May 6, 1949. On the runway at Lindbergh Field in San Diego, a scrappy upstart called Pacific Southwest Airlines, PSA, is about to take its first flight. PSA is a budget airline—the world’s first. Other jet age carriers will offer luxury in the sky, but PSA does not. It’s exploiting a loophole in the American flight system to do things very differently. How d ... Show More
Nov 2
How Biddy Mason Found Her Freedom in Los Angeles
November 8, 1864. Election Day. Abraham Lincoln watches from a White House window, convinced he might lose. Three thousand miles away in Los Angeles, a Confederate hotbed in a so-called free state, Biddy Mason has more riding on the result than almost anyone in the country.Sixtee ... Show More
31m 35s
Oct 30
Salem’s First Witch Trial
Happy Halloween! Today, we're bringing back a particularly spooky episode from the archives...June 10, 1692. Bridget Bishop is loaded into a two-wheeled cart and brought from her Salem jail cell to a pasture on a hill, where a rope is hanging from freshly-installed gallows. A cro ... Show More
28m 48s
Oct 26
1066: The Brother Who Broke England (w/ Greg Jenner)
October 28, 1065. The king’s council meets in Oxford and throws a man out of England. His name is Tostig Godwinson, and the north of England already hates him. His own brother Harold, the most powerful earl in the realm and the likely next king, refuses to save him.Tostig does no ... Show More
29m 22s
Jun 2024
The first budget transatlantic flights
In 1955, a small Icelandic airline, Loftleioir Icelandic, slashed the cost of flying across the Atlantic.For the first time, thousands of young Americans were able to afford air travel to Europe on what became known as the 'Hippie Express.' In 2017, Mike Lanchin spoke to Edda Hel ... Show More
9m 52s
Mar 2023
536. Is Your Plane Ticket Too Expensive — or Too Cheap?
<p>Most travelers want the cheapest flight they can find. Airlines, meanwhile, need to manage volatile fuel costs, a pricey workforce, and complex logistics. So how do they make money — and how did America’s grubbiest airport suddenly turn into a palace? (Part 3 of “<a href="http ... Show More
58 m
Jul 2020
S1E16: Southwest Airlines Case Study
Send us Fan MailSouthwest Airlines, beloved by many for its fun-loving culture, low ticket prices, and non-existent baggage fees, finds its 40 straight years of profitabilty at risk due to COVID-19. Like all airlines, the company faces strong economic headwinds. Can Southwest sta ... Show More
10m 39s
Sep 2024
Concorde: Sonic Boom and Bust | The Long Runway | 1
In the 1950s, facing humiliation after the Suez Crisis, Britain sets out to prove that it can still be a global superpower by creating the world’s first supersonic passenger jet.Need more Business Movers? With Wondery+, enjoy exclusive seasons, early access to new ones, and they’ ... Show More
36m 42s
Aug 2025
Can Southwest Airlines Survive? | Bumpy Skies Ahead | 3
Southwest Airlines announced some big changes recently, and customers of the “Love Airline” are not feeling it. Joe Guinto, a business reporter who wrote this season, joins David to discuss the airline’s next steps, and what it’ll take to keep fans and employees loyal. Later, Ban ... Show More
39m 52s