Confidants

While the story of American literature in the 20th Century usually centers on Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, far fewer people know the editor who made both careers possible. His name was Max Perkins. Where Fitzgerald and Hemingway were the voices, Perkins was the quiet force at Scribner's who pulled them out of droughts and depressions and never stopped betting on them. He shaped w...

Most people think Amazon’s success starts with Jeff Bezos. But behind the scenes, there was someone who made the story believable and fundable. Her name was Joy Covey. Amazon’s first CFO. In the late 1990s, Amazon wasn’t the global giant we know today. It was an unprofitable online bookstore asking investors to believe in a future that didn’t exist yet. Covey’s job was to make that case. In this e...

Steve Jobs once said the Beatles proved that great things are built by teams. But in the studio, there was a fifth partner shaping the music. His name was George Martin. In this episode of Confidants, we explore how the classically trained producer became the Beatles’ creative translator and closest collaborator, helping to turn raw ideas from Lennon and McCartney into some of the most influential...

Behind every visionary is someone who makes the vision survive. In this episode of Confidants , we tell the overlooked story of Roy O. Disney, the older brother who protected Walt Disney and quietly engineered one of the most admired companies. While Walt imagined worlds, Roy fought bad deals, mastered distribution, defended Disney’s intellectual property, and kept the company alive through strike...

Steve Jobs may have been the face of Apple, but Jony Ive was its quiet power. In this episode of Confidants , we explore how Apple’s chief designer became Jobs’s spiritual partner and shadow CEO, shaping the company’s most iconic products from the iMac to the iPhone. Discover how Ive transformed Apple’s design culture from “make it look pretty” to the creative engine that saved the company from co...

 While the story of Edison is often focused on his clashes with Tesla and Westinghouse, his business partner Charles Batchelor has been nearly forgotten. Where Edison was known as the ideas man, Batchelor was the force of nature responsible for turning those ideas into products that would revolutionize homes and cities.  It's one thing to light up a lab or millionaires row in 1800s New York,...