Business Wars

It’s the 1900’s and a young Harland Sanders learns how to cook out of sheer necessity when his widowed mother leaves him at home to care for his younger brother and sister. Crushing poverty prompts his mother to loan him out as a field hand when he’s just twelve, and from then on he’s on his own. He labors as a farmworker, a blacksmith’s helper, and a railroad fire stoker. Eventually Sanders bamboozles his way into a career as a correspondence course lawyer, only to lose his practice due to his fiery temper and tendency towards violence. Meanwhile, as the nation sinks into a depression, poverty leaves scars and forges ambition in eight-year-old Truett Cathy. He learns to cook in the family’s boarding-house in Atlanta, and contributes desperately needed cash with a thriving coca-cola stand and newspaper delivery route. As his family’s finances worsen, they end up in the city’s first housing project, and Truett’s father teaches his son hard lessons at the end of a razor strap.Pre-order our new book Th

It's the Great Depression, and in one of Kentucky’s toughest corners, Harland Sanders defends his gas station business with sheer moxie and a loaded shotgun. He expands it into a thriving motel and restaurant, but impatient tourists balk at long wait times for his most popular dish — fried chicken. Eager to woo customers, Sanders risks life and limb experimenting with a new kitchen invention and creates a hit secret recipe. Along the way, he discovers a unique marketing gimmick: dressing up like a Kentucky Colonel from the frontier days. Meanwhile in the post-war boom a young devout Christian named Truett Cathy opens a diner with his brother in Atlanta. Soon enough his company, Chick-fil-A, will hit KFC right where it hurts, in between two buttered buns. Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening.

Since the disruption of the broadcast viewing experience, late night comedy has gone through some growing pains. It’s no longer must-see TV, but late night water cooler moments remain as fiery political segments go viral online.For more on how the late night landscape has shifted since Johnny Carson’s exit from The Tonight Show, we speak with Meredith Blake, an entertainment reporter at the Los Angeles Times who covers television. Blake lays out how the internet, streaming and a push for more diversity has changed the face of late night.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info

Jay Leno takes it on the chin from NBC when the network informs him his future as Tonight Show host has a looming shelf life. He needs to hand the keys to Conan O’Brien, who doesn’t want to be stuck in the 12:30 slot forever. As Letterman’s ratings at CBS decline, NBC makes a bizarre decision to keep its hosts happy and in the family. It’s a decision that backfires in every possible way. The fallout will spark the last, devastating shake up in the late night wars, as the battlefield goes through radical changes. Technology and taste never sleep, and the networks—and the hosts—are forced to redefine themselves as the industry moves toward the future.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!Se

CBS makes David Letterman a very attractive offer to leave NBC—a move he’s very willing to make—but his long-time network is desperate to keep him. So desperate they dangle the prize that Letterman felt he deserved all along—the Tonight Show. That doesn’t sit well with Tonight host Jay Leno, who takes a major defensive stance to hang on to the position he worked so hard to get. And in the wake of the Letterman struggle, an unknown talent emerges into the late night stratosphere—Conan O’Brien. He brings a unique, fresh appeal and his own set of rules as the networks battle for ratings, and audiences get finicky.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/p

When longtime Tonight Show host Johnny Carson shocks NBC with the surpriseannouncement of his departure, Jay Leno is anointed as the next host of the network’s flagship franchise.But there’s a problem: after a decade hosting Late Night at 12:30, David Letterman thinks Carson’s job should be his. Getting passed over is unacceptable to Letterman, and he’s going to exact a painful revenge on NBC. And Leno’s firebrand manager Helen Kushnick is going to feel the backlash of her scorched earth policy in dealing with NBC brass. Their reaction will bring Leno’s career to the brink of destruction.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privac

Johnny Carson – the man who defined the Tonight show – is nearing retirement. But NBC has yet to settle on an heir. And that sets the stage for one of the most painful moments for the late night rivals battling for the throne. It will prove enormously embarrassing for Carson, Leno and Letterman. And they will vent their sentiments on stage. Meanwhile, Arensio Hall, a young, black comedian, is blowing past all of them, and posing the first serious challenge to Carson.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The late night saga begins in the uncharted wilderness of after-hours programming. In the early 1950s, an era when television broadcasting literally stops at 11:00 p.m., NBC dares to push the envelope with something called the Tonight Show. It works.It seems insane, but American audiences are ready to stay up--and advertisers are ready to spend big money to reach that audience. In the wake of Tonight’s success, CBS and ABC are left in the dust. But they’re determined to grab a slice of that valuable late night pie as the war begins for ownership of the midnight hour.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.c

The cutthroat evolution of late-night talk shows is a long and fierce battle for advertising riches, ratings and sheer egotistical triumph. It’s the early 1980s and NBC’s Tonight Show is the unbeatable standard in its class, and its long-time host Johnny Carson the indisputable god of late night.  Hosts David Letterman, Jay Leno and later Conan O’Brien all worship Carson. Each of them desperately covets the Tonight Show seat and will stop at nothing to get it. As fickle audiences demand increasingly cutting-edge entertainment after dark, the fight to win late night will be redefined. And it will be ugly.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!Pitney Bowes - Go to pb.com/BW to access th

As the beauty business shifts towards boutique brands and upstarts, traditional titans of the industry like L'Oreal and Esteé Lauder are struggling to maintain a foothold. At the center of this cultural shift are beauty influencers, who are reaching a new wave of savvy, socially conscious consumers. For more on how they’re reshaping the landscape, we speak with Arabelle Sicardi, an industry strategist and trend forecaster for over a decade and author of the upcoming book The House of Beauty. Sicardi lays out what’s driving the shift and how a historically white industry aims to adapt to a new generation of consumers hungry for diversity.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-s

It’s 2007, and the L'Oréal founding family is thrust into the media spotlight when a scandal erupts. The daughter of Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to the company fortune, accuses a family friend of exploiting her mother’s dementia. But the ensuing investigation brings to light Bettencourt’s own unsavory dealings, putting L'Oréal’s future at risk. Meanwhile, both L'Oréal and Estée Lauder attempt to mitigate lagging sales with more acquisitions. To choose their targets, they turn to Youtube, where influencers with millions of followers are becoming rainmakers for fledgling brands. But no one is prepared for how a pandemic will affect the beauty industry.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See P

It’s 1991, and after the financial crash of 1987, Estée Lauder is looking for a new way to continue expanding without sinking millions of dollars and several years into developing a new brand. The answer lies in acquisitions, and they set their sights on two young, hip, buzzworthy companies: MAC and Bobbi Brown. Meanwhile, determined to strengthen L'Oréal’s foothold in the American mass market, CEO Lindsay Owen-Jones takes a risk on flailing drug store brand Maybelline, convinced he can turn it into an industry juggernaut.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s 1979 and Estée Lauder is on top of the world after launching another in-house brand, Prescriptives. But after decades of being primarily known for hair products, L'Oréal is ready to invade the American high-end makeup market. And their secret weapon is Lancôme, a luxurious French brand that they rebrand using tricks straight out of the Lauders’ playbook. In an attempt to fend off the Lancôme threat, Leonard Lauder invests in television advertising. But a financial crisis is on the horizon, and how both companies respond will define their futures.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#

It’s 1962, and Estée Lauder is on fire, with well-received new products helping solidify their position as the top high-end makeup brand. But Revlon is hot on their tails, and to fend off the threat the Lauders decide to develop a new brand: Clinique. With this line of hypoallergenic products for sensitive skin, they’ve unlocked a new customer base. But initial sales are disappointing, and as cash flow takes a nosedive, they must quickly determine how to fix their marketing approach.  Meanwhile, a young female copywriter pens a new slogan for L'Oréal that will go down in advertising history and send the company on a bright new path.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy

It's 1904, and ambitious French chemist Eugène Schueller quits his job as a researcher to focus on formulating the first synthetic hair dye. Teaming up with Parisian hairdressers to spread the word about his product, he soon expands into hair care and sunscreen, relying on his knack for innovative marketing to spread the word. Meanwhile, in Queens, New York, a young Estée Lauder is inspired by her esthetician uncle to start concocting her own face creams. Now, she just has to find a way to monetize her business, and inspiration strikes at her local beauty salon. Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://a

It’s 1946, and after years of building a cult following thanks to free samples and loyal customers, Estée Lauder finally has an opportunity to join the big leagues. She can now sell her high-quality makeup products in department stores in New York City. Unphased by competitors with deeper pockets and wider distribution, she possesses a passion for making women feel beautiful that sets her apart.  Meanwhile, in Paris, chemist Eugène Schueller’s hair company L'Oréal is thriving thanks to his top-notch formula for synthetic hair dye. But as World War II comes to an end, rumors that he supported the Nazis threaten the empire he has built. Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy a

As the Space Race moves into the present day, Elon Musk recoups SpaceX’s losses and edges ahead of Blue Origin.But now his competition is coming not just from Jeff Bezos, but from like-minded dreamers in Russia and China. For more on the coming battle for space supremacy, we speak with Tim Fernholz. He wrote Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the New Space Race, and writes about space and the economy for Quartz. He tells us about the viability of space tourism and the future prospects of space travel.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's 2016 and Virgin Galactic is about to re-enter the space race following its fatal test flight two years earlier.But the company's early lead in human spaceflight is eroding fast. Blue Origin, Boeing and SpaceX are closing in.The race to become the first private company to launch a person into space is almost over and there can only be one winner.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's 2013 and the long cold war between Blue Origin and SpaceX is about to go nuclear.The clash begins when NASA puts its most famous launchpad up for lease, and escalates fast.Soon SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the United Launch Alliance will be reaching for any weapon they can use to disrupt each other's plans.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's 2009 and a new president is looking to shake up the space world by opening up the stars to private industry. But with NASA’s space shuttle about to retire, the United States soon won't be able to reach the International Space Station without Russian help.U.S. leadership in space hangs in the balance and everyone's looking to the new space companies to deliver the solution.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.