594. Your Brand’s Spokesperson Just Got Arrested — Now What?
27 June - 43 minsIt’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and find a surprising result.
SOURCES:John Cawley, professor of economics at Cornell University.Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson, executive director and senior fellow with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.Alvin Roth, professor of economics at Stanford University.
RESOURCES:"Kanye and Adidas: Money, Misconduct and the Price of Appeasement," by Megan Twohey (The New York Times, 2023)."The Role of Repugnance in Markets: How the Jared Fogle Scandal Affected Patronage of Subway," by John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Scott Cu...
Series Episodes
593. You Can Make a Killing, but Not a Living
Broadway operates on a winner-take-most business model. A runaway hit like "Stereophonic" — which just won five Tony Awards — will create a few big winners. But even the stars of the show will have to go elsewhere to make real money. (Part two of a two-part series.)
49 mins
20 June Finished
EXTRA: The Fascinatingly Mundane Secrets of the World’s Most Exclusive Nightclub
The Berlin dance mecca Berghain is known for its eight-hour line and inscrutable door policy. PJ Vogt, host of the podcast "Search Engine," joins us to crack the code. It has to do with Cold War rivalries, German tax law, and one very talented bouncer.
44 mins
17 June Finished
592. How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway
Hit by Covid, runaway costs, and a zillion streams of competition, serious theater is in serious trouble. A new hit play called "Stereophonic" — the most Tony-nominated play in history — has something to say about that. We speak with the people who make it happen every night. (Part one of a two-part series.)
1 hour 5 mins
13 June Finished
591. Signs of Progress, One Year at a Time
Every December, a British man named Tom Whitwell publishes a list of 52 things he’s learned that year. These fascinating facts reveal the spectrum of human behavior, from fraud and hypocrisy to Whitwell’s steadfast belief in progress. Should we also believe?
53 mins
6 June Finished
EXTRA: The Opioid Tragedy — How We Got Here
An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the root causes of the crisis — and the tension between abstinence and harm reduction.
41 mins
3 June Finished
