Business Wars

Netflix-HBO. Nike-Adidas. Business is war. Sometimes the prize is your wallet. Sometimes your attention. Sometimes just the fun of beating the other guy. From Wondery, the network behind Dirty John and American History Tellers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host David Brown interviews Steven Johnson, the host of the new podcast American Innovations.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's the Great Depression, and in one of Kentucky’s toughest corners, Harland Sanders defends his gas station business with sheer moxie and a loaded shotgun. He expands it into a thriving motel and restaurant, but impatient tourists balk at long wait times for his most popular dish — fried chicken. Eager to woo customers, Sanders risks life and limb experimenting with a new kitchen invention and creates a hit secret recipe. Along the way, he discovers a unique marketing gimmick: dressing up like a Kentucky Colonel from the frontier days. Meanwhile in the post-war boom a young devout Christian named Truett Cathy opens a diner with his brother in Atlanta. Soon enough his company, Chick-fil-A, will hit KFC right where it hurts, in between two buttered buns. Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s the 1900’s and a young Harland Sanders learns how to cook out of sheer necessity when his widowed mother leaves him at home to care for his younger brother and sister. Crushing poverty prompts his mother to loan him out as a field hand when he’s just twelve, and from then on he’s on his own. He labors as a farmworker, a blacksmith’s helper, and a railroad fire stoker. Eventually Sanders bamboozles his way into a career as a correspondence course lawyer, only to lose his practice due to his fiery temper and tendency towards violence. Meanwhile, as the nation sinks into a depression, poverty leaves scars and forges ambition in eight-year-old Truett Cathy. He learns to cook in the family’s boarding-house in Atlanta, and contributes desperately needed cash with a thriving coca-cola stand and newspaper delivery route. As his family’s finances worsen, they end up in the city’s first housing project, and Truett’s father teaches his son hard lessons at the end of a razor strap.Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s the 1950s in Kentucky and Harland Sanders faces bankruptcy once again. 65-years-old, broke, unemployed and desperate, he barnstorms the country, living out of his car, selling his secret fried chicken recipe to restaurant and diner owners. Franchising is a new concept and it’s hard going, but Sanders makes an invaluable convert of Pete Harman, a Utah restaurateur, who becomes his first franchisee. Harman creates the icons of the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand, including its name, and becomes a lifelong champion of the company. Meanwhile in Atlanta, a local airline presents Truett Cathy with a surplus of boneless chicken, which he slips into a bun and turns into pure southern fried chicken gold. Pre-order our new book The Art of Business Wars now before it is released on April 13.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/businesswars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.