The Big Flop

Latest Episodes:

The McDonald's Monopoly Game: A Supersized McFlop with Beth Stelling and Ify Nwadiwe | 85 Apr 28, 2025

Show notes

The Hamburglar was just a mascot, but Jerome Jacobson was the real deal - a McDonald's security chief who pulled off the ultimate inside job. While millions of Americans peeled game pieces hoping for a miracle, this master manipulator was turning Big Macs into big bucks, orchestrating a multi-million dollar fraud. Discover the supersized story of how one man's greed turned America's favorite promotion into the biggest McFlop in fast-food history.

Ify Nwadiwe and Beth Stelling, join Misha to get salty about the McDonald’s Monopoly game.

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Encore: Rachel Dolezal's White Lies with Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman | 84 Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

Rachel Dolezal built a life for herself as a teacher, a civil rights advocate, and a leader in her local NAACP chapter. There was just one problem: She built it all on a foundation of lies—and the biggest lie of all was about her race. When a local news crew discovered her secret and called her out in front of cameras, it all came crashing down on a national scale.

Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman (Couples Therapy) join Misha to break down the many lies of Rachel Dolezal—and there are a lot!

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Encore: Tiger Woods Drives His Marriage Into the Rough with Even the Rich | 83 Apr 14, 2025

Show notes

At 2:30AM on Thanksgiving night 2009, Tiger Woods, one of the most famous athletes in the world, drove his car into a tree outside his neighbor’s house. This bizarre accident set off a chain of events that exposed Tiger’s secret affairs to the world and wound up wrecking more than his Escalade: It wrecked his marriage, and almost totaled his career.

Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams from Even the Rich join Misha to tee off on the salacious scandals of Tiger Woods.

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Fantastic Flop: How Josh Trank Tanked the Fantastic Four with Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson | 82 Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

When 27-year-old wunderkind Josh Trank got the keys to Marvel's First Family, he promised a dark, gritty take on the Fantastic Four. But his own origin story—complete with on-set meltdowns, studio battles, and that infamous tweet—proved more compelling than anything that made it to screen. From questionable wigs to near-fistfights, this superhero saga became a cautionary tale about Hollywood hubris that even Mr. Fantastic couldn't stretch his way out of.

The hosts of Unspooled, Amy Nicholson and Paul Scheer (How Did This Get Made) join Misha to binge Josh Trank's F4stic, a movie so bad, it makes you wish you were constantly on fire like the Human Torch just so you could FEEL something.

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Barbie’s Most Embarrassing Fails with Maddie Wiener and Leah Rudick | 81 Mar 31, 2025

Show notes

Think you know everything about Barbie? Think again. We're pulling back the pink curtain on three Mattel missteps that had parents lining up for refunds and PR teams working overtime. From pregnant Midge to “gay” Ken, these Barbie blunders had executives screaming ""Oh no!"" instead of ""Oh Barbie!""

Maddie Wiener and Leah Rudick join Misha to unbox some of the weirdest Barbie products of all time

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The $3 Billion Energy Drink Scam: The Rise and Fall of Bang with Emma Willmann and Anjelah Johnson Reyes | 80 Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

From substitute teacher to energy drink mogul, Jack Owoc rode a wave of caffeine to build Bang Energy into a billion-dollar empire. Bang promised to make you smarter, stronger, and immune to hangovers. Turns out, the only thing it boosted was CEO Jack Owoc's bank account. But when Monster came for his market share and the music industry came for his TikToks, Jack learned that no amount of “super creatine” could keep him out of bankruptcy court.

Emma Willmann (Crashing, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and Anjelah Johnson-Reyes (MadTV, Funjelah) join Misha to drink up all the juicy details of how America's third largest energy drink company came and went in just a decade.

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The Big Flop is a production of Wondery and AT WILL MEDIA, hosted by Misha Brown.

Produced by Sequoia Thomas, Harry Huggins and Tina Turner

Written by Anna Rubanova and Luke Burns

Engineered by Zach Grappone with support from Andrew Holzberger

The video podcast is edited by Olivia Vessel and Lindsay Gordon

Managing Producer is Molly Getman

Executive producers are: Kait Walsh and Will Malnati for AT WILL MEDIA.

Legal support by Carolyn Levin of Miller, Korzenik, Sommers, & Rayman.

Senior Producers for Wondery are Adam Aseraf, Matt Beagle, and Jennifer Kline Walker.

Managing Producer is Sara Mathes and the Senior Managing Producer is Callum Plews.

Music Supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Frisson Sync

Theme song is "Sinking Ship" by Cake

Executive producers are Lizzie Bassett, Dave Easton and Marshall Lewy for Wondery

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U2: A Song Of Innocence & Backlash with Andy Daly and Izzy Roland | 79 Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

In the fall of 2014, half a billion Apple iTunes users woke up to find U2's latest album downloaded to their devices. The band thought they were democratizing music, instead, U2’s attempt to force-feed their music to the masses turned into a PR nightmare complete with deletion tutorials, customer revolts, and the most expensive 'unsubscribe' button in music history.

Izzy Roland (Dimension 20, The Sex Lives of College Girls) and Andy Daly (The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) join Misha to reminisce about simpler times, when Big Tech and do-gooders got along.

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The “Male Enhancement” Millionaire Who Got a Stiff Sentence with the Camp Counselors Podcast | 78 Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

In 2001, Steve Warshak turned America's insecurities into gold with Enzyte, a 'male enhancement' pill hawked by TV's smuggest pitchman, Smilin' Bob. But when federal agents discovered Steve’s real genius wasn't in making anything “bigger” (besides his bank account through fraud), they unearthed a world of fake doctors, unauthorized charges, and Steve’s 70-year-old mother who helped run a $200 million dollar scam.

The hosts of Camp Counselors, Zachariah Porter and Jonathan Carson, join Misha to explain how Steve Warshak, the man behind the “male enhancement” pill, Enzyte, totally shafted his customers.

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N*Sync's Secret Sixth Member: The Boy Band Pyramid Scheme with Good Children Podcast | 77 Mar 03, 2025

Show notes

He turned five fresh-faced teens into the Backstreet Boys, then secretly created their rivals N*SYNC. But while his boy bands were hitting high notes, Lou Pearlman was orchestrating one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history. From fake accounting firms to $300 million in fraud, discover how the man who built a pop empire ended up behind bars.

The hosts of Good Children, Joe Hegyes and Andrew Muscarella, join Misha to share a story that might sound crazy, but it ain’t no lie: It’s the downfall of Lou Pearlman.

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Tiger King: Joe Exotic's Cat-astrophic Flop with Last Podcast On the Left | 76 Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

Joe Exotic built his kingdom on the backs of big cats, bad decisions, and bedazzled button-downs. But when his roadside zoo empire collided with animal rights crusader Carole Baskin, their clash unleashed a storm of eccentric enemies, failed murder plots, and the worst country music videos ever uploaded to YouTube.

Ed Larson and Henry Zebrowski (Last Podcast On the Left) join Misha to uncover the untold details of this exotic animal saga.

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