Slate Business

You may not have heard of Puritan, but if you’ve gotten a COVID test, you’ve probably had one of their products inside your nose. A family feud almost tore this company apart. Then the White House called.Read Olivia Carville’s original article for Bloomberg. Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Correction: This episode incorrectly identifies the owner of Hardwood Products. James Cartwright works for Hardwood, but the owner is John Cartwright.Listen to the Teamistry podcast.Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn. Click here to get started and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1960s, the Volkswagen Beetle was a symbol of peace and love. But this same car was invented as part of the Nazi propaganda project. And that’s just the beginning of the story.Correction: This episode incorrectly states the full name of the DDB advertising agency. It is Doyle Dane Bernbach.Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn. To listen and support our work, visit Slate.com/ThrillingPlus.For a behind-the-scenes look into some of the articles we read when we create the show, check out our Pocket collection at http://getpocket.com/slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peloton thought it was selling boutique at-home fitness to busy parents. Instead, it created an entire community. But it also hit a few bumps on the road to success. Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can a once-revered brick-and-mortar music chain be brought back to life in the era of Amazon and Spotify? Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marvel has stumbled as a company many times throughout its history, even going bankrupt in the 1990s. But not unlike many of its characters, it’s re-emerged stronger than before.Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2018, the company once known as Weight Watchers changed its name to “WW.” Is its best chance at survival to convince people that it’s not that interested in dieting after all?Podcast production by Asha Saluja and Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Color is a beautiful thing that just exists in the world. But when color intersects with capitalism, somebody has to set some standards, make some decisions, and make some money. Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Note: This episode incorrectly states that Radiant Orchid was Pantone's 2012 color of the year. It was the color of the year in 2014.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you sex up the world of B2B “customer relationship management” software? For Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, it’s been a combination of ambitious acquisitions, skyscrapers, monks, and Metallica.Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For more than a century, Hallmark has been a tightly-held, Midwestern business that’s mastered the art of turning feelings into revenue. But recently, it has run into trouble when it’s tried so hard to be inoffensive, it ends up offending. Can Hallmark succeed in an era when emotions might be getting too big to fit in an envelope?Podcast production by Jess Miller and Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did an immigrant rabbi use modern technology to dominate the millenia-old market for matzoh? And how did an almost undrinkably sweet wine manage to become the taste of Judaism?  Podcast production by Jess Miller with help from Cleo Levin.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices