Insurance vs The British Abolition Movement
Insurance Vs History
Insurance vs The British Abolition Movement What happens when an insurance case sparks the beginning of a national movement? Join me for the second episode of my series on Insurance and Slavery, where I talk about British Abolition, the Massacre on the Slave Ship Zong, and Lord Mansfield’s insistence on NOT talking about slavery. Hire me! Contact for details. Tip me! See my page at Buy Me a Coffee: Selected Sources and Links: · The "Somerset" Effect: Parsing Lord Mansfield's Words on Slavery in Nineteenth Century America. Derek A...
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Insurance vs The Station Nightclub Fire
Insurance Vs History
Insurance vs the Station Nightclub Fire Without giving my age away entirely, I will admit…I’m a child of the 80s. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen several of my favorite 80s artists perform their greatest hits. It never crossed my mind that something could go wrong during a concert and I might be in danger. But on February 2, 2003, more than 400 people who also loved the 1980s attended a concert at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. But that night, something went wrong. A fire broke out at the concert, resulting in 100 deaths and 230 injuries. When bad things...
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Insurance vs The Atlantic Slave Trade
Insurance Vs History
Three years ago, when I started thinking about making a podcast about insurance and history, I had only one topic in mind: slavery. It took three years of reading and researching before I was ready to share it with you, but this episode represents part one of a three-part series about insurance and slavery—an overview of the Atlantic Slave trade and how insurance contributed to and supported that trade. It’s a tough topic, but an important one, for insurance professionals and history buffs alike. This is a story about how capitalism developed in Europe and the Americas, about colonialism,...
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Insurance vs Enron
Insurance Vs History
For the first episode of Season 3, I’m talking about Enron and the company’s spectacular rise and even more spectacular fall. It’s a story about how creativity can sometimes mean stupidity, how culture impacts a company’s survival, how hiring decisions matter, how ideas mutate, and how companies that put stock price and profits above all else can easily be the architects of their own demise. And--how blind people can be about a lot of things if what they are doing is making money. Who was responsible for Enron? What were the major causes of its bankruptcy? Who spoke up, and who...
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Insurance vs Gawker and Hulk Hogan
Insurance Vs History
How can insurance save a company from bankruptcy? How does litigation funding work? Why did a lawsuit about a famous wrestler’s sex tape become a warning to journalists everywhere about the power of Silicon Valley? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I talk about a case called Bollea v Gawker, which involved Hulk Hogan’s sex tape, and Gawker, one of the first big online news organizations. It also involved tech mogul Peter Theil and a vendetta that resulted in Gawker’s demise. This is the story of how insurance could have saved Gawker, but didn’t—and the...
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Insurance vs King Hammurabi of Babylon
Insurance Vs History
Was King Hammurabi’s Code the first written mention of insurance? How did insurance come to be, after all? And how does history change over time? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I talk about King Hammurabi’s Code, often considered to be the first legal code ever written and the first written mention of insurance. But is that really the case? Join me to find out! Selected Sources and Links: 1. 2. 3. Sea Loans at Ugarit, Jonathan Ziskind, Journal of...
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Insurance vs The Mystery of Helen Brach and Horse Insurance Fraud
Insurance Vs History
Insurance vs The Mystery of Helen Brach and Horse Insurance Fraud How did the disappearance of a candy heiress result in the discovery of an insurance fraud ring? And were people hiring someone to murder their horses? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I tackle the true crime story of Helen Brach, and how the investigation into her disappearance revealed an organized insurance fraud ring involving expensive horses, changes in the US tax law, and terrible people. Fair warning: I use one swear word. Selected Sources and Links: ...
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Insurance vs The NRA
Insurance Vs History
How has the NRA impacted insurance? And why are insurers being asked to regulate the gun industry? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I try and tackle the NRA’s impact on the insurance industry, as well as discuss a new wrinkle in the discussion of gun safety: asking the insurance industry to take a regulatory role. Sources and Links: Note: This is only a selection. There was a LOT here, and I read a lot of stuff from “both sides of the aisle” so to speak. I tried to include articles with the most facts and not as many opinions or with more insurance...
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Insurance vs The Movies: Double Indemnity
Insurance Vs History
Is Double Indemnity the best insurance movie ever? Is double indemnity even a real thing? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I discuss the movie Double Indemnity starring Fred McMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G Robinson, and the concept of double indemnity in the insurance industry. Sources and Links: Limitation of Risk in Double Indemnity Clause, Columbia Law Review, Vol 31, No 8 (Dec 1931), pp. 1368-1369 Interpretation of “Accidental Means” in Double Indemnity Clause, Michigan Law Review, Vol 50, No 6 (April 1952), pp. 942-944 Books: Movies: ...
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Insurance vs Tontines! Tontines! Tontines!
Insurance Vs History
Murder. Intrigue. And a financial product that bets on the death of people you don’t know. Tontines! Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I dig into the rise and fall of the tontine, a unique life insurance product that includes a mortality lottery. How did a financial product build bridges and real estate, fund wars, and even contribute to the French revolution? I'm talking Kings, Insurance Barons, and estimating who would live longest. What could be more exciting? Sources and Links: Books: Milevsky has a nice history of tontines in here, and then a discussion of...
info_outlineWelcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In my fifth (and supersized!) episode, I discuss the various reasons why Asbestos and the insurance crisis surrounding Asbestos liability claims in the 1980s nearly brought down the entire Lloyds marketplace. Join me for a deeper dive into General Liability Insurance, an explanation of the Asbestos crisis, and Names at Lloyds!
Links:
- How the Names lost their shirts | Money | The Guardian
- The $200 Billion Miscarriage Of Justice Asbestos lawyers are pitting plaintiffs who aren't sick against companies that never made the stuff--and extracting billions for themselves. - March 4, 2002 (fortune.com)
- Asbestos Litigation | RAND
- The Bitter Fight Over the Manville Trust - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
- TSHA | Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corporation (tshaonline.org)
Law Journal Articles (sorry, no links):
- Assessing the Coverage Carnage: Asbestos Liability and Insurance after Three Decades of Dispute By Jeffrey W. Stempel, 2005. 12 Conn. Ins. L.J. 349 (2005-2006)
- Asbestos Litigation Reform By Janet Brierton, Associate Legislative Attorney, Feb 17, 2004 OLR Research Report
Books:
- AN Air That Kills: Andrew Schneider, David McCumber: 9780399150951: Amazon.com: Books
- Ultimate Risk: The Inside Story of the Lloyd's Catastrophe: Raphael, Adam: 9781568580562: Amazon.com: Books
- On the Brink: How a Crisis Transformed Lloyd's of London: 9781137299291: Economics Books @ Amazon.com
- Dust-Up: Asbestos Litigation and the Failure of Commonsense Policy Reform: Barnes, Jeb: 9781589017665: Amazon.com: Books
Hire These People:
- My audio editor, and AMAZING Voice Over Actor—who did all the VO for this episode: Zach Stinnett
Music Credits:
- Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library
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