We’re taking a break until 2023. Ryan and Kate and the rest of the team wish you happy holidays as we bring back this Christmas classic. 

In 1994, Mariah Carey released “All I Want for Christmas is You” to moderate success. Today, the song is a megahit. What happened? WSJ’s John Jurgensen called up the “Queen of Christmas” to find out. 

This episode was originally published on December 11, 2020.

The Journal will return Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023.

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Two years after launching, Cerebral had become a star in the telemedicine business space. The company had attracted tens of thousands of patients and was valued at close to $5 billion. CEO Kyle Robertson had big plans for the startup, but this spring, those plans started to crumble. WSJ’s Rolfe Winkler and Khadeeja Safdar started reporting on Cerebral. Their reporting would lead to federal investigations and major changes for the company.

Further Reading:

- The Failed Promise of Online Mental-Health Treatment 

Further Listening:

- The Journal: Uncontrolled Substances, Part 1: Subscribe and Prescribe 

- The Journal: Uncontrolled Substances, Part 2: Adderall 

- The Journal: Uncontrolled Substances, Part 3: Anthony 

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Anthony Kroll was 17 years old. Too young to have been a Cerebral patient, according to company policy. Too young to get mental-health treatment without his parents’ consent in his home state of Missouri. So how did a minor end up getting a prescription for an antidepressant that required an explicit warning for young adults? What was Cerebral treating him for? And why weren’t Anthony’s parents informed? In Part 3 of Uncontrolled Substances, WSJ reporter Khadeeja Safdar investigates what happened to Anthony Kroll.

Further Reading:

- Cerebral Treated a 17-Year-Old Without His Parents’ Consent. They Found Out the Day He Died. 

Further Listening:

- The Journal: Uncontrolled Substances, Part 1: Subscribe and Prescribe 

- The Journal: Uncontrolled Substances, Part 2: Adderall 

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When Illinois legalized recreational marijuana, the state wanted to create a more diverse cannabis industry. But three years on, only a handful of Black and minority entrepreneurs have been able to open businesses. WSJ reporter Vipal Monga explains why and we hear from one entrepreneur who is hoping to open his dispensary in Chicago after years of setbacks.

Further Reading:

- Efforts to Make Legal Cannabis Industry Equitable Are Falling Flat 

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When Bob Iger stepped down as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, he continued to wield influence as executive chairman. His successor in the corner office, Bob Chapek, begrudged Iger’s active role. WSJ’s Joe Flint explains how tensions mounted between the two men and led to a corporate coup that shook Hollywood.

Further Reading:

-Bob Iger vs. Bob Chapek: Inside the Disney Coup 

Further Listening:

-How Disney’s CEO Got Caught in Florida’s Fight Over Gay Rights 

-Why Florida is Fighting with Walt Disney World 

-Disney CEO Bob Chapek on Whether the Company Is “Too Woke” 

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After some early struggles, Cerebral hit on a lucrative new avenue for growth: prescribing controlled substances. WSJ’s Rolfe Winkler investigates how one tightly regulated medicine – Adderall – became crucial to Cerebral’s business. Some former employees take us inside the move into controlled substances and describe feeling pressured by the company to prescribe regulated medications. Cerebral denies pressuring employees and says it has helped many people get access to much-needed care.

Further Reading:

- Startup Cerebral Soared on Easy Adderall Prescriptions. That Was Its Undoing. 

- Startups Make It Easier to Get ADHD Drugs. That Made Some Workers Anxious. 

Further Listening:

- The Journal: Uncontrolled Substances, Part 1: Subscribe and Prescribe

- Science Vs: Adderall: What's It Doing to Your Brain? 

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Elon Musk has been changing Twitter’s rules about speech and safety since he took over the company. WSJ’s Alexa Corse explains how Twitter's content moderation has evolved since the acquisition.

 

Further Reading:

-Elon Musk’s Twitter Barbs Have New Magnitude 

-Twitter’s New Head of Trust and Safety Says Platform Wants to Move Quickly 

-Twitter Suspends Accounts Sharing Live Locations, Including the Tracker of Elon Musk’s Private Jet 

 

Further Listening:

-Elon Musk's 'Extremely Hardcore' Twitter 

-Why Elon Musk's Twitter Is Losing Advertisers 

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For more than 20 years, Apple has relied on China to produce a majority of its products, especially its iPhones. But there have also been issues. As WSJ’s Aaron Tilley reports, recent turmoil at Chinese manufacturing facilities is disrupting Apple’s business and forcing the company to look elsewhere.

Further Reading:

-Apple Makes Plans to Move Production Out of China

-Foxconn Letter Prodded China to Ease Zero-Covid Rules

Further Listening:

-China’s Biggest Protests in Decades

-How Jiang Zemin Made China a Global Superpower

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About a month after his crypto exchange firm FTX collapsed, Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested. Federal prosecutors have charged the self-appointed crypto savior with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy, and two regulatory agencies are suing him. WSJ’s Alexander Osipovich unpacks the charges.

Further Reading:

- FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Charged With Criminal Fraud, Conspiracy 

- Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested in Bahamas 

Further Listening:

- ‘Do You Expect to Go to Prison?’: An Interview With SBF 

- The Fall of Crypto’s Golden Boy 

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For the last two months, Russian airstrikes on Ukraine’s power grid have caused prolonged blackouts across the country. Now, millions of people are living without reliable electricity, water and heat. WSJ’s Ian Lovett and a cafe owner in Kyiv on life without power.

Further Reading:

-Russia Unleashes Its Biggest Barrage of Strikes on Ukraine Since Invasion

-Kyiv Power Cuts Bring Cold Food, Scheduled Vacuuming, Struggling Businesses

-Russia Says Strikes on Ukraine’s Infrastructure Aimed at Slowing Delivery of Foreign Arms 

Further Listening:

-The Surprising Origins of Russia’s Drones

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