{"podcast":{"title":"Preferred Shares Podcast","slug":"preferred-shares-podcast-6594967","podcast_index_feed_id":6594967,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1908337.rss","website_url":"https://www.preferredsharespodcast.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/1908337/e73d940b2a7f9e66dbfaaa377d07d0a4.jpg","author":"Preferred Shares Podcast","episode_count":35,"summary":"Business, history, and business history.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-12T22:18:20.663831+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967"},"episode":{"title":"The Rocks That Connect America","slug":"the-rocks-that-connect-america","published_at":"2024-05-29T12:52:58+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967/the-rocks-that-connect-america","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967","url":"https://www.preferredsharespodcast.com/p/the-rocks-that-connect-america","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/144925770/87a7b1fe532213c2ef7e8104e546bda9.mp3","summary":"Welcome to Episode 11 of the Preferred Shares Podcast. In this episode—the second part in our series on the beneficiaries of the spending on the interstate highway system of the United States —Preferred Shares explores the aggregates industry. In particular, we go over the early history of Birmingham Slag, the family-owned business that evolved into Vulcan Materials Company (VMC). In this episode Interstate Highway System background refresher The unique qualities of the aggregates industry Early Vulcan Materials history Role of inheritance tax in driving industry consolidation State of the industry today: does a focus on aggregates drive premium valuations? Henry Crown, founder of Material Service Corp. How two large aggregates businesses were acquired by two defense contractors Devin’s case study on FRP Holdings Wrapping up on key takeaways Episode Resources Cruikshank, George M. A History of Birmingham and its Environs . Lewis Publishing, 1920. “Shipped Over Million Tons of Slag in 1923” , The Dixie Manufacturer, January 25, 1924. “Crush Million Tons of Stone For T.V.A.” , Rock Products , December 1941. “Slag Firm In Merger” , Rock Products , November 1956. “Invasion From the Deep South” , Business Week, Feb. 14, 1959. “Vulcan Materials acquires three N. C. quarries” , Rock Products , April 1959. “The Clans of Vulcan” , Fortune , January 1960. “Martin, Marietta Agree to Merger” , New York Times , June 24, 1961. “Materials in Use in U.S. Interstate Highways” , US Geological Survey, 2006. A History Written in Stone . Vulcan Materials Company, 2008. Additional Reading Curious to see what else we’ve been working on? Below are some pieces we’ve written independently that we think you’d like: Rock Pile Riches , Lawrence Hamtil, 2/02/2024 The Pits , Devin LaSarre, 1/8/2023…","meta_description":"Welcome to Episode 11 of the Preferred Shares Podcast. In this episode—the second part in our series on the beneficiaries of the spending on the interstat…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3312,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967/episodes/the-rocks-that-connect-america/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967/the-rocks-that-connect-america.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}