Acquired

Acquired, hosted by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, is a deep narrative history of one company per episode, often running several hours.

They walk through founding, financing, strategy, and the accidents. The research is the show. Listeners come for the feeling of sitting in on a very prepared conversation between two people who have read the footnotes.

The series became a surprise hit because it respects attention. There is no rush to the lesson. A product decision in 1998 gets the time it needs.

Do not start with the longest episode. Start with a company whose products you have used. The hosts’ cross-references make more sense once you have heard them tell one story cleanly.