BROADCASTS.com

Ralph has a new book out,\xa0The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right\xa0and in this episode, we profile three of them, Andy Shallal, owner of the restaurant \u201cBusboys and Poets,\u201d John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group, and Robert Townsend, iconoclastic CEO of Avis Rent-a-Car and author of the classic business book \u201cUp The Organization!\u201d Mr. Shallal joins us in person while financial advisor and Boglehead, Rick Ferri, talks to us about the late John Bogle and Robert Townsend Jr. explains the origins of his father\u2019s philosophy. Plus, Ralph gives us an update and a call to action on Gaza.

Click on the link to order your copy of The Rebellious CEO.

Andy Shallal is an activist, artist and social entrepreneur. Mr. Shallal is the founder and proprietor of Busboys and Poets restaurants in the Washington DC area, which feature prominent speakers, poets and authors and provide a venue for social and political activism. He is co-founder of The Peace Cafe, a member of the board of trustees for The Institute for Policy Studies, and a member of the advisory council for the American Museum of Peace.

The whole idea of this book The Rebellious CEO is to show that these CEOs reverse the business model. They didn't just have a vision and say, \u201cWe're gonna squeeze workers and consumers and environmental indifference to maximize the profits.\u201d No, they started out saying, \u201cWe're gonna treat the workers well. We're gonna treat the consumers well. We're gonna confront the environment. We're gonna speak out against injustice.\u201d And they all made money. Every one of them in the book said they always paid attention to profits because without profits they couldn't do all the things they wanted to do.

Ralph Nader, author of \u201cThe Rebellious CEO\u201d

It becomes very personal. And when it's personal, it's hard to separate yourself from the business. So everything that happens in the business, it's not a one -off, it's about me. If the business is treating my employees badly, it means Andy Shallal is treating his people badly. That's a very personal way [of looking at it] and it's a way for I think a lot of these folks that you write about in the book to kind of stay on mission and say, \u201cThis is my name. This is my legacy. This is my entire being that is on the line.\u201d

Andy Shallal

Understanding those dynamics and how race plays out in this country and how people interpret and see race is really a very important part of our training\u2014 to make sure that people do not fall into the trap of saying, \u201cI don't see race,\u201d because race sees you. And unless you are proactive in how you deal with people as they walk through the door, you're gonna probably make mistakes.

Andy Shallal

Rick Ferri has worked for 35 years as a financial adviser and he is the host of the Bogleheads on Investing podcast. Mr. Ferri was a pioneer in low-fee investment advice and portfolio management using ETFs and index funds, he has authored 7 investment books and hundreds of articles published in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and several professional journals, and he is the former president of the John C Bogle Center for Financial Literacy.

[John Bogle] was very determined. He believed in giving investors a fair shake on Wall Street. He believed that we should get our fair share of market returns. He believed that there was a conflict of interest in the investment industry between the people who owned the investment companies and the investors in those companies\u2014the people who bought the mutual funds. And he said, "You cannot serve two masters."

Rick Ferri

That's our mission\u2014to build a world of well-informed, capable, and empowered investors. And that's what the Bogle Center and the Bogleheads are all about.

Rick Ferri

Robert Townsend, Jr. is the son of Robert Townsend, who was president of Avis Rent A Car from 1962 to 1965 and was the author of the best-selling and iconoclastic business manual Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits.

[Robert Townsend, Sr.] was definitely iconically an iconoclast, but I don't think he saw himself that way. He didn't just believe in partnership. He saw that\u2014and teamwork\u2014 were the only things to accomplish. So he found, just through serendipity or synchronicity, partners everywhere he looked.

Robert Townsend, Jr.

[Robert Townsend, Sr.] embarked on a new career of consulting\u2026He would come back from consulting with somebody or other, finding out, \u201cAll they wanted was me to tell them they were doing it right. And nothing I said actually made any difference.\u201d

Robert Townsend, Jr.

In Case You Haven\u2019t Heard with Francesco DeSantis1. The tide seems to finally be shifting in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza. Democracy Now! Reports \u201cBritish Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a \u2018sustainable ceasefire\u2019 in a joint article in The Sunday Times. The pair said efforts should be focused on a two-state solution after the assault comes to an end. The U.K. and Germany had previously declined to call for a ceasefire and abstained from voting last week on the U.N. General Assembly\u2019s ceasefire resolution. Also on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called for an \u2018immediate and durable truce\u2019 while meeting with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in Tel Aviv, saying \u2018too many civilians are being killed\u2019 in Gaza. This comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel earlier today, where he is expected to focus talks on transitioning to a \u2018lower intensity\u2019 war.\u2019\u201d

2. Many wonder why these countries are changing their position so abruptly. One explanation could be the efficacy of the Red Sea blockade enforced by the Yemeni Houthis. Thus far, five of the largest shipping firms in the world, including CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and MSC, along with Evergreen and BP, have \u201cpaused or suspended their services in the Red Sea,\u201d due to Houthi attacks, per the Economist. Collectively, these firms represent over 60% of global shipping. In response, the United States has announced its intention to form a naval bloc to combat the Houthis, risking further escalation in the region.

3. Haaretz reports that Al Jazeera is \u201cpreparing a legal file to send to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over what it called the \u2018assassination\u2019 of one of its cameramen in Gaza.\u201d The ICC complaint focuses on a cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, who was \u201ckilled by a drone strike on Friday [December 15th] while reporting on the earlier bombing of a school used as a shelter for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip,\u201d but will \u201calso encompass recurrent attacks on the Network's crews working and operating in the occupied Palestinian territories and instances of incitement against them." The Committee to Protect Journalists reports at least 64 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7th.

4. On Sunday, Pope Francis decried the murder of two Palestinian Christian women who had taken refuge in a church complex in Gaza, Reuters reports. The Pope mourned that "Unarmed civilians are the objects of bombings and shootings. And this happened even inside the Holy Family parish complex, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick or disabled, nuns\u2026Some would say 'It is war. It is terrorism.' Yes, it is war. It is terrorism."

5. According to NBC Bay Area, \u201cAt least hundreds of union members rallied at Oakland City Hall Saturday to call for a ceasefire\u2026 The \u2018Labor for Palestine\u2019 rally brought out members from 14 unions across the Bay Area [including longshore workers, teachers, electricians, and nurses]. In addition to the call for the cease-fire, a statement put out by organizers said it also wanted the U.S. to stop providing military aid to Israel and \u2018an end to Israel\u2019s occupation.\u2019 Organizers also said the rally was the first such labor-led rally in the U.S. this year.\u201d

6. AP reports Tesla is recalling \u201cnearly all vehicles sold in [the] US,\u201d\xa0 following a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, regarding \u201ca series of crashes [some deadly] that happened while the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use.\u201d Dillon Angulo, a driver who suffered brain trauma and broken bones in one such crash, said \u201cThis technology is not safe, we have to get it off the road\u2026The government has to do something about it. We can\u2019t be experimenting like this.\u201d

7. Upon taking office, one of President Biden\u2019s stated foreign policy goals was to overturn Trump\u2019s designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terror. Yet, according to the Intercept \u201cin a private briefing last week on Capitol Hill, State Department official Eric Jacobstein stunned members of Congress by telling them that the department has not even begun the review process.\u201d As the article notes, \u201cThe terror designation makes it difficult for Cubans to do international business, crushing an already fragile economy. The U.S. hard-line approach to Cuba has coincided with a surge in desperate migration, with Cubans now making up a substantial portion of the migrants arriving at the southern border. Nearly 425,000 Cubans have fled for the United States in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, shattering previous records. Instead of moving to stem the flow by focusing on root causes in Cuba, the Biden White House has been signaling support in recent days for Republican-backed border policies.\u201d

8. In Chile, voters have rejected a far-right proposed new constitution, per PBS. As the article notes, this vote \u201ccame more than a year after Chileans resoundingly rejected a proposed constitution written by a left-leaning convention and one that many characterized as one of the world\u2019s most progressive charters.\u201d The new, right-wing draft was characterized as even more conservative than the Pinochet-era constitution it sought to replace as it would have \u201cdeepened free-market principles, reduced state intervention and might have limited some women\u2019s rights.\u201d As ex-president Michele Bachelet, who campaigned against the new draft constitution said \u201cI prefer something bad to something worse.\u201d

9. In Argentina, radical right-wing President Javier Milei has announced a crackdown on civil society, \u201ccalling on armed forces to break strikes, arrest protesters, \u2018protect\u2019 children from families that bring them to demo[nstration]s, and form a new national registry of all agitating organisations,\u201d per Progressive International\u2019s David Adler. While unsurprising, this clearly flies in the face of Milei\u2019s purported \u2018anarcho-capitalist\u2019 principles.

10. Finally, did Southwest Airlines cancel or significantly delay your flight during the holiday season last year? If so, you could be entitled to a $75 voucher as part of the Department of Transportation\u2019s record $140 million settlement with the airline, per the Hill. Under the settlement, which the Department of Transportation claims is the largest ever penalty against an airline for violating consumer protection laws, the airline is required to establish a $90 million compensation system to be used for passengers affected by \u201ccontrollable cancellations and significant delays,\u201d in addition to paying $35 million to the federal government. Last December\u2019s Southwest \u201cmeltdown\u201d included \u201cmore than 16,900 flights\u2026canceled or delayed\u2026affect[ing] more than 2 million passengers around the holidays.\u201d

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven\u2019t Heard.

\n