The Best Idea Yet
The untold stories behind the products you’re obsessed with and the bold risk-takers who made them go viral.How did Birkenstocks go from a German cobbler’s passion project 250 years ago to a starring role in the Barbie movie? Who created that bottle of Sriracha permanently living in your fridge? Did you know the Air Jordans were initially banned by the NBA, or that Super Mario became the best-selling video game character ever thanks to a strategy called “The Infinite Game?” On Wondery’s new weekly podcast The Best Idea Yet, Nick Martell and Jack Crivici-Kramer (hosts of the award-winn...
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LISTEN NOW: The First Wife
Many listened to the Dirty John podcast, which introduced the world to John Meehan, a dangerous serial predator who infiltrates the life of Debra Newell and ultimately dies at the hand of her daughter, Terra. But there was an overlooked story that’s now being told, in full, for the first time.<br>In The First Wife: John Meehan’s Reign of Terror, Tonia Bales recounts her harrowing experiences as John’s wife of 10 years and the mother of their daughters, Emily and Abby. Highlighting new details and revelations, Tonia shares the abuse she suffered from the man she once believed...
🎬 That’s a Wrap on Season 1
<p>But you can still get Nick & Jack every day! Follow The Best One Yet, our daily news show delivering 3 stories in 20 minutes. Where business meets pop-culture. </p><p>Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-one-yet/id1386234384</p><p>Listen on Spotify: </p><p>https://open.spotify.com/show/5RllMBgvDnTau8nnsCUdse</p><p>Listen on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/25e48622-4069-47e9-baaf-1d97586f9fc2/the-best-one-yet</p><p>Watch on YouTube: </p><p>https://www.youtube.com/tboypod</p><p><br></p><p>Thank you, Yetis & Besties! And we’ll update ya on Se...
📺 SNL: The Snickers Bar of Saturday Night
<p>When Johnny Carson, 1970s late-night king, declared he wanted another day off, it left NBC with a hole in their weekend lineup. 11:30pm Saturday night wasn’t exactly the hot time slot… so the network recruited a quiet Canadian comedy writer named Lorne Michaels to produce a live variety show on the cheap. NBC figured, this thing might not get ratings, but it should be affordable and easy to produce. What could go wrong?</p><p>Turns out, a LOT. Cost overruns. Clashing egos. A studio that hadn’t been used since the 50s. And yeah, some drugs along the wa...
🎧 Sony Walkman: The Analog Icon That Led to a Digital Revolution
<p>In postwar Tokyo, two engineers were tinkering with rice cookers and busted home radios when they stumbled across a new kind of audio technology: magnetic tape. It inspired them to create a range of ahead-of-their-time tape recorders — and the success took Sony from small repair shop to global electronics powerhouse.</p><p>Then, in 1979, after decades of bringing cutting-edge tech to homes across the world, they released their most surprising hit: a little cassette player you could clip to your belt.</p><p>Their invention made music portable and personal. For the first time, you could jog along to Bo...
👜 Birkin: The Handbag That Costs More Than Your House
<p>When Jane Birkin's boyfriend ran over her beloved wicker basket, she was stuck lugging a messy tote onto a flight to London. As her Hermès planner exploded across the first-class cabin, her mortified seatmate suggested she needed a bag with pockets. ""Hermès doesn't make one with pockets,"" Jane sighed. He replied: ""But I am Hermès."" Jean-Louis Dumas, head of the luxury empire, watched Jane sketch her dream bag on an airplane vomit bag. Three years later, the first-ever Birkin arrived as a gift… kicking off what would become the most expensive, hard-to-get handbag design in the world...
⚾️ New York Yankees: Rise of the Bronx Bombers
<p>In the spring of 1903, the NYC subway wasn’t yet open… the Wright Brothers hadn’t yet taken their epic flight… and the New York Yankees were not yet the Yankees. They were the Highlanders: a group of unremarkable transplants from Baltimore, their future not guaranteed. But through determination—and some old-style political maneuvering— the Highlanders clung on as the Big Apple’s third-best baseball team. Then, with a single trade, the fate of the Yanks and Major League Baseball changed forever: the Red Sox dealt Babe Ruth to New York. The Babe helped elevate the Yanks from worst to first, putt...
🏍️ Harley-Davidson: Tattoo’d on 700,000 Biceps
<p>It started with a souped-up bicycle inspired by a vaudeville show, and the need for speed. The dream – shared by four Harley brothers and one Davidson – came true, and became one of America’s most iconic companies. But their real innovation? Myth-building.</p><p>These machines roared through death-defying races and two world wars to start an entire subculture built around the open road…and became a symbol of freedom, defiance, and American grit.</p><p>Along the way, the bikes became machines of contradiction: beloved by outlaws and police, favored by rebels and retirees. And from the silver screen o...
🏰 Disneyland: The Fantasy that Almost Flopped
<p>Who wouldn’t want to visit the happiest place on Earth? Well — at the start of the 1950s, it seemed like no one did, at least not when Walt Disney pitched the idea. Sure, Walt had revolutionized animation with Steamboat Willie. And he'd had critical successes with classics like Snow White and Bambi. But his studio was nearly bibbidi-bobbidi-bankrupt,. Even so, Walt just wouldn't Let It Go. </p><p>Then, after Cinderella (another of Walt’s “crazy” ideas) hit the bigtime at the box office, Walt had the creative capital to strike a groundbreaking TV deal to fund his park’s cons...
🍜 Instant Ramen: The Incredible, True Story of “Mr. Noodle”
<p>It’s postwar Japan, and entrepreneur Momofuku Ando has lost everything—his business, his home, and his savings. In fact, the whole country has been ravaged by air raids, and people are hungry. But when he stops at a black-market noodle stall and watches desperate people line up for a simple bowl of ramen, something clicks. What if they didn't have to wait? What if comfort could come from a packet? This moment of inspiration would spark a global empire worth over $8 billion, and change how the world eats forever. (Not to mention powering more startups than the microchip.) Foll...
🥃 Hennessy: From King George to Kendrick
<p>A wounded Irish soldier crawls from a blood-soaked battlefield in the French countryside. He survives, but his fighting days are over. So he settles in the Cognac region, and in 1765, starts a modest brandy business. Richard Hennessy could never dream that 260 years later, his name would ring out—not just in the world of fine spirits, but in the universe of hip-hop. No liquor brand in existence has more musical name-drops than Hennessy (mentioned in over 2,500 songs!). But the brand’s accomplishments go far beyond rhyming with “Tennessee”: Hennessy is the top-selling cognac in the world. The brand played a major...
