Sean Farrington returns with the Radio 4 series that examines the spectacular failures of wonder products and businesses which had promised so much.

Toast is back with a special Christmas episode looking at the rise and fall of toy superstore Toys R Us on 18 December, 2023, and then returns for a new series on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds on 11 January, 2024.

Toast is back!

Failed to load content!

The page you were looking for was moved or doesn't exist.


Previous 30 days

Today

Previous 7 days

The podcast {{podcastName}} is embedded on this page from an open {{RSSLink}}. All files, descriptions, artwork and other metadata from the RSS-feed is the property of the podcast owner and not affiliated with or validated by Podplay.

The podcast {{podcastName}} is distributed by Podplay. Here you find the podcasts {{RSSLink}}.

Play latest

Resume

More

Popular podcasts

{{title}} | {{podcastTitle}} | Podplay

Page not found

An error has occurred

Find and listen to your favourite podcasts at Podplay.

Podplay

{{title}} | Listen at Podplay

Find and listen to your favourite podcasts at Podplay - Your home for podcasts.

Podplay | Your Home for Podcasts

Account settings - Data

My account – delete account

Account settings - settings

My account - Settings

My account

My account - password

Something went wrong, please try again. If the problem persists, please contact us.

Go to start page

Click the button below to request your data. The data will be sent to the email associated with your account.

You have already requested your data. You must wait before requesting again.

A download link will be sent to your email when the file has been created.

Request your data

Click below to delete your account. Note that all information associated with your account, such as which podcasts you follow and listening history, will also be deleted.

Delete Account

Update account information

You have entered wrong password. Please try again.

Update password

You need to enter your current password to make changes on your profile.

Profile name is part of your public profile.

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Toast. A study of the spectacular failures of brands which had promised so much to consumers.    

In each episode, the presenter and BBC business journalist Sean Farrington examines one big idea. What did it promise? Why did people back it? Why did they get burnt?  

The new series of Toast starts on Thursday 4 April, 2024 by looking at the roadside restaurant chain Little Chef.

Some of the world’s most successful businesses have also brought us some of the world’s most remarkable failures. So, what led them to be toast? And what can we learn from their stories today? 

Sean unpicks all the early optimism, hype and ambition. He learns about the tremendous success of a brand before hearing how it faltered, with help from expert commentators and people who were directly involved. How do they view things now and what, if anything, could have been done differently? 

The self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur, Sam White, is alongside him, analysing the missteps that changed a brand’s fortunes and reaching her own, often instructive, conclusions.  

From big tech to high street retail and, of course, food, Toast tackles the business ideas that, one way or another, ended up cooked. 

Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations on Thursday 9 May, 2024. In the new series, Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread. In the meantime, Toast is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.

Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.

Toast is back!

Health & Fitness