Selects: The Great Finger in the Wendy's Chili Caper
Josh Clark and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant recount the 2005 Wendy's chili finger case in which Anna Ayala claimed to find a human fingertip in her bowl of chili at a San Jose Wendy's. They walk through the immediate fallout for Wendy's, the internal and police investigations, the exposure of the hoax, the discovery of whose finger it really was, and the legal and financial consequences for Ayala, her husband, and the restaurant chain. The hosts also briefly touch on other verified cases of fingers found in fast food and read a listener email about the Adidas-Puma feud episode.
Should the fine have to fit the crime?
The episode follows Alaska bush pilot Ken Jopie, who lost his $95,000 Cessna after being convicted of felony bootlegging for flying a six-pack of beer into a dry village, and has spent over a decade fighting the forfeiture. Through Ken's case, law professor Michael O'Hare and attorney Sam Gedge explain the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause, how a 1998 Supreme Court case (Bajikajian) established limits on economic punishments, and how lower courts have since applied that standard unevenly. The conversation explores why fines and forfeitures can be constitutionally excessive, the incentives that drive governments to rely on them, and why Ken's case could prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the law.
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl
Radiolab revisits the Supreme Court case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, centered on the custody of Veronica, a child eligible for Cherokee Nation membership, and the application of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The episode traces the mid‑20th century history of widespread removal of Native American children from their families that led to ICWA, then walks through the conflicting narratives of Veronica's adoptive parents, her Cherokee father Dustin Brown, and their lawyers as the case moves through the courts up to the Supreme Court. A 2025 update explains that Veronica was ultimately returned to her adoptive parents and that, despite repeated legal challenges, ICWA was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 but continues to face ongoing challenges.
How we took on an oil giant - and won | Melinda Janki
Climate justice litigator Melinda Janke explains how she uses existing environmental and liability laws in Guyana to challenge ExxonMobil's massive offshore oil projects. She details several landmark legal victories that restricted permit durations, forced inclusion of global "scope three" emissions in impact assessments, and imposed unlimited liability backed by a parent company guarantee. The talk emphasizes that law is a powerful tool ordinary people can use to hold fossil fuel companies accountable and that the oil industry is more vulnerable than it appears.
How To Turn $100K into $4,000,000 with Distressed Investing
The hosts interview a distressed investor named Tom who specializes in buying bankruptcy claims, especially in crypto-related cases like Mt. Gox and FTX, and walk through how his niche works. He explains the "stake and sizzle" approach to finding situations with both downside protection and significant upside optionality, details the hustling and legal knowledge required to trade claims, and shares stories from early crypto bankruptcies and his own investing background. Later, he candidly discusses a controversial Delaware receivership case that resulted in fines and a settlement, and closes with core investing philosophies and a reading list for learning more about distressed and value investing.
647. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.
Host Stephen Dubner speaks with analyst and author Dan Wong about his framework for understanding the U.S. and China as, respectively, a "lawyerly society" and an "engineering state." Wong explains how China's engineer-dominated leadership prioritizes rapid infrastructure building, technological capacity, and even social engineering, while the U.S. legal culture emphasizes procedure, litigation, and blocking harmful as well as beneficial projects. Drawing on his years living in China, his family's history, and his book "Breakneck," Wong discusses zero-COVID, the one-child policy, manufacturing and process knowledge, China's global ambitions, and what each country could learn from the other.
ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel, Pam Bondi's Free Speech Mess, and Trump Sues The New York Times
Hosts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway discuss ABC's decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live after a segment about the Charlie Kirk shooting, criticizing pressure from FCC commissioner Brendan Carr, conservative station owners, and Disney CEO Bob Iger as an attack on free speech. They examine Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's comments about targeting "hate speech," Trump's defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, media consolidation, and Scott's idea of economic pushback by affluent consumers. The episode also covers FBI Director Kash Patel's combative congressional testimony, NVIDIA's stake in Intel and China's response, Trump's extended TikTok deadline and proposed sale structure, and closes with political chatter about Pete Buttigieg and a prediction of a coming M&A wave.