JOANN (forever “Joann Fabrics” in our hearts) didn’t just “go out of business,” it was engineered to collapse. In this episode of our series The Private Equity Playbook, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by collaborator Anna Canning to trace how a beloved craft-store chain went from being a hub for makers to a debt-loaded financial instrument. 

This isn’t a story about changing consumer tastes or “retail trends.” It’s actually about debt, extraction, and what happens when the logic of Wall Street collides with the fabric of daily life. 

From JOANN's origins in Cleveland’s garment-manufacturing era to its pandemic boom and rapid collapse, we break down what happens when private equity enters the picture: a leveraged buyout that loads a company with debt, management fees that drain resources, and cost-cutting that hollows out the very labor and expertise the business depends on. Along the way, we connect JOANN’s downfall to the rise of fast fashion, the history of DIY economics, and the way private equity continues to enter our lives. 

In this episode, we explore:

• How Joann Fabrics went from zero debt to total collapse after a private equity-led leveraged buyout loaded the company with over a billion dollars in obligations and ongoing management fees.
• What a leveraged buyout actually is, and how private equity firms use company debt, not their own money, to finance acquisitions and extract returns.
• The history of U.S. garment manufacturing, from unionized apparel hubs like Cleveland to offshoring, fast fashion, and the shift of sewing from necessity to hobby.
• How private equity hollowed out JOANN's core strengths (the expertise of its employees) while using a brief boom during the pandemic to obscure deep structural damage, and how JOANN's collapse rippled outward to destabilize adjacent industries.
• The bipartisan political support underpinning private equity’s takeover of our lives and why consumer choice can’t solve this.

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

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For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Impact investing is often framed as a win–win: do good, generate a positive social or environmental impact while still earning a financial return. But what does that actually look like in practice and who carries the risk when things don’t go as planned? 

In this episode of Art of Citizenry, Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Dr. Peter Hinton, impact investor and Associate Fellow at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, to unpack the financial architecture behind impact investing — debt, equity, and quasi-equity — and what these instruments really mean for social enterprises and impact-driven businesses on the ground.

Together, they trace the field’s roots from faith-based socially responsible investing and the rise of microfinance to today’s trillion-dollar impact investing market. Along the way, they dig into the hidden risks of hard currency loans and the tension between investor expectations and the realities faced by entrepreneurs and communities. They tackle one of the field’s thorniest questions: how do you measure social impact without overburdening the very organizations you’re trying to support? 

This episode dives into:

• The financial architecture of impact investing: how debt, equity, and quasi-equity shape risk, power, and investor-investee relationships.
• Historical roots of the field, from faith-based socially responsible investing and microfinance to today’s global impact investing ecosystem.
• Global power dynamics, including currency risk, capital flows, and the implications of hard-currency loans for entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
• The challenges of measuring social impact, why standardized metrics fall short, and how reporting requirements can burden social enterprises.
• Community-centered evaluation and accountability, exploring methods that elevate beneficiary voices and prioritize cultural and linguistic contexts.

Whether you’re new to impact investing or wrestling with its limitations from the inside, this episode offers a grounded, critical, and hopeful look at what a more equitable approach could look like.

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

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For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Coffee, Silicon Valley, and… George W. Bush's former roommate? In this episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by long-time collaborator Anna Canning as they kick off a new series on private equity by tracing what happens when big finance meets something as everyday as your morning cup of coffee.

Philz Coffee made headlines earlier this year when the iconic San Francisco coffee company got bought by private equity firm Freeman Spogli in a deal that cancelled all employee common stock options. Together, Manpreet and Anna dig into what happened, breaking down the complex financial maneuvers and unpacking how this conclusion was both unexpected and not all that surprising.

In this episode, we explore the case of Philz Coffee while touching on:

• What private equity is and how “leveraged buyouts” and high-risk financial engineering shape our daily lives
• The hierarchy of who gets paid when investors are involved and what Philz’s decision to cancel worker stock tells us about whose investments really matter
• How consolidation in coffee offers insights into the  broader patterns of the global economy where consolidation has become the name of the game
• The people, let’s be real…men…behind Freeman Spogli, the firm’s origins, and ties to U.S. politics.
• Why transparency, journalism, and informed communities are essential for pushing back on corporate impunity

Tune in as we begin to unmask corporate consolidation in coffee and beyond: Nestlé’s and JAB’s coffee empires, the pressure on small ethical roasters, historic low coffee prices for farmers, and how firms like Freeman Spogli have been quietly reshaping everything from grocery chains to farmers’ livelihoods. We connect the dots between colonialism, capitalism, and financialization, showing how risk is repeatedly pushed down onto workers (and farmers) while profits are siphoned off at the top.

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

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For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Storytelling shapes how we see the world, and our place in it. The stories we tell and the ones we choose to believe define our understanding of truth, power, and belonging. They decide whose pain is seen, whose resistance is remembered, and whose voices are erased.

In this episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined in conversation with Noor Tagouri. Together, they interrogate how narratives influence systems — reflecting on what it means to tell stories with transparency, courage, and care in an era where journalism itself is being redefined.

We explore:

• The transformative power of storytelling when rooted in self-investigation
• How a rapidly evolving media landscape is reshaping the role and responsibility of independent journalists
• The far-reaching consequences of representation and misrepresentation in shaping politics, pop culture, and public opinion
• How cross-community solidarity among marginalized groups can reclaim narrative power and deepen the integrity of storytelling

Storytelling isn’t neutral. Self-investigation asks us to move through our own stories with courage — allowing curiosity to become our compass as we explore our own identities, stories, and beliefs. This conversation is an invitation to listen deeply, ask hard questions, and question the stories we inherit — letting each question reshape what we know.  

📌 Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

• Contribute via Paypal: https://visit.artofcitizenry.com/paypal
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Explore Past Episodes of the Art of Citizenry Podcast with Manpreet Kalra: https://www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

One Neighborhood, Nine Elders, and the wisdom that held a community together. They've seen an interstate cut their once-thriving neighborhood in half. They've seen their community cut off from the commercial and cultural engines of the city. They've seen terror visited on their own backyards. But through it all, they've fought to hold onto the place they love.

We Are North Nashville: The Podcast is about the lives of elders who call North Nashville home, in their own words. It's about the ways the elders have kept joy alive in their neighborhood in spite of all the challenges it has faced. It's about the history that newcomers to the city don't always know, or even think to ask about. It's about walking the streets and still seeing the way people held this place together, even when city planners set about ripping it apart.

This is a show about North Nashville. It's also a story about the United States, where Black communities have been cut apart, razed and deprived for generations in the name of progress that does not include them. More importantly, We Are North Nashville is what happens when the people who live history get to tell it.

Executive Producer: Andrea Tudhope

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

October marks both Fair Trade Month and National Co-op Month – a fitting moment to examine how global trade policies are reshaping the landscape for ethical businesses.

In this episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Nicole Vitello, Vice President at Equal Exchange, a worker-owned co-operative with the mission to build long-term fair trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound. Together, they unpack how tariffs, trade wars, volatile commodity markets, and climate pressures are colliding to threaten the survival of ethical supply chains.

From a 39% tariff on Switzerland to 50% tariffs on Brazil and India, industries ranging from chocolate and coffee to fashion are under immense strain. For fair trade, ethical businesses and co-ops, it’s not just about surviving the current administration’s tariff strategy – it’s about whether ethical supply chains can survive in a system tilted toward multinationals and shareholder profits. While these taxes are marketed as efforts to “bring manufacturing home,” the real impact lands on those least able to absorb the cost – smallholder farmers, small businesses here domestically, and ultimately consumers.

We explore:

• How the trade wars, increases in tariffs, and high commodity prices are destabilizing ethical, sustainable, and fair trade supply chains – causing cost and pricing spikes from farmers to consumers
• Why ethical businesses and co-ops are uniquely vulnerable under protectionist trade policies
• How climate change, tariffs, and inflation are compounding global price volatility and putting financial pressure on farmer coops
• The impacts of USAID cuts on economic development programs 
• Why cooperative business models and consumer solidarity may be the last line of defense against exploitative trade

🎧 Ethical supply chains that center fairness and sustainability remain the exception, not the rule. Tune in as we examine the human cost of tariffs and the structural inequities baked into modern capitalism and global trade systems.

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

• Contribute via Paypal: https://visit.artofcitizenry.com/paypal
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Explore Past Episodes of the Art of Citizenry Podcast with Manpreet Kalra: https://www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

In this episode of the Art of Citizenry Podcast, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by author Elaine U. Cho in conversation about her new sci-fi novel Teo’s Durumi. Together they unpack techno-orientalism – exploring how her work contends with capitalism, colonialism, and identity – and why using our unique lens in art matters now more than ever.

This episode invites you to think critically about how narratives of the future are shaped and who gets to author them. Elaine’s reflections on diaspora, cultural authenticity, and resisting reductive tropes are not just lessons for sci-fi writers, but for anyone grappling with representation in storytelling.

During this conversation, we explore:

• Identity & diaspora: Wrestling with the question “Am I ___ enough?” and writing through the tension of layered identities.
• Orientalism & Techno-orientalism: From Edward Said’s groundbreaking critique to sci-fi tropes that flatten and exoticize Asian cultures.
• Cultural Hegemony in Literature: Resisting the pressures of making her work “palatable” to a mainstream audience by embracing specificity, language, and cultural nuance.

📚Be sure to check out Elaine U. Cho’s book, Teo’s Durumi and debut Ocean’s Godori

Also mentioned in this episode: Edward Said’s 1978 book: Orientalism

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

• Contribute via Paypal: https://visit.artofcitizenry.com/paypal
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Explore Past Episodes of the Art of Citizenry Podcast with Manpreet Kalra: https://www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

In this episode of the Art of Citizenry Podcast, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra and producer Aly Honoré take a step back from the headlines to explore what they reveal about the state of American democracy, culture, and free speech. 

From the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live and mass doxing campaigns reminiscent of McCarthyism, to the militarization of cities and the campaign to “Free Ben & Jerry’s,” these stories are more than isolated flashpoints. Together, they paint a troubling picture of democratic fragility and the creeping rise of authoritarianism.

Join us as we unpack the escalating threats to free speech—from censorship and defamation lawsuits to corporate pressure and racialized violence. We connect the dots between media, governance, and power, revealing how dissent is being stifled and narratives tightly controlled—and why independent voices and collective resistance matter now more than ever.

“When that space for scrutiny is narrowed, whether through censorship, intimidation, or the co-opting of media outlets, the public’s access to truth is replaced with narratives carefully engineered to reinforce the power of an authoritarian regime.” — Manpreet Kaur Kalra, Art of Citizenry

⏰ Timestamps:

• 00:55 Trump’s $15 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against The New York Times
• 03:52 Disney-Owned ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel! Live!
• 10:25 Jerry Greenfield Leaves Ben & Jerry’s
• 15:49 The Erasure of Racial Violence in the Wake of Charlie Kirk
• 18:50 Deployment of Federal Forces for “Crime Control”
• 21:34 How We Fight Back

What emerges is an ecosystem of control: voices silenced through lawsuits, narratives erased through selective coverage, and public space militarized to cement that erasure. Together, they show a contracting democracy.

🎧 Tune in as we discuss how the erosion of press freedom and free speech is central to authoritarianism. 

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

• Contribute via Paypal: https://visit.artofcitizenry.com/paypal
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Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofcitizenry

Follow Manpreet on Instagram: https://instagram.com/manpreetkalra

Explore Past Episodes of the Art of Citizenry Podcast with Manpreet Kalra: https://www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

H.R. 1, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, expands the Deportation Industrial Complex, allocating more than 170 billion dollars over four years for border and interior enforcement, with the explicit goal of deporting 1 million immigrants every single year.

Behind those staggering numbers lies another story: who profits. Among the biggest winners are private equity firms and the billionaire class they represent. From building detention centers and surveillance systems to running telecommunications and healthcare inside facilities, private equity has positioned itself to cash in on every step of the deportation pipeline.

In this episode of the Art of Citizenry Podcast, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Azani Creeks, Senior Researcher at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) to unpack how this bill opens the floodgates for private equity firms to profit from detention, deportation, surveillance, and border militarization as engines of profit for billionaires.

We explore:

• How H.R. 1 supercharges ICE funding and detention capacity.
• The role of private equity in profiting from detention, deportation, and surveillance.
• Why firms like CoreCivic, GEO Group, and their Wall Street backers are among the bill’s biggest winners.
• The broader pattern of immigration enforcement as a business model—and what this means for the future.

🎧 Tune in as we ask the deeper questions – about how policy, profit, and power converge in the Deportation Industrial Complex.

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

• Contribute via Paypal: https://visit.artofcitizenry.com/paypal
• Substack: https://artofcitizenry.substack.com/
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Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofcitizenry

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Explore Past Episodes of the Art of Citizenry Podcast with Manpreet Kalra: https://www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Is there a place for justice movements inside the confines of capitalism?

In this episode of the Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet Kalra is joined by Dr. Marcia Chatelain, historian and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. Together, we dig into the intersections of civil rights, economic justice, and corporate accountability, exploring how the pursuit of liberation has too often been commodified under the guise of economic empowerment.

Dr. Chatelain reminds us that food justice isn’t just about what’s on our plates – it’s about the systems shaping access, health, and community power. We discuss how corporations like McDonald’s embedded themselves in Black communities by co-opting civil rights advocacy, reshaping not only economic life but also the very language of empowerment and progress.

This conversation takes us beyond individual choices and into the systemic structures that dictate our options:

• The American blueprint for corporate co-optation of justice movements
• The pitfalls of framing entrepreneurship and capitalism as a blueprint to freedom
• How DEI and corporate “justice” strategies are often inseparable from profit motives

From the civil rights era to today, we unpack the corporate playbook: social movements absorbed, monetized, and repackaged as market opportunities. 

📚 Get Marcia Chatelain’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America.

🎧 Tune in as we ask the deeper questions – who profits, what gets repackaged as justice, and how do we reclaim community power in a system designed to commodify it?

📌Support the Podcast: Art of Citizenry is proudly independent. Support us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives by empowering listeners with accessible, nuanced perspectives. 

• Contribute via Paypal: https://visit.artofcitizenry.com/paypal
• Substack: https://artofcitizenry.substack.com/
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/manpreetkalra

Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofcitizenry

Follow Manpreet on Instagram: https://instagram.com/manpreetkalra

Explore Past Episodes of the Art of Citizenry Podcast with Manpreet Kalra: https://www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes