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Business History: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Pushkin Industries
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.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Yesterday53 min
The Company That Became a Country
Before there was Canada, there was the Hudson’s Bay Company. HBC had its own laws and its own currency, and at one point controlled trade routes from the Arctic to Hawaii. It started cities like Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Victoria. It also fought an actual war with a rival business over pemmican, a traditional indigenous snack made of dried buffalo meat, fat and berries. Business History’s resident Canadian Robert Smith tells Jacob Goldstein how two French traders built an empire out of beaver fur, and how the company they created later signed one of the biggest real estate deals in history. Connect with us: Follow Business History on Instagram and TikTok Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram Follow Robert Smith on Instagram and X Email us at businesshistory@pushkin.fm Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn and X To listen to the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin+ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 1 weeks ago41 min
The Pigeons That Built a Global News Empire
Before Reuters was a global news giant, it was a man and 45 homing pigeons. Julius Reuter saw that the telegraph would change how information moved, and he used that to his advantage. He didn’t have to get news out immediately — he just had to be first. Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith follow Reuter from Germany to England, where he scoops The Times of London with news that Europe was headed to war. Connect with us: Follow Business History on Instagram and TikTok Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram Follow Robert Smith on Instagram and X Email us at businesshistory@pushkin.fm Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn and X To listen to the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin+ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 2 weeks ago47 min
How the Company Conquered the World
Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith talk with Adrian Wooldridge, co-author of The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea. Companies are some of the most powerful institutions in the modern world – right up there with the nation-state. Where did the modern corporation come from? And what do AI and Chinese state-owned firms mean for the future of the company? Connect with us: Follow Business History on Instagram and TikTok Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram Follow Robert Smith on Instagram and X Email us at businesshistory@pushkin.fm Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn and X To listen to the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin+ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 3 weeks ago56 min
Sam the Banana Man: Gunboats, Coups, and United Fruit
In the late 1800s, a Russian immigrant named Samuel Zemurray spent nearly everything he had on a load of bananas, and turned it into a fortune. But Sam the Banana Man wasn’t just a business titan. He was a puppeteer on the geopolitical stage, bankrolling a revolution in Honduras and pushing the CIA to overthrow Guatemala’s democratically elected leader. For decades, Zemurray battled the United Fruit Company, an institution with its tentacles in governments across the Americas — including the United States. In the end, he wound up running the company. Connect with us: Follow Business History on Instagram and TikTok Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram Follow Robert Smith on Instagram and X Email us at businesshistory@pushkin.fm Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn and X To listen to the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin+ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 4 weeks ago50 min
Blockers | A Preview of Michael Lewis's New Audiobook
We're here with a preview of Blockers, a new audiobook from Michael Lewis, the author of Liars Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short and more. In Blockers, Lewis tells the story of a handful of people who dedicated their careers to public service—until the Department of Government Efficiency decided they were a problem. These were people who believed they had a calling—people who kept American's sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules, and figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods—and then discovered they were no longer wanted. Here's an excerpt from the audiobook. You can buy the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Sep 30, 202634 min
Hitler's Gift to the Hippies: The VW Beetle Story Part I – Rerun
Business History is off this week, so we wanted to keep you entertained with a rerun, in case you missed our Beetle episode the first time around. (You can help us win a Signal Award for this episode by voting here.) The VW Beetle was the biggest selling car of all time - and it found particular favor with people like hippies and surfers. But this icon of the 60s counterculture had its roots in Nazism. The Volkswagen - the People's Car - was an obsession of Adolf Hitler. He wanted to transform Germany into a land of drivers - and needed an affordable, but reliable automobile. Germany's private auto manufacturers knew the project was doomed to failure. So Hitler assembled a team of designers and factory managers to enact his vision - even if that meant enslaving workers and committing murder. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Sep 23, 202638 min
King of the Roll-Ups: The Man Who Created a Trash Empire, Then Built Blockbuster Video
Wayne Huizenga came from a long line of trash collectors. It was a rough, fragmented, mom-and-pops business which notoriously attracted mobsters. But Huizenga set out to buy his small competitors - to roll them up - to form the biggest waste management firm in the world. Huizenga bought up rival companies at a furious pace - several per week - and when he tired of the trash business he looked for something new. In the 80s, video stores also tended to be mom 'n pops outfits. Huizenga spotted that there was a golden opportunity to consolidate the rental industry, so used roll ups to build the giant Blockbuster Video chain. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Sep 18, 202644 min
How Warren Buffet Built His Legacy By Finding Value No One Else Could See – Rerun
With the news of Warren Buffett stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, we are revisiting an episode from our two-part series on Buffet. Warren Buffett rose from obscurity to become the richest person in the world - and he did it in a unique way. As a boy in Omaha he collected information obsessively - writing down car license numbers and hoarding bottle caps. As a young man, Buffett turned his focus on scouring business accounts to find companies that had hidden value no one else could spot. We tell the story of young Warren Buffett as he quietly worked building up the expertise and accumulating the wealth that would allow him to become the most famous investor of our age. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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About Business History
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.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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