# EP 51: The Business of History (with Tom Levitt)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-library-of-mistakes-4813866/ep-51-the-business-of-history-with-tom-levitt
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-library-of-mistakes-4813866/ep-51-the-business-of-history-with-tom-levitt.md
Podcast: [The Library of Mistakes](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-library-of-mistakes-4813866)
Published: 2026-02-04T13:02:22+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/ep-51-the-business-of-history-with-tom-levitt--69783957
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/69783957/tom_levitt_04_02_2026_12_36.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-library-of-mistakes-4813866/episodes/ep-51-the-business-of-history-with-tom-levitt
Duration seconds: 2443

## Resource

Tom Levitt was exploring a course on 19th century history during the pandemic crisis when he stumbled upon WH Beable’s 'Romance of Great Businesses', a 1926 book exploring 32 iconic British companies. He was intrigued by the realisation that many of them still exist today (although mostly as brand names rather than intact corporations). It inspired the former teacher, MP and business advisor to delve into their stories and write his own book – The Business of History: Tales and Lessons from Two Centuries of British Commerce. Listen in to Tom's entertaining discussion with Russell Napier about famous names such as WH Smith, Boots and Cadbury – and, as an interesting aside, the thriving innovation of commercial lending libraries, before the advent of free public reading resources. And if you're interested in Tom's guided history walks around London, find out more by searching for The Business Of History at www.londonwalks.com Produced by Fraser Allen. www.libraryofmistakes.com

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-library-of-mistakes-4813866/episodes/ep-51-the-business-of-history-with-tom-levitt/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-library-of-mistakes-4813866/ep-51-the-business-of-history-with-tom-levitt.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.