We're sharing an episode from another Pushkin podcast, Business History. Hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith examine the surprising stories of businesses big and small, bringing to life the greatest innovations, the boldest entrepreneurs and the craziest mavericks in the archives of commerce and finance.

It's 1945. The Volkswagen factory has been bombed and members of the staff have been arrested as war criminals. So how did the company turn around in just a few years and begin making Beetle cars that became a global sensation? Big political and economic moves helped - but a British Army officer, Walt Disney and a New York ad agency also played pivotal roles in turning a car that Hitler had championed into the favourite ride of surfers, school teachers and hippies.   

This is part 2 of a two-part series. Check out part 1 from last week.

Find more episodes of Business History on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're sharing an episode from another Pushkin podcast, Business History. Hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith examine the surprising stories of businesses big and small, bringing to life the greatest innovations, the boldest entrepreneurs and the craziest mavericks in the archives of commerce and finance.

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.

This is part 1 of a two-part series on the VW Beetle. Find part 2 here next Wednesday.

Find more episodes of Business History on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Toyota Land Cruiser returns as a more affordable SUV, Tony and Eddie take it off-roading to find out if it lives up to the Land Cruiser name.

For more on the Toyota Land Cruiser visit Car and Driver online.

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The Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato is designed to play in the dirt, so we get it dirty. After a spirited drive, hosts Tony Quiroga and Eddie Alterman talk to Lamborghini’s chief technical officer Rouven Mohr to get the inside story on the Sterrato.

For more on the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato visit Car and Driver online.

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Introducing Heart's Nancy Wilson from Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond.

Follow the show: Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Guitarist and songwriter Nancy Wilson is one half of the rock band Heart, along with her older sister Ann Wilson. Nancy and Ann have been the face of the band since the mid-70s. Heart’s first album, Dreamboat Annie, was released in 1976 right as the band was making traction opening for big acts like Rod Stewart and The Bee Gees. Soon their songs, like “Magic Man” and “Crazy On You,” started to take off in the States, and Heart quickly became a headlining act.

Nearly 50 years since their debut album, Heart has experienced career highs—like a string of chart-topping hits and an induction into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame—as well as their fair share of personal and professional adversity. Today Ann and Nancy remain steadfast in continuing Heart’s legacy. This month they embarked on a world tour—their first in five years.

To celebrate Ann and Nancy Wilson’s massive contribution to rock n roll history, we will feature conversations with both sisters over the next two weeks. Today we’ll hear Leah Rose talk to Nancy about how the popular drugs of the ‘70s and ‘80s influenced Heart’s sound. She also describes how being accepted by the musicians of Seattle’s grunge scene helped her overcome Heart’s fraught experience recording power ballads in the ‘80s. And she describes the lo-fi setup she used to score the soundtracks of her ex-husband Cameron Crowe’s hit movies: Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, and Jerry McGuire.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Heart songs HERE.

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DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

The Happiness Lab’s Dr. Laurie Santos brings together other Pushkin hosts to mark the International Day of Happiness. Revisionist History’s Malcolm Gladwell talks about the benefits of the misery of running in a Canadian winter. Dr. Maya Shankar from A Slight Change of Plans talks about quieting her mental chatter. And Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford surprises everyone with the happiness lessons to be learned from a colonoscopy.

Hear more of The Happiness Lab HERE.

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Introducing Blink with Stephen Gaghan | Development Hell from Revisionist History.

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DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

Major breakthroughs in artificial intelligence research often reshape the design and utility of AI in both business and society. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Goldstein explore the conceptual underpinnings of modern AI with Dr. David Cox, VP of AI Models at IBM Research. They talk foundation models, self-supervised machine learning, and the practical applications of AI and data platforms like watsonx in business and technology.

Visit us at: https://www.ibm.com/smarttalks/

Learn more about watsonx: https://www.ibm.com/watsonx

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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In our Car of the Year finale, the finalists from rounds 1-4 now go head to head! Eddie, Malcolm, and Alonzo Bodden talk through the finalists, explain why they deserve a place in history, and decide the Car Show Car of the Year once and for all. 

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Introducing Bubbles with Isaac Adamson | Development Hell from Revisionist History.

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DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].