Making a Killing with Bethany McLean

In the Season One finale of Making A Killing, Bethany brings back her friend, colleague and co-author Joe Nocera (Bloomberg Opinion columnist and creator of The Shrink Next Door podcast) to bookend the season with a lively analysis of the former head of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault S.A., Carlos Ghosn... sure to go down in history as one of the wildest business stories ever. Time and time again we learn that in business, truth is always stranger than fiction.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Maynard Keynes, the founder of macroeconomics, thought he knew what his grandchildren would be facing today. He imagined that capitalism would be almost over by now, having simply been a means to greater ends. About other things he was right; about capitalism being over, he was very, very wrong. Today's guest, Malcolm Harris -- editor of The New Inquiry and author of the book Shit is Fucked Up And Bullshit: History Since The End of History -- believes today's kids will have it even worse. Bethany and Malcolm have a Gen-X-meets-Gen-Y conversation about our future economy.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The inconvenient truth of oil is that it is still the lifeblood of industrialized nations -- and the price, politics and pollution of it matters. A lot. But one of the funny things about oil is how everyone who dares to make predictions has one thing in common: They’re wrong. In this episode, Bethany talks with Liam Denning, a well-known Bloomberg opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Autonomous vehicles, or self-driving cars, are often painted as a utopian-like technology that will save time (no traffic), save lives (no crashes), save money (billions!), and maybe even save the Earth (no emissions). But, as TechCrunch's Kirsten Korosec notes in her recent piece, “Who Will Own the Future of Transportation?” even if autonomous vehicles are eventually deployed en masse, the road to that future promises to be long, chaotic and complex. In this fascinating episode, Bethany and Kirsten discuss the difference between describing a grand vision, and soberly understanding the real costs and deep impact incurred by the execution of said vision.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cryptocurrencies are still in their infancy, as it seems most people agree, but it also feels like we’ve reached a tipping point. Even in Crypto Winters when Bitcoin prices crash, undeniably formative companies and global leaders (Starbucks, Microsoft, Visa, Facebook, the entire nation of China!) continue to make significant bets on the space. As we move from a speculative era into today, driven by more and more people investing time and money into the Bitcoin ecosystem, how do we know that digital assets will find a regular, scalable place in the world? What happens if crypto totally upends the “real” (is that fair to say?) financial markets? Are we in danger of that? What happens if there is a recession in the U.S. again - does Bitcoin become more attractive as an alternative to a centralized federal money system? And what is money, anyway? Bethany's guest Chris McCann, partner at Proof of Capital, chats about all this and more.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there’s a defining feature of upper income life for people with children, it’s school stress. How do you get your kids into the right preschool so they can get into the right high school so they can go to the best college? Paul Tough’s new book THE YEARS THAT MATTER MOST: How College Makes or Breaks Us, reveals why college, which is supposed to be the great equalizer, has become something that depends on and reinforces class and privilege. This is a huge deal for the business world. If we’re losing access to talent, we’re losing more than words can say. It also, of course, is a huge deal for our society. It’s not too grandiose to say that education determines the shape of the society in which we live. So…what shape is that? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's easy to take the economic mores of the time in which you live for granted. It's so easy, in fact, that it doesn't occur to most of us to question them. But question them we should. In his new book, TRANSACTION MAN, longtime journalist and Dean Emeritus of the Columbia Journalism School Nick Lemann shows that the beliefs that have shaped our modern world are not inviolable truths, but rather temporary and fragile constructs. In this episode, Bethany and Nick range from the 1950's-era belief that big corporations were the keepers of the social good, to the modern era of profit maximization, and agree that we need to keep questioning economic models and trends...because you never know when you’ll realize, all of a sudden, that they’re wrong. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Rampolla has been at the forefront of not one, but two industry-making companies. The first was his own ZICO coconut water, which birthed an $8 billion alternative beverage industry. The next saw Mark as an investor in Beyond Meat, which has been leading the plant-based food revolution. In both cases, the pioneering companies were met head on with major challenges. Both companies had to change deeply held biases of their consumers. But then, the minute they started to win people over, competitors came on strong. Is there such a thing as first-mover advantage, and if so, how do you hang onto it? What happens when you literally create an industry, and then the industry tries to cannibalize you? Pun intended! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the minute her dad took office, Ivanka and her business affairs have been at the center of controversy. Even though Ivanka removed herself from her Ivanka Trump fashion company when she entered the White House as a formal Adviser in 2017, she was forced to close the brand in Summer of 2018 due to continuing questions of conflicts of interest. Brands such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Gilt dropped her products after a boycott-Trump movement in backlash to the president's policies on… everything. Fair, unfair, for politics to take a toll on her business? To discuss all of this and more, Bethany sits down with New York Times Magazine writer Vanessa Grigoriadis, who also hosts the popular new podcast Tabloid, currently focusing an entire season on trying to understand none other than Ivanka Trump.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bethany talks to Kyle Pope, editor in chief and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, about the importance of fact checking. In this terrifying new world of fake news, it's more important than ever. Are the major social platforms doing enough, or is it just a losing battle? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now that cannabis is "legalish" there are a host of new opportunities for emerging businesses and investments... but also a decent amount of playing wait-and-see. Today, pot is legal in 33 states. But it is still illegal at the federal level. From a financial point of view, too, the short history of cannabis stocks is... high and lows! In this fascinating episode, Bethany talks with Jackson Tilley, author of the book Billion Dollar Dimebag, about the business of cannabis, what he calls the next great American industry. But is it really?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bethany talks with Jerry Useem, contributing editor to The Atlantic, about online shopping. Who has the power in the ever-expanding world of online shopping - the retailer or the consumer? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Wall Street Journal headline reads: “Families Go Deep in Debt to Stay in the Middle Class.” In the article, we meet several responsible, educated, well-employed families who are making nearly $150,000 a year… yet going deeper into debt with every paycheck. With, it seems, no way out. This is scary because it’s true, it’s widespread, it’s fundamentally disempowering for families, and it’s only going to get worse. For the last two decades, incomes have been pretty much stagnant. Over the same period of time, the average cost of cars, college tuition, health care expenditures, child care, and housing prices have swelled at an alarming rate. In order to bridge this widening gap between earning and costs, the middle class has turned to that knight in not-so-shining armor… financing. Borrowing. DEBT. In this episode, Bethany talks with Ken Brown, the reporter on this WSJ story that has gotten such a huge response.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bethany sits down with Gillian Tett, Chairman of the Financial Times Editorial Board (U.S.) and a British author. Among many other things, she has a way of looking at the big picture questions and implications of Brexit. In the U.S as in the U.K., we’re watching the daily breakdown of the political norms and processes that we’ve all been used to for the last few decades. Which leads to the biggest question of all: Is there a right level of dysfunction in modern democracy?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the questions Bethany has obsessed over in her years of covering big business is this: "What is the line between a visionary and a fraudster?" If any piece of Elon Musk's current empire (Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, etc) works in the long term, he’ll go down in the history books as a visionary. But will the problems he has created, and Tesla’s desperate need for cash, catch up with him? And is the way that his critics are treated, whether with his explicit or implicit consent, a clue to how this might turn out? Or is it irrelevant? To discuss, Bethany sits down with Linette Lopez, a reporter from Business Insider, who has had her own run-ins with Musk and his followers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1996, a prescription opioid known as OxyContin hit the market. It was among the first opioids to be heavily marketed (yes, legally) and since that time, more than 400,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses—including some 200,000 from prescription opioids. Millions more continue to struggle with addiction, and entire communities have been devastated by the epidemic. Who or what is to blame? Where is the original sin? Looking for answers, Bethany speaks to NYT reporter Barry Meier about the opioid crisis.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg writer Peter Robison conducted more than a dozen interviews with former Boeing employees and FAA inspectors, and went through hundreds of pages of internal emails and records. In a piece entitled “Former Boeing Engineers Say Relentless Cost Cutting Sacrificed Safety” he writes this: “The crisis is best understood as part of a larger drama that’s played out as Boeing has reshaped its workforce in an all-consuming focus on shareholder value.” In that pressured environment, what gets sacrificed on the altar of more profits, now? It wasn't supposed to be this way... If this could happen to Boeing, what’s the lesson for other companies? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It isn’t a secret that pension funds, which we all rely on to some degree or another to pay for our retirements, are in dire straits. Ready for a scary number? The combined funding deficit of public pension plans in the U.S., across all 50 states, was reported at an alarming $1.28 Trillion in 2017. Thank goodness we have a savior! It’s the private equity business, right? But… what if it’s not true? What if private equity isn't going to make our retirement plans fat and happy? What if it’s only enriching the Wall Streeters who run these investment firms? In this episode, Bethany talks with Dan Rasmussen about the risks and realities of private equity. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bethany talks with WSJ reporter Sahil Patel about the future of Netflix. Netflix is an incredibly aggressive company with a long term plan to monopolize all our time. There is no chilling going on. CEO Reed Hastings often describes Netflix’s business as a virtuous cycle, saying “We get more customers, we get more money, we can afford more content, we get more customers.” But here’s the thing about virtuous circles: They can turn vicious. Bethany and Sahil discuss what it will take for Netflix to maintain its dominance in the face of extreme competition and many vulnerabilities coming to light.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You don’t name your company "Uber" if you are planning to play by all the rules, make decisions by committee, and be everyone’s friend. But you probably also don’t make it to the top of the tech world by setting everything on fire, just because you can. (You can’t). In this episode, Bethany chats with Mike Isaac, who is in charge of covering Uber for The New York Times. He’s covered the company extensively for the past several years and also just published his book, SUPER PUMPED: The Battle For Uber. As Uber makes the claim: "Cars are to us what books were to Amazon,” Bethany and Mike dig into important questions about Uber's future.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Katherine Eban’s new book, Bottle of Lies, is terrifying. Here’s why: 90 percent of our pharmaceutical market is comprised of generics. Without generic medications, drug prices would not just be a problem, but literally a killer. And our doctors tell us these drugs are safe. But, according to Katherine, we actually cannot trust generic drugs. Find out why, in this chilling episode. Katherine is a long-time investigative reporter who focuses on public health and homeland security and sits down with Bethany to discuss the astonishing fraud and side effects of the generic drug boom. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bethany talks with Allison Schrager, author of the new book, An Economist Walks Into A Brothel. She’s a retirement finance economist, and has spent years talking to risk takers in all kinds of businesses. In a Hollywood-worthy twist, she has lately been studying risk in the unlikeliest of places -- talking to sex workers at The Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada. It turns out, they are experts at pricing and reducing risk. Allison has learned that there is a science to good risk taking. No one reaches the top of their field—be it sex work or running a Fortune 500 company—without mastering risk. They don’t jump in and just go with their gut. They possess a deliberate, thoughtful strategy so they know what risks to take, and reduce the downside if things don’t go their way. So, today we discuss - how do you master risk?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Financial Times columnist, CNN analyst and author Rana Foroohar has a question for you. Since only 15% of the money that is flowing out of the largest financial institutions is making it into the real economy... where's the other 85% going? In this episode, Bethany and Rana discuss the problem of "financialization" which essentially means that trading had become an end in and of itself, rather than a facilitation of business. Finance was supposed to be an intermediary, an enabler of business; it's not supposed to be the end game. This of course resulted in the 2008 financial crisis, but since then, well, what has happened? Big banks have gotten even bigger. And our society is growing restive... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bethany talks to Wired contributing editor Fred Vogelstein about Facebook. They discuss why obsessing about Facebook and privacy might be the wrong place to focus. The other question is what happens when heads of corporations are more powerful than most heads of states and how does that power manifest itself? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bethany speaks to Black Edge author and New Yorker writer Sheelah Kolhatkar on the issue of short termism highlighting how Panera does things differently. They discuss why a focus on producing profits NOW can divert research and development dollars that could have a big impact to the company in the future. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Longtime Fortune magazine writer, author and analyst Geoff Colvin writes about the sobering bankruptcy of the once dominant Sears Roebuck & Co., saying that: “the Sears story should scare us.” In this episode, Bethany and Geoff discuss the rise and fall of Sears—where did Sears go wrong?—and if its decline was inevitable, or fixable. And what can other incumbents learn from it, before it’s too late? Oh, and how did private equity contribute to its demise? Private equity buyouts play a larger and larger role in shaping our economy. Can we draw any lesson from Sears that tell us whether this particular trend is a good thing... or a very dangerous one? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever since the days of Enron, I’ve been fascinated by this question: What separates a visionary entrepreneur from a fraudster? Being a visionary requires being able to tune out other people’s doubts, to say you’re right and everyone else is wrong, to persist through impossible difficulties because you believe your goal is grand, and worthy … even a noble pursuit. It might even require lying to non believers, at least at times. Which brings us to Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, the scandalized and now infamous blood-testing startup, once valued at $9 billion. In this episode, I sit down with my friend and Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Alex Gibney, who has a new film about Holmes: “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Bethany goes deep with Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Amity & Prosperity. They discuss the upside and downside of progress told through the lens of energy. Technological innovations like fracking are destructive at the very same time that they are also drivers of opportunity, political power, and wealth (for some). This is a classic tale of progress and disruption going hand in hand. It's also a terrific primer for those who don't REALLY understand as much about the fracking controversy as they wish they did.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Juul is the wildly popular, wildly valued and wildly controversial vaping company. Juul became the fastest startup ever to reach a valuation of more than $10 billion dollars — beating the pace set by tech giants Facebook and Snap by four times. Juul as a company claims that it is focused on harm reduction, arguing that vaping gets existing smokers off of lit tobacco, which is deadly. But there are those of us who wonder: Is “the lesser of two evils” really the heart and soul of good business? Is that what American industry is made for? In this episode, Bethany chats with her friend, one-time co-author, and former colleague, Joe Nocera. Joe is host of the popular podcast The Shrink Next Door, and is an opinion columnist at Bloomberg. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is so much to understand about Amazon. Given its rate of growth and change, it can feel a little dizzying to keep up. But my main interest is not in whatever the latest, daily headlines are about the company. I’m interested in what all those headlines add up to, taken as a whole. What Amazon has become, what industries it has disrupted and forever changed. If ultimately it’s Amazon’s world, and we just live in it, is that a good thing? Can Amazon be trusted to wield its ever growing power benevolently? Or are we all going to come regret the monster we’ve created?  Bethany and team sit down with Seth Godin, who hardly needs an introduction. He’s exactly who we wanted to talk to in order to dive into questions of Amazon and publishing, but also retail and marketing and trust. Seth’s latest book, This Is Marketing, is a New York Times bestseller, and helps us realize that marketing is about more than selling things - it’s about making change. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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