A Book with Legs

In this episode of A Book with Legs, Cole Smead, CEO and Portfolio Manager, and Bill Smead, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at Smead Capital Management, sit down with Liaquat Ahamed to discuss his book, “1873: The Rothschilds, The First Great Depression and the Making of the Modern World.”
Liaquat Ahamed explores 1873 as the first truly global financial crisis, centered on the Rothschild family, then the wealthiest bankers in the world. The conversation traces how the Rothschilds nearly collapsed in 1848, losing 40% of their capital, only to rebuild over the next 25 years into a bank controlling a third of the entire European banking system. Liaquat and the Smeads discuss how market psychology moves in generational cycles, why it can take a full generation to recover confidence after a crash, and how President Grant’s decision to defend the gold standard during the 1873 panic prolonged deflation across the U.S. economy.
“1873: The Rothschilds, The First Great Depression and the Making of the Modern World,” published by Penguin Press, is available now.
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In this episode of A Book with Legs, hosts Cole Smead, CEO and Portfolio Manager, and Bill Smead, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at Smead Capital Management, sit down with author David Williams to discuss his book, “The William E. Boeing Story: A Gift of Flight.”
The conversation traces Bill Boeing’s path from a wealthy heir working timberland in Hoquiam, Washington, to founding both Boeing and United Airlines almost by accident, chasing a hobby with no clear business model at the time. Along the way: a prohibition-era wiretapping scandal that helped shape modern privacy law, a government breakup of his company in the 1930s that was reversed within a decade when Roosevelt needed thousands of bombers built for WWII, and the origin story of the modern flight attendant through Ellen Church, a woman who was told no when she asked to be a pilot and created an entirely new profession instead.
David is a former executive director of the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum near Seattle and has written 10 books on motorsports and aviation. For this project, the Boeing family gave him unprecedented access to their private archives, thousands of never-before-seen photos, diaries, and personal letters, making this the first full-length biography of the father of commercial aviation.
“The William E. Boeing Story: A Gift of Flight,” is available now on https://www.hydromuseumstore.org/books-and-magazines/
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What can the history of newspapers teach us about today's media landscape?
In the latest episode of A Book with Legs, Smead Capital Management CEO and Portfolio Manager C. W. Smead, CFA is joined by author Alex Wright to discuss his book, Empire of Ink: The Printers, Rogues, and Radicals Who Invented the American Newspaper.
Cole and Alex trace the evolution of American newspapers from the Revolutionary era through the rise of mass media, exploring how technological disruption, government policy, advertising, and human behavior shaped the way information spread. They also discuss the parallels between the early newspaper industry and today's digital media ecosystem.
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What is the Smead Capital Management team reading, and what ideas are shaping their view of today's markets?
In this quarterly Book List episode of A Book with Legs, Smead Capital Management CEO and Portfolio Manager Cole Smead is joined by longtime listener Steve to discuss the books that have recently captured their attention.
Cole and Steve discuss their recent reads which cover a range of topics from investor psychology, Chinese history, mathematics and intelligence, to business turnarounds and cooperation. They also share the books currently on their nightstands and discuss what they hope to learn from future reads. Along the way, the conversation touches on energy markets and the role of history in understanding today's investment landscape.
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Can a human being’s behavior and personality be fully explained by a machine, chemistry, biology, or data? Or is there something intangible left over?
These questions and the different conversations they can spark were the inspiration behind this special episode of A Book with Legs. Smead Capital Management CEO and Portfolio Manager Cole Smead revisits highlights from conversations with experts offering unique perspectives on the topic, including a computer scientist, a geneticist, a neuroscientist, and a cognitive scientist.
Check out the full episode to hear from names like Paige Harden, author of "Original Sin: On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of Forgiveness" and Charles Murray, author of "Taking Religion Seriously." Smead Chairman and CIO Bill Smead also shares his perspective on what past manias have had in common and why those lessons remain relevant for investors today.
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