Selects: How Black Friday Works
Josh Clark and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant examine the origins, evolution, and current state of Black Friday in the United States. They trace how the day after Thanksgiving became associated with holiday shopping through department store parades, how the term "Black Friday" arose from Philadelphia police and transportation workers, and how retailers later reshaped its meaning into a profit narrative. The hosts discuss the economics of holiday retail, doorbuster tactics and their risks, violent and deadly crowd incidents, worker and scheduling issues around Thanksgiving openings, and counter-movements like Buy Nothing Day and China's Singles Day.
Capitalism (Taylor's Version) (25-minute Podcast Version)
Planet Money hands the episode over to Vox's Today Explained to examine how Taylor Swift and other pop stars use album variants and sales strategies to game music charts and monetize superfans. Music reporter Elias Light explains the mechanics and incentives behind physical and digital variants, while critic Ann Powers unpacks the backlash to Swift's latest album, fans' discomfort with her extreme wealth, and how she uses her music to control her public narrative. The episode situates Swift within broader industry practices and compares her autobiographical approach to Beyoncé's more representative storytelling.
Dying Is Easy. Retail Is Hard. (Update)
This episode examines the troubled state of Macy's and the broader retail industry through conversations with Macy's CEO Tony Spring, retail veteran and academic Mark Cohen, and author-entrepreneur Jeff Kinney. Spring lays out his Bold New Chapter turnaround plan, including major store closures, real estate monetization, merchandise overhauls, and attempts to translate the marketing power of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade into better in-store experiences. Cohen sharply criticizes Macy's past strategies and questions the viability of the turnaround, while Kinney offers a contrasting example of place-based, community-focused retail through his unprofitable but culturally influential independent bookstore and downtown redevelopment project in Plainville, Massachusetts.
Advice Line with Bill Creelman of Spindrift
Host Guy Raz and Spindrift founder Bill Creelman co-host an advice line, taking calls from three founders about their growth challenges. They discuss ingredient integrity and defensibility with a fast-growing pickle beer brand, hiring and marketing strategy for a flannel-aloha apparel startup, and focus and simplification for a kombucha company juggling multiple revenue streams. Bill also reflects on his own journey, emphasizing the importance of narrowing focus and solving the biggest problems rather than trying to do everything.
Is Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Its Most Valuable Asset? (Update)
The episode investigates the hidden economics and logistics of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, focusing on how it is produced, who pays for what, and what value it creates for Macy's, NBC, and New York City. Executive producer Will Koss, NBC executive Jen Neal, city officials, and author Jeff Kinney describe the year‑round production process, brand sponsorships, balloon design and fabrication, helium supply, security, and sanitation. Despite assembling many details, the show concludes that the true costs and financial arrangements around the parade remain largely opaque, and it tees up a second episode on Macy's broader retail challenges.
Pop Tarts: No Fruit Necessary
The hosts explore the history and cultural impact of Pop-Tarts, tracing their origins from the Kellogg brothers' Battle Creek Sanitarium through the cereal wars between Kellogg's and Post to the invention of the toaster pastry. They detail how Pop-Tarts were rapidly developed in response to a competitor's idea, how the product evolved in flavor, form, and marketing, and how it became an iconic but nutritionally dubious, ultra-processed food. The episode also covers fire hazards, lawsuits, international ingredient differences, and the nostalgic pull Pop-Tarts still have for adults.
Advice Line with Tariq Farid of Edible Arrangements
This advice-line episode features Edible Arrangements founder Tariq Farid joining host Guy Raz to answer real-time questions from three entrepreneurs. Tariq first shares an update on Edible Arrangements, including generational leadership transition, brand reinvention, and navigating the emerging "edibles" space. Callers then seek advice on educating consumers about Filipino banana ketchup, naming a highly sustainable polar expedition company, and scaling a service-focused screen printing business from $3M to $5M in revenue without losing its culture.
Babylist: Natalie Gordon. How a new mom used nap time to build a $500M business.
Software engineer Natalie Gordon describes how her overwhelming experience creating a traditional big-box baby registry while pregnant led her to build BabyList, a universal registry that lets parents combine products from any retailer with practical services like dog walking or diaper subscriptions. She explains how she bootstrapped the company while caring for a newborn, then gradually scaled it through affiliate revenue, an accelerator, seed funding, and later a major shift into holding inventory and operating as an e-commerce retailer. Throughout, she reflects on hiring and management challenges, learning to become a CEO, and keeping BabyList focused on serving expecting and new parents rather than expanding into adjacent categories like weddings.
Advice Line with Niraj Shah of Wayfair
In this Advice Line episode of How I Built This Lab, host Guy Raz and Wayfair co-founder and CEO Neeraj Shah take calls from three founders seeking help with branding, financing, and career-risk decisions. They discuss how to clearly communicate a novel cooking ingredient (CookStix), when and how to seek funding for a mineral sunscreen brand (Daily Shade), and how a founder of a solo-women-travel housing app (HerHouse) should think about leaving a well-paid job. Neeraj also reflects on his long co-founder relationship, Wayfair's scale and focus strategy, and the non-linear nature of entrepreneurial journeys.
Nuts.com: Jeff Braverman. From Corner Store to Snacktime Powerhouse
Host Guy Raz interviews Jeff Braverman about how he transformed his family's small Newark Nut Company, founded in 1929, into the large e‑commerce brand Nuts.com. Jeff describes growing up in the store, his early experiments putting the business online, and eventually leaving a lucrative finance job to overhaul operations and focus on direct-to-consumer internet sales. He explains key inflection points, including aggressive use of Google Ads, quirky marketing stunts, a major rebrand to Nuts.com, navigating COVID-era challenges, and eventually transitioning from CEO to chairman while keeping the business family-owned.
TikTok's Trojan Horse Strategy
Planet Money teams up with sound design podcast 20,000 Hertz to explain how TikTok created and deployed one of the most effective sonic logos of the last decade. Sound designers Afrik Lennon and Roscoe Williamson describe TikTok's brief, the months-long creative process, and how they arrived at the distinctive boom-bling sound built around an 808 kick, an E major 7 chord, and even an accidental dog bark. The episode also details TikTok's covert "sonic sticker" rollout and how automatically attaching the logo to downloaded videos turned it into a Trojan horse that spreads across rival platforms.
5 AI Tools I'd Use to Make $1M (w/o employees, capital, or time)
Sam and Greg walk through a series of AI-powered tools and workflows that they personally use to boost productivity, create content, and make better business and financial decisions. They demonstrate concrete use cases for deepfake-style video generation, AI-first web browsing, voice dictation, AI spreadsheets, TikTok automation, and automated job applications, while also touching on the risks and ethical concerns around scams, spam, and brain-rotting content. The conversation balances excitement about arbitrage opportunities for people going from zero to one with unease about how pervasive and manipulative AI-generated content could become.
Advice Line with Stacy Madison of Stacy's Pita Chips
In this Advice Line episode of How I Built This Lab, host Guy Raz and guest co-host Stacey Madison, founder of Stacey's Pita Chips, answer questions from three entrepreneurs about scaling personality-driven brands, positioning a little-known spirit, and reviving a heritage snack company. Stacey also briefly reflects on her own journey, including her pivot from a food cart to pita chips, burnout from a pandemic-hit energy bar business, and the importance of listening to customers. Callers include the founder of a fast-growing pizza steel and content brand, the co-founder of a Peruvian pisco label, and the fourth-generation leader of Stucky's pecan snacks seeking to modernize while honoring legacy.
Advice Line with Michael Dubin of Dollar Shave Club
Host Guy Raz speaks with Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin, who shares what he has been working on since selling his company, including writing a screenplay, advisory and board work, exploring new company ideas, and starting a wildfire-focused nonprofit. Together they field calls from three entrepreneurs: a founder launching Syrian cheese into U.S. grocery stores, a mobile mini-golf business owner scaling service quality through employees, and a former wildland firefighter making custom fire uniforms who is struggling with production capacity and growth. Dubin and Raz offer practical advice on marketing in a noisy digital world, brand storytelling, customer experience, hiring and incentives, and when and how to think about fundraising and manufacturing partnerships.
Brainstorming $100M Ideas with the $1B+ King of Brands
The hosts interview consumer brand entrepreneur Eric Ryan about how he repeatedly reinvents everyday product categories like soap, vitamins, and bandages into large, culturally resonant brands. Ryan explains his simple but disciplined model for spotting category white space, stealing inspiration from distant industries and geographies, and balancing familiarity with novelty, then applies that thinking in a live brainstorming session for new $100M+ brand ideas. He also discusses the challenges of execution, leadership, and funding, including a recent failed retail jewelry venture and his current shift toward incubating brands and investing via a new consumer fund.
BOARD GAMES 2: Making our prototype
Planet Money follows its collaboration with Exploding Kittens as they turn an economic concept into a playable board game prototype. The team settles on the "Market for Lemons" idea about asymmetric information, watches Exploding Kittens discover and refine a simple but engaging deal-making mechanic, and wrestles with balancing economic education, fun, and manufacturing constraints. They then test the prototype with game consultant Jamie Wolanski and invite listeners to download and playtest a printable version to help refine the game.
JRE MMA Show #170 with Michael "Venom" Page
Joe Rogan and Michael "Venom" Page discuss Page's unorthodox point-fighting-based striking style, his transition from traditional kickboxing to MMA, and the challenges he faced earning respect from critics and opponents. They break down the mental and strategic dimensions of fighting, including nerves, fun, pattern-breaking movement, wrestling and grappling realities, and the dangers of extreme weight cutting. The conversation also ranges across notable fighters and matchups, training philosophies, the importance of self-marketing as a fighter, and how Page is preparing creatively for life after MMA.
Advice Line with Tony Xu of Doordash
This Advice Line episode of How I Built This features DoorDash co-founder and CEO Tony Hsu joining Guy Raz to coach three early-stage founders through strategic decisions. They discuss when to expand a product line beyond the core offering, how to think about raising capital versus using debt while maintaining control of a growing CPG brand, and how a small, mission-driven meat company can differentiate and educate consumers in a crowded "grass-fed" market. Tony also reflects on DoorDash's evolution, his approach to managing stress, and what he wishes he'd known as a first-time founder.
BOARD GAMES 1: We're making a game
Planet Money goes inside the modern board game industry as they embark on creating their own economics-themed tabletop game. They follow the journey of first-time designer and publisher Leonie Grundler, whose game Biome became a Kickstarter hit, and then meet Exploding Kittens co-creator Alon Lee to explore whether their game should be a complex Eurogame or a mass-market party game. Along the way, they unpack crowdfunding, manufacturing, tariffs, and the importance of core game mechanics while setting up a partnership to develop a smart but broadly appealing party game.
The Hospitality Principles That Build Billion-Dollar Startups
The host interviews restaurateur and author Will Gudera about the philosophy and practice of "unreasonable hospitality" that helped his restaurant Eleven Madison become a top destination. They discuss how small, highly personal gestures can matter more than perfect execution, how to build a culture of rigorous feedback and care, and how to operationalize hospitality through roles like the "Dreamweaver" and systems such as one-size-fits-all, one-size-fits-some, and one-size-fits-one experiences. The conversation also explores applications in other industries, the economics of restaurants, and the broader pursuit of excellence in life and business.
He turned a broke team into a billion dollars
The hosts profile Jesse Cole and the Savannah Bananas, tracing how he transformed a struggling summer-league baseball operation into a massively in-demand entertainment phenomenon. They describe his decade of experiments with the Gastonia Grizzlies, the all‑in risk he and his wife took to launch the Savannah Bananas, and the fan‑first innovations that led to Banana Ball and a huge touring live show business. Along the way they draw parallels to MrBeast, Steve Jobs, Will Guidara, Dan Porter, Monster Jam, and Feld Entertainment to explore strategy, hospitality, showmanship, and building AI‑proof live experiences.
Advice Line with Randy Hetrick of TRX
Host Guy Raz speaks with TRX founder Randy Hetrick on an 'Advice Line' episode where they take calls from three founders seeking guidance on scaling their businesses. Randy first updates listeners on his journey selling TRX to private equity, starting a new outdoor fitness venture, and eventually buying TRX back in a turnaround. Together, Guy and Randy advise the founders of an emerging low-caffeine energy drink brand entering Target, an Australian meat pie franchise looking for strategic investment, and an adaptive apparel company debating how narrowly to focus its target markets.
Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation
Allison and Stephen Ellsworth describe how a homemade apple cider vinegar drink that helped Allison's health issues evolved into Mother Beverage and ultimately the prebiotic soda brand Poppy. They walk through bootstrapping production in their house, early traction at farmers markets and Whole Foods, a pivotal Shark Tank deal with investor Rohan Oza, a complete rebrand and shift to cans, and rapid growth fueled by Amazon, Shark Tank exposure, and TikTok. The episode concludes with their creation of a new "modern soda" category, Poppy's sale to Pepsi for nearly $2 billion, and reflections on building a generational brand as a married co‑founder team.