, Meghan Trainor and Sasheer Zamata.

This Giant Beast also features interviews with unique specialists, "including extreme preparedness experts Survivor Jane and Rick Austin; Anil Bokil, who inspired Indian Prime Minister Modi to demonetize; Nick Bostrum, Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University; Chad Braverman, COO of his family's sex toy business; Panicos Demetriades, former governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus turned whistleblower; Austan Goolsbee, former Chief Economic Advisor to President Obama; Gary Vaynerchuk, an unapologetically aggressive entrepreneur; Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor; Fahmi Reza, an anti-corruption Malaysian street artist; Jon Ronson, author of The Psychopath Test; Felix Sater, a convicted felon, Osama Bin Laden hunter, and real estate developer with ties to Moscow; and Jan Strozyk, a journalist who worked on the Panama Papers global investigation of offshore tax havens and money laundering."

This all sounds both interesting and exhausting. This Giant Beast That is the Global Economy premiere Friday, February 22, exclusively on Prime Video.