What do we make—what does their home state of Kansas make—of Charles and David Koch? Their Koch Industries casts an imposing shadow across corporate America, refining crude oil, producing fertilizer, making Dixie cups and Quilted Northern toilet paper, and generating $110 billion in revenues. The brothers also flex considerable and controversial political muscle, donating heavily to a network of libertarian-leaning causes and candidates.

Business reporter Christopher Leonard examines their Wichita-based empire in a discussion of his new book Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America. It chronicles the genius and ruthlessness behind Koch Industries’ half-century rise into the second-largest privately held company in the country.

Watch at c-span.org