The best Business History newsletters

First-person stories from two early Slack team members about building the company, product and business, including the IPO era, the 2020 redesign and the Salesforce deal. Readers get an insider's view of product decisions and company dynamics.

Weekly essays on the history behind consumer products, advertising and marketing, such as Ballantine Ale ads, the origins of decaf coffee and the Jarts lawn dart ban. Readers get researched, personable storytelling about consumer culture and the myths around everyday goods.

Growth Republic is a free biweekly newsletter that uses historical stories, such as Nucor's steel plant decision and the ATLAS collaboration at CERN, to draw out lessons on leadership, decision-making and personal effectiveness. Each issue pairs narrative case studies with analysis and practical takeaways for leaders and professionals.

A podcast-style transcript and blog-style issue notes that revisit episodes of the PBS series Computer Chronicles, covering companies like Brøderbund and Gavilan and products from the 1980s. Readers get historical context on early personal computing, product failures, and the technology trends that shaped them.

A newsletter examining retail, commercial real estate and consumer behavior, mixing current analysis of how stores function with historical case studies of fallen retail chains. Readers get data-backed insights on store economics and lessons from past retail failures.

Joe K. Raymond writes case studies and historical stories about individual investments, such as Berkshire Hathaway's Boston Globe investment and Hawkins Chemical. Each issue pairs a narrative hook with analysis of what the companies and their history teach investors.

Lost Threads is a podcast newsletter that retells forgotten episodes of history, sourced from archives, newspapers and academic work. Each issue pairs a short narrative summary with episode links, source lists and transcripts.