Evelyn Atkinson, an incoming professor at Tulane Law School, joins the Business Scholarship Podcast to discuss her article Telegraph Torts: The Lost Lineage of the Public Service Corporation. In this article, Atkinson recounts the history of the telegraph tort, a private action against telegraph companies for failure to deliver messages about a loved one’s death or illness. The telegraph tort, Atkinson observes, reflected affective relationships between telegraph companies and the public and points to early expectations that corporate purpose encompasses public service.