Is Business Broken?

We've watched companies wrap themselves in green branding, issue elaborate corporate sustainability reports, and promise a future where capitalism and conservation march hand in hand. But is corporate sustainability truly about saving the planet, or is it a substitute for accountability and regulation? In the last episode of our three-part series inspired by BU Questrom’s Beyond Corporate Sustainability conference, host Curt Nickisch unpacks the myths of market-driven solutions and the critical

Individual companies don't operate in a vacuum. They're part of industries, supply chains, financial markets, and a much larger system. So in this bigger picture, how did the idea of corporate sustainability become so ubiquitous and powerful? How did we come to believe that companies could take on some of society's biggest environmental problems while still turning a profit?  In the second episode of our three-part series inspired by BU Questrom’s Beyond Corporate Sustainability conference

In 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report confirming what many scientists already knew:  that human activities are driving rapid, intensifying global warming. The science was clear, and there was momentum to act. But who should take the lead? Beginning in the 1990s, a new answer emerged: corporations. If businesses were responsible for much of the world’s fossil fuel emissions, perhaps they could also be part of the solution. It seemed like a win-win: good f

Where does innovation begin? What are the critical factors driving innovation today and tomorrow? And what happens when federal funding gets shaky, the IPO market stalls, and political uncertainty rattles an entire industry? A century and a half after Boston University Professor Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, questions around the innovation economy are more urgent than ever. At a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, host Curt Nickisch sits down to explore these qu

Ocean shipping carries close to 90% of global trade, and it accounts for about 3% of global emissions. The International Maritime Organization has set ambitious targets to reduce those by 20% by 2030, by 70% by 2040, and reach net zero by 2050. Ships are expensive and pay for themselves over decades, and the technology for green fuels is still developing. What are you supposed to do if you're a shipping company? Do you invest early and take on the risk? Do you drag your feet? And why should we

We are living through a massive migration of wealth. More and more capital is leaving public markets and flowing into private equity. There's even a growing push to let everyday investors put their retirement savings into private markets. But as private equity's footprint expands, so does the debate over who actually benefits. Has private equity made the economy more efficient, innovative, and productive — or has it become a system for extracting wealth at the expense of workers, consumers, and

Exciting news! Is Business Broken? has been nominated for a Webby Award in the Business category! We couldn't be prouder of all of our listeners who helped make this possible. And with this nomination, we're up for a People's Voice award. We’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to vote for us: https://wbby.co/57452N. The voting period ends this Thursday, April 16th. Thank you so much!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AI is already making its way into healthcare, from helping doctors write notes to interpreting medical images and managing growing amounts of patient data. As one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S., healthcare is quickly becoming a major testing ground for these tools. As tech giants roll out health-focused chatbots and tools, patients and providers face big questions: Is AI giving doctors back the time and presence that the business of medicine stripped away? Or will it become anoth