What happens when two reality television stars turn a former cult stronghold and out of the way Texas town into a mecca for the Instagram obsessed, Christian millennial? How have Chip & Joanna Gaines' Fixer Upper empire, rebranded as Magnolia, changed the landscape of the American tourist industry? What does the future hold for the ravaged town of Waco as taxes rise, housing prices skyrocket, and their local industries cater to out of town investment bankers? We investigate!

Eating For Free is a bi-weekly gossip podcast reporting from the edge of the internet! We're a new wave of celebrity reporters at a time when pop culture is increasingly chaotic and media lacks the ability or moral direction to make sense of this capitalist nightmare!

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• Joan Summers: Twitter, Instagram, [email protected].
• Matthew Lawson: Twitter, Instagram

Article links:

• My Tortured Relationship With the HGTV Show Fixer Upper (Jezebel)
• "Fixer Upper" Is Over, But Waco's Transformation Is Just Beginning (Anne Helen Petersen, BuzzFeed)
• 'Fixer Upper' shotgun house listed for almost $1 million (Waco Tribune)
• Waco, Reborn (Paige Skinner, NYT)
• I Went to Waco and Stayed in a 'Fixer Upper' House, and I Don't Get the Appeal (Dallas Obverver)
• The Standoff in Waco (Texas Observer)
• Waco council takes aim at racial disparities, gentrification (Waco Tribune)
• HOPING FOR HOMES: Poor priced out of Waco's hot housing market, nonprofit officials say (Waco Tribune)
• What That 'Fixer Upper' Car Crash Says About Waco & Your Favorite HGTV Show (Country Living)
• Waco: Neighborhood meeting on development gets heated (KWTX)
• 'Fixer Upper' effect: Waco's economy benefits from Chip and Joanna Gaines lifestyle empire (USA Today)