Podcast Business Wars reveals battles behind business success

There’s something weirdly satisfying about learning how products and brands – whether part of everyday life or wrapped under a Christmas tree – came to exist.

Cult podcast Business Wars dissects the histories and personalities of dueling empires. Picture: Supplied

It’s Christmas Day and after the presents are unwrapped and lunch is eaten, this reviewer hopes readers turn off their phone notifications and find some peace after two long years.

To help you enjoy a state of idleness and distract from fear of the Omicron variant, Review is recommending an all-time favourite podcast.

Business Wars, from US network Wondery, dissects the histories and personalities of duelling empires, from the utopian vision of chocolate maker Milton Hershey to the tech-bro founders of SnapChat.

There’s something weirdly satisfying about learning about how products and brands – whether part of everyday life or wrapped under a Christmas tree – came to exist.

This reviewer did not know about the wellness origins of breakfast brand Kellogs or the betrayal that saw cornflakes developed as the cereal purchasable at pretty much every supermarket (series 21, Cereal Wars).

Currently the podcast is getting into the Christmas movie rivalry between channels Hallmark and Lifetime but with more than 60 series, each going for about six episodes, there’s a lot of content ready for consumption.

Series 12, Browser Wars, examines how philanthropist Bill Gates was defined by a ruthlessness – that makes for good listening – in the early years of Microsoft.

Also very good is the short two-episode series on Zankou Chicken, a family owned rotisserie business that achieves success before ending in murder.

Host David Brown dramatises conversations and moments of key players, which at first is a bit jarring but becomes engrossing after a few episodes. The music is very dramatic but part of the charm.

Brown is also behind the great podcast WeCrashed that investigates the bizarre rise and fall of co-working company WeWork. It’s definitely worth a listen.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and may readers appreciate each full day of rest before the New Year and whatever horrors it may or may not bring.

You can listen to Business Wars on your favourite podcast app.