Adam Conover - unmedicated and toes out - joins me on my epic return to podcasting in this episode about the Ford Motor Company!

This chaotic traipse through Ford's history takes us all over the globe (and by that, I mean to the Amazon Rainforest over and over again!) From bumbling sex pest managers misunderstanding tropical climates to THEE OG risk assessment calculation that probably inspired Fight Club...this episode's got everything! In an effort to be less of a huge effing bummer since the military contracting season, this one is a little bit more breezy.

A journalist called Walter Lippman, a man born in 1889, wrote of Henry Ford: "Mr. Ford is neither a crank nor a freak…[but] merely the logical exponent of American prejudices about wealth and success." I did not read that quote in context - I took it from Grandin's book. I didn't say it in the episode, but wanted to spotlight it here because I think it nails what Ford is all about. And I just felt really connected to this guy's words despite the fact he was born over 100 years before me. ANYWAYS.

For those of you wondering - I mentioned in the episode I was 2 days away from vocal surgery at time of recording. Now on the other side of it, I have to build my voice back up before I'm allowed to podcast again. Should be in the next few weeks though, as I have stuff planned and written!

Thank you to my Patreon subscribers - who largely move in silence and don't comment or like most of what I post on the platform lmfao. They're my besties, for realllll. If you'd like to join the league of oft-disappointed folks who give me 3 dollars a month, you can do so at Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau.

Adam's standup special is available on Dropout here: https://www.dropout.tv/adam-conover-unmedicated

OK THANKS BYEEE

SOURCES:

Watch the first Taurus XL launch fail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puEEyi-DHrY

Wanna watch another one?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BFAxZflkW0&ab_channel=issmania11

NASA Investigative Summary: Taurus XL T8 and T9 Mission Failures: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/oco_glory_public_summary_update_-_for_the_web_-_04302019.pdf?emrc=2fce7a

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City, Greg Grandin 2009: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/fordlandia-the-rise-and-fall-of-henry-fords-forgotten-jungle-city_greg-grandin/273197/?srsltid=AfmBOoq09JCr4ag6REQoXvIMUNoJcRceUvQgF0iqfD-KlP6jdceRu9Se#edition=5254322&idiq=3929545

Read the "infamous" Ford Pinto Memo here: https://www.autosafety.org/wp-content/uploads/import/phpq3mJ7F_FordMemo.pdf

Pinto Madness, Mark Dowie, Mother Jones 1977: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1977/09/pinto-madness/

Ford’s Electric Pickup Is Built From Metal That’s Damaging the Amazon, Sheridan Prasso and Jessica Brice, Bloomberg 2023: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-ford-f150-electric-car-rainforest-damage/?embedded-checkout=true

...

Do you ever have a years-long hyperfixation with a company no one's heard about?

Blender Bluid and Amy Do continue our millions-years-long season about private military contractors. This time, I'm telling them about the worst of the worst: Betsy DeVos' brother Erik Prince's rich kid lodge! Blackwater! Clean off your guns and meet me at the lodge - we're in for a real effing doozy.

Fair warning, this episode does brush over some truly horrific stuff. As mentioned mid-episode, my podcast isn't really the appropriate place to regale those stories in full detail, so only some of the key informational facts are mentioned out of respect for those who suffered cruel, pointless deaths during this war. Jeremy Scahill's book is a fantastic read to get the full picture on the politics, events, and horrors of Iraq, linked below.

Jeremy, if you're listening, I'm so sorry sweetie please look away - this is a comedy podcast by a clown. But THIS clown loved your book!

Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo. Thanks to the WONDERFUL Casey Synesael for fully editing this episode! Audio engineer and tastemaker, methinks.

SOURCES:

1. Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army - Jeremy Scahill, March 2007 (I read the revised 2008 version tho)
2. Firearms training centers on schools under assault - Jon Frank, The Virginian-Pilot, Oct 1999
3. Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy - Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, January 2010
4. Erik Prince: An American Commando in Exile - Robert Young Pelton, Dangerous Magazine (originally published in Men’s Journal), November 2010
5. Blackwater founder takes aim at his critics in memoir - Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, Nov 2013 (the “Field of Dreams” quote is in this)
6. Falluja lawsuit: Blackwater families settle case - BBC News, 2012
7. The Dark Truth about Blackwater - Peter Singer, Brookings Institution, October 2007
8. I scraped the Nisour Square legal timeline just from the Nisour Square Massacre wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisour_Square_massacre

Other recommended reading from the pod is Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Thanks for listening. Plz feel free to leave a review, and some extra stuff is on Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau

Been awhile, besties! Hello again! This is an episode that was ostensibly about Bechtel Corp (the construction company, not the lesbian cartoonist), but it got away from me and became an exploration into the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. An organized, peaceful method of resistance focused on boycotting business - what could go wrong? A LOT!

Join myself and Amy Do+Blender Bluid to continue in the military-contracting deep dive season (remember that?) and let's get some ice cream on the way! Anybody want to stop at Ben&Jerry'sIsreal? Perhaps a SodaStream to tide you over?

NOTE: The episode starts after bitching that took precisely 5 minutes. Ep begins at 5:00

Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo - both of whom have released new music on Spotify!!!! We out here!

Thanks to Casey Synesael for your genius audio engineering!!! SAVIOR!

SOURCES (sorry there are 23):

-Illinois bars state pensions from owning Unilever over Israel, Ross Kerber, Reuters 2021

Ben&Jerry's 2015 statement found at this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210109062433/https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2015/ben-and-jerrys-business-in-israel

Ben&Jerry's 2021 statement found at this link: https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/opt-statement

40 ILCS 5/ Illinois Pension Code thingy quoted found here: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActID=638&ChapterID=9&SeqStart=100000&SeqEnd=6300000

Illinois General Assembly, this Israel amendment to our investment codes passed 49-0 in the Senate and 102-0 in the House: https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.13202.html#:~:text=The%20legislation%2C%20which%20was%20modeled,held%20indirectly%20inside%20larger%20portfolios.

University of Texas email quoted found here: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/26/ut-wont-reimburse-for-airbnb-lodging-after-texas-decision-on-companys-israeli-settlement-stance/5610142007/

-AIRBNB statement from 2017: https://news.airbnb.com/listings-in-disputed-regions/

-Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's statement found here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/executive-management/OAG%20advisory%20on%20SB%2013%20and%2019%2010.18.23.pdf

-Texas City Tells People No Hurricane Harvey Aid Unless They Promise Not to Boycott Israel, ACLU Press release re: case Koontz v. Watson — Challenge to Kansas Law Targeting Boycotts of Israel found here: https://www.aclu.org/p...