Land of the Giants

Streaming didn’t just change the way consumers watched movies and TV shows, it reconfigured how media giants operated, and how they saw themselves. If tech companies were disrupting old business models, perhaps Disney’s best move was to join the crowd. In our final episode, we look at how streaming has fundamentally changed Disney and prepared the company for the next 100 years of entertainment. ...

The Walt Disney Company has been led by eight different men in its century of existence. But few would object to the idea that only three have really mattered. Walt Disney, Michael Eisner, and Bob Iger have all made lasting impacts on the company, but how these executives went out also left an important impression. Why has Disney repeatedly struggled to get succession right – for one leader to pas...

Marvel and Star Wars are the crown jewels of Disney’s empire. They’re the highest-grossing movie franchises in history, with devoted fan bases and expansive IP universes, but right now, both are in a bit of a slump. As Disney asked for more and more content to satisfy its business needs, the creative process suffered, and these once mighty hit-making engines have slowed down. There hasn’t been a S...

Disney’s soul is arguably its animation studio, which has a 100-year track record of creating iconic characters and stories, and a distinct brand centered around “once upon a time.” Not so long ago, Disney produced films like "The Little Mermaid" and "The Lion King," catapulting animation into the mainstream while burnishing Disney's own brand as the premier animated film studio. But lately, those...

These days the Walt Disney Company is mostly a theme parks company. About 70 percent of its operating income comes from its parks and other experiences like Disney Cruises. But the parks do something else: they help the company attach itself to our emotions, memories, and identities. How can Disney continue to strengthen this relationship in an era where data - not whimsy, fantasy, or even origina...

When you think about Disney, your first thought isn’t “cable television giant.” But Disney’s broadcast and cable television holdings, especially ESPN, helped turbocharge Disney’s growth over the last 30 years. It was a formula that worked extremely well – until now. As more and more consumers cut the cable cord, Disney must reckon with declining assets and the hit to its bottom line. Hosted by Joe...

Over the past 100 years, the Walt Disney Company has grown from a small animation studio to become one of the largest companies in the world, with an enviable history of creative and financial success. But as it's grown and acquired companies like Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm, can its winning streak continue? What has Disney lost in the process of getting so big, and can it sustain its high qualit...

In October 2022, Elon Musk made the world’s most expensive impulse purchase. His reasons for buying Twitter were murky at best, but in the story he tells now, he’s saving civilization. In the final episode of this season, we look at Twitter today, inside Elon’s fantasy. What happens when the world’s richest man buys the global town square - and announces that we are doing it all wrong? Hosted by P...

Twitter employees had always imagined the platform would be used for social good. Their idea was that free expression on the internet would lead to good things. But after the 2016 U.S. election, that notion would be put under stress. And Twitter would have to grapple with the question: what happens when its powerful superuser - who also happens to be the most powerful person in the world - creates...

Twitter was created by its users, who invented features like the retweet and hashtag. These features helped create vibrant communities like Black Twitter and Comedy Twitter, but eventually, some groups exploited Twitter’s virality in order to intimidate and harass others online. In this episode: how Twitter became the best and worst place on the internet. EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode contains descr...

Twitter began life as an accident. In the beginning, even its founders weren’t sure what it was: the internet’s town square, a real-time information source, or the next Facebook, maybe? Twitter's power has always been misunderstood -- by its leaders, by its users, and lately, by the world's richest person. Hosted by Peter Kafka (@pkafka) Be the first to hear next week's episode by following Land o...

A year ago, in what was essentially the world’s most expensive impulse purchase, Elon Musk bought Twitter. That made him Twitter’s most important user. But he’s certainly not the only one to fall for its spell - a spell that promises attention, connection, and power. This season will explore why Twitter’s cultural and political influence far exceeds its size, and how its biggest users shaped it, f...

Tesla has spurred the EV revolution around the world, most notably in China. So why is the US so far behind on EV adoption, when it's the birthplace of Tesla? What went wrong here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seven years ago, Elon Musk stood on stage and said he “would consider autonomous driving to be basically a solved problem.” He also said Teslas could “drive with greater safety than a person right now.” That statement wasn’t true. But Musk has continued making this claim. Meanwhile, several other companies have made major strides on autonomous driving. Can Tesla catch up? Learn more about your ad...

“Please prepare yourself for a level of intensity that is greater than anything most of you have ever experienced before,” Elon Musk once wrote in an email to employees at Tesla. The subject line, “ultra hardcore,” also operates as an edict - go hard or go anywhere else. But this “ultra hardcore” philosophy has led to injuries, scandals and lawsuits. Are the costs of “ultra hardcore” worth it? Lea...

A few years ago Tesla owned roughly 80% of the EV market. But now, the company’s share is down to 60%. And some projections whittle it down even further - to just 18% - by 2026. It appears the competition has caught up… or has it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Not many people can name the original founders of Tesla. So how did two guys who wanted to build an electric car create a company synonymous with Elon Musk? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before Teslas were everywhere, they were playthings for the rich and famous. Building its first affordable car made Tesla a breakout success, but it nearly bankrupted the company. This is the story of how the Model 3 changed Tesla and the entire auto industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

About a decade ago, Tesla did something extraordinary: it started making electric cars people actually wanted to drive. They were fast. They were high-tech, and eventually, Tesla reset the future of cars.  Now, with the entire industry racing to go electric, can Tesla continue to lead the charge against the best carmakers in the world?  ‘The Tesla Shock Wave’ arrives July 26th.  Learn more about y...

Looking ahead, where is dating headed? Is it leaning into artificial intelligence or dating chat bots? Or is it unplugging and trying to meet people the old-fashioned way – in real life? And with Gen Z skeptical of dating apps, will tech continue to manage the dating experience? Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for free. Be the first...

Welcome to the wide world of niche dating apps. There's an app for almost every group -- Muslims, vegans, the kink community, cat lovers, farmers, rock climbers, and many more. All aimed at helping specific communities find "their people." But do these apps work, and are they sustainable as a business? Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe...

Bumble is the second most downloaded dating app in the U.S., behind Tinder. Dubbed the "feminist dating app," the "anti-Tinder" was designed to make dating feel better, safer, and less creepy for women. But does Bumble deliver on its promise? In today's episode, the story of how Bumble came to rival the power of Tinder and Match Group by harnessing the brand power of feminism.  Hosted by Sangeeta...

Dating app execs don’t like to explain how their matchmaking algorithms work– they’ll claim it’s too hard to explain, or that they just can’t talk about it, Fight Club style. But critics say that if daters really knew how basic the algorithms are, they might not put so much blind faith into them. In this episode, we dive into just how these algorithms work and speak with daters trying to hack the...

Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, The League. If you’ve ever wondered why using these different dating apps feels similar, it may be because they’re all owned by Match Group, the company that helped start online dating in the 90s, and now owns two-thirds of the dating app market. Today, Match is a dating app conglomerate with millions of users and over 45 brands around the world. That’s billions of dollars...

When Tinder launched in 2012, it changed dating culture and our expectations around dating forever by leveraging the iPhone and gamifying the dating experience. But did the rise of dating apps make finding romance easier or harder, and what are the consequences of playing a game that never ends? Hosted by Sangeeta Singh Kurtz (@sangeetaskurtz) and Lakshmi Rengarajan (@Shmi_So_Far) Subscribe for fr...