Business/Disrupted
Business & Economics Podcasts
Business is an everyday thing, but everyday things can have untold stories - the stories about the things we never stopped to think about. Anyone can pay attention to financial ratios and textbook principles, but the best information lives in the stories that happen. What are the stories others have created with their business challenges? From starting a new business from scratch to reinventing oneself for their second third act, this show explores how these personal stories translate into the business context. Everybody loves a good fraud story. Everybody loves a good war story. We can delight in the lessons provided by others’ experiences, both good and bad, funny and tragic, and even dumb. They all plant the seeds for good, compelling, interesting stories. Join us as we ask “What were they thinking?” and dive into the minds of business leaders who are out there, doing it every day. We’ll explore businesses as diverse as space to podcasting, sovereign citizens to Ponzi schemes. Our goal will be to make sure you enjoy it every step of the way, as we challenge the things you thought you always knew.
Location:
United States
Description:
Business is an everyday thing, but everyday things can have untold stories - the stories about the things we never stopped to think about. Anyone can pay attention to financial ratios and textbook principles, but the best information lives in the stories that happen. What are the stories others have created with their business challenges? From starting a new business from scratch to reinventing oneself for their second third act, this show explores how these personal stories translate into the business context. Everybody loves a good fraud story. Everybody loves a good war story. We can delight in the lessons provided by others’ experiences, both good and bad, funny and tragic, and even dumb. They all plant the seeds for good, compelling, interesting stories. Join us as we ask “What were they thinking?” and dive into the minds of business leaders who are out there, doing it every day. We’ll explore businesses as diverse as space to podcasting, sovereign citizens to Ponzi schemes. Our goal will be to make sure you enjoy it every step of the way, as we challenge the things you thought you always knew.
Language:
English
Episodes
Inside the District Attorney's Office and Criminal Justice Reform
7/31/2022
In this episode, we look at the challenges of progressive criminal justice reform from the standpoint of the prosecutor, by looking at how the District Attorney's office functions. The ideals of criminal justice reform are sound, but there are deficiencies in their execution. If people don't feel like their safety has improved and they don't feel good about their environment, what does that mean for the progressive D.A. movement's impact on the community? To make some sense of this, take a glimpse at how a District Attorney's office works. And, to do that, we talk with former Philadelphia District Attorney and former federally incarcerated citizen R. Seth Williams.
Duration:01:00:05
The Unexpected Shackles of Binding Arbitration
6/26/2022
If we think about arbitration at all, we think of it in terms of a dispute resolution mechanism written into large, complex contracts. We don't think of ordering a pizza online, streaming a movie, or using our cellphone. We probably don't expect it to involve our workplace. Yet, here we are, with everyone likely subject to at least one binding arbitration agreement of which they're not even aware. Are there horror stories? You bet there are. We talk with two experts in the field to understand how we got to this place, and what it means now that we're here. What do our lives really look like now that we've unknowingly signed away one of our fundamental legal rights in exchange for some free food?
Guests:
Professor Tom Stipanowich, William Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law
E. Drew Britcher - Senior Partner, Britcher Leone & Sergio LLP, New Jersey
Duration:00:56:14
When Crazy, Libelous, Crazy Came to Bankruptcy
5/9/2022
Our story is one with a lot of facets: the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School; conspiracy theories bandied about for entertainment; the preternaturally unhinged and how they react to an equally unhinged media; the power of defamation lawsuits; the sheer absurdity of ignoring a court order to produce information and, finally; abusing the bankruptcy process. In other words, we're exploring the story of noted internet crackpot Alex Jones and the bankruptcy cases he filed for three of his companies in an attempt to get out from under the looming damages award he will ultimately owe to those who have successfully sued him and his companies for defamation.
Duration:00:46:41
Encore Any Functioning Adult 2020
4/25/2022
Planning a major party political convention is an eighteen month labor of love, persistence, money, brute force, money, patience, money, logistics and the kindness of strangers. And a lot of money. We’ll explore the planning that went into the 2020 conventions, including what happened when a pandemic changed everyone’s expectations, and redefined what a political convention could (and, perhaps, should) be.
Duration:00:55:07
Encore The Business of the U.S. Senate and Voting Rights
4/18/2022
The United States Senate has become the focus of a power struggle between, on the one hand, a minority resistant to challenge, and a bare majority seeking to respond to a watershed moment in history - the systematic effort in the states to curtail voting rights. Two bills, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, have been passed by the House and are logjammed in the Senate due to Senate rules. But rules can be changed. We talk with Former U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN),...
Duration:00:55:29
The Strange Story of Stonks and Gamestop
4/11/2022
How did a sleepy retail store that sells video games see its stock price soar from near pennies per share to more than three hundred dollars a share? And what does a message board have to do with this? And how did a hedge fund lose almost half its value because of activist day traders? What the hell happened here? We walk to Bloomberg Law reporter Daniel Gill and Bloomberg Government reporter Megan Wilson about how this happened and what it all means.
Duration:00:55:46
The Shotgun Marriage of Bankruptcy & Mass Tort Cases (Podcast Edit)
4/4/2022
Boy Scouts, Purdue Pharma, and now Johnson & Johnson - all are cases that are in bankruptcy because of thousands upon thousands of negligence cases; all are typical class actions; all are in bankruptcy against the wishes of the injured parties, and all are going to have to learn to adapt because they're all staying in bankruptcy. How did mass torts end up in the bankruptcy court instead of the class action courtroom? How can a company create a subsidiary and decide that the subsidiary will be responsible for all of the claims against the parent? And what's going on with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family's efforts to buy peace from thousands of litigants? We talk with Ed Neiger of ASK, LLP, an attorney specializing in bankruptcy and torts litigation. He represents clients in several mass tort bankruptcy cases and will discuss this awkward collision of two legal systems designed to handle claims - but in very different ways.
Duration:00:55:36
Encore The High-RPM World of Auto Racing
3/28/2022
They say that if you want to make a small fortune in auto racing, you have to start with a large fortune. Between politics, mechanical issues, human factors, and the unknown, it's tough for a person with the need for speed to make it in the fastest-paced sport there is. But what does it really take? Our guest broke into racing in the middle of a successful career as a bankruptcy lawyer - and what parallels might lurk in that combination? We'll talk with Peter Partee, Sr. of Partee Racing LLC...
Duration:00:55:05
Encore Comedy Minus Time Equals Tragedy
3/21/2022
Comedy is a grueling field. It used to be that you struggled, you worked the clubs, you did bit parts and maybe, just maybe, you got the brass ring and made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. If Johnny called you over to sit on the couch after your set, chances are you had made it. Not so much anymore. Johnny’s long gone, there are more late-night shows, more clubs, more radio shows, more podcasts, more, more, and more competition. But that also means more jobs for comedy...
Duration:00:55:47
Encore Oxy is a Hell of a Drug
3/7/2022
With the stroke of a pen, a U.S. District Court Judge overturned the confirmed bankruptcy plan of Purdue Pharma, placing everything up in the air. What's at stake: $4.3 billion from Purdue's owners, the Sackler family, in exchange for the release of all claims against them from anyone, anywhere, for all time. Without those payments, no creditors other than the United States Government are likely to get anything at all - no opioid remediation and prevention programs; no payments to victims of...
Duration:00:56:20
Encore Wounding Warriors
2/28/2022
We ask a lot of service-members, and they give far more than they are asked. For many, what they bring back from their service complicates the rest of their lives. Whether it’s supporting a family on a military salary or navigating the difficult transition to civilian life after service, our vets and service-members are often left alone, uneducated and unprepared for a complex financial existence, complicated by medical issues, the itinerant nature of life in the military, and all the...
Duration:00:55:30
Being G. Washington
2/21/2022
On Presidents' Day 2022, we talk with the nation's foremost historical actor of George Washington about what it is to inhabit the character of America's first General of the Armies, first President, and the person who held the states together long enough to give a burgeoning nation a shot of its own. We dispel misconceptions, the things that a career in business and a career being George Washington have in common, and we talk about the strange path that leads to the doorstep at Mount Vernon, where Dean Malissa portrayed George Washington for twenty years. There's a lot more to it than false teeth and fallen cherry trees.
Duration:00:56:00
Encore The Internet Radio is for Porn
2/14/2022
Porn, adult entertainment, pornography, smut, whatever you call it, is big business. More than $97 Billion per year big. And, amusingly enough, much of it is consumed only ten minutes at a time. We speak with Lux Alptraum, writer, blogger and expert on sexuality, technology, and adult entertainment about the business that few admit to consuming, yet someone's gotta be clicking Pay because business is booming. We'll explore how porn has evolved, where the industry is today, and where it's...
Duration:00:55:48
Encore You've Been Pwned
2/7/2022
If you’re at all online, you’ve probably been the victim of a data breach. If you work in a technical or competitive field, chances are someone, somewhere, has tried to get into your systems to have a look around and maybe shortcut their own development cycle at the expense of your trade secrets. Hacking has a cost, certainly, but it is also a means for discovery - both positive and negative, for profit and for the public benefit. What is the business case of the dark side of the Internet?
Duration:00:55:50
Encore The State of State Politics
1/31/2022
In our continuing series on the business of politics, we look to state political parties - where the real action happens. Dealing with state, local and national races, state political parties are where volunteerism in politics starts, and where fundraising rubber meets the road. Running a state political parties is the work if being a candidate for office onesself - and it involves managing people, dollars, public perception and a changing political environment on the best of days. In a...
Duration:00:55:44
The Tricky Business of Diversity & Inclusion
1/24/2022
There's big money in employment - companies invest significantly in finding, onboarding and training the best employees they can get - it's good business to make sure those employees feel welcome. Diversity and inclusion; equality and equity; welcoming and affirming. We use these words in relation to workplaces, but what do they mean and how do firms earn these adjectives? The landscape of Diversity & Inclusion is an evolving practice, changing as social mores change. We're joined by two attorneys expert in D&I, as part of general firm and practice management, as well as in mentoring diverse professionals and their firms. We'll explore the difficult business of creating welcoming and affirming workplaces for employee populations that reflect the makeup of our society.
Duration:00:56:21
The Business of the U.S. Senate and Voting Rights
1/17/2022
The United States Senate has become the focus of a power struggle between, on the one hand, a minority resistant to challenge, and a bare majority seeking to respond to a watershed moment in history - the systematic effort in the states to curtail voting rights. Two bills, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, have been passed by the House and are logjammed in the Senate due to Senate rules. But rules can be changed. We talk with Former U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN), host of the Al Franken Podcast, on what's happening in the Senate, what can be done about the filibuster, and what lies at risk. Because totalitarian minority rule isn't good for business.
Duration:00:55:31
The High-RPM World of Auto Racing
1/10/2022
They say that if you want to make a small fortune in auto racing, you have to start with a large fortune. Between politics, mechanical issues, human factors, and the unknown, it's tough for a person with the need for speed to make it in the fastest-paced sport there is. But what does it really take? Our guest broke into racing in the middle of a successful career as a bankruptcy lawyer - and what parallels might lurk in that combination? We'll talk with Peter Partee, Sr. of Partee Racing LLC as we strip down the mysteries of the amateur and professional racing circuits, find out how competitors monetize adrenalin, and discover how racing operates as a business. it's far more than just left turns.
Duration:00:55:07
Encore It's a Dog's Word - The Business of Service Dogs
1/3/2022
Companion Dogs, Assistance Dogs, Seeing-Eye Dogs, Emotional Support Dogs - they seem the same to the uninitiated, but they're very different. We talk with two of the most respected leaders in the Service Dogs field about the business of making incredibly skilled canine companions - what goes into the breeding, the training, and the mating with a person in need. We'll explore the risks to the system, from un- and under-trained service dogs to outright fakes, and how our legal framework has...
Duration:00:55:43
Encore The Low Cost of Second Chances
12/27/2021
Every day, prisoners are released from imprisonment back into society without so much as a thought as to what they do to become productive again. How do we help the newly returning citizens start being unincarcerated? How does the recently released get past the checkbox on a job application and become self-sufficient? What does prison do to your outlook and your view of your prospects? Our guest knows the answers to these questions well. The first black person to be elected District Attorney...
Duration:00:55:24