Podcast · 50 episodes
Business History, page 2
by Pushkin Industries · English
It’s the history of business. How did Hitler’s favorite car become synonymous with hippies? What got Thomas Edison tangled up with the electric chair? Did someone murder the guy who invented the movies? Former Planet Money hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith examine the surprising stories of businesses big and small and find out what you can learn from those who founded them.
All episodes, page 2
The Business of Staying Young and Living Forever (with Kara Swisher)The episode explores how wealthy people and tech leaders try to “stay young” or live forever, tracing the idea through history (Chinese elixirs, mummification, eugenics, cryonics) and contrasting it…22 Apr 2026 · 42 min · 21 chapters
Sinking the Global Economy: The Lloyds of London Story Part IILloyd’s of London in the 1980s–early 1990s, its “peak” glamour, then collapse from asbestos liabilities and a reinsurance/retrocession spiral, culminating in unlimited-liability losses and a rescue…15 Apr 2026 · 40 min · 17 chapters
The Insurers Who ALWAYS Paid Out: The Lloyds of London Story Part IThe origins and early evolution of Lloyds of London—how a coffeehouse marketplace of marine risk became a reputation-driven insurance institution, including its shift from underwriting to…8 Apr 2026 · 32 min · 9 chapters
From SNAFU with Ed Helms: Adam Grant and The OG Ponzi SchemeThe origin and mechanics of the “Ponzi scheme,” using Charles Ponzi’s life as a case study in charisma, deception, and why people keep believing despite impossible math.1 Apr 2026 · 46 min · 20 chapters
Betting on Taylor Swift or Who'll Be Made Pope: The Past and Present of Prediction MarketsThe episode is about prediction markets: online platforms (notably Kalshi and Polymarket) where people buy contracts tied to outcomes (politics, weather, geopolitics, even “mention”/word markets).25 Mar 2026 · 36 min · 16 chapters
Bowie, McCartney & Michael Jackson: How Songwriters Learned to Play HardballThis episode discusses the evolution of songwriters' rights in America, particularly highlighting the formation of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and its impact on…18 Mar 2026 · 45 min · 28 chapters
How GM Beat FordJacob Goldstein and Robert Smith11 Mar 2026 · 36 min · 16 chapters
Henry Ford Invented the Modern World... Then Got Left BehindHosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith explore the history of business by delving into the surprising stories behind notable figures and events in the business world, focusing on lessons from the…4 Mar 2026 · 50 min · 21 chapters
War, Exploration and Beer: How the Tin Can Changed the WorldWar, Exploration and Beer: How the Tin Can Changed the World25 Feb 2026 · 57 min · 31 chapters
The War on The A&P: When America Decided Cheap Groceries Were "Evil"Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith18 Feb 2026 · 48 min · 16 chapters
How To Dig a Train Tunnel Under the Hudson River (from HISTORY This Week)Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith16 Feb 2026 · 34 min · 20 chapters
When E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Tanked AtariBusiness History explores the intriguing and often surprising stories of businesses, examining how they evolved and the lessons learned from their founders.11 Feb 2026 · 50 min · 17 chapters
How a Bad Boss Kickstarted Silicon ValleyIn this episode, the hosts explore the significant role of William Shockley, a Nobel Prize-winning engineer and notoriously difficult boss, in shaping Silicon Valley.4 Feb 2026 · 48 min · 16 chapters
Sears: Cocaine Wine, Shotguns, and the World’s Tallest TowerIn this episode, hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith explore the fascinating rise and fall of Sears, once the largest retailer in the United States.28 Jan 2026 · 43 min · 21 chapters
De-Nazifying the Love Bug: The VW Beetle Story Part IIIn this episode of *Business History*, hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith explore the transformation of the Volkswagen Beetle from a car associated with Adolf Hitler to a symbol of freedom and…21 Jan 2026 · 42 min · 18 chapters
Hitler's Gift to the Hippies: The VW Beetle Story Part IHow Adolf Hitler’s “people’s car” project led to the Volkswagen Beetle—starting with Nazi industrial policy and ending (in Part I) with the factory’s wartime transformation and exploitation.14 Jan 2026 · 34 min · 7 chapters
How Jim Simons Built a Machine That Beat the MarketHow Jim Simons and his teams built quantitative “machine” trading systems from Cold War codebreaking into Renaissance Technologies’ Medallion Fund, achieving extremely high long-run returns through…7 Jan 2026 · 44 min · 20 chapters
Old Warren Buffett: "Never Invest in a Business You Cannot Understand"Warren Buffett’s “superpower” in his later career—how his fame and persona (“Buffett premium”) helped Berkshire Hathaway succeed, especially when markets doubted him; plus the risks of that advantage…24 Dec 2025 · 41 min · 17 chapters
Young Warren Buffett: How to Find Value No One Else Can SeeThe episode traces young Warren Buffett’s rise from an obsessive kid to a “cigar butt” investor who exploited information gaps, then evolves into the Berkshire Hathaway capital allocator.17 Dec 2025 · 44 min · 11 chapters
How to Make Billions When the Bubble Bursts: Lessons from 1929The 1929 stock-market crash through the career of Jesse Livermore, focusing on how speculation, leverage, and information speed let traders profit when bubbles inflate and collapse.10 Dec 2025 · 48 min · 21 chapters
The Man who Sued Major League Baseball (Rather than go to Philly)Kurt Flood’s 1969-1972 fight against MLB’s reserve clause, which effectively tied players to the team that drafted them, and how his Supreme Court case helped reshape labor power and free agency.3 Dec 2025 · 52 min · 17 chapters
Edison and the Movie Murder Mystery (The Edison Story Part 3)The race to invent motion pictures, how Thomas Edison won commercially without inventing the movies, and the “movie murder mystery” of Louis Le Prince’s disappearance; concludes with the Edison-led…26 Nov 2025 · 53 min · 25 chapters
Edison, Tesla and the Electric Chair (The Edison Story Part 2)The “War of the Currents” in late-1800s America—how Thomas Edison’s DC electric grid beat the light-bulb problem, then lost the larger infrastructure battle to AC power, culminating in the first…19 Nov 2025 · 47 min · 17 chapters
The Edison Invention People Don't Talk About (The Edison Story Part 1)Thomas Edison’s early career and the “invention factory” idea—how he industrialized invention before the light bulb myth, using telegraph technology, business strategy, and capital.12 Nov 2025 · 50 min · 26 chapters