Spectacular Failures
by American Public MediaCorporate crookedness. Family feuding. Hilariously half-baked decisions. Host Lauren Ober tackles some of the most spectacular business failures of all time, and what could have been done to avoid them. Some of these stories are shocking. Some are funny. Some are just downright sad. But each one will give you a totally new perspective on big business… and big failure. From American Public Media.
Copyright: Copyright 2024 Minnesota Public Radio
Episodes
Introducing: Ripple
55m · PublishedWe have a special episode for you today. We’re sharing an episode of the new podcast from APM Studios and Western Sound called “Ripple.”
The largest oil spill in American history captivated the public’s attention for the entire summer of 2010. Authorities told a story of a herculean response effort that made shorelines safe and avoided a worst case scenario. Was that really the whole picture?
“Ripple” is a new series investigating the stories we were told were over.
In Season One, the reporting team traveled hundreds of miles across the Gulf Coast to learn the ongoing effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill — which are still impacting many coastal residents more than a decade later. Here is episode 1! And if you’d like to hear more episodes, you can find “Ripple” wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen to This: The Loudest Girl in the World
11m · PublishedThe Loudest Girl in the World is a new podcast from that tells the story of Lauren Ober's journey to understand what the hell it means to be on the autism spectrum and how to live life as a newly diagnosed autistic person. It's about finding yourself broken in a place you never expected to be and emerging from that place a mostly glued back together person. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen to This: What's Your Problem?
13m · PublishedYou may know Jacob Goldstein as the former host of the Planet Money podcast. Now, he’s combining his expertise about the money and business worlds with his passion for technology on a brand new show called What’s Your Problem? from Pushkin Industries.
What’s Your Problem? is a show about people who are facing some of the biggest challenges in modern business – and the problems they have to solve along the way. Find What's Your Problem? and listen to more engaging conversations wherever you get your podcasts.
Sqirl finds itself in a jam
37m · PublishedThe Los Angeles restaurant Sqirl had lines down the block for brunches that featured its famous house-made jams on toast. But then a photo of discarded mold scraped from the jam, snapped by someone in the Sqirl kitchen, blew up the internet...and led to a reputation crisis Sqirl is still dealing with.
Our sponsors this week:
Bombas - Bombas.com/spectacular
Ourcrowd - Ourcrowd.com/spectacular
Sign up to receive our brand new newsletter, featuring weekly recommendations from Lauren and the rest of the team at spectacularfailures.org/newsletter.
Read the transcript of the episode at spectacularfailures.org.
You can follow Spectacular Failures on Twitter at @failureshow and like us at Facebook.com/failureshow. We're @failure_show on Instagram. Follow Lauren Ober on Twitter and Instagram at @oberandout.
NYC Taxi Medallions' steep fare
37m · PublishedEven before Uber and Lyft pulled into town, NYC yellow cabs were having a rough ride. Reckless lending practices and inflated taxi medallion prices racked up profits for the city and debt for drivers. Then, the bubble did what bubbles do.
Our sponsors this week:
Policy Genius - policygenius.com
Betterhelp - betterhelp.com/spectacular
Sign up to receive our brand new newsletter, featuring weekly recommendations from Lauren and the rest of the team at spectacularfailures.org/newsletter.
Read the transcript of the episode at spectacularfailures.org.
You can follow Spectacular Failures on Twitter at @failureshow and like us at Facebook.com/failureshow. We're @failure_show on Instagram. Follow Lauren Ober on Twitter and Instagram at @oberandout.
Subprime times at Countrywide Financial
43m · PublishedBefore the housing bubble burst, Countrywide Financial was one of the nation’s largest home mortgage lenders. But after years of predatory lending practices, the predator went extinct.
Our sponsors this week:
Indeed - Indeed.com/spectacular
Policy Genius - Policygenius.com
Our Crowd - ourcrowd.com/spectacular
Sign up to receive our brand new newsletter, featuring weekly recommendations from Lauren and the rest of the team at spectacularfailures.org/newsletter.
Read the transcript of the episode at spectacularfailures.org.
You can follow Spectacular Failures on Twitter at @failureshow and like us at Facebook.com/failureshow. We're @failure_show on Instagram. Follow Lauren Ober on Twitter and Instagram at @oberandout.
Pan Am hits major turbulence
39m · PublishedPan Am made air travel cool—from chic crew uniforms to exotic locations to square-jawed flyboy pilots. But a couple of bad business deals, massive deregulation, and a devastating terrorist attack sunset the airline for good.
Our sponsors this week:
Betterhelp: betterhelp.com/spectacular
The Great Courses Plus: thegreatcoursesplus.com/spectacular
Sign up to receive our brand new newsletter, featuring weekly recommendations from Lauren and the rest of the team at spectacularfailures.org/newsletter.
Read the transcript of the episode at spectacularfailures.org.
You can follow Spectacular Failures on Twitter at @failureshow and like us at Facebook.com/failureshow. We're @failure_show on Instagram. Follow Lauren Ober on Twitter and Instagram at @oberandout.
A dairy giant gets milked
37m · PublishedGot milk? These days, chances are maybe not. Americans have been saying no thanks for years now, and changing consumer tastes have been bad news for what used to be the nation’s largest milk processor, Dean Foods.
Sign up to receive our brand new newsletter, featuring weekly recommendations from Lauren and the rest of the team at spectacularfailures.org/newsletter.
Read the transcript of the episode at spectacularfailures.org.
You can follow Spectacular Failures on Twitter at @failureshow and like us at Facebook.com/failureshow. We're @failure_show on Instagram. Follow Lauren Ober on Twitter and Instagram at @oberandout.
OUR SPONSORS THIS WEEK
The Great Courses Plus: thegreatcoursesplus.com/spectacular
NetSuite: NetSuite.com/spectacular
BetterHelp: betterhelp.com/spectacular
Napster fought the law and the law won
38m · PublishedThe recording industry, Metallica, and ultimately federal court put the brakes on Napster’s music file sharing. But before exiting the stage, Napster changed the way we listen to music—and how much we’re willing to pay for it.
[Editor’s note - Sept. 1, 2020: This episode has been updated to reflect that “CyberTalk” was a group effort overseen by Jeff Gold. An earlier version characterized it as his solo effort.]
Our sponsors this week:
Bombas: bombas.com/spectacular
Policy Genius: policygenius.com
NetSuite: netsuite.com/spectacular
Sign up to receive our brand new newsletter, featuring weekly recommendations from Lauren and the rest of the team at spectacularfailures.org/newsletter.
Read the transcript of the episode at spectacularfailures.org.
You can follow Spectacular Failures on Twitter at @failureshow and like us at Facebook.com/failureshow. We're @failure_show on Instagram. Follow Lauren Ober on Twitter and Instagram at @oberandout.
The toxic tale of the Love Canal fail
39m · PublishedWhen Hooker Chemical sold its infamous toxic waste landfill to the Niagara Falls School Board, the $1 deal left Niagara residents seriously ill. But few believed the company could truly be at fault...until it was too late.
Our sponsors this week:
NetSuite: netsuite.com/spectacular
Betterhelp: betterhelp.com/spectacular
Sign up to receive our brand new newsletter, featuring weekly recommendations from Lauren and the rest of the team at spectacularfailures.org/newsletter.
Read the transcript of the episode at spectacularfailures.org.
You can follow Spectacular Failures on Twitter at @failureshow and like us at Facebook.com/failureshow. We're @failure_show on Instagram. Follow Lauren Ober on Twitter and Instagram at @oberandout.
Spectacular Failures has 25 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 13:23:39. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on October 28th 2022. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on May 22nd, 2024 15:42.
