Monday, June 30, 2025

The catch that’s catching up with us

Beneath the waves, a silent collapse is underway. As fish stocks dwindle, so do the jobs, meals and communities built around them. But it’s not too late for us to make a meaningful change. Dominique Olivier explains how to balance conservation with people whose livelihoods depend on the ocean.

DreamWorks: when collaborators become competitors

When you sideline a rainmaker, you can’t act surprised when they start making it rain somewhere else. This is the story of how one botched promotion led to the creation of a real thorn in Disney’s side - and set a whole new direction for the animation industry. Welcome to the tale of DreamWorks, as told by Dominique Olivier.

“Big Ostrich” – Feathers, food and a high-flying future

Ostriches might not fly, but their numbers (and their impact) are soaring. From dusty Karoo farms to global sustainability debates, this big bird is quietly paving the future of meat production. Welcome to the surprising world of ostrich farming, as explained by Dominique Olivier.

Klarna: a canary in the American debt coal mine

When lunch needs a payment plan, something’s gone sideways. Klarna’s rollercoaster ride through the American dream is a cautionary tale with extra guac. All is not well in America, as Dominique Olivier explains.

Red Bull: the thing with wings

With over two-thirds of the energy drink market in a vice grip, Red Bull isn’t just a beverage - it’s the undisputed overlord of its category. But what does any of this have to do with death-defying stunts, football teams and the youngest Formula 1 driver in history? Welcome to perhaps the best example of lifestyle marketing in the world.

The court of public opinion: does it matter?

Public backlash may be loud, but it appears as though capitalism has noise-cancelling headphones. Using SeaWorld and Duolingo as examples, Dominique Olivier examines whether the bark of social media outrage has any bite.

Sony’s stuck in a Spider-Man spiral

Sony, once a post-war electronics wunderkind best known for pioneering devices like the Walkman and the Trinitron TV, now finds itself tangled in a web of its own making - one spun not from copper wire or silicon wafers, but from red spandex and Hollywood contracts. Dominique Olivier explains the complicated IP ownership around Spider-Man.

Now is a great time to question our Chinese bias

A wave of TikToks from Chinese factory owners is reshaping how we think about where the things we buy come from. By casually revealing that many brandnamed products are made in Chinese factories, these videos are forcing a reckoning with a deeper bias: our enduring discomfort with the words “Made in China”.

The IVF pioneer that the world (almost) forgot

Science doesn’t just progress in laboratories. It unfolds in the margins, shaped by the people, politics, and institutions around it. The story of IVF, when told in full, reminds us that breakthroughs are often born twice: once in the petri dish, and again in the public imagination. Dominique Olivier explains how IVF was really developed.

Colombia has a cocaine hippo problem

Ecosystems are like very complicated Jenga towers: one wrong move, and suddenly you’ve got starlings in New York, hippos in Colombia, and scientists frantically trying to put the pieces back together. Dominique Olivier tells the story of Pablo Escobar's hippos.

Raising the ghost of Smoot-Hawley

We can't guess where the tariffs and trade war will end up. Instead, we can just revisit the historical parallel. As the saying goes: history doesn’t always repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Dominique Olivier tells the story of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
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