Category: Miniseries

American companies pioneered container shipping, but now the ocean freight business is dominated by foreign firms. Thanks to the Jones Act, a 1920 law, all cargo between American ports must be carried on American-made ships, so we do still have a fleet. But the ships are old and outdated. In episode five, we explore the tragic consequences of this "America-first" trade policy, beginning with the El Faro, which sank in October 2015.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The coffee world has changed since Starbucks rose to prominence. Not

only has the sourcing of beans acquired wine-like precision, but now

there are many small, local roasters. How'd this all happen? Episode 4

brings you into the infrastructure underpinning third-wave coffee from

a Kenyan coffee auction to a major coffee importer to a secret coffee

warehouse in San Leandro with beans from every coffee-growing nation

in the world. We’re guided by Aaron Van der Groen, the green coffee

buyer for San Francisco’s legendary roaster Ritual Coffee.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know you’ve always wanted to ride in a tugboat as it pushes around a huge cargo ship, right? Well, that’s what we do in Episode 3. We go inside working life on the San Francisco Bay to see how brutal competition among shipping companies threatens the viability of the small businesses that ply the waters. Meet a tugboat dispatcher, a

skipper, and the first female captain of an American freighter. It’s a case study in how globalization works and our first look at the challenges the port faces.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is life like as a modern sailor, a tiny person on a huge ship in a vast ocean? Here is your answer. Episode 2 brings you a rare look into the lives of two Filipino sailors, fresh off a trip across the Pacific Ocean. These are regular people doing heroic work to support their families. And without them, the global economic order doesn't work.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexis Madrigal brings you the gripping story of how a new way of shipping stuff across the ocean fed the Vietnam War, destroyed America's great port cities, and created global trade as we know it.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Containers provides an illuminating, deep, and weird look at how capitalism works now. It's about huge ships and global trade and the work people do to bring you the stuff you buy from all over the world.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices