Tag: businesses behaving badly
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Everybody Loses by Danny Funt
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Everybody Loses: Please read this book before your next bet. Quick synopsis: A look at the legalization of sports gambling in America. Fact for Non-History People: Americans bet $157 legally on sports in fiscal year 2025. Fact for History Nerds: 95% of this betting happened online. My Take on Everybody Loses:…
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The Pain Brokers by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Pain Brokers: Sometimes surgery is the least painful part. Quick synopsis: The story of terrible humans taking advantage of people through mass tort schemes. Fact for Non-History People: There are approximately 170 different mass torts which cover over 393,000 individual claims going on as of 2025. Fact for History Nerds:…
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No More Tears by Gardiner Harris
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for No More Tears: Actually, lots of tears it turns out. Quick synopsis: The story of how Johnson & Johnson’s squeaky-clean image is a lie. Fact for Non-History People: There are over 67,000 cases pending against J&J. Fact for History Nerds: A verdict against them from 2019 was for $2.1 billion but…
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Empire of Orgasm by Ellen Huet
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Empire of Orgasm: No comment so I don’t get banned. Quick synopsis: The story of the sex cult, OneTaste and its founder Nicole Daedone. Fact for Non-History People: OneTaste peaked with $10 million in revenue in 2017. At least, that’s what was reported. Fact for History Nerds: An annual membership with…
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Little Bosses Everywhere by Bridget Read
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Little Bosses Everywhere: Pyramid, meet scheme. Quick synopsis: The long history of multi-level marketing in America. Fact for Non-History People: Of the 6.7 million Americans in MLMs, 75% are women. Fact for History Nerds: Avon, one of the original direct sellers, made profits even during the Great Depression. My Take on…
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Mr. McMahon (Netflix)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Mr. McMahon: The villain character is probably better than the actual person. Quick synopsis: The story of the rise and fall of WWE chairman, Vince McMahon. Fact for Non-History People: WWE is valued at $6.8 billion. Fact for History Nerds: Host cities of Wrestlemania estimate more than $1.25 billion in economic…
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McMillions by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for McMillions: Happy Meal with a side of fraud. Quick synopsis: The story of how no one really won the Monopoly game at McDonald’s. Fact for Non-History People: McDonald’s executives are required to work at a restaurant for a week. Fact for History Nerds: The chances of winning one of the big…
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Ren Faire (HBO)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ren Faire: It’s like Succession but nerdy. Quick synopsis: The story of a succession battle for the control of the Texas Renaissance Festival. Fact for Non-History People: The Texas Renaissance Festival draws about 500,000 people per year. Fact for History Nerds: The festival itself takes up over 55 acres. My Take…
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When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Turns out women know how to sell to other women. Who knew?! Quick synopsis: The story of the women who ran department stores in the mid-1900s. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Department stores used to have nurseries so the kids wouldn’t ruin a great shopping…