Dominique Olivier
Japan is no matcha for Chinese disruption
The Chinese disruption playbook has been incredible to observe in the automotive industry. And if Japan isn't careful, the same thing is going to happen in matcha. Dominique Olivier shows how green powder has become a red ocean of competition.
Dominique Olivier
When marketing misses the market
The Starbucks disaster in South Korea cost a CEO his job, a brand its market, and thousands of customers their loyalty. The strangest part isn't that somebody made the mistake; it's that so many people didn't catch it before it went public. Dominique Olivier walks us through several corporate marketing catastrophes that should never have happened.
Dominique Olivier
Gunpowder, guillotines and guest houses: how the French Revolution came to Franschhoek
Each July, a little valley on the southern tip of Africa dresses up in tricolour to commemorate a French prison riot that it has no direct connection to. Dominique Olivier explains how a day that started with gunpowder and ended with a beheading became an excuse to drink excellent wine in Franschhoek.
Dominique Olivier
What really happened on Dyatlov Pass?
A slashed tent, frozen footprints, and injuries with no visible cause. The Dyatlov Pass case has everything a good mystery needs, except a conclusion. From Yetis to avalanches, the theories to explain the tragic death of a group of hikers have been running wild for decades now.
Dominique Olivier
A drag queen, a panda and the King (of rock ‘n’ roll)
Elvis, Lady Gaga and a nature-loving drag queen have all found themselves on the wrong end of a trademark fight. Some of them won, some of them lost, but only one of them got offered free ice-cream as compensation. Dominique Olivier brings us the more entertaining side of the law.
Dominique Olivier
What a running dinosaur can teach you about keeping your job
In 1993, one man’s technological breakthrough made an entire craft obsolete overnight. The people who survived it had one thing in common. As AI threatens everything we know about our careers, it's worth knowing what that was. Dominique Olivier tells the story of CGI disruption to the movie industry.
Dominique Olivier
The mystery behind the Mechanical Turk
Some mysteries survive not because they're clever, but because the truth is so simple that nobody wants to believe it. We want the answer to be breathtaking and impossible to guess, yet sometimes it's staring us right in the face. Dominique Olivier tells the story of the Mechanical Turk.
Dominique Olivier
How Thomas Edison accidentally created Hollywood
Thomas Edison wanted to own American film. Instead, through essentially operating a cartel, he drove it 5,000 kilometres west and gave the world Hollywood. Dominique Olivier tells the wild story that few people know about the inventor of the light bulb.
Dominique Olivier
Rooms without monsters can be scary too
The Backrooms began as an anonymous 4chan post and became the most surprising horror movie hit of the year. To understand why an empty room terrifies us, we have to look at what's hiding behind the wallpaper. From liminal spaces to uncanny valley, Dominique Olivier looks at how empty rooms can be just as scary as monsters.
Dominique Olivier
Dirt on display: the art of museum “acquisition”
A reality TV star, a stolen coffin, and the uncomfortable history of how museum preservation can look a lot like theft. Dominique Olivier digs into the ethical debates around where global relics are displayed and "owned" in the competitive environment of museums.
Dominique Olivier
Play money: Comic Con and the geek economy
Millennials and Gen Z aren't buying houses by default anymore. But they sure are buying other things! Dominique Olivier's recent visit to Comic Con Cape Town was an eye-opening experience about the power of the broader geek economy.
