Busted Business Bureau

KP joins to talk about origins and dramatic sudden closure of iO theater. How can you make a sustainable business off of adults playing pretend? Turns out it’s pretty hard. This episode has everything: improv comedy, wage theft allegations, desecration of human remains. Twists and turns everywhere! Follow KP's incredible project @they.call.us everywhere!!!

Footnotes:

1. Behind the Laughs: Community and Inequality in Comedy, Michael P. Jeffries
2. The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legend of Del Close, Kim “Howard” Johnson
3. Chicago Comedy: A Fairly Serious History, Margaret Hicks
4. Skullduggery, Tad Friend, The New Yorker
5. Comedy Guru Charna Halpern Carries On, Achy Obejas, Chicago Tribune
6. The First Comedy Strike, Richard Zoglin, Time Magazine
7. This Unsung Comic Guru Turned Her Passion For Improv Into a Profitable Business INC Magazine, 2016
8. iO Co-Founder's Controversial Sexual Harassment Comments Spark Debate, Mae Rice, Chicagoist
9. iO Chicago’s move is more than a new address, Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
10. iO makes a big move into founder Charna Halpern’s ‘dream theater’, Brianna Wellen, Chicago Reader
11. What We Can Learn From Improv Theaters' PPP Loans, Seth Simons, Paste Magazine
12. The Death of an Improv Theater: Mismanagement and Neglect at iO West, Seth Simons, Paste Magazine
13. Chicago Comedy Institution iO Theater Is Closing, Melena Ryzik, The New York Times
14. iO Past, Present, and Non-Future, Jack Helbig, Chicago Reader
15. The Case for Unionizing Comedy, Seth Simons, The Outline
16. Laughs Can Be Cheap at a Comedy Theater, Jason Zinoman, NYT
17. She’s the Hidden Architect of Modern Comedy, Jason Zinoman, NYT

PS. Sorry Seth Simons, I think I said your name wrong like 8 times in this episode. I misread it so many times. Forgive me, bestie.

Karsten Runquist joins for an overwhelmingly deep dive into Kars4Kids. When you donate your car, where does your money go? This question is what inspired me to start this entire podcast. If you like looking through public tax records, learning about real estate speculation, or being frightened by sentient 5-dollar-bill mascots, this one's for you. Follow @karstenrunquist and/or @runquistkarsten everywhere!

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Footnotes:

1. Kars4Kids website, check out the houses and stuff! Pretty fun!
2. Car donation: When it makes sense to seek a charity tax deduction, Peter Gareffa Edmunds
3. Kars4Kids Tax Filings by year, ProPublica
4. Kars4Kids Charity Reneged on Deal, Josh Nathan-Kazis, 2012
5. Charity in Taxes Tussle, Wall Street Journal, 2012
6. Kars4Kids Charity Loses Big on Real Estate, Josh Nathan-Kazis, 2012
7. Court: Oorah is tax-exempt in town of Jefferson, Matthew Mckibben, 2014
8. Oorah Tax Filings by year, Propublica
9. Did an Orthodox Charity Secretly Buy a Synagogue Just to Avoid Filing a Tax Return?, Josh Nathan-Kazis, 2016
10. More on Congregation Oorah, Hannah Dreyfus, 2016
11. Oorah Federal Covid-related Complaint, 2021
12. The Cruel (but Effective) Agony of the Kars4Kids Jingle, Jake Rossen 2018
13. NonProfit Quarterly -- Kars4Kids: What the Jingle Leaves Out (Minnesota), 2017

How far would you go to protect your company’s reputation? Is it box-of-live-spiders far? Is it cross-country far? Is it re-enact-a-B-list-80s-movie far? Emily Lindsey joins for this very crime-y episode about the eBay corporate cyberstalking scandal that goes further than you’d imagine. This episode is absolutely nuts; it’s got blogging, it’s got schemes, it's got people who make a preposterous amount of money trying to do crime. Can’t miss this one! Follow @BustedBizBureau everywhere!

1. “Take Her Down”: Inside eBay’s Stalking Campaign against a Natick Couple, Mike Damiano, Boston Magazine, December 2021
2. Activist Investor Eviscerates eBay Management, Ina Steiner, eCommerceBytes January 2019
3. eBay CEO Devin Wenig Earns 152 Times That of Employees, Ina Steiner, eCommerceBytes April 2019
4. FBI Affadavit, Mark Wilson, June 11 2020
5. Gilbert, Popp, Stockwell and Zea Charging Doc, US District Court of Massachusetts, May 2020
6. US District Court of Massachusetts vs. Phillip Cooke, July 2021
7. Pictures of iMessages, Craigslist Post, and Pig Mask, BustedBizBureau Instagram, 2022

Rising star Deanna Ortiz joins to talk about something we spend a stupid amount of tax dollars on in Chicago: ShotSpotter! It’s a national company, but the City of Chicago makes up nearly a quarter of its revenue. What are we spendin’ all that money on? This episode is sooo foolish, we talk about tech bros’ hubris, how good PR can change everything, and who from the company definitely got picked to be the fall guy. FUN STUFF! COMEDY PODCAST! Follow @DeannaOrtiz_ and @Crushes_podcast everywhere!!

Footnotes:

1. Shot Spotter: Can a tech startup put a dent in violent crime? Ethan Walters, Wired Apr 1 2007
2. Interactive Map of where Shotspotters are in Chicago
3. ShotSpotter FAQ
4. Could a controversial gun-surveillance system help tackle Toronto crime? Jeff Gray, 2016 Toronto Daily News
5. Gunshot detection technology raises concerns of bias and inaccuracy, Prince Shakur, Coda 2020
6. ShotSpotter Sensors Send SDPD Officers to False Alarms More Often Than Advertised, Kara Grant, Voices of San Diego 2020
7. Courtroom testimony reveals accuracy of SF gunshot sensors a ‘marketing’ ploy, Jonah Owen Lamb, San Francisco Examiner 2017
8. Impact of ShotSpotter Technology on Firearm Homicides and Arrests Among Large Metropolitan Counties: a Longitudinal Analysis, 1999–2016, Green, Dineen, Doucette, Shapiro, and Rassian 2021
9. A Partially Randomized Field Experiment on the Effect of an Acoustic Gunshot Detection System on Police Incident Reports, J. Experimental Criminology (2018)
10. Williams Case - Frye Motion
11. An American city’s struggle to police its police: Shots in the Dark, CHAPTER TWO | A HIGH-STAKES GAMBLE, Reade Levinson and Lisa Girion, Reuters 2017
12. ShotSpotter’s Public 10-K Form
13. Police Are Telling ShotSpotter to Alter Evidence From Gunshot-Detecting AI, Todd Feathers, Vice 2021
14. Cancel ShotSpotter Petition
15. https://endpolicesurveillance.com/

My friend Bibi joins to talk about Johnson & Johnson’s transvaginal mesh implant that has been the center of class action lawsuits around the globe. Comedy podcast!! In this episode, we’ll dive into gruesome detail about how your organs sag with age, how some products have tried and failed to alleviate that problem, and how your work emails should never be the subject of court litigation. Follow @BustedBizBureau on all social media! It really helps me out, thanks!

Footnotes:

1. The history and evolution of pessaries for pelvic organ prolapse, Shah et al. 2005
2. FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, Gill v Ethicon Sàrl (No 5) [2019] FCA 1905
3. SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA The People of the state of California vs JOHNSON & JOHNSON, ETHICON, INC.and DOES 1 Case No. 37-2016-00017229-CU-MC-CTL, January 2020
4. Ethicon complaint reviewer says in J&J trial that patients felt vaginal mesh instructions fell short of explaining risks, Northern California Record 2019
5. Revealed: Johnson & Johnson's 'irresponsible' actions over vaginal mesh implant, The Guardian
6. Huskey v Ethicon Day 4- Huskey Takes the Stand, Jane Akre, 2014
7. 'Scandal' of vaginal mesh removal rates revealed by NHS records, The Guardian
8. Patient Recruiter and Physician Plead Guilty in Bribery and Kickback Scheme in Connection with Transvaginal Mesh Litigation, DOJ 2021
9. Orlando doctor facing federal charges banned from performing liposuction after patient death, Orlando Sentinel, 2021