Is Business Broken?
Episodes
Does the Future of Sustainability Lie in the Shipping Industry?
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ocean shipping carries close to 90% of global trade, and it accounts for about 3% of global emissions. The International Maritime Organization has set...
Can Private Equity Be a Force for Good?
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 g...
Vote for "Is Business Broken?" in the Webby Awards!
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
How is AI Changing Your Relationship With Your Doctor?
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
AI is already making its way into healthcare, from helping doctors write notes to interpreting medical images and managing growing amounts of patient...
How is Generative AI Reshaping Hollywood?
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving into Hollywood, from visual effects and editing to script development and production workflows. In the realm...
Would You Trust a Self-Driving Car?
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Self-driving cars are logging millions of miles in a growing number of U.S. cities. Waymo now wants to test its newest robotaxis on Boston’s narrow ...
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran on Tariffs, Inflation, and Deregulation
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years, the Federal Reserve has faced down enormous economic challenges: rising inflation, new trade policies, a pandemic, and a weaker lab...
Are Boardrooms Ready for the New Geopolitical Reality?
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode tackles a challenge facing boardrooms right now: the intersection of geopolitics and corporate governance. For decades, companies foll...
What Does Antitrust Mean in 2025?
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At its core, antitrust is about reining in concentrated power. But in a world where digital platforms shape our choices and markets evolve, the bounda...
Why Should We Care About Corporate Governance?
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How might corporate governance shape business decisions, trust, and society at large? In this special student-hosted episode of Is Business Broken?, B...
Why Don't Restaurants Steal Recipes?
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we're diving into a fascinating corner of self-regulation—one that doesn't rely on formal rules or legal protections, but instead on norms. I...
When Does Self Regulation Become Collusion?
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week's show introduced self-regulation, the practice of businesses, setting their own guardrails without government, but what are the limits to p...
What Happens When Business Regulates Itself?
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when business regulates itself, without government? Enter self regulation. Host Curt Nickisch speaks to BU Questrom Professors Andy King...
Vote for "Is Business Broken?" in the Signal Awards!
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Exciting news! Is Business Broken? has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Business category! We couldn't be more proud of all of our listeners...
The High Stakes of the AI Economy, Live from the WBUR Festival
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
AI promises massive gains in productivity and a flourishing of goods and services—but also poses consequences for jobs, corporate power, and society...
The Economic Anxiety of a Global Trade Shift
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the goals of the Mehrotra Institute is to educate, not just through research or in the classroom, but by creating real-world learning opportuni...
How Should Companies Balance Short-Term Pressures with Long-Term Interests?
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How should companies balance short-term pressures with long-term interests?Can they do both—and if so, how? That’s the question we posed at a liv...
How to Combat Common Ownership
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last episode introduced the concept of common ownership. That’s where major investors buy significant stakes across competing firms, which can lower...
What Happens When the Same Investors Own Competing Companies?
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When the same big investors buy stakes in multiple competing companies, are those firms still competitors? When they practically have the same owner, ...
Why is Healthcare Not Better and Cheaper?
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Innovation is what drives progress—but in healthcare, progress can feel frustratingly slow. New treatments, technologies, and approaches have the po...
How Do Employees Feel about Executive Compensation?
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As we’ve discussed these last few episodes, there’s a lot that goes into how executives get paid—but what about the people working beneath those...
Are CEOS Paid Just For Luck?
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For our next conversation on executive compensation, we’re exploring some of the big questions researchers are tackling today. Like: How much of CEO...
How Institutional Investors Influence Executive Pay
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode dives into the voice that shareholders have and how executives are paid, including large institutional shareholders. What does that...
Why are Executives Paid So Much?
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why and how did CEO paychecks become so massive and divisive? Who decides what leaders are worth? And what’s the ripple effect on companies, workers...
Regulating Platforms & Speech in an Age of Fake News
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do we reconcile the protection of free speech with the need to prevent harmful misinformation from spreading online? Is it even possible to strike...
How Can We Understand Online Misinformation?
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From political lies to viral conspiracy theories, misinformation has reshaped our digital landscape—creating confusion, influencing public perceptio...
Shareholder Primacy vs. Stakeholderism: 5 Years Later (Pt 2)
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last week's episode features the first part of a panel centered around the Business Round Table's pledge five years ago to redefine the purpose of a c...
Shareholder Primacy vs. Stakeholderism: 5 Years Later (Pt 1)
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Five years ago, the Business Roundtable made a bold move and redefined the purpose of a corporation. 181 CEOs signed a pledge to create value for all ...
Why Cell and Gene Therapies Cost So Much – And What Can Be Done
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last week's episode introduced the promises and challenges brought forth by Cell and Gene Therapies. Today's show dives deeper into this topic with BU...
Life Science Innovation: Who Should Pay?
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes called “living drugs,” Cell and Gene Therapies have the potential to cure an individual of a rare disease by modifying that person’s g...
The Future of ESG: Where Do We Go From Here?
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The future of ESG, or Environmental Social Governance, depends on how we approach our current moment, according to today's show guests. Host Curt Nick...
What Are Today’s Business Leaders Saying About ESG?
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What do the conversations around ESG, or Environmental Social Governance, look like today? How are businesses addressing E, S, and G factors in what t...
Revisiting ESG: How Did We Get Here?
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
ESG, or Environmental Social Governance, isn't the first time business has attempted addressing public concerns regarding the social impact of busines...
Promises and Perils of the ESG Movement
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
ESG, or Environmental Social Governance, promises to help the bottom line and the planet at the same time. Is it too good to be true? In this episode,...
Is Business Broken?
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Host Curt Nickisch and Susan Fournier, Allen Questrom Professor and Dean of Questrom School of Business at Boston University, preview the arc of this ...
Trailer: "Is Business Broken?"
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A preview of "Is Business Broken?" - Conversations about the role of business in society, brought to you by the Ravi K. Mehrotra Institute for Busine...