How We Got Here with Chris Kohler

Episodi

• Why Are All Our Movies Ads Now? 13.07.2026 53min

  When we watch a movie we see 4-5 brands every 10 minutes. The advertising is hidden in plain sight and this episode goes looking for where and how that trick first came to Hollywood.E.T. and a bag of Reese's Pieces, Lois Lane chain smoking Marlboros, Happy Gilmore’s Subway t-shirts… and Jerry McGuire taking Reebok’s money and then screwing them over. All steps on the path to the situation audiences now find themselves in - marketing campaigns dressed up as movies.All that… plus a two truths and a lie with a twist - one "casual" mention in this very episode was a paid placement.Check out Cool Shirtz - https://shirtz.cool/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Hang on... was Tupperware a pyramid scheme? 29.06.2026 45min

  Tupperware is one of those words so common we forgot it's a brand. It's also one of the great untold business stories, with a pioneer who was deliberately erased from view. Did she design a pyramid scheme? Not really. There's more to it than that.This is the story of Brownie Wise... and what it costs to build something you don't own. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Ryanair: How The Bad Guy Won 15.06.2026 50min

  A cheap flight… that ends up feeling expensive. This episode: how Ryanair and Michael O'Leary perfected drip pricing and made billions doing it. Removing olives, lukewarm off-brand soft drinks, expensive wheelchair hire… and the hardest two truths and a lie segment yet.0:00 Intro5:05 Two Truths & A Lie7:10 The Industry That Counts Olives11:00 Enter The Accountant16:10 The Southwest Effect21:55 O'Leary Takes The Controls28:02 Since When Is A Wheelchair A Frill?35:52 The Charge Sheet - And Why It Works41:05 The Point Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How Kodak Engineered Its Own Demise (Literally) 01.06.2026 48min

  Kodak didn’t make a mistake. The digital camera was invented in their own building but it was missing more than film. It was missing a business model.0:00 Intro3:15 Two Truths & A Lie4:15 The Man Who Gave Everyone A Camera15:40 Advertising Done To Perfection23:06 Welcome Steve35:25 The Point39:15 The Ending44:10 Two Truths & A lieMadmen Scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq3n2sJ43Hg&t=4sA Long Time In Finance w/ Steve Sasson - https://open.spotify.com/episode/407q6PT4umq9BVECyJsLhy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Kellogg’s: The Disturbing Reason Corn Flakes Exist 18.05.2026 55min

  This episode contains adult topics and themesEver wondered how the world's most popular cereal ended up in your breakfast bowl? The story behind Cornflakes is stranger than you'd think, meet John Harvey Kellogg, the man whose obsession with gut health and moral purity accidentally changed the way the world eats breakfast.0:00 Intro5:40 Two truths and a lie7:30 The religious pipeline10:40 Picking the doctor13:35 The San17:45 Gut Health24:34 The anti masturbation crusade29:41 The accidental invention35:11 The rival next door37:26 The brothers split43:52 A note on more dark stuff46:06 The end50:42 Two truths and a lie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Blockbuster blew $8 billion. We’re still paying for it 04.05.2026 1h 1min

  A complete corporate disaster.Blockbuster stuffed up so badly that the world started walking down a path away from one-off payments and towards subscriptions. And the best part is, Blockbuster's demise was baked in from the start. It just grew so fast the problems were hard to see... for a few years.0:00 Intro9:10 The VCR19:09 The War24:42 Hello Rental Industry28:15 Welcome To BlockBuster36:00 Huizenga40:27 Viacom Era44:51 Injured By DVD48:59 Enter The Wolf50:43 The Collapse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How Nazi Brothers Changed Sports Marketing Forever 20.04.2026 1h 11min

  Adidas vs. Puma. Two brothers. One town. A feud that changed sport forever. Adolf and Rudolf began as partners, cobbling shoes together in central Germany before a family fallout split them into bitter rivals. What followed was decades of corporate warfare, played out on the world's biggest stages, that transformed sports marketing into one of the most powerful industries of the 20th century.Howe We Got Here  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Introducing.... How We Got Here 16.04.2026

  Business history is wilder than you think. Join finance journalist and digital storyteller, Chris Kohler, as he delves into the corporate moments that were too ridiculous to make up, but too important to ignore. The deals that collapsed empires. The decisions that accidentally built them. The scandals that still echo through every boardroom today. Tested and refined through millions of social media views, these are the stories that explain why modern business looks the way it does. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.