[cepth]

I was happy to write this, since The Great Courses have had such a big impact on my learning. I was just frustrated that what could've been a nice profile (given how much access the author had to the company and its leadership) turned into an ideological screed. IMO, Heather MacDonald sees herself and/or functions as more of a commentator/activist than journalist.

The NY Times has done some fun looks at The Great Courses over the years:

* https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/business/born-in-the-vcr-... * https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/arts/television/the-great...

The Washington Post did a profile a few years back:

* https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/before-you...

It's truly a remarkable company. It has reinvented itself multiple times: physical DVDs, online downloads, Netflix style streaming, and now audio partnerships with Audible. The recent lifestyle additions (partnerships with NatGeo and Culinary Institute of America) have been great too.

It's been equally remarkable that the Big History was so well regarded that Bill Gates and Khan Academy then went ahead and spun it out into its own standalone project (https://www.bighistoryproject.com/).