Henry Ford: The Good, Bad and Ugly

In December 1900 three lighthouse keepers vanished without a trace from a deserted island in Scotland. To this day no one knows exactly what happened to them. Find out all about this strange situation in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Private equity is a business operation where companies are bought and run at their leanest to maximize returns for a handful of investors. It can be a lifeline for a flailing company or run it into the ground. Either way, PE firms make out like bandits.See omnystudio.com/listener ... Show More

Why aren't there lemurs in Africa? That question created a whole theory about a lost continent. Turns out it's not true.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Henry Ford built a business empire, and completely revolutionized not just the car industry, but business as we know it. He pioneered assembly line production, the five day work week, and countless more innovations. But this is certainly not a straightforward success story. Henry ... Show More

In this episode, we’ll learn all about Henry Ford, the man who made cars easier for people to buy! We’ll talk about how he came up with the idea of using big factories and an assembly line to make cars quickly and cheaply. Ford’s most famous car, the Model T, was the first car th ... Show More

Henry Ford may not have invented the car, or even the assembly line, but he perfected them. His Model T – nicknamed “Tin Lizzie” – made cars affordable for the average worker, not just the rich. He was a master tinkerer, inventor and even introduced the five-day 40-hour work week ... Show More

Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish American industrialist, who helped build the American steel industry. He became one of the richest men in the world, and also one of its leading philanthropists. But his very first job was as a “bobbin boy” in a cotton factory where he was responsible ... Show More

Few people remember that Benjamin Franklin was America’s wealthiest self-made man. After being denied a formal education and then indentured to his own brother, he launched America's first media empire. But while Franklin could be a ruthless businessman, he was out for more than ... Show More

Ronald Reagan, as Jackson Lears wrote recently in the LRB, was a ‘telegenic demagogue’ whose ‘emotional appeal was built on white people’s racism’. His presidency left the United States a far more unequal place at home, with a renewed commitment to deadly imperial adventures abro ... Show More

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Lincoln was asked on a questionnaire to describe his education he only wrote one word: defective. That didn't stop him from becoming one of the premier thinkers of his time. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) ... Show More

Today, Mark Twain is widely thought of as one of America's greatest authors -- but he was also, get this, a terrible investor. Inspired by his father's unfailing (and unsuccessful) efforts to become a business tycoon, Twain spent loads of time and money backing inventions that ei ... Show More

On this episode of Our American Stories, Vince Benedetto, founder of Bold Gold Media Group, tells the story of the Cooper Union address-the greatest speech of Lincoln's that Americans have never heard, and the speech that made him President. Support the show (https://www.ourameri ... Show More

Wealth, power, and influence. J.P Morgan had it all. He owned the first billion-dollar company. He dominated the country’s most profitable industries. And on multiple occasions, the economy of The United States quite literally depended on the actions of J.P. Morgan. With a simple ... Show More