Our Year in Review

Our Year in Review

Author: Bloomberg and iHeartPodcasts January 9, 2024 Duration: 23:47

It’s been one year since Crash Course launched, and what a year it’s been! From Trump to Putin, Climate Change to Artificial Intelligence, SVB to SBF, Florida to Gaza, the Supreme Court to Barbie, and so much more – we covered a lot of ground this year, and we learned a lot. That’s a key part of Crash Course: we want to learn something new in every episode. So to mark the one year anniversary of Crash Course, Tim wanted to listen back through the tape and remember some of the key learnings from the past year. We’ll remember the people, conflicts, and cultural moments that made this year one for the history books.

The full episodes mentioned in this episode include: 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Tim O'Brien, a senior executive editor at Bloomberg Opinion, hosts this weekly Crash Course from Bloomberg and iHeartPodcasts. Instead of observing from the sidelines, each episode places you directly inside the high-stakes environments where major disruptions in business and society actually unfold. The narrative-driven podcast examines what happens when powerful forces-like raw ambition and innovative thinking-meet immovable objects like entrenched competition and institutional power. These collisions aren't abstract; they happen in the very real worlds of Wall Street trading floors, Main Street small businesses, Hollywood studios, and the corridors of Washington, D.C. By dissecting these pivotal moments, the series uncovers the practical, often surprising lessons that emerge from the chaos. It’s a deep dive into the mechanics of change, offering clarity on how today’s upheavals shape tomorrow’s landscape. You’ll hear detailed stories and analysis that go beyond the headlines to explain the why and how behind the news, making complex power struggles accessible and compelling.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 67

Crash Course
Podcast Episodes
Israel vs. Hamas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:09
Gaza is now a war zone. In the wake of Hamas’ recent grisly attack that left more than 1,400 Israelis dead and about another 200 taken hostage, Israel’s military forces appear poised to occupy Gaza to try obliterating th…
Polling vs. The 2024 Election [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:33
Polling – the very inexact science that is the lifeblood of political analysis and guesswork – is very much with us. Built upon a series of queries that asks respondents, essentially, “What do you think about X,” polling…
The Promised Land vs. White Supremacy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:14
“We White Christians no longer represent the majority of Americans,” writes Robert P. Jones, a White Christian. “We are no longer capable of setting the nation’s course by sheer cultural and political dominance. But ther…
Rupert Murdoch and Alternative Facts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:20
There are no such things as alternative facts. We can disagree about how to interpret facts, but there they remain. Stubborn things. When stubborn people collide with stubborn things – when the likes of Rupert Murdoch as…
Party Politics vs. The 2024 Presidential Race [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:14
Have voters, politicos, analysts, and the media focused before with such intensity on a presidential race in the US more than a year before the actual vote? Perhaps. But I’m willing to say: Probably not. The reasons why…
Nukes, Russia, and Our New Cold War [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:56
Ever since Vladimir Putin sent Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine in early 2022, assumptions about the possibility of war in the 21st Century have been turned on their heads. A long absence of conflict in Europe gave way…
Elon and Zuck vs. Grown-Up Management [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:58
Silicon Valley is the centerpiece of a very specific kind of bro culture – a culture that has had a certain winner-take-all mojo over the years, but which may be running its course. To test this thesis, I present you wit…
Mother Nature vs. Life As We Know It [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:06
Weather is fickle and climate-related catastrophes have become all too common – in the US and around the globe. Deadly, rain-induced flooding, interspersed with deadly, heat-induced fires have also visited the Koreas, Et…
The First GOP Debate vs. The Guy Who Wasn’t There [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:14
Any time Tim O’Brien sees a Republican presidential candidate (other than Donald Trump) on television, he’s reminded that they and their party look like they’re in a hostage video. They are all trapped by Trump, and none…
Barbie vs. The Men, and The Real World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:58
“Barbie,” the summer blockbuster about the world’s most famous doll, has a lot to say about the intersection of art, commerce, gender, identity, and a life well lived. But one reason it has raked in more than $1 billion…