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In this conversation…

What does it mean to “run the government like a business” in America today? In today’s episode, we scrutinize the fetishization of “efficiency” and the American businessman, the role this valorization played in the ascendancy of our current “leaders,” and what everyone’s getting wrong about how business is done in America today—through the lens of a recent bombshell report that “breastaurant” Hooters is filing for bankruptcy.

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References in the Episode

“Is Hooters Really Rebranding Because Millennials ‘Aren’t That Into Boobs’ Anymore? Here’s What We Know So Far,” the important, hard-hitting journalism you’ve come to expect from Peter Thiel’s favorite beach read, Evie Magazine

“The decline and fall of Hooters,” by Kara Kennedy in The New Statesman

“Hooters in Talks for Potential Bankruptcy in Coming Months,” by Eliza Ronalds-Hannon and Reshmi Basu for Bloomberg UK

“Chanticleer Holdings and Hooters Ring NASDAQ Closing Bell,” a 2012 Hooters press release

“Prison food is the latest target in a campaign to divest holdings,” by Fola Akinnibi for The Los Angeles Times, because nothing says American dream quite like the ROI on mass incarceration

“PE Firms Rebrand Prison Healthcare Companies, But Care Issues Continue,” by Syed Hamza Sohail for HIT Consultant

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project’s report on HIG Capital and Wellpath, and the 1,395 times the “Correct Care Solutions” subsidiary was sued in federal court

“PE-Backed Prison Health-Care Firm Wellpath Declares Bankruptcy” by Dorothy Ma for Bloomberg

“H.I.G. Capital’s Companies Mired in Regulatory and Headline Risk,” by Eileen O’Grady for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project

“H.I.G. Capital puts Hooters up for sale,” by Luisa Beltran for PE Hub in 2015

“H.I.G. calls off ‘Hooters of America’ auction,” by Luisa Beltran for PE Hub approximately 10 minutes later lol

“H.I.G.-backed Hooters of America seeks a buyer: sources,” by Luisa Beltran for PE Hub in 2018

“New Owners of Hooters Plan to Expand Less Offensive Spinoff, Hoots” by Greg Morabito for Eater

“Hooters of America sold to 2 private equity firms,” by Julie Littman for Restaurant Dive

“Hooters of America Announces Closing of $70 Million Term Loan Facility,” from Stephen Brown on Business Wire

“How the Financialization of America Hurt Workers and the Economy,” by Michael Collins for IndustryWeek

“The Apprentice, Intro Season 1, Donald Trump,” which is nothing short of an absolute fucking trip to the reality television universe where this man truly shined and should’ve stayed

Marjorie Taylor Greene being generally confused about how the government is supposed to work pt. 359235

“Trump seeks to run government like a business, for better or worse,” by Brett Samuels for The Hill, which contains some of the bleakest quotes known to science

“DOGE is causing the very problem it claims to be solving,” by Shannon Arvizu for The Hill

“Trump Quietly Plans to Liquidate Public Lands to Finance His Sovereign Wealth Fund,” by Mark Haggerty and Jenny Rowland-Shea for the Center for American Progress

Ronald Reagan contradicting himself for 41 seconds

“How Ronald Reagan Tried to Shrink Government Spending” by Christopher Klein for History

usaspending.gov, a literal line by line accounting of where we spend money

“Americans voted for Trump, but don’t support his agenda,” by G. Elliott Morris for ABC News

“What DOGE is Doing Across the Federal Government,” by Nik Popli for Time

fiscaldata.treasury.gov, where you can learn about the national debt

“How Much Is the National Debt? What Are the Different Measures Used?” from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation