In the second half of the 20th century, icy diplomatic relations between the US and the Soviet Union made it nearly impossible for American companies to do business in the USSR. Don Kendall, the CEO of Pepsi at the time, made it his mission to break into the Soviet market. […]

A few months ago, a listener in our Facebook group suggested we look into Sears mail-order homes for a potential episode. We loved the idea, and it turns out there’s already a fantastic story about these houses from the podcast 99% Invisible. Today, we’re sharing that episode with you. 99% […]

In advance of the planned start of the 2020 NFL season, a new clothing line, MSX by Michael Strahan for NFL, will go on sale. Strahan, a former New York Giants player and Pro Football Hall of Fame member, isn’t new to the clothing industry – his company has already […]

This week, we’re teaming up with the podcast Proof from America’s Test Kitchen to bring you an Oreo story with three delicious parts. First, the longstanding rivalry between two biscuit makers that gave birth to the world’s favourite cookie. Then, one little girl’s brave choice (risking divine punishment!) to taste […]

Young Living was one of the first major essential oils companies on the market, helping to launch an industry that is worth billions of dollars today. The company is built on the myth of its founder, whose miraculous medical recovery inspired him to devote his life to alternative medicine. But […]

Samsung’s founder, his son, and his grandson turned a vegetable and dried fish shop into a global superpower and a symbol of South Korean success. But their fight to keep the company in the family has also landed it at the centre of some of South Korea’s biggest corruption investigations. […]

The original Game of Life was about reaching happy old age, not “Millionaire Acres.” And Monopoly was invented by an anti-capitalist who wanted to make a point about landowning and economic inequality. How did these games become the versions we play today? This is the story of how two iconic […]

How do you advertise a product that’s taboo? When Tampax became the first commercially-produced tampon in 1933, no one wanted to talk about menstruation. So the company embraced education as advertising. It’s a strategy that grew from door-to-door sales campaigns to middle school sex ed classes across the country today. […]

Nathan’s Famous turned the hot dog into a symbol of July 4th. But the story of how that happened says a lot more about America than just its love of a good BBQ. It’s immigrants striving for the American dream, hucksters spinning tall tales, underdogs fighting against the odds. The […]

In 1969, Cleveland’s Black residents boycotted McDonald’s. For weeks, the company’s leadership had been locked in a stalemate with Black activists over who should own and operate the local franchises. It was all part of a bigger movement, whose goal was to build economic power in Black communities through Black-owned […]

Jack Daniel’s is the top-selling whiskey in the world. For more than 150 years, it’s been made using time-honoured methods that go back to when Jack Daniel made the whiskey himself. (Yes, he was a real person.) But who taught “Mr. Jack” how to make that whiskey? Nearest Green, a […]

April Fools’ pranks come and go, but one joke item that’s stood the test of time is the whoopee cushion. Today, we trace its history from ancient Rome to now. Where did it come from? Why is it funny? Will it stay popular? And if everyone knows its name, why […]

The 1980’s TV commercials for California raisins have been called some of the best ads ever made. The claymation raisins singing and dancing to Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” became a kids TV show, recorded an album that went platinum, launched a range of toys and costumes, […]

Since Jazzercise started over 50 years ago, hundreds of thousands of (mostly) women have come together to exercise and get fit. But if you think Jazzercise is just jazz hands and shoulder rolls, you’re missing out on the bigger story, one about women becoming entrepreneurs and running their own businesses. […]

In Hawaii, Spam is served at grandma’s house and in high-end restaurants. It’s beloved. But in the continental U.S., the canned pork product is often the punchline of jokes. Why does Spam have such different meanings in different places? The answer involves World War II, Monty Python, and a troupe […]

More than two hundred years ago in Napoleonic France, the business world was walled off to women, and champagne was a luxury reserved for the ruling class. So then how did a young widow take over her husband’s struggling wine business and turn champagne into an international phenomenon? And how […]

From the mid 1970s to the mid ’80s, red M&M’s disappeared. American consumers had become worried about the safety of red food colouring after some questionable Russian studies prompted the FDA to look into whether one particular dye might be causing cancer in rats. But years later, the red M&M […]