Was "free trade" a bait-and-switch to free multinationals from oversight? Fmr Biden Trade Rep Katherine Tai joins Capitalisn't to make the case - and to talk about how Democratic policy for the working class needs to change to win votes.
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Bethany McLean
5.6K posts
Bethany McLean
@bethanymac12
Journalist. Mother of teenage girls who make merciless fun of anything else I say, so I will say nothing else.
Chicago, IL Katılım Eylül 2013
994 Takip Edilen35.9K Takipçiler
There does more broadly seem to be a big war against human connectivity, from zero alcohol to zero covid back in the day to the rise of smart phones. Conspiratorial, I know.
Zach Abrams@zcabrams
derek thompsons recent article inspired me to read more about alcohol im shocked by the est impact vs current narrative for instance, 7-14 drinks per wk reduces life expectancy by only 6 mos (!!) moreover, the negative effect is possibly offset by gains from deeper friendships
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It’s a World-Class Investment. It’s a Junk Investment. What Is Going On With SpaceX? nytimes.com/2026/07/09/opi… via @NYTOpinion well done @bethanymac12
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World class writing! @bethanymac12
It’s a World-Class Investment. It’s a Junk Investment. What Is Going on With SpaceX? nytimes.com/2026/07/09/opi…
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@bethanymac12 Your Oped in the NY Times — so well written and well said!
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Is a corporation a person? Should it be? On Capitalisn't, @adamwinkler exposes the bizarre history and potential future of corporate personhood.
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Keeping some of the credit risk certainly didn’t save Countrywide. It’s astonishing what people forget. bloomberg.com/news/features/…
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Bethany McLean retweetledi
NEW: Our first investigation in partnership with @BearCaveEmail and @StockJabber goes deep on how private equity giant StepStone became the prisoner of its own success — with a reckoning ahead.
GIF
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Bethany McLean retweetledi
Free trade was never actually free?
That's the case former United States Trade Representative @AmbassadorTai brings @bethanymac12
and @zingales on #Capitalisnt
ms.spr.ly/6014vqjWm
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I spent the long weekend catching up on podcasts. A few that belong in every short seller's rotation:
The Real Eisman Playbook (@realsteveeisman): consistently great interviews with investment professionals. The episode with @UnicusResearch and @ActAccordingly is a must.
Acquired (@AcquiredFM): a great all-around show. Their Enron episode is essential listening.
Capitalisn't (@StiglerCenter): hosted by @zingales and @bethanymac12 . Bethany's writing on Enron and the 2008 crisis is legendary, and her book All the Devils Are Here is a classic.
The Compound and Friends (@TheCompoundNews): sharp interviews with investment pros. Loved the one with @muddywatersre.
Against the Rules with Michael Lewis: for obvious reasons this makes the list. The Michael Burry interview is a standout.
Swindled (@SwindledPodcast): not strictly a short selling show, but it was made for short sellers. Incredible storytelling on corporate fraud. I'm convinced the host was an activist short seller in another life.
Hidden Forces (@HiddenForcesPod): hosted by @kofinas, one of the most talented interviewers and researchers out there. Listen if you want to feel smarter. Found it through his interview with @AlderLaneEggs.
I'm sure I'll find more. Always happy to have recommendations, send em!
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@ScottCov123 Thank you. I have given up on that one because I would have been wrong for the last - oh, 15 years :)
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@bethanymac12 Really enjoyed your book...Any thoughts on odds FNMA ever exits conservatorship and SPS gets cxl'd or exchanged?
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A long long time ago, a company called Enron owned both the equity and the debt in some of its deals, which smart people explained to me was a bad idea. I’ve wondered why that stopped being true.
Nick Nemeth (Mispriced Assets)@NickNemo17
For four years I’ve listened to private equity guys explain why exits weren’t happening. Rates. Lina Khan. The election. Tariffs. The excuse changes every six months. The inventory still grows. There are still tens of thousands of PE-backed companies waiting to be sold, private credit funds pretending marks are real, and insurers funding the whole machine. Maybe the problem isn’t Washington. Maybe the problem is that the smart money got high on its own supply. No paywall. mispricedassets.substack.com/p/the-smart-mo…
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Bethany McLean retweetledi
Why do corporations always win at the Supreme Court?
@UCLA_Law's @adamwinkler joins #Capitalisnt hosts @zingales and @bethanymac12 to discuss a 200-year campaign by business to win the constitutional rights of human beings. ms.spr.ly/6019v9WGf
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Love this. And even as you get older, you can keep discovering new romances with the city. H/T @ritholtz. How Can You Not be Romantic About NYC? youngmoney.co/p/how-can-you-…
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“Hire us because we’re too lazy to bother thinking for ourselves” doesn’t seem like particularly effective marketing
Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum
Amazing: KPMG wrote a report describing the successful use of AI by businesses. But the case studies turned out to be AI hallucinations. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/ac…
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Bethany McLean retweetledi
Podcast with Quinn Slobodian about his book Muskism. Argues Muskism instrumentalises government for profit, leverages infrastructure as power through vertical integration, and treats social contracts as optimisation problems.
@zingales
@bethanymac12 thepodcastbrowser.com/quinn-slobodia…
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Bethany McLean retweetledi
According to @UCLA_Law professor Adam Winkler, originalist justices have often been responsible for the expansion of corporate rights. But, he says, there is absolutely no historical evidence that the framers wanted to protect business corporations.
🎧Listen to the full Capitalisn't podcast below to hear hosts @zingales & @bethanymac12 debate the wild history of corporate personhood 👇
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