For this special live benefit episode recorded in Atlanta, Josh and Chuck go back to the 70s and look at the decidedly ungroovy course of events that led to Ford recalling its Pinto after people started burning up in them.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know Podcast Summary
Josh and Chuck take listeners on a wild ride through the infamous history of the Ford Pinto in this live show from Atlanta, complete with hilarious tangents and audience participation. They explore how Lee Iacocca's aggressive 24-month deadline and strict cost requirements led Ford to rush this subcompact car to market despite discovering serious safety flaws in rear-end crash tests—flaws that engineers had actually identified solutions for before production even began. The episode digs into the shocking cost-benefit analysis that valued human lives in dollars and reveals how Ford strategically delayed safety regulations for nearly a decade while continuing to sell what many experts called the most dangerous car of its era.
60 Minutes
1968
TV-PG
★ 6.5
"Like 60 minutes was literally knocking at the door. Like Morley Safer was at Ford knocking at the door — Referenced as the news program that pursued Ford aggressively during the Pinto crisis with journalists Morley Safer and Ed Bradley."
— Josh
Fight Club
1999
2h 19m
★ 8.4
"Do you guys see fight club? Remember Edward Norton's job. That was kind of what he did, right? — Referenced as a comparison to Ford's cost-benefit analysis calculations—Edward Norton's character performed similar calculations to determine recall costs."
— Josh
"Discover FX's Showgun, the official podcast available now based on James Clavell's bestselling novel — Referenced as an FX limited series based on James Clavell's novel that inspired a companion podcast."
Straight Talk
1992
PG
1h 31m
★ 6.0
"I used to think in a happier time that it was called Straight Talk, but that's a Dolly Parton movie — Mentioned in confusion about the title of Lee Iacocca's 1988 book, which Josh initially thought was called 'Straight Talk' but was actually called 'Talking Straight'."
— Josh
Stranger Things
2016
★ 8.6
"It's Winona Ryder's car in Stranger things two. Haven't seen it. Was it her car in stranger things one? — Referenced because a Ford Pinto is featured in Stranger Things season two, highlighting the car's cultural legacy."
— Josh
The Wizard of Oz
1939
1h 42m
★ 7.6
"They started circling the courthouses like the flying monkeys and the wizard of Oz — Used as a metaphorical comparison for how lawyers descended on Ford with lawsuits."
— Josh
Top Secret!
1984
1h 30m
★ 7.1
"Has anyone seen the movie top secret? Remember that one? Val Kilmer. There's a scene where they swerve off and almost hit a pinto — Referenced as an example of a scene where a motorcycle chase nearly hits a Ford Pinto, which explodes—used to illustrate the Pinto's notorious danger."
— Josh
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