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Unicorn Graveyard: Tech's Rises & Falls

Unicorn Graveyard: Tech's Rises & Falls

By: Talking Labs
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Tech's greatest rises and falls: startups that burned, formats that lost, inventions buried by their own makers. Reed Ashford narrates. New episodes Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Episodes are produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. A Talking Labs production.© Talking Labs Economics
Episodes
  • DeLorean: The Car, the Factory and the Failed Promise

    DeLorean: The Car, the Factory and the Failed Promise
    2 Oct 2026
    DeLorean's stainless-steel sports car reached production in Northern Ireland, but its manufacturer entered receivership about a year later. We trace the public funding, the Dunmurry workforce, the car's design and the audit trail, then separate the later drug-trial acquittal and Back to the Future fame from the business failure that came first.

    Sources checked 2 October 2026:
    Northern Ireland Audit Office: https://www.niauditoffice.gov.uk/files/niauditoffice/media-files/de_lorean_-_the_recovery_of_public_funds.pdf
    UK Parliament, 1978 debate: https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1978/nov/09/de-lorean-motor-company
    DeLorean Museum: https://www.deloreanmuseum.org/news
    Motor Trend, May 1981: https://www.deloreantech.com/mags/motortrendmay1981.pdf
    Washington Post, 1984 trial result: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/08/17/delorean-acquitted-of-all-eight-charges-in-drug-scheme-trial/3a2de886-9c81-468f-80ff-386f4e527201/

    This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review.

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
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    28 mins
  • Quibi: $1.75 Billion for Ten-Minute TV

    Quibi: $1.75 Billion for Ten-Minute TV
    29 Sep 2026
    Quibi launched in April 2020 with short premium shows, phone-first viewing and a reported $1.75 billion raised. Six months later, its founders chose to wind down the standalone service. Unicorn Graveyard follows the product bet, the pandemic launch, and the later move of its programming to Roku. The fundraising total is not a loss figure; the episode separates documented events from possible causes. Next: DeLorean.

    This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review.

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
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    26 mins
  • Pets.com: The Price of Being Known

    Pets.com: The Price of Being Known
    27 Sep 2026
    Pets.com built a famous brand, a broad online catalogue and real warehouses. Its own filings show growing sales alongside a negative gross margin, followed by a failed search for new capital or a buyer. Unicorn Graveyard follows the sock puppet, the shipping costs and the short path from IPO to liquidation.

    This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review.

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
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    29 mins
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