McDonald’s soft-serve machines break down so often that a corner of the internet is awash in memes and videos about their unreliability. Enter Jeremy O’Sullivan and Melissa Nelson, two entrepreneurs who wanted to fix the broken machines. They thought they'd succeeded — until McDonald’s told its franchisees to stay away. This week we talk with Jeremy, Melissa, and Andy Greenberg, the Wired reporter who first broke this story of ice cream intrigue, and we hear about the 900 million dollar lawsuit Jeremy and Melissa brought against McDonald’s.

This episode contains explicit language.

This episode originally aired on June 7, 2021, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell.

Interstitial music in this episode by Black Label Music:

• "Talk To Me Now (Instrumental)" by Hayley Briasco and Ken Brahmstedt
• "Silhouette" by Erick Anderson
• "Prowl" by Lance Conrad
• "Lawless" by Lance Conrad
• "Kenny" by Hayley Briasco
• "Trippin" by Erick Anderson
• "Rooftop" by Erick Anderson
• "Legend" by Erick Anderson
• "Dream Houses" by Hayley Briasco

Photo courtesy of Andria/flickr, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

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