Insurance Vs History
This podcast explores the surprising ways that insurance has influenced historical events and outcomes, and times when it failed to do so. Each episode examines a different moment in history through the lens of insurance, risk, and financial protection. The show sheds light on how the insurance industry has shaped societies and economies over time. It offers a unique perspective on history that is both educational and entertaining.
Episodes
Government Legislation & Slave Insurance: How Laws Unlocked America's Hidden Slavery Insurance Archives
Ever wondered how insurance intersects with slavery in America? My latest episode of Insurance vs History dives into the world of life insurance and American slavery. I'll reveal how life insurance on enslaved people helped historians and genealogists uncover stories that few textbooks ever mention. From lost documents to innovative legislation, we'll explore the surprising ways insurance records
Insurance Festivus: Real Grievances, 23 and Me Updates, and Tesla Turmoil
Insurance Festivus: Real Grievances, 23 and Me Updates, and Tesla Turmoil Happy Festivus—it's time to air all our insurance grievances! Featuring real listener comments, updates on the 23andMe bankruptcy (cyber insurers, anyone?), and the wild world of Tesla Insurance, this is a great way to close out the year. Selected References: https://apnews.com/article/whistleblower-china-surveillance-tech-
Insurance CEO Pay: What's Fair, What's History, and What's Next
Insurance CEO Pay: What's Fair, What's History, and What's Next? I started trying to answer one question: is Insurance CEO pay fair? and ended up with a massive project. In this episode, I dig into the history of executive pay, share eye-opening stats from AIG, and ask for your help with figuring out who gets paid what and how that's changed over time. Plus, submit your insurance grievance for inc
Is Your DNA Safe? Inside 23andMe's Bankruptcy and Insurance Challenges
Is Your DNA Safe? Inside 23andMe's Bankruptcy and Insurance Challenges What happens when a company owns your DNA data—and then goes bankrupt? In this episode, I dive into the complicated story of 23andMe, exploring its insurance challenges, genetic data risks, privacy concerns, and the ongoing impact for consumers in today's health and insurance landscape. If you have data with 23andMe or any othe
Tesla's Insurance Gamble: Why Cheaper Isn't Always Better (& What History Teaches Us)
Tesla's Insurance Gamble: Why Cheaper Isn't Always Better (& What History Teaches Us) Why would Tesla get into the insurance business, and is it really a new idea? In this episode, I explore Tesla's foray into insurance, the bumps they've hit along the way, and why history shows automakers rarely succeed with insurance. Selected References: 1. https://www.propertycasualty360.com/2025/10/06/
When Insurance Meets Scandal: The Boy Scouts Abuse Crisis Explained
When Insurance Meets Scandal: The Boy Scouts Abuse Crisis Explained How did insurance influence the Boy Scouts of America's response to decades of sexual abuse allegations? In this episode, I dig into the organization's troubled history, insurance involvement, bankruptcy, survivor compensation, institutional accountability, and my personal reflection on how insurance both helped and hindered justi
Noncompete Agreements: How the FTC's Rule Change Impacts Insurance, Employees, and History
Noncompete Agreements: How the FTC's Rule Change Impacts Insurance, Employees, and History Do you know the history behind noncompete agreements — and how they impact the insurance industry today? On the latest Insurance vs History Podcast, I take a quick look at the FTC's shifting stance on noncompete agreements, industry implications, and their surprising 15th-century origins. Reference Article
When Did Pollution Happen? Unpacking Montrose, DDT, and Liability Insurance
When Did Pollution Happen? Unpacking Montrose, DDT, and Liability Insurance Imagine a pollution disaster so messy that it's taken over 40 years to work out the insurance payments. In this episode of Insurance vs History, I dive into the story of Montrose Chemical and DDT, a discussion spanning WWII, Superfund lawsuits, and barrels of toxic waste leaking off California's coast. Join me to discus
Trailer: Insurance vs History
Insurance vs History is a show doing for insurance what Freakanomics did for economics. Don't understand insurance? Can't imagine why anyone should care about a global industry that impacts your daily life in ways you don't even realize? Host Meredith Brasher shines a light on both the good and bad stories of insurance, explaining it along the way. Season Five starts in September 2025 with new epi
Taking the summer off!
Insurance vs Cuthbert Heath
Insurance vs Cuthbert Heath Who is Cuthbert Heath, and why is he considered the Founder of Modern Lloyds? Join me for a discussion of Cuthbert Heath, and a slightly different take on the man, the myth, the legend. Hire me! Contact meredith@insurancevshistory.com Tip me! See my page at Buy Me a Coffee: Insurance vs History is Exploring all the ways Insurance changed History...or failed to. Mu
Insurance vs The British Abolition Movement
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 insurancevshistory@gmail.com for details. Tip me!
Insurance vs The Station Nightclub Fire
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 conce
Insurance vs The Atlantic Slave Trade
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
Insurance vs Enron
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--
Insurance vs Gawker and Hulk Hogan
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 n
Insurance vs King Hammurabi of Babylon
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! Selec
Insurance vs The Mystery of Helen Brach and Horse Insurance Fraud
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 ins
Insurance vs The NRA
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. Ther
Insurance vs The Movies: Double Indemnity
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: Double Indemnity - Wikipedia 10 Fascinating Facts About Double
Insurance vs Tontines! Tontines! Tontines!
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 talki
Insurance vs Eliot Spitzer
When a secretive industry meets an ambitious attorney general, what happens next? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I discuss Eliot Spitzer's attempt to reform the insurance industry: specifically, the 2004 investigation into the big three insurance brokers and contingent commissions. Sources and Links: Inside Eliot Spitzer's Insurance-Industry Probe - Nymag Written
Insurance vs The Gambling Act of 1774
Insurance vs The Gambling Act of 1774 Why can't you take out a life insurance policy on anyone you want? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In my seventh episode, I talk about the early development of life insurance in England, and how policies were often a lot closer to gambling than to insurance. Join me as I investigate some of the crazy things you could do with a life insurance polic
Insurance vs Larry Silverstein and the World Trade Center Collapse on 9.11
Insurance vs Larry Silverstein and the World Trade Center Collapse on 9.11 What happens when a terrorist attack becomes a highly litigated claim? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In my sixth episode, I take a deep dive into the legal wrangling around the property policy covering the World Trade Center. This is a wild ride! Links: 9/11 – An Occurrence That Changed The World - Insura
Insurance vs Asbestos and the Names at Lloyds
How did Asbestos almost bring down Lloyds of London? Welcome 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 cr
Insurance vs The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In my fourth episode, I investigate how insurance saved San Francisco after the Great earthquake—or the Great Fire, depending on who you ask--almost destroyed the city entirely. Join me to learn about mitigating risk through policy wording, the concept of "directly or indirectly", and why building a city by creating land from the bay was a terrible idea
Insurance vs The Titanic
Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In my third episode, I investigate the insurance claims resulting from the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and the issues that arose as a result. Join me for a discussion of crazy 1850s laws, Lloyds of London, the invention of the wireless telegraph and conspiracy theories! Links: HMS Lutine - Lloyd's (lloyds.com) pdf – an awesome visual of the Hull and
Insurance vs Coffee
Welcome to the Insurance Vs History Podcast! In my second episode, I discover that Coffee had a huge influence on the development of the modern insurance industry. Join me for a discussion of Coffee, Lloyds of London, and early Marine insurance. Links: Edward Lloyd and his Coffee House. (lr.org) Lloyd's Coffee-House | Mashburn Genealogy Archives English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuri
Insurance Vs Coffee
Welcome to the Insurance Vs History Podcast! In my second episode, I discover that Coffee had a huge influence on the development of the modern insurance industry. Join me for a discussion of Coffee, Lloyds of London, and early Marine insurance. Links: Edward Lloyd and his Coffee House. (lr.org) Lloyd's Coffee-House | Mashburn Genealogy Archives English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuri
Insurance Vs Gangs of New York
Welcome to the Insurance Vs History Podcast! In my first episode, a recent re-watch of the movie Gangs of New York inspires me to ask if insurance inadvertently encouraged gang activity in 19th century New York. In investigating this question I dive into a discussion of the history of firefighting, 19th century fire insurance in England and the United States, and how insurance evolved as a result.
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