General Motors is America’s carmaker, an empire that helped build Detroit Motor City. Since 1908, General Motors has been a key driver of the workforce, the economy and American culture. But in 2008, the once-thriving car business came to a screeching halt. In the wake of the Great Recession, an engineer turned human resources executive named Mary Barra [BAR ... Show More
Aug 2021
Stan Lee: The Mind Behind Marvel | Origin Story | 1
Comic book legend Stan Lee co-created some of the world’s most iconic superheroes including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers. His creations helped give birth to the legendary Marvel Comics. But in the early 2000’s, Stan went to war with the company he h ... Show More
41m 53s
Sep 2021
The Collapse of Lehman Brothers | Lawrence and Larry | 1
Lehman Brothers, the world’s 4th largest investment bank, recorded billions in profits year after year, until September of 2008 when the Wall Street giant was forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, triggering a global financial meltdown. The collapse of Lehman Brothers is a cau ... Show More
37m 27s
Nov 2019
How General Motors Shaped America, with Anna Clark
From financing mechanisms to labor policy to the rise of the suburbs, General Motors had a huge effect on the development of the United States in the 20th century. In this wide-ranging talk with historian Ted Widmer, Detroit-based journalist Anna Clark explains how 1919 was a tur ... Show More
22m 57s
Jun 2020
Rapid Response: GM's Mary Barra: "Going ventilator fast"
GM is now reopening auto plants, after shutting them in March, temporarily reducing pay for 69,000 employees, and making a fast pivot to produce masks and ventilators. But with the killing of George Floyd, things are hardly back to normal. Chair and CEO Mary Barra speaks to her “ ... Show More
28m 44s
Dec 2020
S1 Ep58: The Woman Who Led The Bloody Battle Against GM
Today on Past Gas, we tell the story of Genora Johnson, and a fearless group of women, who helped to organize workers and defeat one of the largest companies in the world-- General Motors. GM once ruled the town of Flint with an iron fist, but employees were fed up with perilous ... Show More
44m 16s
Jun 2020
GM CEO Mary Barra on why equity is the bottom line
As the first woman to helm one of the big three Detroit automakers, GM CEO Mary Barra has learned a lot about creating a more diverse and equitable company. “The mindset people have to have is this is never done,” she says. “I look for the day when it doesn’t need special focus, ... Show More
30m 59s
Dec 2019
Ford vs Chevrolet - Tin Lizzie Becomes Roadkill | 1
In 1896, Henry Ford puttered around Detroit streets testing his “Quadricycle.” This was the whimsical beginning to a revolution that redesigned the landscape of America.Cars changed the way America lived, worked, ate, shopped, and listened to music. And more than 100 years ago, t ... Show More
30m 10s