Podcast

Kohler Media

Business, Comedy

Money, business and the economy, with a few laughs along the way.

Kohler Media is home to two podcasts:

How We Got Here: Chris Kohler tells the weird and wild business stories that shaped the economy we're all now trudging through. The deals that collapsed empires, the blunders that accidentally built them, and why it still matters to your wallet.

Kohler & Kohler: A father-and-son finance and economics podcast. Alan Kohler is one of Australia's best-known finance journalists, with decades of experience. Chris brings… less experience… but plenty of good vibes.

Business chart
#108
Episodes
17
Releases
Every two weeks
Typical length
50 min
On air since
2026
Latest episode
1 day ago

Episodes

17 episodes, newest first

  1. How We Got Here: How Nike Destroyed Itself

    Show notes

    In 2021, Nike was worth five times what it is now.

    Then one problem became two… then problems started feeding on each other.

    Now it’s a shadow of its former self and athletes have been racing for the exit.

    Can it recover? Yes.

    Will it ever be the same? Probably not.

    44 min
  2. KOHLER & KOHLER: Should childcare be free?

    Show notes

    Chris and Alan look at whether childcare could be made free… and what sort of impacts that would have.

    Then again, maybe Chris is just trying to score some extra babysitting.

    47 min
  3. BONUS EPISODE: Is Nvidia a bubble?

    Show notes

    Chris sits down with veteran IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore to discuss the dizzying valuations being achieved by Nvidia to ask the technical question… is this a bubble?

    48 min
  4. BONUS EPISODE: Where To Next For House Prices?

    Show notes

    Chris sits down with Mortgage Choice CEO Anthony Waldron for a 'randomised' chat that gives advice on how to navigate falling house prices, rising interest rates and changing government rules.

    45 min
  5. How They Got Us To Pay For Music Again

    Show notes

    Napster made music free in 2000 and the music industry was never the same. So why are we still paying for music decades later? Chris talks to Osher Günsberg and consumer behaviour expert Dr Paul Harrison about Shawn Fanning, Metallica's war on Napster, and why a service that’s convenient will usually beat a service that’s free.

    48 min
  6. How IKEA tricks you... over and over

    Show notes

    IKEA is a barn filled with two types of things - furniture... and psychology.The story of the world's biggest furniture business is one filled with tricks and traps that are designed to exist just below our awareness. The origins of the business are also a mix of things the company does, and doesn't, want you to know about.

    51 min
  7. Why Uber Eats Is About To Get Even More Expensive

    Show notes

    Australia just gave gig delivery workers a legal minimum wage. It's a big win for workers - and it means your Uber Eats order is about to get even more expensive. Here's how UberEats built an empire on the bait... and made billions on the switch.

    0:00 Intro

    6:00 Two truths and a lie

    8:13 The guy who couldn't get a car

    20:42 The deal

    26:59 How they get you

    34:50 The business in the middle of it

    38:17 Last one standing

    40:08 A tricky business to actually run

    41:40 Solving the pay problem

    48:10 Two truths and a lie

    53 min
  8. How Housing Became So Broken

    Show notes

    Chris and Alan Kohler talk about the housing crisis that is shaping the Australian economy. It's a puzzle, so Chris made Alan a crossword - can he crack it while simultaneously explaining why nobody can afford homes anymore?

    0:00 Intro

    5:05 Supply

    17:30 Demand

    24:00 Density

    26:30 Auction

    30:50 Incentives

    34:05 Transport

    42:30 Investor & Rent

    55:00 Summary

    1 hr 1 min
  9. The Toxic Economy of Gaming

    Season 1, Episode 8

    Show notes

    The video game industry makes more money than movies and music combined - and it got there by deploying the greatest hits of dark consumer psychology.

    Gambling, paywalls, and slowly but surely chiselling ownership out of the hands of their customers. It’s doing so well, in fact, that it’ll start growing outwards.

    This episode explores the origin of modern gaming and the moments that ensured it ended up being a sinkhole for money and frustration.

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    50 min
  10. Why Are All Our Movies Ads Now?

    Season 1, Episode 7

    Show notes

    When we watch a movie we see 4-5 brands every 10 minutes. The advertising is hidden in plain sight and this episode goes looking for where and how that trick first came to Hollywood.

    E.T. and a bag of Reese's Pieces, Lois Lane chain smoking Marlboros, Happy Gilmore’s Subway t-shirts… and Jerry McGuire taking Reebok’s money and then screwing them over. All steps on the path to the situation audiences now find themselves in - marketing campaigns dressed up as movies.

    All that… plus a two truths and a lie with a twist - one "casual" mention in this very episode was a paid placement.

    Check out Cool Shirtz - https://shirtz.cool/

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min
  11. Hang on... was Tupperware a pyramid scheme?

    Season 1, Episode 6

    Show notes

    Tupperware is one of those words so common we forgot it's a brand. It's also one of the great untold business stories, with a pioneer who was deliberately erased from view.

    Did she design a pyramid scheme? Not really.

    There's more to it than that.

    This is the story of Brownie Wise... and what it costs to build something you don't own.

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    46 min
  12. Ryanair: How The Bad Guy Won

    Season 1, Episode 5

    Show notes

    A cheap flight… that ends up feeling expensive.

    This episode: how Ryanair and Michael O'Leary perfected drip pricing and made billions doing it.

    Removing olives, lukewarm off-brand soft drinks, expensive wheelchair hire… and the hardest two truths and a lie segment yet.

    0:00 Intro

    5:05 Two Truths & A Lie

    7:10 The Industry That Counts Olives

    11:00 Enter The Accountant

    16:10 The Southwest Effect

    21:55 O'Leary Takes The Controls

    28:02 Since When Is A Wheelchair A Frill?

    35:52 The Charge Sheet - And Why It Works

    41:05 The Point

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    50 min
  13. How Kodak Engineered Its Own Demise (Literally)

    Season 1, Episode 4

    Show notes

    Kodak didn’t make a mistake. The digital camera was invented in their own building but it was missing more than film. It was missing a business model.

    0:00 Intro

    3:15 Two Truths & A Lie

    4:15 The Man Who Gave Everyone A Camera

    15:40 Advertising Done To Perfection

    23:06 Welcome Steve

    35:25 The Point

    39:15 The Ending

    44:10 Two Truths & A lie

    Madmen Scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq3n2sJ43Hg&t=4s

    A Long Time In Finance w/ Steve Sasson - https://open.spotify.com/episode/407q6PT4umq9BVECyJsLhy

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    49 min
  14. Kellogg’s: The Disturbing Reason Corn Flakes Exist

    Season 1, Episode 3

    Show notes

    This episode contains adult topics and themes

    Ever wondered how the world's most popular cereal ended up in your breakfast bowl?

    The story behind Cornflakes is stranger than you'd think, meet John Harvey Kellogg, the man whose obsession with gut health and moral purity accidentally changed the way the world eats breakfast.

    0:00 Intro

    5:40 Two truths and a lie

    7:30 The religious pipeline

    10:40 Picking the doctor

    13:35 The San

    17:45 Gut Health

    24:34 The anti masturbation crusade

    29:41 The accidental invention

    35:11 The rival next door

    37:26 The brothers split

    43:52 A note on more dark stuff

    46:06 The end

    50:42 Two truths and a lie

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min
  15. Blockbuster blew $8 billion. We’re still paying for it

    Season 1, Episode 2

    Show notes

    A complete corporate disaster.

    Blockbuster stuffed up so badly that the world started walking down a path away from one-off payments and towards subscriptions. And the best part is, Blockbuster's demise was baked in from the start. It just grew so fast the problems were hard to see... for a few years.

    0:00 Intro

    9:10 The VCR

    19:09 The War

    24:42 Hello Rental Industry

    28:15 Welcome To BlockBuster

    36:00 Huizenga

    40:27 Viacom Era

    44:51 Injured By DVD

    48:59 Enter The Wolf

    50:43 The Collapse

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 1 min
  16. How Nazi Brothers Changed Sports Marketing Forever

    Season 1, Episode 1

    Show notes

    Adidas vs. Puma. Two brothers. One town. A feud that changed sport forever.

    Adolf and Rudolf began as partners, cobbling shoes together in central Germany before a family fallout split them into bitter rivals. What followed was decades of corporate warfare, played out on the world's biggest stages, that transformed sports marketing into one of the most powerful industries of the 20th century.

    Howe We Got Here

    Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 11 min
  17. Introducing... Kohler Media Trailer

    Show notes

    Money, business and the economy, with a few laughs along the way.

    Kohler Media is home to two podcasts:

    How We Got Here: Chris Kohler tells the weird and wild business stories that shaped the economy we're all now trudging through. The deals that collapsed empires, the blunders that accidentally built them, and why it still matters to your wallet.

    Kohler & Kohler: A father-and-son finance and economics podcast. Alan Kohler is one of Australia's best-known finance journalists, with decades of experience. Chris brings… less experience… but plenty of good vibes.

    1 min

On these lists

Kohler Media is one of the shows picked out on this list

All Business lists