Busted Business Bureau

Who wants to get drunk and talk about 1800s agriculture? MEEEEE apparently! Join myself and my sweet special friend J. T. Kost for an episode detailing the guano boom and bust of the 1800s: drunken reenactments of the Last Supper, yadda-yadda-ing our way through unprecendented imperial expansion, and plenty of descriptions of bird shit abound this episode! Not to get too TMI but I had to figure out a recording situation last-minute to produce this podcast, which means that the audio quality might be...shall we say different than previous episodes. I'm working on a solution and I hope you still like it anyways! This episode was a labor of love to my roots in academia, which is part of why the title is so annoying <3

Tickets to Kost's show Giggle Hour

SOURCES: 

1) How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, Daniel Immewahr, 2016

2) Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History, Gregory T Cushman, 2013

These are pretty dense books, and let's be real, any other source I consulted was genuinely just taking their info from these books -- it's pretty obvious. But man these books are so effing dense I don't feel bad only having two sources lol. 

Brazen antifeminist woman in STEM, Sarah, joins me to discuss the factory of girlfailures: Hewlett-Packard! Revolutionizing the world of personal-computers-you-kinda-know, this company has been run by a cavalcade of silly little clowns since at least 1999. This episode is packed top to bottom with shenanigans; spiders falling from the ceiling, being a Girl-FailedGubernatorialCandidate, somehow also private military contracting, and lots and lots of rich people problem-solving in unique, never-before seen foolish ways. 

I'll be posting episodes every two weeks, which I think will make the podcast much more sustainable to make! I can't read all this shit in one day, no matter how hard I try. Thanks so much for sticking around. I hope y'all have been liking it so far! :) If you do, it'd help me out to leave a rating on Apple Podcasts. The algorithm loves seeing engagement. Write who you think the hottest HP failed CEO is!

SOURCES: 

Amy Do and Blender Bluid join me to unpack the lengthy, complicated story of Pat Tillman. For a typically facts-dense podcast about corporate wrongdoings, this episode is decidedly more opinionated -- this isn't a single business for which we can dig up public reports, lawsuits, etc. Rather, this episode dives into the general misuse of someone's memory so that a variety of folks can milk ad revenue on Youtube and sell tee shirts. Plain and simple, I think that sucks! 

I've never been in more physical pain recording an episode nor have I taken so many L's in the leadup to it. Thanks for your patience on letting me take a week off before dropping this one! Once I get everything fixed up we should be back to a normal schedule. 

Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo 

SOURCES: 

Dry mouthed Emma Day did me a huge favor coming onto this podcast last-minute for a WHIRLWIND episode about trash. If you love cathaters and sewage being dumped into your Hawai'ian vacation resort water, suing a district attorney out of spite for 7 years, or committing literal textbook financial fraud, you'll freaking LOVE this one! Don't you wish a company tasked with a service that impacts public health and safety would do it...well? Nah, let's just pop some money into our retirement account and tell the next generation HAGS! Anyways, when Emma gets in the studio I just vibe. I love hanging out with her :)

Thanks to everyone for listening, you can follow Emma @alldayemmaday and catch her occasionally on 101.9 The Mix. She produces @thelesbianlodge monthly and is a cool fella. 

SOURCES: 

https://www3.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/stormwater-feature.html#:~:text=Stormwater%20systems%20were%20originally%20intended,and%20straight%20to%20our%20waters.

https://leachate.co.uk/main/leachate-treatment/how-do-you-treat-leachate/

My friend who loves a shot and a beer, Karsten Runquist, joins me for this exploratory episode about the ins and outs of the United States' beloved decrepit children's toy retail store, Toys R Us! Let's get jiggy with some brankruptcy docey-do's, George HW Bush's infamous trip to Japan, giraffe sized coffins, and the lush world of private equity! This episode took much longer to research than is likely evident from the podcast because what on God's green earth is a motherfvcking "Leveraged Buyout?" Is mayonnaise a debt instrument? Anyways, huge thanks to Investopedia dot com for your articles that require 3 other articles to understand, like a Matryoshka doll of finance jargon. 

Karsten and I hosted a Succession recap podcast called Succ Off: A Succession Podcast which is on, like, all streaming services I assume. You can also follow him on Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter at either @KarstenRunquist or @RunquistKarsten. Yay!

SOURCES:

NOTE: The Plunder-ey books I’ve linked to the website where I get them with tenuous legality. I currently have a free trial on this website and it has been 1000% worth it. Considering getting a subscription and canceling my Scribd subscription, which is becoming less and less useful. 

HIEEEEE!!!!! I'm back! My third-string comedian, first-string friend Kate joins me to talk about a company that has gotten away with evils that take place during every stage of a life cycle: Abbott Laboratories. If you like undercover FBI stings with costumes, vile descriptions of bacteria through the lens of art criticism, or selling your weight in illegally-marketed sedatives, this episode is for YOU! How can a business factor in losing hundreds of millions of dollars every few years because they're getting sued by the government? Fairly easily it turns out!

Thanks for your patience re: me releasing season 5. If you like the episode and want to stay updated on why the hell it took so long, you can go to Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau and find stuff there! Otherwise, just tell your wonderful friends about this podcast; it means the world to me. Thanks so much! Love you bye!

SOURCES: 

Didn’t even get to this but here’s a random article about Abbott’s role in the Oxycontin crisis: Secret trove reveals bold ‘crusade’ to make OxyContin a blockbuster, David Armstrong, STAT news, 2016

If you're looking for a season finale where I nearly spit out my Diet Coke several times, this episode is for you. I'll be honest: I wrote a pretty solid script involving Hertz's century-long history with highlights including consistent overcharging, under-delivering on vehicles, becoming a meme stock, and commiting insurance fraud. However. Meg Harris is the funniest person alive and I forgot to say like half the things in my script. Is this the most research-ey the podcast has ever been? No. But I'm an entertainer, not a journalist, so this is a bangin' episode.

Check out They Call Us here: https://www.theycallus.com/

Here's where you can find my Patreon (where I WILL be uploading content during the break before season 5!!): https://www.patreon.com/bustedbizbureau

SOURCES: 

-https://abcnews.go.com/Business/rental-car-place-doesnt-hold-reservation/story?id=40626341

-CASETEXT: Moretti V Hertz: https://casetext.com/case/moretti-v-hertz-corp

-https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2016/06/30/rental-cars-now-safer-due-to-new-federal-law/?sh=18bfc9776171

-https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-02/hertz-mistakenly-took-kate-klonick-for-a-ride

-https://americanbusinesshistory.org/john-hertz-his-innovations-touch-millions-but-few-know-his-story/

-https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/07/10/oj-and-hertz-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-rent-a-star/fcee117c-d7c1-442c-a46a-da3f3e797488/

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Frissora

-https://www.sec.gov/enforce/33-10601-s

-https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikakelton/2019/05/02/hertz-makes-a-rare-move-by-suing-former-executives/?sh=54f8304c33e7

-https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/12/car-rental-shortage-covid/621068/

-https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/17/hertz-car-rental-accused-customers-auto-theft 

Longtime friend, firsttime caller Jon Oppenheimer finally joins my podcast to continue my tradition of not being quite topical by analyzing a months-old news thing: Southwest Airlines! December 2022 was far from the company's only meltdown that caused nationwide disaster. But Jon asked me to make this episode because we all had questions after the incident: why do we have so few choices of air travel yet so few consequences for airlines when they completely boof it? Who is in charge here? Is this how it's always gonna be? The history of commercial aviation in the US is actually fucking nutty, and the road to where we are now is paved with blood. This is a very dense and dry episode, which is kind of a fun twist for moi! Starting with the air mail scandal from the 30s through the airline deregulation act of 1978 through the present, this is a real highlight real of the relationship between the federal government and private airline companies. Also I whip out an incredible Lois Griffin impression about 42 minutes in. What's not to love? 

Follow @joppenflopper and tell him a better twitter name

Also follow @BustedBizBureau on all social media for more fabulous stuff from me. As always if you like the show, I'm on Patreon.com/BustedBizBureau THANKS!!

SOURCES: 

All I can say is I knocked it out of the park with this one. I'm finally telling my sweet friend Cookie the story of my absolute FAVORITE scammer: Liz Carmichael. This one's got everything: libertarian science fiction, engineering mishaps, three wheeled cars, stock fraud, Unsolved Mysteries, and a woman so magnetic that she girlbossed millions of dollars despite having NO PRODUCT. I sincerely mean it when I say that I am obsessed with her. 

This episode honestly evades my descriptive writing skills -- in part because I've worked 14 days in a row, in part because it's got so much going on. I promise this is a great one. Go to splitendsfilm.com and watch Cookie's awesome movie!

FOOTNOTES: 

1) History’s Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed, Preston Lerner and Matt Stone 2012

2) The Strange Case of the Dale, Walt Woron, New York Times Oct 1975

3) Liz Carmichael's Dream Buggy Turns into a Nightmare, People Magazine Staff, 1975

4) The Trans Women Behind HBO’s Tale Of This Mysterious, Audacious Automaker, Dawn Ennis, Forbes 2021

5) https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2021/05/21/dale-cliffts-original-three-wheeler-prototype-emerges-from-hiding-after-decades-heads-to-petersen

6) https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1974-twentieth-century-dale

7) People v Carmichael (1980) https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1833667.html

8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand

9) The Lady and the Dale, HBO Docuseries, Zackary Drucker and Nick Cammilleri 2021

My beloved friend Derry Queen joins me for a real fast-and-loose episode about RuPaul's Drag Race. This one was a very fun episode for me because it's less heavy on the research since Derry has a lot of personal experience relating to the show. The standard working conditions in reality TV are absolutely bonkers, and we talk about some of that history.

Don't forget to vote for ME for best podcast in the Chicago Reader, and don't forget to NOT VOTE FOR DERRY as best drag queen. Please vote for Irregular Girl!!! She is fucking awesome. If you like drag and you live in Chicago, you should absolutely check out her work. 

SOURCES: I made it up

-Tired, Tipsy, and Pushed to the Brink, Edward Wyatt, NYT 2009

-Reality TV's Low-Wage and No-Wage Work, Tanner Mirlees, Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research, 27.

-REALITY’S KIDS: ARE CHILDREN WHO PARTICIPATE ON REALITY TELEVISION SHOWS COVERED UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT?, Adam P. Greenberg, Southern California Law Review 2018

-Reality TV's worker scandal: Shows accused of stealing millions in wages, Josh Eidelson, Salon.com 2013

-Shantay, You Pay: Inside the Heavy Financial Burden of Going On ‘Drag Race’, Rachel Miller, VICE 2021.

-PEG countersuit v Adore Delano

-Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched, Mark Andrejevic, 2004

-Bussy Queen's season 14 contract review on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=700Nvfa4wHk&t=757s&ab_channel=BussyQueen