Avsnitt
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Do you ever have a years-long hyperfixation with a company no one's heard about?
Blender Bluid and Amy Do continue our millions-years-long season about private military contractors. This time, I'm telling them about the worst of the worst: Betsy DeVos' brother Erik Prince's rich kid lodge! Blackwater! Clean off your guns and meet me at the lodge - we're in for a real effing doozy.
Fair warning, this episode does brush over some truly horrific stuff. As mentioned mid-episode, my podcast isn't really the appropriate place to regale those stories in full detail, so only some of the key informational facts are mentioned out of respect for those who suffered cruel, pointless deaths during this war. Jeremy Scahill's book is a fantastic read to get the full picture on the politics, events, and horrors of Iraq, linked below.
Jeremy, if you're listening, I'm so sorry sweetie please look away - this is a comedy podcast by a clown. But THIS clown loved your book!
Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo. Thanks to the WONDERFUL Casey Synesael for fully editing this episode! Audio engineer and tastemaker, methinks.
SOURCES:
Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army - Jeremy Scahill, March 2007 (I read the revised 2008 version tho)Firearms training centers on schools under assault - Jon Frank, The Virginian-Pilot, Oct 1999Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy - Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, January 2010Erik Prince: An American Commando in Exile - Robert Young Pelton, Dangerous Magazine (originally published in Men’s Journal), November 2010Blackwater founder takes aim at his critics in memoir - Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, Nov 2013 (the “Field of Dreams” quote is in this)Falluja lawsuit: Blackwater families settle case - BBC News, 2012The Dark Truth about Blackwater - Peter Singer, Brookings Institution, October 2007I scraped the Nisour Square legal timeline just from the Nisour Square Massacre wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisour_Square_massacreOther recommended reading from the pod is Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine: The Rise
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Been awhile, besties! Hello again! This is an episode that was ostensibly about Bechtel Corp (the construction company, not the lesbian cartoonist), but it got away from me and became an exploration into the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. An organized, peaceful method of resistance focused on boycotting business - what could go wrong? A LOT!
Join myself and Amy Do+Blender Bluid to continue in the military-contracting deep dive season (remember that?) and let's get some ice cream on the way! Anybody want to stop at Ben&Jerry'sIsreal? Perhaps a SodaStream to tide you over?
NOTE: The episode starts after bitching that took precisely 5 minutes. Ep begins at 5:00
Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo - both of whom have released new music on Spotify!!!! We out here!
Thanks to Casey Synesael for your genius audio engineering!!! SAVIOR!
SOURCES (sorry there are 23):
-Illinois bars state pensions from owning Unilever over Israel, Ross Kerber, Reuters 2021
Ben&Jerry's 2015 statement found at this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210109062433/https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2015/ben-and-jerrys-business-in-israel
Ben&Jerry's 2021 statement found at this link: https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/opt-statement
40 ILCS 5/ Illinois Pension Code thingy quoted found here: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActID=638&ChapterID=9&SeqStart=100000&SeqEnd=6300000
Illinois General Assembly, this Israel amendment to our investment codes passed 49-0 in the Senate and 102-0 in the House: https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.13202.html#:~:text=The%20legislation%2C%20which%20was%20modeled,held%20indirectly%20inside%20larger%20portfolios.
University of Texas email quoted found here: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/26/ut-wont-reimburse-for-airbnb-lodging-after-texas-decision-on-companys-israeli-settlement-stance/5610142007/
-AIRBNB statement from 2017: https://news.airbnb.com/listings-in-disputed-regions/
-Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's statement found here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/executive-management/OAG%20advisory%20on%20SB%2013%20and%2019%2010.18.23.pdf
-Texas City Tells People No Hurricane Harvey Aid Unless They Promise Not to Boycott Israel, ACLU Press release re: case Koontz v. Watson — Challenge to Kansas Law Targeting Boycotts of Israel found here:
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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I PROMISE this is the last part to our exploration of KBR! This episode features a big thematic swing of including the best food review of all time throughout the episode. If you’re into gargantuan oil failures, extensive explanations of holes, politically correct GOOP, or droopy baked alaskas then this episode is for YOU! Again, we’ll move on from this wound I’ve been picking for three weeks.
Also, hello! It is nice to be back from tour and to have wi-fi! I am swamped with the thousands of other bits of work I have to do now that the holidays are allegedly over. I will get back to posting as regularly as possible. Thanks for your patience; I love making this podcast!
Follow @blenderbluid, say hello to Amy Do, and thank Casey Synesael for wonderful audio doctoring as ALWAYS!
Before we get to the sources...PLEASE VOTE FOR ME FOR BEST CHICAGO PODACST OF 2023: https://chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago/2023-ballot/#/gallery?group=468483
I WANT TO WIN!
okay anyways heres my sources:
SOURCES:
As Not Seen on TV, Pete Wells, The New York Times, November 13 2012
Rebuilding of Iraqi Pipeline as Disaster Waiting to Happen, James Glanz, New York Times, April 25, 2006
OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION: Pipeline River Crossing Al Fatah, Iraq link here: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA533936.pdf
Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq, T Christian Miller, May 2007
Full text: George Bush's Iraq speech, The Guardian, June 28, 2005
Military Burn Pits: A Toxic Legacy of War, Pamela Lein, phD, UC Davis Veterinary Medicine
“Contracting Abuses in Iraq: Is the Bush Administration Safeguarding American Taxpayer Dollars?” Frank Cassaday testimony, Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing link here; https://www.dpc.senate.gov/hearings/hearing42/cassaday.pdf
I didn't get to this on pod but here's some other reading:
ELECTRICITY -(testimony from Eric Peters, For
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HI YALL! Forgive the delay; I am already on tour and didn't realize I wouldn't have wi-fi! This was uploaded as a labor of my hot spot's love. Here's the part 2 no one asked for! Let's perfect our Lois Griffin impression Whiplash-style, crack open a $247 soda, and order 50,000 pounds of nails to get ready to revisit the company I've been obsessed with for years: Kellogg, Brown and Root. Gosh, this private military contracting season is a DOOZY. Fraud, waste and abuse abound!
As always, follow @blenderbluid, keep Amy Do in your offline thoughts, and thank the fabulous audio engineer Casey Synesael!!!!! YIPPEEEE
And if you're the type of person inclined to read the show notes, here's a spoiler: I didn't even cover everything in THIS episode, so there's going to be a part 3. I'm presently on tour so it'll take a few weeks before I'm back to record. Sowwy, I'm just one girly who does NOT plan things out. Just podcastin' for funzies. Anyways, here's my sources:
1. Blood Money: Wated Billions, Lost Lives and Corporate Greed in Iraq, T Christian Miller, May 2007
2. A Look Back at How Fear and False Beliefs Bolstered U.S. Public Support for War in Iraq, Carroll Doherty and Jocelyn Kiley, Pew Research Center, March 14, 2023
3. Excerpted from The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader, by Peter L. Bergen, accessed through Vanity Fair, January 1 2006
4. Here's a link to the Saddam playing cards published by the DIA: https://archive.org/details/030411D6570c001/030411-d-6570c-001/page/n27/mode/2up
5. Buyers beware: The real Iraq 'most wanted' cards are still awaiting distribution, Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes, April 17, 2003
6. Here's KBR employee Linda Warren's testimony (start at 21:30): https://www.c-span.org/video/?205080-1/contracting-abuses-iraq
7. Here is the 2005 testimony of KBR employee Rory Mayberry: https://www.dpc.senate.gov/hearings/hearing22/mayberry.pdf
8. Here's a link to the DPC report called Major Findings: DPC Oversight Hearings on Waste, Fraud, and Corruption in Iraq: https://www.dpc.senate.gov/dpcdocpr.cfm?doc_name=sr-111-1-116 (nails anecdote)
9. Iraq War Whistleblowers Represented by Constantine Cannon Secure $108.75 Million Settlement with KBR, Constantine Cannon press release, July 5 2023
10. “One hundred point four billion dollars..." quote from Democrat Mike Ross from this link (time stamp 5:43:40):
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Amy Do and Blender Bluid continue on our season-long journey into private military contracting! Avarice incarnate with a healthy heap of political parasitism, we're talking about the origins of KBR. Do you know how to build a nuclear power plant? No? Who gives a hoot! Let's try it anyway! Along the way we'll get 100,000 meals to throw out, Blender Bluid's RuPaul impression, and of course more war profiteering than you previously thought imaginable. It is still nuts to me that we're having the exact same conversation in different fonts all these years later re: KBR's failures, waste, fraud and abuse.
Amy's recording remotely on a USB microphone which is why she sounds different. Additionally, Casey went nuts on some of the audio editing and I'm SO excited for y'all to hear this one.
Follow @BlenderBluid on socials, keep Amy Do in your thoughts, please clap for Casey Synesael, and plzzzzz vote for me on the Chicago Reader Awards starting 12/13! https://chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago/2023-ballot/#//
SOURCES:
1) I made it up
2) THE TRANSFORMATION OF DON LUCE, Ted Lieverman, HistoryNet.com (lol), 2017
3) Saigon Is Investigating ‘Tiger Cage’ Cells at a Prison, New York Times, 1970
4) 4 South Vietnamese Describe Torture in Prison ‘Tiger Cage’, New York Times, 1973
5) Here's the link to the 1970 Life Magazine with the story/Tom Harkin's pics: https://books.google.com/books?id=jVUEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
6) Donald Sanders Luce (1934-2022): Exposed the Truth About the Tiger Cages, Mark Ashwill, Vietnam Full Disclosure/Veterans for Peace, 2022
7) Recalling Don Luce, the high-profile Vietnam War critic who did PR for a Falls soup kitchen, Mark Sheer, Niagara Gazette, Nov 2022
8) American Innocence, Robert N. Strassfeld, Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons, 1997
9) American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity by Christian G. Appy, 2015 (where the Don Luce interview about KBR's cages being 'in every way worse than the original ones'
10) Brown & Root helped pave way for Houston's growth, David Hunn, Houston Chronicle 2016
11) The Candidate from Brown and Root, Robert Bryce, The Texas Observer, October 2000
12)
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Dipping my toe into making things way too personal with this episode about a giant oil conglomerate! Who doesn't fucking love that? Amy Do and Blender Bluid are BACK, baby, to do just a tiny bit more set dressing on this season. We're talking about procurement; how did the companies in the upcoming season get their contracts in the first place? Turns out, even THAT is laden with some busted-ass shenanigans!
Ultimately, this is a podcast that is entirely informed by my comedic and artistic point of view. This particular episode on Halliburton is admittedly not as dense as they typically come - that's intentional. I've already lost sleep from jolting awake at night, haunted by the images, descriptions, and horrors that keep coming up in this research. So fuck it, let's do an episode about Dick Cheney's heart! Let's talk about B.O.B. and G-Unit! Let's discuss how I ruined the name Christian for my high school religion teachers!
Follow @blenderbluid and please, sincerely, keep Amy Do in your thoughts right now.
Audio engineering by the wickedly talented Casey Synesael
SOURCES:
Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq by T. Christian Miller, May 2007
A Web of Truth: Whistle-Blower or Troublemaker, Neely Tucker, Washington Post, 2005
Whistleblower exposes $7 billion no-bid Defense Department contract, CBS News, 2019
The Whistleblower’s Tale: How An Accountant Took on Halliburton, Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica, 2015
Australian academics apologise for false AI-generated allegations against big four consultancy firms, Harry Belot, The Guardian, Nov 2023
Heart: An American Medical Odyssey, by (I'm sorry) Dick Cheney and Jonathan Reiner, MD
NBC's "Meet the Press" Transcript, Chuck Todd interviewing Dick Cheney, 2014
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102482_pf.html
Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity, Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 2004
Iraq The Halliburton Connection: The Master Builder, Jyoti Thottam, TIME Magazine 2004
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HELLO AGAIN, BESTIES! Amy Do and Blender Bluid join me for a season-long exploration into private military contracting. This specific episode explores some legal precedents that allow military contractors to operate with effective immunity from the law. Picture I just said that but in a SUPER funny way. If a tree falls in the forest, can anybody hear it? If a private contractor aids a soldier in a war crime, do we actually have any laws to hold them accountable for it? Along the way, we’ll declare war on a random Chicago comedian who broke my laptop, build a dike, then refuse to call it a dam, and we’ll Control+P…repare for a legendary season of podcasting!
Follow Blender Bluid @blenderbluid on all social medias; don't follow Amy Do. She doesn't want you to lol.
This episode had the pleasure of having Casey Synesael as the audio engineer! :D COOL RIGHT?
SOURCES:
-Armed Guards in Iraq Occupy a Legal Limbo, John Broder and James Risen, New York Times, Sep 2007
-JFK Library Bell Report: https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/071/JFKPOF-071-004
-Appendix 2 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: https://jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/Documents/UCMJ%20-%2020December2019.pdf
-Federal Tort Claims Procedure: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title28/part6/chapter171&edition=prelim
-Boyle v. United Technology Corp (1988): https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/487/500/
-Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (Amicus), Center for Constitutional: Justice https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/kiobel-v-royal-dutch-petroleum-co-amicus
-Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 569 U.S. 108 (2013) - https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/108/
-WHO'S DOING WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT?: MONITORING, ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMPETITION IN THE FEDERAL AND SERVICE CONTRACT WORKFORCE, March 2002: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-107shrg79883/html/CHRG-107shrg79883.htm
-Accountability of Private Military Contractors, Arthi Thiruppathi, GW Justice Journal, Jan 13 2021
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Hello besties! I'm just a girl with vocal nodes in a podcasting world!
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Hey kids...who likes #Jesus?? Christian McCann is on the pod so I can finally answer questions he's been asking me for like a year now. Why is there a marketing campaign for Christianity, and who is paying for it? As it turns out, the answer is something that will matter for 10 billion more years. Join me to talk about the intracacies of tax law and mostly dish about terrible religious experiences. Rich people of any religion will always find ways to retain control of their money; this episode is just a sliver into that world!
Christian and I have a dueling pianos show we do together constantly. You can check that out @candcduelingpianos on Instagram
SOURCES:
Servant Foundation Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/431890105/202320469349302877/full
The Signatry website: https://thesignatry.com/who-we-are/our-history/
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/18/21010108/larry-page-philanthropy-foundation-donor-advised-fund-christmas
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/02/13/this-billionaire-is-a-donor-behind-the-jesus-focused-super-bowl-ads/?sh=64c3297d7b29
https://www.propublica.org/article/family-research-council-irs-church-status
Christian Community Foundation Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/751750059/202213469349301026/full
S2 Episode 6: Billionaires, DAFs, and the Changing Face of Philanthropy with Teddy Schleifer of Vox's Recode; Ethical Rainmaker: http://www.theethicalrainmaker.com/listen-now/s2-episode-6-billionaires-dafs-and-the-changing-face-of-philanthropy-with-teddy-schleifer-of-voxs-recode
deadass this little graphic: https://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/banks.html#:~:text=It%20doesn't%20remain%20locked,even%20to%20operate%20a%20business.
Tax advantages of Donor Advised Funds: https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/daf-tax-consideration/
https://jacobin.com/2023/02/christian-super-bowl-ads-he-gets-us-servant-foundation-abortion-gay-rights
BOOK RECS:
God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right, Daniel K. Williams
One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Kevin Kruse
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Franklin Pierce impersonator Dylan Cohen drops by to gab about the grocery store that totally changed the game: Piggly Wiggly! I'm thrilled to have this season's rascal-centered episode, and I'm VERY excited to add a new weirdo from the early 1900s to the BBB collection. Grab your bibles, label your vegetables, and let's play some synchronous jazz while we talk about the weird twists and turns of Piggly Wiggly's dramatic changes-of-hands!
Dylan Cohen is performing in The Lincoln Lodge's Future of Comedy Festival on Friday September 29th at 7:30pm for "Powerpoint Night Live!" tickets at thelincolnlodge.com/futureofcomedyfestival
SOURCES:
1. Clarence Saunders and the Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise and Fall of a Memphis Maverick, Mike Freeman, 2011
2. When Piggly Wiggly Tried to Stick It to Wall Street, Shiva Nagaraj, Slate 2021
3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/768156903/?terms=clarence%20saunders&match=1
4. https://newspapers.com/image/774867648/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1
5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/244984597/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1
6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/768157998/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20civil%20war&match=1
7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/774867648/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1
8. Coach Houses, Vance Lauderdale, Memphis Magazine 2008
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Who wants to get drunk and talk about 1800s agriculture? MEEEEE apparently! Join myself and my sweet special friend J. T. Kost for an episode detailing the guano boom and bust of the 1800s: drunken reenactments of the Last Supper, yadda-yadda-ing our way through unprecendented imperial expansion, and plenty of descriptions of bird shit abound this episode! Not to get too TMI but I had to figure out a recording situation last-minute to produce this podcast, which means that the audio quality might be...shall we say different than previous episodes. I'm working on a solution and I hope you still like it anyways! This episode was a labor of love to my roots in academia, which is part of why the title is so annoying <3
Tickets to Kost's show Giggle Hour
SOURCES:
1) How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, Daniel Immewahr, 2016
2) Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History, Gregory T Cushman, 2013
These are pretty dense books, and let's be real, any other source I consulted was genuinely just taking their info from these books -- it's pretty obvious. But man these books are so effing dense I don't feel bad only having two sources lol.
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Brazen antifeminist woman in STEM, Sarah, joins me to discuss the factory of girlfailures: Hewlett-Packard! Revolutionizing the world of personal-computers-you-kinda-know, this company has been run by a cavalcade of silly little clowns since at least 1999. This episode is packed top to bottom with shenanigans; spiders falling from the ceiling, being a Girl-FailedGubernatorialCandidate, somehow also private military contracting, and lots and lots of rich people problem-solving in unique, never-before seen foolish ways.
I'll be posting episodes every two weeks, which I think will make the podcast much more sustainable to make! I can't read all this shit in one day, no matter how hard I try. Thanks so much for sticking around. I hope y'all have been liking it so far! :) If you do, it'd help me out to leave a rating on Apple Podcasts. The algorithm loves seeing engagement. Write who you think the hottest HP failed CEO is!
SOURCES:
How Hewlett-Packard lost its way, James Bandler with Doris Burke, Fortune Magazine, May 20123 wartime moments to remember in HP’s history, Garage Staff for HP, Nov 2022David Packard, Richard Nixon Administration – Historical Office of the Secretary of DefenseThe HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Founded Our Company, David Packard 1995Leadership Challenges at Hewlett Packard: Through the Looking Glass, David F. Larcker and Brian Tayan, Stanford Closer Look Series, Oct 2011HP: Grueling day for Hurd & Dunn, Grace Wong, CNN Money, Sep 2006Fiorina out, HP stock soars; CEO who engineered Compaq merger leaving after fight with board; will walk away with $21 million, Paul La Monica, CNN Money, Feb 2005Wisecrackers: A theory-grounded investigation of phishing and pretext social engineering threats to information security, Michael Workman, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(4), 662–674. 2008Oracle really does owe HPE $3b after Supreme Court snub -
Amy Do and Blender Bluid join me to unpack the lengthy, complicated story of Pat Tillman. For a typically facts-dense podcast about corporate wrongdoings, this episode is decidedly more opinionated -- this isn't a single business for which we can dig up public reports, lawsuits, etc. Rather, this episode dives into the general misuse of someone's memory so that a variety of folks can milk ad revenue on Youtube and sell tee shirts. Plain and simple, I think that sucks!
I've never been in more physical pain recording an episode nor have I taken so many L's in the leadup to it. Thanks for your patience on letting me take a week off before dropping this one! Once I get everything fixed up we should be back to a normal schedule.
Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo
SOURCES:
Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman, Mary Tillman, 2008Pat Tillman Awarded the Silver Star, Billy House, USA Today, 2004REMEMBER HIS NAME, Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated 2006PRO FOOTBALL; Tillman Leaves N.F.L. to Join Army, Mike Freeman, New York Times, 2002New Details on Tillman's Death, Martha Mendoza, Associated Press, Feb 2007After Pat’s Birthday, Kevin Tillman, Truthdig 2006TACKLING PAID PATRIOTISM: A Joint Oversight Report, John McCain and Jeff Flake 2015"THINGS HAVE CHANGED BUT THINGS AREN'T BETTER", Gary Joyce, SportsnetThe NFL, The Military, and the Hijacking of Pat Tillman’s Story, Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept 2017https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuseRichard Tillman on Bill Maher, clip from funeral 1:00-ish in -
Dry mouthed Emma Day did me a huge favor coming onto this podcast last-minute for a WHIRLWIND episode about trash. If you love cathaters and sewage being dumped into your Hawai'ian vacation resort water, suing a district attorney out of spite for 7 years, or committing literal textbook financial fraud, you'll freaking LOVE this one! Don't you wish a company tasked with a service that impacts public health and safety would do it...well? Nah, let's just pop some money into our retirement account and tell the next generation HAGS! Anyways, when Emma gets in the studio I just vibe. I love hanging out with her :)
Thanks to everyone for listening, you can follow Emma @alldayemmaday and catch her occasionally on 101.9 The Mix. She produces @thelesbianlodge monthly and is a cool fella.
SOURCES:
Citizen Wayne: The Unauthorized Biography of H. Wayne Huizenga, Steve Almond, Miami New Times, December 1994Waste Management, Inc. Final Report - District Attorney Edwin Miller Jr. 1992Fraud at Waste Management, Ann and Rob Diamond, Ethics for Professional Accountants 2019SEC complaint against Waste Management INC, 2002Violation Tracker - Waste ManagementWaste Management Of Hawaii Inc. And Managers Indicted For Violations Of Clean Water Act, Conspiracy, Making False Statements, US Attorney's Office District of Hawaii, April 2014Federal court orders Chicago-area company to pay whistleblower $95K in back wages after US Department of Labor investigation, OSHA news release 2021https://www3.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/stormwater-feature.html#:~:text=Stormwater%20systems%20were%20originally%20intended,and%20straight%20to%20our%20waters.
https://leachate.co.uk/main/leachate-treatment/how-do-you-treat-leachate/
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My friend who loves a shot and a beer, Karsten Runquist, joins me for this exploratory episode about the ins and outs of the United States' beloved decrepit children's toy retail store, Toys R Us! Let's get jiggy with some brankruptcy docey-do's, George HW Bush's infamous trip to Japan, giraffe sized coffins, and the lush world of private equity! This episode took much longer to research than is likely evident from the podcast because what on God's green earth is a motherfvcking "Leveraged Buyout?" Is mayonnaise a debt instrument? Anyways, huge thanks to Investopedia dot com for your articles that require 3 other articles to understand, like a Matryoshka doll of finance jargon.
Karsten and I hosted a Succession recap podcast called Succ Off: A Succession Podcast which is on, like, all streaming services I assume. You can also follow him on Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter at either @KarstenRunquist or @RunquistKarsten. Yay!
SOURCES:
Charles P. Lazarus, Toys R Us Founder, Dies at 94. Michael Corkery. New York Times. March 2018. COMPANY NEWS; Toys 'R' Us Opens Doors in Japan. James Sterngold. New York Times. Dec 1991Plunder. Brandon Ballou. May 2023These are the Plunderers. Gretchen Morgensen and Joshua Rosner. April 2023. The Real Toy Story: Inside the Ruthless Battle for America's Youngest Consumers. Eric Clark. January 2007Lessons Learned From the Downfall of Toys 'R' Us, Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg, March 2018NOTE: The Plunder-ey books I’ve linked to the website where I get them with tenuous legality. I currently have a free trial on this website and it has been 1000% worth it. Considering getting a subscription and canceling my Scribd subscription, which is becoming less and less useful.
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HIEEEEE!!!!! I'm back! My third-string comedian, first-string friend Kate joins me to talk about a company that has gotten away with evils that take place during every stage of a life cycle: Abbott Laboratories. If you like undercover FBI stings with costumes, vile descriptions of bacteria through the lens of art criticism, or selling your weight in illegally-marketed sedatives, this episode is for YOU! How can a business factor in losing hundreds of millions of dollars every few years because they're getting sued by the government? Fairly easily it turns out!
Thanks for your patience re: me releasing season 5. If you like the episode and want to stay updated on why the hell it took so long, you can go to Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau and find stuff there! Otherwise, just tell your wonderful friends about this podcast; it means the world to me. Thanks so much! Love you bye!
SOURCES:
FBI health-care sting uses mob case treatment, Bruce Japsen, Chicago Tribune 2003Abbott Laboratories, est. 1888, Andrew Clayman, Made in Chicago Museu, 2020The Department of Health and Human Services And The Department of Justice Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual Report For FY 2004“ 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2021 RX COMPLIANCE REPORT: VOL. X, ISSUE 14/NOVEMBER 30, 2011. “Abbott reserves $1.5 billion to settle Depakote off-label allegations.”DOJ Settlement agreement re: Abbott DepakoteHow Deadly Bacteria Spread in a Similac Factory—and Caused the US Formula Shortage. Susan Berfield and Anna Edney. Bloomberg. August 24, 2022Infant Formula Shortage Highlights WIC’s Critic -
If you're looking for a season finale where I nearly spit out my Diet Coke several times, this episode is for you. I'll be honest: I wrote a pretty solid script involving Hertz's century-long history with highlights including consistent overcharging, under-delivering on vehicles, becoming a meme stock, and commiting insurance fraud. However. Meg Harris is the funniest person alive and I forgot to say like half the things in my script. Is this the most research-ey the podcast has ever been? No. But I'm an entertainer, not a journalist, so this is a bangin' episode.
Check out They Call Us here: https://www.theycallus.com/
Here's where you can find my Patreon (where I WILL be uploading content during the break before season 5!!): https://www.patreon.com/bustedbizbureau
SOURCES:
-https://abcnews.go.com/Business/rental-car-place-doesnt-hold-reservation/story?id=40626341
-CASETEXT: Moretti V Hertz: https://casetext.com/case/moretti-v-hertz-corp
-https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2016/06/30/rental-cars-now-safer-due-to-new-federal-law/?sh=18bfc9776171
-https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-02/hertz-mistakenly-took-kate-klonick-for-a-ride
-https://americanbusinesshistory.org/john-hertz-his-innovations-touch-millions-but-few-know-his-story/
-https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/07/10/oj-and-hertz-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-rent-a-star/fcee117c-d7c1-442c-a46a-da3f3e797488/
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Frissora
-https://www.sec.gov/enforce/33-10601-s
-https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikakelton/2019/05/02/hertz-makes-a-rare-move-by-suing-former-executives/?sh=54f8304c33e7
-https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/12/car-rental-shortage-covid/621068/
-https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/17/hertz-car-rental-accused-customers-auto-theft
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Longtime friend, firsttime caller Jon Oppenheimer finally joins my podcast to continue my tradition of not being quite topical by analyzing a months-old news thing: Southwest Airlines! December 2022 was far from the company's only meltdown that caused nationwide disaster. But Jon asked me to make this episode because we all had questions after the incident: why do we have so few choices of air travel yet so few consequences for airlines when they completely boof it? Who is in charge here? Is this how it's always gonna be? The history of commercial aviation in the US is actually fucking nutty, and the road to where we are now is paved with blood. This is a very dense and dry episode, which is kind of a fun twist for moi! Starting with the air mail scandal from the 30s through the airline deregulation act of 1978 through the present, this is a real highlight real of the relationship between the federal government and private airline companies. Also I whip out an incredible Lois Griffin impression about 42 minutes in. What's not to love?
Follow @joppenflopper and tell him a better twitter name
Also follow @BustedBizBureau on all social media for more fabulous stuff from me. As always if you like the show, I'm on Patreon.com/BustedBizBureau THANKS!!
SOURCES:
Mixed Emotions After Cemetery Near O'Hare Moved, Phil Rogers, NBC Chicago, April 2013Supreme Court allows mass grave exhumation to make way for O'Hare runway, Jake Griffin, Daily Herald, Jan 2011The Air Mail Fiasco, John T. Correll, Air and Space Forces Magazine, March 2008https://stjohnsfamilyassistance.com/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Berger_GroupYou can find financial data on how much O’Hare charges airlines for rent by year here: https://www.flychicago.com/business/CDA/factsfigures/Pages/financial.aspxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Mail_scandal_accidents_and_incidentsA Tiny Line Takes On Braniff in a Price War, NYT Staff, 1973Southwest Airlines, Keli Flynn, Texas State Historical Association, 2022 -
All I can say is I knocked it out of the park with this one. I'm finally telling my sweet friend Cookie the story of my absolute FAVORITE scammer: Liz Carmichael. This one's got everything: libertarian science fiction, engineering mishaps, three wheeled cars, stock fraud, Unsolved Mysteries, and a woman so magnetic that she girlbossed millions of dollars despite having NO PRODUCT. I sincerely mean it when I say that I am obsessed with her.
This episode honestly evades my descriptive writing skills -- in part because I've worked 14 days in a row, in part because it's got so much going on. I promise this is a great one. Go to splitendsfilm.com and watch Cookie's awesome movie!
FOOTNOTES:
1) History’s Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed, Preston Lerner and Matt Stone 2012
2) The Strange Case of the Dale, Walt Woron, New York Times Oct 1975
3) Liz Carmichael's Dream Buggy Turns into a Nightmare, People Magazine Staff, 1975
4) The Trans Women Behind HBO’s Tale Of This Mysterious, Audacious Automaker, Dawn Ennis, Forbes 2021
5) https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2021/05/21/dale-cliffts-original-three-wheeler-prototype-emerges-from-hiding-after-decades-heads-to-petersen
6) https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1974-twentieth-century-dale
7) People v Carmichael (1980) https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1833667.html
8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand
9) The Lady and the Dale, HBO Docuseries, Zackary Drucker and Nick Cammilleri 2021
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My beloved friend Derry Queen joins me for a real fast-and-loose episode about RuPaul's Drag Race. This one was a very fun episode for me because it's less heavy on the research since Derry has a lot of personal experience relating to the show. The standard working conditions in reality TV are absolutely bonkers, and we talk about some of that history.
Don't forget to vote for ME for best podcast in the Chicago Reader, and don't forget to NOT VOTE FOR DERRY as best drag queen. Please vote for Irregular Girl!!! She is fucking awesome. If you like drag and you live in Chicago, you should absolutely check out her work.
SOURCES: I made it up
-Tired, Tipsy, and Pushed to the Brink, Edward Wyatt, NYT 2009
-Reality TV's Low-Wage and No-Wage Work, Tanner Mirlees, Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research, 27.
-REALITY’S KIDS: ARE CHILDREN WHO PARTICIPATE ON REALITY TELEVISION SHOWS COVERED UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT?, Adam P. Greenberg, Southern California Law Review 2018
-Reality TV's worker scandal: Shows accused of stealing millions in wages, Josh Eidelson, Salon.com 2013
-Shantay, You Pay: Inside the Heavy Financial Burden of Going On ‘Drag Race’, Rachel Miller, VICE 2021.
-PEG countersuit v Adore Delano
-Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched, Mark Andrejevic, 2004
-Bussy Queen's season 14 contract review on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=700Nvfa4wHk&t=757s&ab_channel=BussyQueen
- Visa fler
