Insurance Vs History InsurancevsHistory Productions

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 like this happen—insurance should respond. That’s what it’s there to do. But what if the people responsible don’t have enough insurance to compensate those affected by the disaster? Well, then things get complicated.
This is a story about how small decisions can result in tragedy; how fire spreads faster than you imagine; and how the people who are responsible are sometimes not the people who are held accountable.
Selected Sources and Links:
·         Report of the Technical Investigation of The Station Nightclub Fire (NIST NCSTAR 2), Volume 1 | NIST
·         The Station nightclub fire - Wikipedia
·         Rhode Island Nightclub Owners Appealing $1M Fine in Fire Case (claimsjournal.com)
·         Rhode Island Nightclub Owners Dispute Workers’ Comp Finding (claimsjournal.com)
·         Judge Lagueux, who oversaw the Station nightclub fire case, dies at 91 (providencejournal.com)
·         A Story One Can Write Today - (adelmanlawgroup.com)
·         20 years after the Station nightclub fire, a look at what's changed | GBH (wgbh.org)
·         Settlement Details Offered in Rhode Island Club Fire Case (insurancejournal.com)
·         Inside The Inferno: The Station Nightclub Fire | Thought Catalog
·         Station nightclub fire: government defendants settle - Overlawyered
·         Insurers, Final Defendants Settle R.I. Nightclub Fire Lawsuits (claimsjournal.com)
·         Survivors of R.I. club fire await settlement cash (nbcnews.com)
·         GREAT WHITE Members Are 'Shocked And Saddened' By JACK RUSSELL's Trademark Lawsuit - BLABBERMOUTH.NET
·         Great White Lawsuit Lotto | National Review
·         Families Upset Over ‘Pokemon Go’ Stop at Rhode Island Nightclub Fire Site (claimsjournal.com)
·         Rhode Island Wants Nightclub Owners Held Personally Liable for Failure to Carry Workers’ Comp (insurancejournal.com)
·         Trial Date Set for R.I. Nightclub Owners Over Workers’ Comp Payments (insurancejournal.com)
·         R.I. Nightclub Owners Submit List of Assets After Filing for Bankruptcy (insurancejournal.com)
·         The negligent premises liability inspection: Potential liability for the insurer? (insurancejournal.com)
·         Report of the Technical Investigation of The Station Nightclub Fire (NIST NCSTAR 2), Volume 1 | NIST
·         Defending the Deep Pocket: California Proposition 51 Offset and Vicarious Liability | Tyson & Mendes (tysonmendes.com)
·         Litigation financing changing the deep-pocket advantage | Gallagher USA (ajg.com)
·         Vicarious Liability – The Deep Pocket (dresslerlaw.com)
·         Trucking Leads Growth in Nuclear Verdicts | Transport Topics (ttnews.com)
·         Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act - Wikipedia
·         Station Fire Memorial Foundation (thestationfirememorialfoundation.org)
 
Sources with Paywall:
·         Liability Policies Getting Lost in 'Deep Pockets'. Hazeltine, Rick.  San Diego Business Journal; San Diego Vol. 6, Iss. 33, Mar 17, 1986
·         How to raid deep pockets — the Chicago way. Choslovsky, William.  Chicago Tribune Tribune Publishing Compa

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, the cost of labor, transcontinental marine shipping of kidnapped human beings, and how insurance supported all these things. And how underwriters decide what to insure, and how to insure it.
Selected Sources and Links:
Lloyd’s, marine insurance and slavery - Lloyd’s (lloyds.com) Sources with Paywall:
Inherent Vice: Marine Insurance, slave ship rebellion and the law, Anita Rupprecht, Race and Class, 2016, Volume 57 p 31-44 Measuring the unmeasured hazards of the Atlantic slave trade: documents relating to the British trade, Joseph E. Inikori, Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, tome 83, n°312, 3e trimestre 1996. pp. 53-92. Slavery, Insurance and the Law, Michael Lobban, The Journal of Legal History, 2007, Vol 28, p 319-328 The Zong in the Context of the 18th Century Slave Trade, Jane Webster, The Journal of Legal History, Vol. 28, No. 3, December 2007, pp. 285–298 Commercial Risk and Capital Formation in Early America: Virginia Merchants and the Rise of American Marine Insurance, 1750-1815 Author(s): A. Glenn Crothers Source: The Business History Review, Winter, 2004, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Winter, 2004), pp. 607-633 Dead or Alive: Racial Finance and the Corpse-Value of the African American Slave Body, Bride A. , J Hist Sociol. 2020;33:99–115. Insuring the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Pearson, R., & Richardson, D., The Journal of Economic History, 79(2), 417-446  
Books:
Capitalism & Slavery: Williams, Eric, Palmer, Colin A., Darity, William A., Jr.: 9781469663685: Amazon.com: Books The SLAVE TRADE: THE STORY OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE: 1440 - 1870: Thomas, Hugh: 9780684835655: Amazon.com: Books Amazon.com: Over the Edge of the World Updated Edition: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe: 9780062890481: Bergreen, Laurence: Books Freedom's Debt: The Royal African Company and the Politics of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1672-1752 (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early ... and the University of North Carolina Press): Pettigrew, William A.: 9781469629858: Amazon.com: Books Specters of the Atlantic: Finance Capital, Slavery, and the Philosophy of History: Baucom, Ian: 9780822335962: Amazon.com: Books The Slave Ship: A Human History: Rediker, Marcus: 9780143114253: Amazon.com: Books Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage: Greenwood Milestones in African American History: Falola, Toyin, Falola, Toyin, Warnock, Amanda B., Warnock, Amanda B.: 9780313334801: Amazon.com: Books A history of Lloyd's from the founding of Lloyd's coffee house to the present day : Wright, Charles : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Armstrong, T. “Slavery Insurance and Sacrifice in the Black Atlantic.” In Sea Changes: Historicising the Ocean, edited by Bernard Klein and Gesa Mackenthun. New York/London: Routledge, 2004. Music Credits:
Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library Contact Me:
Website: https://insurancevshistory.libsyn.com
Contact me! 
Email: insurancevshistory@gmail.com
Instagram: @ insurancevshistory
Facebook:  Insurance vs History | Facebook

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 listened (or didn’t?) And what insurance responds when half of your executives are being criminally charged, and the shareholders and creditors are suing everyone they can think of? Join me to find out!
Selected Sources and Links:
1.       Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - IMDb
2.       Guest Post: D&O What to Know: A Guide to the Evolution of Directors and Officers Insurance from 1933 to the Present | The D&O Diary (dandodiary.com)
3.       https://nypost.com/2001/12/13/oh-boies-this-is-bad-ex-enron-cfo-hires-top-defense-lawyer/
4.       The defendants of the Enron era and their cases (chron.com)
5.       Enron Executives: What Happened, and Where Are They Now? (investopedia.com)
6.       SKILLING v. UNITED STATES (cornell.edu)
7.       ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP V. UNITED STATES (cornell.edu)
8.       Enron: Annual Reports (enroncorp.com)
9.       Enron: The Good, The Bad, The Lessons, Lori Zulaf, Peter Grierson, International Business & Economics Research Journal, Volume 1, Number 11
10.   Enron: A Financial Reporting Failure, Anthony H. Catanach Jr. & Shelley Rhoades-Catanach, Vol 48, Villanova Law Review, 2003
11.   The Other Enron Story, Toni Mack, Forbes, October 14, 2002
12.   Is Enron Overpriced? Bethany McLean, Fortune, March 5, 2001
13.   Monster Mess, Bethany McLean, Fortune, February 4, 2002
14.   Hidden Risks, Toni Mack, Forbes, May 24, 1993
15.   Why Enron Went Bust, Bethany McLean, Fortune, December 24, 2001
Sources with Paywall:
1.       Timeline: A chronology of Enron Corp. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
2.       Disgraced Ex-Enron CFO warns D&O insurers on fraud risk (insuranceinsider.com)
Books:
1.       The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron: McLean, Bethany, Elkind, Peter, Nocera, Joe: 9781591846604: Amazon.com: Books
2.       Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story: Eichenwald, Kurt: 9780767911795: Amazon.com: Books
3.       The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives: Eisinger, Jesse: 9781501121371: Amazon.com: Books
4.       Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron: Swartz, Mimi, Watkins, Sherron: 9780767913683: Amazon.com: Books
5.       Ensuring Corporate Misconduct: How Liability Insurance Undermines Shareholder Litigation: Baker, Tom, Griffith, Sean J.: 9780226035154: Amazon.com: Books
6.       A Financial History of Modern U.S. Corporate Scandals: From Enron to Reform: Markham, Jerry W: 9780765615831: Amazon.com: Books
Music Credits:
·         Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library
Contact Me:
Website: https://insurancevshistory.libsyn.com
Contact me! 
Email: insurancevshistory@gmail.com
Instagram: @ insurancevshistory
Facebook:  Insurance vs History | Facebook

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 very real issues brought up by the trial, namely, the issue of litigation funding, bad deposition preparation, hubris, the rising power of Silicon Valley, and how much privacy public figures are entitled to today. What’s covered by insurance? Where did Gawker go wrong regarding insurance coverage? What does their bankruptcy mean for journalism today? Join me to find out!
Selected Sources and Links:
1.       https://jacobin.com/2016/08/gawker-peter-thiel-bollea-torts-lawsuit/
2.       https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/business/media/hulk-hogan-v-gawker-a-guide-to-the-trial-for-the-perplexed.html
3.       https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/might-an-anti-gawker-benefactor-be-covering-hulk-hogans-legal-bills/
4.       https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/peter-thiel-vs-gawker-case-highlights-world-litigation-funding-n581726
5.       https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdrange/2018/01/05/five-things-i-learned-after-meeting-donald-trumps-new-lawyer/
6.       https://www.newsweek.com/charles-harder-gawker-melania-trump-roger-ailes-people-magazine-509926
7.       https://www.salon.com/2023/03/27/what-does-peter-thiel-want-hes-building-the-right-wing-future-piece-by-piece/
8.       https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/gawker-acquired-bustle-bryan-goldberg-1202871999/
9.       https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/19/gawkers-demise-and-the-trump-era-threat-to-the-first-amendment
10.   https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thiel-founders-fund-withdrew-millions-005223787.html?guccounter=1
11.   https://www.irmi.com/articles/expert-commentary/when-does-liability-coverage-exist-for-mental-anguish-without-bodily-injury
12.   “Hulk Hogan and the Demise of Gawker Media: wrestling with the problems of celebrity voyeurism, newsworthiness, and tabloidization, Andrew K Antoniou and Dimitris Akrivos, Journal of Media Law 2016, Volume 8, No. 2, 153-172
13.   “Eat Your Vitamins and Say Your Prayers: Bollea v Gawker, Revenge Litigation Funding, and the Fate of the Fourth Estate” Nicole K. Chipi, University of Miami Law Review, Vol 72: 269
14.   The Gawker Stalker, Jason Zengerle, GQ, Vol 86, Issue 12
15.   The Evolution of Mr. Theil, The Economist, Vol 419, Issue 8992
16.   Vigilante Justice: The Implications of Revenge Suits for Third-Party Litigation Funding, Ann-Marie Elvin, The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol 30:719
17.   “Sex, Videos, and Insurance: How Gawker Could Have Avoided Financial Responsibility For the $140 Million Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Verdict” Christopher C. French, Southern California Law Review, 6.20.16
Sources with Paywall:
1.       https://www.law360.com/articles/562091/gawker-not-covered-for-hogan-sex-tape-row-insurer-says
2.       Bringing Down a Media Empire - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Books:
1.       Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue: Holiday, Ryan: 9780735217645: Amazon.com: Books
2.       Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral: Smith, Ben: 9780593299753: Amazon.com: Books
Music Credits:
·       Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library
Contact Me:
Website: https://insurancevshistory.libsyn.com
Contact me! 
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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.       The Oldest Code of Laws in the World by King of Babylonia Hammurabi - Free Ebook (gutenberg.org)
2.       How the Ancient Code of Hammurabi Reveals a Society Both Similar and Alien to Ours | Discover Magazine
3.       Sea Loans at Ugarit, Jonathan Ziskind, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Jan-Mar 1974, Vol 94, No 1., pp 134-137
4.       The Ugartic Text 2106: 10-18: A Bottomry Loan? , Journal of the American Oriental Society, Oct-Dec, 1975, Vol 95, No 4., pp 612-619
5.       Bottomry Definition (investopedia.com)
6.       THE LOUVRE AND THE LAWGIVER - The Washington Post
Books:
1.       Amazon.com: Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East: 9780190059040: Podany, Amanda H.: Books
2.       Amazon.com: King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography (Blackwell Ancient Lives): 9781405126595: Van De Mieroop, Marc: Books
3.       Amazon.com: A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC, 3rd Edition (Blackwell History of the Ancient World): 9781118718162: Van De Mieroop: Books
4.       Amazon.com: A History Of Ancient Near Eastern Law (Brill Reprints) (Handbook of Oriental Studies / Handbuch Der Orientalistik: Section One: The Near and Middle East): 9781628371796: Raymond Westbrook: Books
5.       Amazon.com: Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia: 9780195183641: Bertman, Stephen: Books
6.       The Origin and Early History of Insurance Including The Contract of Bottomry.: C.F. Trenerry, Ethel L. Gover, Agnes S. Paul: 9781584779322: Amazon.com: Books
Music Credits:
·        Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library
Contact Me:
Website: https://insurancevshistory.libsyn.com 
Email: insurancevshistory@gmail.com
Twitter: @insurancevshist
Instagram: @ insurancevshistory
Facebook:  Insurance vs History | Facebook

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:
1.       Blood Money - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com
2.       Twenty Years Later: The Tax Reform Act of 1986 | Tax Foundation
3.       Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times: Various articles from 1977 forward; both papers covered the entire thing extensively
 
Books:
1.       Hot Blood (St. Martin's True Crime Library): Englade, Ken: 9780312957261: Amazon.com: Books
Music Credits:
·        Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library
Contact Me:
Website: https://insurancevshistory.libsyn.com
Contact me! 
Email: insurancevshistory@gmail.com
Twitter: @insurancevshist
Instagram: @ insurancevshistory
Facebook:  Insurance vs History | Facebook